Hoost Cup Challenge Japan - Videos Added

There were eight bouts in total, with Murray’s mighty warriors winning three and drawing two.
“This whole Japan trip has ranked up there with some of my best experiences which I’ve been involved with in over 30 years in the sport,” Murray said. “We started planning this eight months ago. It took an awful lot of toing and froing and fund raising to get a team out there. For many, it was the trip of a lifetime.”

He added: “Holy smoke, every single one of our guys was incredible. Ursula Agnew was first out of the blocks and set the wining standard by overwhelming her opponent to take a unanimous decision. Mark Bird picked up The Best Technique Award. When you’re traveling to one of the global centres for a sport and you are being rewarded for your technical ability that says an awful lot about you as a person and the team around you. I’m immensely proud of this gang of kickboxers. They’ve done Northern Ireland proud!”

Hurray was fulsome in his praise.
"We all accomplished a great thing here,” he said. “Two countries coming together through peace, friendship and respect to compete in a combat sport. How often does this happen? I can answer that easily, not often enough. “This was an event with real young amateurs from different cultures and backgrounds who had the chance to travel to the home of martial arts and compete. New friends were made here, How great is that!”

There are plans for the team to return to Japan next year for the decider.For more information and pictures about Northern Ireland's kickboxing ProKick team in Japan check back here at ProKick.com