Members of the Juvenile Revolution Self Defense fight team head to Richmond, Va. March 8 to compete at the World Kickboxing Associations’ North American Championship Tournament.

Two male fighters aged 14 will compete in Mixed Martial Arts and one 14-year-old female will compete in K1 style kickboxing.

Revolution Self Defense opened in Clayton in 2009 and brought their first group of fighters to the 2010 WKA North American Tournament to compete in Muay Thai kickboxing. This year’s team will be the first to have juveniles and an adult competing.

“With the growing popularity of events like the UFC, mixed martial arts and kickboxing at the amateur level is also growing. We are very excited to bring these sports to younger students in a venue like the WKA that is professional and attracts some of the best teams in the continent” said Scot Schwichow, the head coach and owner of Revolution Self Defense.

The WKA North American Championship holds divisions in MMA, Muay Thai, K1 and other ring sports. There is no division for juveniles in Muay Thai this year, but K1 rules are very similar, Schwichow said. The Virginia state athletic commission sanctions all bouts and fights are scheduled to last three rounds. This WKA event has grown in popularity every year and they had record 400 competitors in the 2012 event. “Both Coach Scot and I have competed in Muay Thai events for the WKA and we are real proud to see the progress that our younger fighters have made to prepare for this event,” said Muay Thai coach Gustavo Navarette.

Four competitors from the Revolution Self Defense fight team are planning to the event in March. Samuel Hand and Cameron Smith will enter the Juvenile MMA division, Alexis Lobo will enter the female Juvenile K1 division and Adam Price will enter the Adults K1 division.