The young athlete from Elderslie, has been perfecting his craft since the tender age of 5 after being inspired by a taekwondo class delivered at his primary school.

Jack who studies HN Sport and Fitness at West College Scotland said, “I’ve been involved in the sport for over 10 years now, starting out doing taekwondo and then moving on to kickboxing.

‘It’s a sport that I love and striving to be the best is a big commitment; training pretty much every day including running and gym sessions.”

It’s been a busy year for Jack who has travelled the world competing in a number of fights.

“I’ve competed in 8 fights this year and won 7 including taking the ISKA lightweight world championship making me number 1 in the world – so it’s been a great year for me and one which has allowed me to firmly establish myself in the circuit'

‘I love the buzz of fighting; it’s hard to explain unless you’ve done it you don’t really understand it, but I love the fact that when you’re fighting it’s your night and everyone is there for you. The months of training and hard graft are all worth it on the night when you’ve got your friends and family there to support you and your able to show them what all the hard work has been about.

It’s such a good feeling to know that you’re doing something amazing with your time.

As well as dedicating his time to his sport Jack is working towards a qualification in sport and fitness.

“Of course the dream is to pursue a career in kickboxing, but as it stands it’s not the biggest sport in terms of professionalism. You don’t hear a lot about it, it’s still very sheltered and although there are options such as boxing, I thought it would be sensible to have a back-up plan which is why I’m studying at college.

‘Doing something like sport and fitness was a natural fit. The timetable at college has given me the flexibility that I need to train. It’s a lot easier than when I was at school 5 days a week, which meant I ended up putting my sport before my academic needs, which my mum wasn’t always too happy about. With College being two and half days per week I have a lot more time to focus. I’ve matured from leaving school and I’m a lot better at managing my time - I go to bed early, run in the morning and training in the evening which leaves the afternoon to do college work. I’m being a lot more creative and open with my time.

‘I’m really enjoying the course and have found it helpful with my training. We cover the anatomy and nutrition which has made me a bit more aware. I’ve always known the physical benefits of it but now I’m actually seeing what it does, why it’s doing it, so I’m more conscious of it when training and can make adaptions to it, and obviously learn more ways to train.”

As the end of the year approaches, Jack now has some downtime to relax and enjoy Christmas before the hard work kicks off again in the New Year for both his kickboxing and his studies.

“That’s me done for this year. It’s been a busy year, picking up 4 titles and travelling so I think I’m entitled to a bit of rest now to enjoy Christmas.”