Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - University of Wisconsin-Platteville senior business administration major Jon Cichon, who graduated in May, will battle for the Thai Boxing Association Muay Thai amateur world title at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Des Moines, Iowa, over the weekend of Friday, June 5, through Sunday, June 7. Cichon is the current KICK/World Association of Kickboxing Organizations Muay Thai amateur U.S. champion and is presently a second-degree black belt in karate.

Muay Thai is a form of kickboxing and over 200 fighters will participate over that weekend. Anyone can attend and tickets can be purchased on site for $15 per day or $25 for the weekend.

Matches fought earlier that day will determine the man that Cichon will face for the world title. "Winning the world title shows how much training and hard work can do for a person," Cichon said. "It's extremely tiring and you have to have a lot of endurance to successfully compete."

Cichon trains on a regular basis at Dubuque Martial Arts Group and is also the head instructor at the Karate America studio in Dodgeville.

In late April, prior to his world championship match, Cichon will test for his third-degree black belt. The test will include several intervals of physical and performance testing. In all, Cichon will run three miles, bike 15 miles, spar for nine rounds, perform four rounds of the warrior fit workout, plus, perform four minutes of skill and speech demonstration. All of those requirements must be completed within a 24-hour period and sixth-degree black belt Randy Reid, who is Cichon's former instructor and also the founder of Karate America, will supervise Cichon during all testing.

Cichon's oldest brother, Chris, a third-degree black belt, will travel from the Minneapolis, Minn., area, where he runs a martial arts studio, to support and spar with his brother during testing. Chris Cichon currently holds the International Kickboxing Federation full-contact Muay Thai amateur world champion title.

Jon Cichon began his career in martial arts at the Karate America studio on Madison's west side at the age of three. His whole family was involved in karate and all five of them, including his parents, completed the black belt program.

"Martial arts has really challenged me positively," Cichon said. "I've learned a lot about myself in the process."

Cichon intends to remain involved with martial arts following graduation from UWP. He may relocate to the Minneapolis area to assist his brother at his studio or he may stay on as head instructor at Karate America in Dodgeville.

Cichon chose UWP because he liked the small town atmosphere and the small class sizes. He feels that his degree has prepared him for success in the future and says that he wouldn't mind owning his own martial arts studio one day.

Cichon also started the Kickboxing Club at UWP, which practices a mixture of martial arts. The club currently has 20 members. Because he is graduating soon, he has passed the leadership role to another member.

Cichon resides in Verona. For more information, contact Cichon at cichonj@uwplatt.edu.

Contact: Jon Cichon, UWP student, cichonj@uwplatt.edu Written by: Barbara Weinbrenner, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, weinbreb@uwplatt.edu