A Kaikohe funeral director is preparing to step into what is billed as “Australasia’s most demanding one-night tournament”, the King in the Ring Super Cruiserweight competition.
Dhcamad Armstrong works alongside his brother and father at the family’s funeral business in Kaikohe.
Despite the contrast between funeral directing and fighting, Armstrong says both roles centre on supporting others.
“My passion in both my work and fighting, the answer is very similar, I like helping people. It’s something that I am passionate about; I really do enjoy helping people.
“And through fighting, I’ve had quite a few, many, many people come through my team, come and go, come and stay, and their lives have improved, big time.”
‘I come from a good family’
The 37-year-old is the youngest of eight children and describes his whānau as providing strong examples, saying they “were steady and consistent in being good people”.
Armstrong discovered his passion for fighting while living in Japan as a professional rugby player. He says the discipline and teachings he encountered there shaped his approach, along with the influence of his sensei.
“He was a very nice, kind person to me. And then the gym I attended, my training partners, they, I feel, understood what fighting should actually be. It was nothing aggressive, nothing negative, it was a passion that they had, a hobby and a skill that they were trying to be better at,” he says.
Armstrong is also a father of two and says his family is central to his motivation.
“When I’m fighting, I’m just locked in, I’m zoned in. I feel good knowing that I can go back to my children and say Daddy won, or the cool part is being able to give them a trophy or a championship belt to give to my son or my daughter; they just think it’s cool.”
‘1 Minute Scraps’
Armstrong recently competed in the viral 1 Minute Scraps tournament, winning the event and taking home $100,000.
While the competition has faced criticism since its inception last year, Armstrong says it is comparable to other contact sports.
“My thing always is, fighting is a very aggressive, violent sport. But, if done in the right way, it can be nothing but positivity; it can change lives, I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it change lives, not a life, but lives. It can be used for good in a community if it’s taught correctly. Fighting is an amazing sport; it’s a sport. Of course, it’s violent, aggressive, but so are other sports; it’s just dependent on who’s teaching the sport.”
Following his win, Armstrong says kindness remains the most important measure of character.
“My message is always to be kind and nice to people. You never know what people are going through, so it’s just to try and be the nice guy, the kind guy. You don’t know whose day you could make from just smiling or saying hello to somebody. It’s easier to be kind to people than to be a mongrel. It’s a happy life to be a nice guy.”
Armstrong is set to fight on Saturday in King in the Ring at Eventfinda Stadium in Auckland, where competitors can be required to fight up to three times in a single night, with the event also streaming on CSN.
