Ron Hilton, a fireman at Station 10 on Whites Mill Road, dropped 60 pounds during training and won a U.S. amateur title and silver medal at the world kickboxing championships. SONNY HEDGECOCK |HPE Getting his kicks BY JIMMY TOMLIN ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER HIGH POINT – In only seven months, Ron Hilton went from a huffing, puffing bag of stuffing to a lean, mean kickboxing machine. “I was really overweight and out of shape,” the High Point native says. “I knew I needed to do something about it.” What he did was take up kickboxing, and he’s already claimed a U.S. amateur title and won a silver medal at the world championships – and he dropped about 60 pounds in the process. “I like the combat element of kickboxing – it’s very tough, very real fighting,” says Hilton, who used to study jujitsu many years ago. “I get an adrenaline rush when I’m doing it – it’s like I’m hooked on it.” Ronnie Copeland, a professional kickboxer who trains Hilton, says his student has come a long way in a short amount of time. “He went into the (world) tournament with only two fights under his belt,” Copeland says, alluding to the world amateur tourney held last month. “He won his first fight, but lost in the finals against a fighter from Texas who has a lot more experience than he does. For the amount of experience Ron had going in, he did extremely well.” More importantly, though, the 39­ year-old Hilton – a firefighter for the city of High Point for 17 years – says kickboxing has made him a new man. “When I started, I was about 80 pounds overweight,” Hilton recalls. “I was on asthma medicine, I was on acid reflux medicine, and I was about to go on medicine for high blood pressure. “Now, the only thing I’m on is vitamins, my weight is down to 245, and my blood pressure is perfect.” Stress, too, has been almost eliminated from his life, he says. “(Firefighting) can be a very stressful job,” Hilton says, “but when I leave from my (kickboxing) workouts, my mind’s free and clear.” Kickboxing has also made Hilton a better firefighter, he says. “I don’t tire out on the calls, so I can go in and do searches,” he explains. “Fighting fires is very physically demanding. It’s indescribable how fatigued you get doing that, especially when you’re not in top shape. When you’re fatigued, your mind doesn’t focus, and you can get confused in a house that’s filled with smoke. So this has made me a better overall firefighter for the community.” jtomlin@hpe.com |888-3579 ‘I was really overweight and out of shape. I knew I needed to do something about it.”