World Kickboxing and Karate Union (WKU) Champion Abia Williams was a child when his late father, Hirron Williams, began training in, and putting him on the path of, martial arts.
“We always used to sit down and watch the old school kung fu movies together,” said Williams, whose father put him in karate classes a youngster in their native Alabama. “At first I wasn’t interested in it because I wanted to do what they did in the movies. And then I got more involved as I became a teenager, and I kind of just stuck with it, for over like 25 years.”
Now Williams has black belts in Yoshukai and Gōjū-ryū karate, Taekwondo, and a black sash in Kung fu. He’s also versed in American boxing, kickboxing and Brazilian jujitsu.
He and his father started Williams Hybrid Sport Karate & Fitness in 2010, its namesake pointing to the blending of the various styles available to students.
“Everybody will be getting everything that they possibly need,” Williams said. “It’s basically a one stop shop.”
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On August 12, 2012, former Mayor Deke Copenhaver honored Williams and his father’s contributions to the community, declaring the day “Bishop Abia Isaiah Williams Day.”
Williams has recently returned from Cardiff, Wales, where he competed in the WKU World Championships. Fighting in six matches against fighters from Canada, Germany, Scotland and Wales to earn the light heavyweight karate and kickboxing title.
“I had to put the title on the line,” he said.
The seasoned fighter was already a veteran of the competition, having earned a title when the WKU held the tournament in Austria in 2019. Williams trained for some six months, amid an ankle surgery and two years out of the competition (due to COVID) alongside two students, to prepare for the UK tournament.
Williams’ father passed in 2011, just one year after they launched the training school together. He kept the facility going as a means of giving back to the community, maintaining a safe space for local youth away from troubled streets.
“I teach them about leadership, discipline, respect,” said Williams, stressing the need for such values, particularly amid the violence erupting as of late among young men and boys. Martial arts are presented as a way to help some misguided youth channel aggression in a context that would set them on a positive path.
Williams has even invited some students, many of them young men who have gotten involved with gangs, in what are called “Young King sessions,” in which they are counseled and encouraged to avoid violence.
“I actually told them, ‘Hey, look, if you want to actually fight, let’s make a career out there,’ because you can make a career out of boxing kickboxing, karate, and that would take you off the streets,” he said. “If you’ve messed up in school, or you’ve gotten put out, you can have a second chance and the second opportunity.”
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Williams’ martial arts business isn’t limited to children. Adults frequently consult the school for fitness training. But it doesn’t exhaust is youth outreach. He juggles between being an instructor and running the school, and coaching basketball at South Aiken High School. He also took up after his father in ministry, pastoring the Revive Church at 1527 Wrightsboro Rd.
“I do have a great support system,” he said. “When I’m not here, they’re able to step up in different areas to help me out so we can bring all of this up under one roof.”
Whether it’s encouraging adults to get healthy and in shape, training young men and women how to fight for themselves—rather than in the streets—or encouraging their parents to take advantage of the safe haven the school is built to be, William says there’s one vision underlying for both his business, his education career and his ministry.
“Everybody has the same mission statement,” he said. “And that’s impact lives in each and every way as possible.”
Williams Hybrid Sport Karate & Fitness is located at 1824 Wylds Rd. in Augusta. For more info, visit its website at www.hybridsportkarate.com, or its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/hybridcsra.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
