Black eyes and gold medals: St. John's martial artists bring home the hardware from Muay Thai nationals

For some St. John's martial artists, Muay Thai like kickboxingwith harder striking, pluselbows and knees is as graceful as ballet.

"It sounds very brutal, but it is a very beautiful art and we're very happy to be part of it," Sara Elliott told the St. John's Morning Show.

Elliott said the beauty of the sport lies in its "humbleness": Once the fight is over, opponents embrace each other. "You punch somebody in the face and you hug them at the very end."

You punch somebody in the face and you hug them at the very end.- Sara Elliott

Abbie Germain said it's built on understanding your opponent, knowing she worked just as hard as you did to get there.

"At the end of it, after you're done fighting inside the ring, there's no hostility outside of that," she said. "You just have a lot of respect for your opponent."

Elliott and Germain are part of 8 Limb Muay Thai, a local club which landed several victories and four gold medals at Canada's National Muay Thai Championships in Toronto Nov. 12-13, competing against200 athletes of all ages.

Elliott came home with something else: a black eye.

"I knew what I was getting into when I went in there," she said, explaining that she stepped up divisions to challenge herself. Lower divisions don't allow elbows or knees to the face, but Elliott and her opponentwere "full Muay Thai."

Goal: 'To kick butt'

"Thiswas what caused this beautiful bruise on my eye," she said, laughing. "She caught my kick and she threw back my leg and she spun in and clipped me with an elbow in the eye."

We didn't want to just compete. We wanted to win.- Abbie Germain

8 Limb's five members had a simple expectation: "To kick butt," said Elliott.

"We didn't want to just compete. We wanted to win," said Germain.

Two points away from winning best club

8 Limb was two points away from winning best club, which went to Southside MuayThai of Ontario, which had a bigger team.

"We lost to them, but we're good for a rematch next year," said Elliott.

Germain said the experience of the competition was a good stepping-stone in the club's growth.

"It was good to win our first few fights, but we want to progress and get better," she said.