‘Ryden’ High

Photo by Lawrence Tabudlo

The excitement is building for Ryden de la Cruz, the math-loving teen who’s taking his kickboxing talents to the world stage in Budapest, Hungary, later this month.

Like any avid gamer, Ryden de la Cruz was super geeked out after receiving the gift he had been hoping and planning for on his 11th birthday four years ago: components for his own personal computer build.

And like any good student, he had done his homework beforehand by researching and identifying all his options and determining which parts — namely, a GeForce RTX 3090 video card, and an Intel Core i9-10,900k processor with a 32-gig DDR4 RAM that guarantees faster data transmissions — would best suit his needs.

Once his present was opened and all the pieces were in hand, he went to work. It didn’t take too long, maybe a couple of days, before he had assembled and connected everything, run the necessary checks and ensured that his newly minted, high-performance and home-constructed PC was fully operational.

In the end, building his own computer would cost his parents a significant chunk of change — about $6,000. But the PC build was, in his mind, justified because it was about to expand his world of gaming.

“I was able to do new things not possible on a console or any other device. It allowed me to connect with friends and also new people,” de la Cruz explains. “But more importantly, it made me a better player at the games I played purely because of the sheer performance advantage it has.”

Of course, there is another reason why the teenager adores his PC.

“It just looks cool in my room,” he states.

The same could be said of de la Cruz inside of any fighting ring.

This month, he’ll showcase his very cool kickboxing skills at the WAKO Youth World Kickboxing Championships in Budapest, Hungary. The invitation-only, six-day tournament begins Aug. 23, when the youngster will attempt a different type of connection — one that involves his hands, knees and feet making frequent contact with his fellow combatants’ bodies — all in his quest to be the best fighter in his age group and weight class, and proudly return to the state with a world title in hand.

“It’s exciting, but I really did not expect to be on a world team,” says de la Cruz, who’ll be performing under K1 rules (punches, kicks and knees are allowed; throws, headbutts and elbow strikes aren’t) and fighting in the 51kg (112 pounds) division for 15- and 16-year-olds.

“Now I’m representing the U.S., but I’d also like to think I’ll be representing Hawai‘i over there.”

If all goes well, de la Cruz says he could have “four or five fights” during the tournament. Regardless of who he’s pitted against, he believes he’s equipped to take on any and all challengers, thanks to the tutelage received under his coach, Nainoa Dung, and the team at Young Boys Inc. gym in Kapolei, where the philosophy is “to train hard so the fight comes easy.”

“I feel the way that our coach makes us train, it’s way harder than anywhere else,” de la Cruz says. “I know that all of the work that I put in and all of the hard days aren’t for nothing.”

Among de la Cruz’s most impressive skills are his all-around fight game and his ability to make adjustments on the fly.

“If I need to stand there and just fight it out or if I need to keep moving and hitting, I can do all of that,” says the young kickboxer, who has a background in several martial arts disciplines, including taekwondo (he earned his black belt at age 9), muay Thai, jiu-jitsu and wrestling.

His coach agrees.

“For Ryden, he learns fast and he’s pretty much a well-rounded fighter who can adapt to any style that his opponent brings,” observes Dung, a former Bellator MMA fighter who also captured several kickboxing titles as an amateur. “And even though he’s young, he’s advanced for his age group. Not too many fighters can do the things he does — at least they don’t usually do that until they’re older or they have more experience.”

Just as importantly, de la Cruz possesses rare focus and determination for someone who doesn’t turn 15 until next month.

“No matter how he’s feeling or what’s going on outside the gym, he always shows up and puts in the work,” says Dung of his pupil. “He’s pretty self-motivated.”

The teenager qualified for the tournament in Budapest after capturing the division for 15- and 16-year-olds at last February’s WAKO USA Kickboxing National Championships in Orlando, Florida. At that event, de la Cruz scored a TKO of his first opponent before turning his attention to his second and final challenger, an up-and-coming kickboxer named Dominique Perry.

“Going into that fight, I was like, ‘I have a pretty good opponent.’ (But) I did pretty well against him,” recalls de la Cruz, who started fast against Perry and was able to ride his early point lead to victory.

“I knew I definitely belonged and had a shot to compete for that spot on the world team,” he continues. “When I won, I don’t want to say I was surprised, but I was really excited and happy because I knew it would help build my reputation and my career in the future.”

As comfortable as he is inside of fighting rings, de la Cruz is just as at home within classrooms. In fact, the former honors student at Highlands Intermediate School is quite captivated by academics in general.

“I think it’s easy,” he says.

Although he admits English isn’t exactly his favorite topic (“I’m good enough at it to where it’s not a struggle,” he says), de la Cruz is passionate about most other subjects, particularly math. He claims the subject keeps him alert, prevents his brain from, as he puts it, “deteriorating,” and allows his “reflexes to stay sharp” against combatants.

He also insists that math helps him process each bout “like a chess match” and better predict what his opponents might do.

“I like learning — I try to learn something new every day,” says the soon-to-be freshman at Pearl City High School and the second of four boys born to Rey and Kaci de la Cruz. “With math, it’s always been fun for me with all the numbers, equations and formulas.

“I also think it will be good for my future job, especially if I want to become a doctor or an engineer.”

Or, possibly even a professional musician. Turns out this active learner, who was introduced to the ‘ukulele while at Highlands Intermediate, has since gravitated to the guitar. Although he discovered the instrument was “way harder to play than the ‘ukulele,” de la Cruz predictably refused to give up on conquering the six-string.

“I just looked forward to the challenge,” he says.

These days, de la Cruz is especially fond of Hawaiian music and is slowly becoming proficient at slack-key guitar. The first song he played live before fellow students was Broken Hearts by Darren Benitez, and currently he’s doing a deep dive into the stylings of Ledward Ka‘apana.

“I’m not fully trained by ear, but there’s certain parts of (Ka‘apana’s) songs where I’m like, ‘I’ve heard this before, so I know where the note is,’ and I can kind of figure it out if I slow (the music or video) down,” he says.

Eventually, de la Cruz promises “to start making my own songs.”

For now, though, he’s content with creating his greatest hits inside of fighting rings and patiently waiting to see where kickboxing leads him. And while he admits to getting carried away at times and contemplating a future linked to such promotions as UFC and ONE Championship, he acknowledges that such decisions are to be made down the road.

“I’m not really focused on one path right now because I know other things will happen and I’ll just have to see when I get there,” says the kid blessed with a good head on his shoulders.

“I’m in no rush.”