Lumpini Fight Team at Muay Thai Mayhem: 19th November 2016

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Club coach, Reece ready for action in his fight on Muay Thai Mayhem

Club coach, Reece ready for action in his fight on Muay Thai Mayhem

Saturday 19th November was our last Muay Thai Mayhem show of the year and our biggest and most expensive show ever with 7 WBC Titles on the line and fighters from Spain, Portugal, Italy and France traveling to take on some of the UK’s best talent.

From our own Lumpini Fight Team, sports therapist Dani Peters started the action, beating Marie McManamon in a well matched battle over 5 rounds.

Boxer Jake Williams was up next, didn’t quite get going and having taken a count in the early rounds lost on points. Up and coming, George Jarvis, fighting in his 2nd adult bout faced Daniel Iodice from Italy winning all 5 rounds convincingly. Personal  Trainer, Holly Spence, had a tough fight against Brighton’s Alexandra Vogt losing on points. While BJJ instructor, Keith McKenzie, fought the more experienced Davide Lupi from Italy. In his second outing for the club (his last bout over 3 years ago) Keith never quite got going, perhaps paced himself too well and lost on a points decision.

Perry Dee, who had recently been training at the famous Vos Gym in Amsterdam fought the seriously sharp, Sandro Martin from Spain in a 57kg contest. The slick Spaniard fought a well thought out game plan to beat Perry on points in what was a nice, technical battle of styles.

Ash Cooke was matched to face Sonny Dormer from Bromley. Ash who’d lost to Dormer in his first fight over a year ago had been training hard but couldn’t stop Dormer from getting the judges decision.

Next up was club coach, Luke Hill, fighting Italy’s Ivano Siviero at 60kg under Full Thai Rules with knees and elbows to the head. Luke fought a clever fight, listened well to his coaches in the corner and managed to hit and move, hit and move to frustrate the aggressive Italian. My favourite part of the fight… Luke ducking under a big right elbow from Siviero! Impressive stuff from the young 20 year old.

Scott McGovern, who had previously fought Thaiboxing, was fighting under boxing rules. Unfortunately for Scott, his opponent dislocated his shoulder in the first round leaving a disappointed Scott (who’d hoped to get a few rounds experience out of the fight) to win the “Prize Fighter” Southern Area title.

WBC World Champion at 55.3kg Ruth Ashdown fighting out of Lumpini Muay Thai Crawley

WBC World Champion at 55.3kg Ruth Ashdown fighting out of Lumpini Muay Thai Crawley

3 time World Champion, Ruth Ashdown faced Italy’s Sveva Melillo for the WBC World Title at 55.3kg. Ruth had previously held the 52kg WBC World Title and fighting at this new weight, looked strong, fought aggressively and won the title with a unanimous decision. Hastings Amy Campbell took on Jillian Corbett from the well respected Wicker Camp in Sheffield. From the first bell, Amy came out with all-guns blazing and in what was an action packed 5 rounds of relentless action, Amy won the 66.6kg WBC National Title.

Club coach Reece Thomson faced the tough and experienced Karl Hodges from Louth Thai in Ireland. An awesome technical battle, with tit-for-tat action it was a fight that was close right up to the final bell with Reece just nicking the fight probably thanks his work in the 4th and 5th round to win the WBC European Title.

Last up for Lumpini was Ben “Mr Cool” Hodge. Off the back of a big win against Saiyok on Thaifight and then a loss against Leed’s Jordan Watson, Ben faced WBC ranked Lotfi Talbi from France. The tricky Frenchman was on the back foot from the bell and a big kick to the ribs of Talbi dropped him to the canvas and finished the fight. All 0:24 seconds of it.

Arguably the fight of the night, and definitely the one that swung one way and then the other was the WBC International Fight between Lyndon Knowles and Portugal’s Carlos Degraco. The monstrous Degraco is a sparring partner for the UFC’s Mike Bisping and with a reputation as a “banger” he caught Lyndon with some huge punches in the first round. Having taken two counts already, it was looking like the end for Lyndon, but with some serous heart he came back into the second round, pushed forward and started to worry the dangerous Portugese fighter. Lyndon got caught with an elbow in the 3rd round which dropped him to the canvas and the referee waved the contest off.

A good show, that run smoothly and something for everyone.

Muay Thai, Boxing and K1 Kickboxing. With some wars, some technical battles and Lyndon’s fight which showed what being a fighter is all about.

With the end of the year only a month away, the boxers are out for their last show in Brighton on December 10th and the Lumpini Thaiboxer’s off to Thailand on the club’s Annual Trip to train and (maybe) fight.

The Lumpini Ladies at the Diesel Gym Interclub

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The Lumpini Ladies at a Muay Thai Interclub in London

Rita, Karen, Holly, Emily and Lauren at the Muay Thai Interclub in London

A big well done to Rita, Karen, Emily and Lauren at last weeks Muay Thai Interclub at the Diesel Gym in London.

All four train in both our Ladies Muay Thai classes and jump in with the guys during our regular Muay Thai classes and invite only fighters classes too.

We use interclubs as a stepping stone towards having your first fight. Instead of “thowing people” in the deep-end, they’re the best way to build your confidence, to test yourself and feel what it’s like to have a real fight.

They’re typically a 3 round bout against one one from another club with a referee and corner team. So on the outside it looks and feels like  a real fight. You train in advance for it, maybe for 3-4 weeks depending on how much notice we get, you watch your diet, lose a few kilograms and learn how to deal with the nerves of a contest.
Then you fight.

They’re not 100% all-out fights, there should be an element of control. It’s about learning to put what you learned into practice. To battle-test your techniques in a real situation against a less-tha compliant partner. You have to stay calm, be strong, listen to the advice of your corner team and to the referee who’s there for your safety.

If you or your opponent go “too heavy” the referee will step in and tell you to take it down a notch. If you’re outclassing your opponent, he’ll tell you to take it down a level – to go easy.

An interclub is all about learning. There is no winner or loser at this stage so it doesn’t make sense to “lose it” or “go crazy!”

We run several interclubs here at our gym and travel to local shows locally.

If you’re interested in training for an interclub, let us know. Train regularly and be consistent. Then put your name down for the next “Fight Skool” in the gym.

We post them on our Facebook page and put up posters around the gym in advance — so keep your eyes peeled!

See you in the gym!

Lumpini Muay Thai Fighters Session

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A short clip of Paulo’s Muay Thai Fighter’s class which runs every Wednesday Night.

A nice mix of people in the class, a few novices through to season A Class fighters (Professional) who fight with knees and elbows (full Muay Thai rules) to the head and even a couple of retired fighters in there too 😉

We try to make sure you learn from sparring. It’s not a fight (if you want to have a fight, then just have a fight) but sparring should be a time to learn how to apply your techniques.

To learn how to read your opponent, to time your shots and fight with your brain, not just brawn.

Then you get better and you don’t get injured (which would mean you can’t fight and if you’re a pro-fighter it means you don’t get paid and don’t get to eat!)

Personally, I think everyone should spar. Regardless of ability. We don’t make people spar but even if you “play spar” super-light you’re going to learn. You’re going to become technically better and you’re going to be able to use your techniques for real.When you learn new techniques, when you shadow box, hit the bags or pads then you hit them the same way you hope to spar and one day fight (if that’s your goal).

Everything is consistent.

You train how you fight, so you fight how you train.

It makes Muay Thai a “live” martial art because you’re not up against a compliant partner, they’re resisting and that’s what keeps the art and the sport real.

If you’re interested in learning Muay Thai you can find out more by clicking HERE.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Gold at the English Open for Kolarov

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George Kolarov winning gold at the English Open in DartfordWell done to George Kolarov on his Gold Medal win at the English Open in Dartford at the weekend.

Super motivated, always here — training in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Wrestling classes — George entered the Adult Heavyweight Category at the weekend and showed mucho experienced for his 18 years.

Winning his first two fights on points, George did well to take the top-position, passing half-guards and moving well to keep on top and keep scoring as he moved from position to position.

In the semi-final he came up against the touch Rich Caplen from Brighton, winning on points and in the final he initiated the fight with a well performed ‘ankle-pick’ before taking control and winning via arm bar.

It was an awesome weekend for George who’s literally going from strength to strength and demonstrated both his technical skill and physical strength to win with three convincing performances.

Big well done and it’s great to have such a great player in what’s already a great Brazilian Jiu Jitsu team.

A Winning Weekend for the Boxers of the Crawley Martial Arts Academy

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It’s been a busy week for the boxers at the gym with a few of the guys jumping in and trying the Ultra White Collar Boxing tournament – raising money for charity – and then another 7 of of the team fighting in Erith last Saturday.

Fighting on the card were Cai, Aaron, Jake, Ashley, Josh, Dean and Randall.

Crawley Boxers

The results – a mixed bag for the gym.

Ashley, Josh and Jake all had tough fights – that’s a good thing – and despite putting in good performances they lost to better boxers on the day. They’ve all gone away, having learned a lot and have already been back in the gym working on getting better for next time.

MMA fighter, Aaron, was back in the boxing ring for the first time in a couple of years – taking a few MMA fights in between. The come-forward fighter did exactly that winning by TKO in the 2 round having already given his opponent a count earlier in the round.

Randall was back in great form – the tall, rangey fighter picked his shots well, moved stylishly and did what he had to do to take home another convincing win . While Dean – in a tough, well matched fight – listened well and put his gym work to good practise to win what was only his 3rd fight.

Military man Cai had boxed only 6 days earlier on the Ultra White Collar Boxing event for charity and was stepping into the ring for his first official fight for the Crawley Martial Arts Academy. Moving well and picking his shots he put on a great display to out box and win his fight.

It’s been a busy few weeks down the gym and with more fights on the horizon – plus an international Muay Thai even coming up on the 21st November – it’s only going to get  busier!

To find out more about boxing or learning Muay Thai at the Crawley Martial Arts Academy – you can get in touch by filling on the form on the side of this page or calling us on 01293 552 511.

Kids Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Team Results

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Only a year in and the Kids Brazilian Jiu Jitsu team is starting to look GREAT!

Kids Martial Arts Brazilian Jiu JitsuTheir second competition this year saw Jack , Ali, Finley, Drai, Jodi, Jayden and winning Golds, Silvers and Bronze medals at the Brighton BJJ Open.

The team of boys and girls are all taught by Black Belt Keith McKenzie and Purple Belt, Sonny Weston at our gym in Crawley and in no time at all have gone from rank beginners to medal winners in the competition.

A big well done to all the team, you all did awesome!

If you’re interested in finding out more about our kids martial arts classes (we have two different martial arts and teach 6 days a week) click HERE.

 

Surrey Open 2015 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Results

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A big well done to all the McKenzie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu boys and girls (based here at the Crawley Martial Arts Academy) for their performances at the weekend.

Paul taking home the gold medal for the Checkmat Brazilian Jiu Jitsu teamIt was a big team out (Graham, Paul, Dan, “Keys”, Jim, George, Wayne, Mike, Przemyslaw and Joanna) that took home three golds and plenty of silvers – several of whom are still relatively new blue belts in a division with plenty of people ready to make the next step up to Purple.

The Checkmat guys (our lineage is via the Viera brothers in Brazil so we’re the McKenzie BJJ team, part of Checkmat and based at the Crawley Martial Arts Academy) did fantastic with 18 year old George Kolorov fighting in the Adult Blue Belt, Heavy Weight division – winning his first two fights convincingly before making a tired error in the final to take a silver medal.

Super-slim, super-strong Graham Day pulled guard twice to fight from his favourite position on the bottom winning with two triangle chokes, while Paul Brimelow won his first fight with an armlock and his second submitting his opponent AFTER he’d already gone 16 points up. An impressive victory for Paul.

Przemyslaw and Joanna both won Silver Medals, while Dan and Steve took home Bronze medals for the team.

All in all, it was a fantastic performance from a team that’s just getting stronger and stronger and with the Oxford Open only around the corner – next month should  be even better (and hopefully we’ll bring an even bigger team).

See you in the gym!

The Juniors on Tour…

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George with the winners BeltIt’s been a busy couple of weeks at the Crawley Martial Arts Academy.

On the adult side of things Paulo and Ruth have both fought locally and abroad while we’ve also had teams fly to Glasgow and West to Hearne Bay for a fight night.

Locally we’ve been working with the Ultra White Collar Boxers who raising money for cancer research and then the kids have been all over the place.

Fighting at the Junior Championships in Stoke. Bournemouth and even travelling to Seville in Spain where they did fantastic getting a mixed bag of wins and losses (and yes we’re biased but we think the judges were too).

The kids fighting — made up of Brad, Harvey, Yai, Ethan and Linstead — have all be on fire recently. Super busy and training their hearts out in our Kids and Junior Muay Thai classes in Manor Royal.

While brother and sister — Gavin and Jodi — have been competing with the other Juniors and on the back of it they’ve been training super-hard. They both have amazing attitudes toward training, super polite and listen, listen listen!

With the summer approaching and holidays coming up — we’re still hard at it at the gym.

With two more trips to Italy on the cards, a trip to France and plenty of domestic competitions locally for both the adults and the kids.

If you’re looking  to get started (or have your child get started) and learn the art of Muay Thai (for self-defence, for confidence, for fitness or to compete) you can get in touch with the team on 01293 552 511 or enter your name and telephone number in the enquiry box on this website and we’ll be in touch.

 

Four Steps to Permanent, Sustainable Fat Loss

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Most people approach Fat Loss wrong.

In fact they do it backwards.

Then wonder why things aren’t changing.

You see most people think it’s all about exercise.  They think getting down the gym three or four times per week will cut it.  And while it will help — it’s the thin end of the wedge.  Getting to the gym isn’t where the magic happens and it isn’t the reason weight just “falls off”.

Let me give you an example:

You train three times per week and you burn 400 calories per session (… forget all those claims about burning over 1,000 calories per hour because it’s usually non-sense).  Well that’s a grand total of 1200 calories expended per week.

Break that down and 1,200 calories per week is 171 calories per day in the red.

Here’s the best bit…

That’s roughly two and half digestive biscuits.

So if you have a sweet tooth and like a little treat with your lunch or a dessert in the evening you could smash that 171 calories just by tidying up what you eat.

Take the sugar out of your tea, get rid of processed foods and sauces.

It’s not rocket science (… although if you need a gentle nudge in the right direction we can help)

It’s a lot easier and lot a cheaper to just tidy up your diet than it is to haul your butt down the gym and push yourself once you get there.

And that’s what I mean when I say most people approach weight lose backwards.

They think about the exercise first and foremost… treating it like it’s some kind of magic cure or worse still they actually go and look for a magic cure (… cue slimming tablets and shakes).  Which is the single worst thing you can do if permanent change is what you’re after.

Our approach here is different.

Sure we believe in diet and we believe in exercise but we prefer to say eating and training.

Because you’re going to continue to eat (… and not diet) for the rest of your life.

And exercise is random.  Training has a purpose.  There is an end goal and milestones you can celebrate along the way.

Our personal trainers have  a four step approach to fat loss:

  1. Eat right
  2. Train right
  3. Social support
  4. Accountability

Hopefully you understand 1 and 2 a little better now.

It’s about eating and training.  We can help you with that.

Social support, well that’s the reason weight watchers and slimming world are so popular.  It’s a group of people who get together and support each other.  Then weigh in weekly (… before binging and hiding the evidence) for the pat on the back.

And accountability.

Well that’s about having to look someone in the eye and tell them you’ve hand a sneaky chocolate bar (… or been really good and getting  a pat on the back).

Accountability is where you have someone who’s going to be waiting for you in the gym at  a specific time on a specific day where you’re going to make sure your food has been in check for the week (… we recommend all our clients use a food diary) before working through your training programme (… the programme that makes you look and feel great, not just ‘skinny’).

There you have it.

Fat loss in four easy steps — with a little bit of an ‘a-ha’ moment — on why you can’t out train a bad diet.

If you’d like to have a chat to one of our trainers to find out how you can kick start your new lifestyle click here to find out more.

Good Luck Jay… an Interview with the BBC at the Crawley Martial Arts Academy

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Jay featured on yesterday’s BBC News as he trained at the gym in preparation for his trip to Australia this weekend.

 

Jay, who’s been training and friends with us at the Crawley Martial Arts Academy for years (we’ve lost count) is a real life hero and inspiration to us all.  Never making any excuses and grabbing life by the ….. despite what’s happened.

Good luck on your trip!