Martial art has had an important part in my life since I was very young. At fourteen I dropped out of school and went completely off the rails engaging in all sorts of mischief. I was fortunate enough to have a boxing club and a martial art school in my area and eventually it was through training that I managed to gain self discipline and focus on positive things.

From the age of seventeen I became totally absorbed in training. Then at eighteen went to go and live in a Chinese martial art school and study Chinese kickboxing full time. After staying in China for about three years I trained in a Muay Thai camp in Thailand and competed in Muaythai, boxing and Chinese kickboxing. At that time it was my goal to be a full time fighter but then something unexpected happened. Due to overtraining I injured my back and required spinal surgery to recover. The doctors said competing again would be impossible.

This drove me to study a sport science degree and go deeper into the science of training. I studied extensively  biomechanics, strength and conditioning, physiology, nutrition and psychology. I Started to realize that there were more efficient ways to train which were safer and would produce better results. Eventually Through training smarter I was able to not only rehabilitate the spine injury but to get stronger than before and even return to compete MuayThai professionally. Now I try to use the knowledge gained to help fighters and martial artists train smarter so that they don’t have to go through the injuries and set backs that I did. Hopefully they will be able to achieve thier goals quicker or at least be able to enjoy training and staying healthier for longer.

Fighting is brutal and one of the hardest things a person can do. I certainly gained alot of lessons in that realm.  But I understand that martial art is about much more than fighting and many people who do martial art never fight. What motivated me to open the dojo is the positivity martial art training can bring into the world….better physical and mental health and a good community. Martial art changed my life in a good way .I hope that the MMA dojo will have a good effect for others too.