Muay Thai comes to Moncton
Published Thursday July 2nd, 2009
English family brings new martial art training ground to New Brunswick.
It's the national sport of Thailand and anyone who has watched a recent Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) match will have seen it in action.
It's Muay Thai boxing and Tony Doolin has brought this aggressive form of stand-up combat to the Moncton area. Also known as the Art of Eight Limbs, Muay Thai boxing is a striking style that utilizes hands, elbows, knees, and legs.
"We moved here in November 07 from Manchester, England," Doolin explained. "My son, my daughter, and myself. We were looking for somewhere to train. We looked everywhere, couldn't find any of the gyms that had Muay Thai boxing."
After consulting with his own instructor Grand Master Sken, a world-renowned and much respected Muay Thai teacher, Doolin decided to fill that void himself. In June of this year, Spitfire Muay Thai Canada was born, the first club of its kind to the region.
"I contacted the guys at Macfit. They're doing MMA and Kyokushin Karate and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and kickboxing. They weren't able to offer Muay Thai boxing so they were very happy that they would be one of the first gyms to offer Muay Thai Boxing."
Doolin says a regular class is about an hour long, beginning with a warm up session. The next 30 minutes are about learning technique, with most students paired with a partner. The last 10 minutes consists of a cardio workout, combined with Muay Thai techniques.
"Grand Master Sken heads up SIMTA (Sitnarong International Muay Thai Association). That's his federation. I'm one of his students. Basically, everything is structured. We have quality structured training. We just don't do a thousand press ups, punch a guy, and go home. We assess people's ability to do a certain task and we start them from scratch and move them on according to their experience and expertise," Doolin said.
Doolin's own experience with sport can be traced back to about 10 years ago.
"I was doing Judo at the time, then some boxing," he said. "This was about 10 years ago. I'm late to the sport really. But I just went down to try it out. I was 33 then. I tried a class and I just loved it. It was just like a drug. So I was hooked from day one. I trained at a couple of different clubs in Manchester. I enjoyed the fitness side of it. I enjoyed the techniques, the technical side of things. I found the instruction to be very good so I continued to do it. A few years after that I got my children involved as well."
Spitfire Muay Thai Canada currently enjoys a roster of about 30 students, with the youngest striker at four years old while the oldest is 48.
"It's a very mixed bag because we have people who have never done Muay Thai but they want to. We have people who want to keep fit and lose weight. We also have ladies and gents who want self defense. On the other hand, we have guys who are professional MMA fighters who can't get Muay Thai training."
The Moncton area has a burgeoning MMA scene, with numerous gyms and frequent events. Doolin says the explosive growth of the sport has definite spinoffs for his art.
"If you look at how popular MMA is, not only here but throughout the world, it's unbelievably popular," Doolin explained. "These guys are true athletes. If you look at the most successful ones, they'll have a number of mixed martial arts behind them. One of the most predominant ones would be Muay Thai. That has definitely brought up the profile of Muay Thai."
However, Doolin says you do not need to have the intention on becoming the next UFC champion or Grandmaster to train at his club.
"If they want to increase their fitness level, excellent, we can help them with that. We have ladies who have called for self defense, we have some self defense routines. Once people try it, they don't seem to look back. They seem to want more and more and more. The two things I teach more than anything is respect and discipline."
Mitchell Bourque is a student under Doolin and is new to the sport. While he trained in both boxing and kickboxing, he says there is nothing quite like Muay Thai.
"There's a lot of discipline that's needed," said Bourque. "It's a tough sport. You do take a beating. The workout is intense as well. At the end of the class, you just feel like you gained something. You gain power and feel better about yourself."
And feeling better about yourself, Doolin says, is the ultimate goal of the sport.
"One of the most important things that it gives to me is a direction in life. It gives me discipline, and respect."
For class information, contact Tony at 506 227 4444 or go to www.spitfiremuaythai.com/canada.
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