Never in my wildest dreams did i ever imagine that i’ll be training in MMA much less Muay Thai and Submission Grappling. My love affair with Submission Grappling was talked about in my second article for SG Pro and of course my recent addiction with the adrenaline rush that Muay Thai offers me was the topic for my third article. For my fourth article i am going to talk bout my foray into the sport of Mixed Martial Arts also know as MMA and how joining Evolve and training in MMA had actually changed my life.

You are into MMA? Why MMA? It is so violent, so primitive, two men locked inside a cage! It is a bloodsport!

I get questions and remarks like this alot from my peers and friends when they came to know that i am a MMA practitioner. Basically why am i into MMA? Different people got into MMA for different reasons. Some people got into MMA cause they see it as an outlet to earn money. Others got into MMA cause they love to fight. Me? I got into MMA cause i love the sport, the physicality of the art of fighting. I adore the adrenaline rush everything my fist touches the pads and the feeling of perspiration trickling down my forehead as i jam my knee for the 40th time into the heavy bag. Why MMA? Why not soccer or basketball or table tennis? That is something which i find hard to explain, i guess it is just the appeal of MMA to me. Luckily for me, my family and friends have been really supportive of my love for MMA.

What is MMA to be exact? There’s been alot of discussions on what is actually MMA. To put it real simply, MMA is simply what it is; Mixed Martial Arts. A combination of martial arts fighting styles like Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Boxing and many others. These are further separated into the striking and grappling techniques. I used to think that one only have to be well verse in either the striking or grappling techniques to be able to come out victorious in a fight. That mentality changed when i joined Evolve MMA, the instructors constantly drilled into us that to be a complete MMA fighter, we have to be well versed in both the striking and grappling techniques and that training in the two techniques will enable one to work on his or her cardio. Muay Thai for instance is a great way to work on cardio. For someone who dreads kicking or punching someone, i was like “hmmm.. but i am not going to be a pro fighter anyway, so that will not affect me.” With that kind of mentality in tow, i focus on just the grappling aspect of fighting (Submission Grappling). Little did i know that due to my poor cardio, i ended up gassing out on several occasions, tapping out to a simple close guard grip! That’s right, i tap out as my opponent simply kept me in his guard and squeezes his legs! That was how weak i am.

At that very moment i realize that i am getting nowhere unless i start working on my cardio, but i am still hesistant to join the Muay Thai classes despite constant encouragement from Chatri, one of my instructor. I keep telling myself the reason is due to the fact that i can’t kick to save my life and i got no coordination whatsoever! Then on a particular Friday, my good friend, Marc wanted to try out Muay Thai, i tagged along and ended up loving Muay Thai! In fact i realise that it is not as bad as i think it is. The instructors, Nuengpichit Sityodtong, Chatri Sityodtong, Daorung Sityodtong, and Yoddecha Sityodtong taught us the basics of Muay Thai; the stance, the walking, the defensive position, correct warm ups, etc.. What warmed my heart was the fact that they treat everyone as equals, “Papa” Daorung for one come across as a very warm fatherly figure, its hard not to try to give it your all when training with “Papa”. Nueng, a Muay Thai champion, often tries to make the lesson as interesting and fun as possible with jokes, i can’t skip rope at all but instead of laughing at me, Nueng simply tell me, “Relax, focus and just don’t bend your knees.” and now i finally manage to skip rope (to the chargin of some of my friends who felt that skipping rope is something really simple!). Some other instructors might have just laughed at me or ignored me, after all whether i can skip rope or not have does not affect his livelihood, but Nueng makes the effort to help the students out. Yoddecha, another Muay Thai champion, with all his seriousness is actually a very warm person as well, during training he’ll walk around and guide us on the posture and techniques (Check out the motivating interview with Kru Yoddecha!). And then there is Chatri, the man who plays a huge part in me getting into Muay Thai, Chatri is very good at motivating the students and is a great fighter in his own right. I always say that i am blessed to be training under some of the best instructors from the Sityodtong Camp. At this point of my training, i would really want to focus building up my cardio and one way to achieve that is to continue going for Muay Thai training.

Then there is Submission Grappling, at Evolve we trained under the best Submission Grappling coaches in Asia. There’s Setsuma Takeda, Singapore’s number one MMA fighter who fought in the Art Of War promotion in China. Setsuma is the reason why i joined Evolve MMA to begin with. I came to know of Evolve MMA through a friend and joined their facebook account, then i watched one of Setsuma’s fight and feel in love with the guy! (Not in a gay way though!) Setsuma is hugely underrated, watching him roll with the guys during BJJ lessons, i came to realise that here is a man who has dedicated his life to fighting. I’ll remember rolling with Marc in the cage during an open gym session and Setsuma came by and taught us some proper techniques. He don’t have to do so but he did. Setsuma came across to me as a guy who genuinely love the art of fighting and hopes to share what he knows with the students. I used to think; “Why does Setsuma keep asking us do these rolls on the mat, it like almost 20 minutes of forward rolls, shoulder rolls, back rolls, etc..” Eventually i came to understand that these rolls are to faciliate movement and after doing the rolls, you somewhat have a better chance of rolling out from an armbar or kneebar.

The other Submission Grappling instructor whom i trained under and simply adore (again.. not in a gay way! I am married dammit!) is Ben Iams. Ben hails from the AMC, training under the legendary Matt Humes and has rolled and train with a who’s who of MMA including Josh Barnett and Chris Leben. With crendentials like these, you would expect Ben to be somewhat stingy but nope. Every lesson, Ben shared with us techniques and holds and he is always open to suggestions. With Ben, it is never a “I teach, you learn” kinda situation. It was always like an open concept lesson. Ben would teach us a technique and if we have questions or feels that the move can be improvise, we bring it up and Ben will advise us on why it can or cannot be done. I would say that Ben never did see himself as an instructor but as a fellow practitioner of the art of Submission Grappling.

Last but not least, Mixed Martial Arts. My first MMA instructor in Evolve MMA was Setsuma, the second instructor was a World Champion in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Antonio Braga Neto. I remember taking Braga’s lessons and it was really intense, the warm up was crazy but superb. Braga taught us the Americana and Kimura and since then i’ve been trying it on my wife! Not that she’s a fan of MMA but i got no brothers to try it on to begin with! I’ll always remember Braga as a big hulking man with a twinkling smile. Brodinho is the third MMA instructor that i trained under, even though i only took two lessons under Brodinho, i came to enjoy talking to him, Brodinho displays a level of maturity and respect to everyone, this is a World Champion who can potential kick our asses and there he is, sitting at the Muay Thai ring, joking along with us. Brodinho always like to mocking punch me and i’ll always play along by falling dramatically down to the mat!

Then there is Mike Thompson, a Gracie Barra Brown Belt from Canada. Mike is a candid guy who loves the art of fighting. In fact, i often wonder why isn’t Mike a pro fighter? Mike’s my unofficial mentor, teaching me the basics of submission grappling after every lesson. I remember Mike teaching me takedowns in the cage, he stood there and told me to take him down. Me being the slow witted twit that i am, simply dive in and Mike sprawls on me. After that, he told me how to do a takedown and proceed to take a series of takedowns from me. He didn’t have to do that but that’s Mike. Always so generous with his time and knowledge.

My other unofficial mentor is Zin. Zin is the man who is responsible for me taking up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Even though i still struggle with the gi, Zin always makes an effort to partner me during BJJ lessons despite our size difference. Zin is a big man with a big heart and has taught me quite a few tricks during our rolling sessions. His constant egging makes me want to take up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu full time but for the time being, i really hope to concentrate in Muay Thai.

The instructors team at Evolve is an example of how the common love for MMA can pull people of different nationality together. We got two instructors from Korea, Tommy Yang and Brian Choi and they are really great people. Very soft spoken but when it comes to pad work… ooooiiiiiiiii….. Tommy and Brian are very motivative when it comes to pad work. Recently i was in a Muay Thai session and Brian was holding pad and he told me, “you and me, we going 10 minutes!” Now Brian knows my level of cardio as this was not the first time we did pad work but somehow i guess he wanted me to go for it and we started off. I don’t know how did i fare but i sure as hell felt good after the session! I felt motivated to train hard. Without instructors like these, i probably won’t even make the effort to turn up for classes but these instructors, they make you want to turn up and when you don’t. You feel guilty about it.

Then there’s The Professor, Gordinho. A Mundials BJJ Black Belt World Champion, this man brings over 25 years of experience in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Gordinho grew up in Brazil next to the Gracies and has been a close friend of Renzo Gracie for over 30 years. The level of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu this man brings to the gym is undescribable. The fact that The Professor makes a mean Brazilian BBQ doesn’t hurt! Did anyone ever thought 2 years back that the man who trained Renzo Gracie, Georges St Pierre, Roger Gracie, Rolles Gracie, Igor Gracie, Gregor Gracie, Renato Babalu Sobral, Ricardo Almeida, Matt Serra and many others great fighters will actually be in Singapore teaching the locals Brazilian Jiu Jitsu? No one ever thought that this will happen but it did.

Joining Evolve MMA has definitely changed my life. I made a couple of new friends through training at Evolve, guys and gals like Zin, Mike, Zak, Nizam, Wahid, Oliver, Neelan, Jack, Sharon, Linette and the list just goes on and on..  My discussions with my good friend, Joe no longer hinges on just Profession Wrestling and best of all, i felt compelled to write about my experiences training in MMA, Muay Thai, Submission Grappling and hopefully in the near future, BJJ. I am not a journalist like Joe and often my columns might sound more like a diary than an actual piece of journalism but hey, its all heartfelt words.

To end this column, i would like to thank my instructors, Setsuma, Ben, Braga, Brodinho, Gordinho, Brian, Tommy, Nueng, Yoddecha, “Papa” Daorung for training me, teaching me, guiding me through the world of Mixed Martial Arts. To Chatri for constantly telling me that with training i will achieve greatness from within. My unofficial mentors, Zin & Mike for teaching me the basics and moves outside of lessons. My bud, Marc for going through the training with me. My good friend, Johan for being a listening ear. My wife, my brother and his wife for being supportive of my love for MMA. Even though i will never fight pro but it has been a wild ride through the world of Mixed Martial Arts and i foresee more adventures to come!

Somehow this sounds like an appreciation speech doesn’t it? It isn’t. Some might feel that this article is Pro Evolve. It is not, this article is simply a thought about my foray into the world of Mixed Martial Arts, it just happens that i trained with Evolve and i want to share my thoughts about training in this gym, which in my opinion is the best around. I do invite all MMA practitioners to send in THEIR thoughts about their own foray into the world of Mixed Martial Arts. It doesn’t matter what gym you trained in, FightG, FightWorksAsia, Evolve.  What matters is this question which i pose to you; why do we do what we do? Why do we train in MMA? The answer is very simple. Cause we all love the fight game. We are in this cos we love it not because we love bitching and yanking about how the politics of the local scene. I hope to change that and  I look forward to hearing from you, the MMA practitioner, the MMA trainer, the MMA lover, the MMA fan. SG Pro wants your views, we want your thoughts on the local MMA scene. So email us at admin@sg-pro.com

Till then, adios!

Muay Thai. The Art of Eight Limbs. Somehow i never think of Muay Thai as something that i would learn. It is such a graceful art, i see my instructors, Nuengpichit Sityodtong, Chatri Sityodtong, Daorung Sityodtong, and Yoddecha Sityodtong throw kicks, elbows, punches and knees and i am in awe. I ask myself, “would i ever be able to do this?” Clearly not as i have no body coordination whatsoever! I can’t even skip rope!

About 2 weeks ago, i went for submission grappling training and within minutes i was gassed out! Then i remember one of the instructors, Chatri telling me that Muay Thai is good for cardio. With that in mind, i went for my first Muay Thai session last week. I went in with a heavy heart.. well.. i can’t skip rope and my cardio is at an all time low but surprisingly it is not as bad as i think it would be. Our instructors for that session, Nueng, Yoddecha and “Papa” Daorung made the session fun.. yes. FUN. We started with a 20 minutes plus warm up, running, stretching, skipping rope (though i do have a little problem with that). Then it’s off to light shadow boxing and kicks followed by pairing up to train on light boxing and kicking. I pair up with Marc; my buddy. The instructors walk around, making sure that we got our posture and technique right.

After the light training session, Nueng ask us to line up and this is the part i love! We line up to deliver a series of low kicks to the paddings held by the instructors, even our two Korean MMA instructors also joined in, helping with the paddings. We are suppose to deliver low kicks to the paddings, then to the heavy bags for push kicks, low kicks, middle kicks and high kicks. Then suddenly Nueng switches and ask those at the heavy bags to do a series of 50 knees to the heavy bags! It was cardio packed and the thing is with everyone going at it. You don’t even notice that you are tired! I left that Muay Thai session, muscles aching but in a strange way felt energised!

Today’s session was even better, the usual warm up session and Nueng taught us to do the Wai khru ram muay after which we learn how to do a simple left jab, right cross followed by the elbows and knee strikes.. and then the fun part starts! I don’t know what the instructors call it but it is definitely good. We started off with push kicks on the heavy bags and then move on to the instructors who are holding paddings, ready for action! Marc and myself got teamed up with “Papa”. A little bout “Papa”; when i first saw “Papa” at Evolve, my first thought was uncle.. but “Papa” is no ordinary uncle, this is an uncle with a record of over 100 professional Muay Thai fights and “Papa” is really tough. Despite the language barrier, “Papa” never fails to interact with us whenever we drop by the gym. I have nothing but respect for “Papa” and the respect i had for him goes up to another level after today’s session. He guided us, shouting out moves, “Punch! Elbow! Knee! Kick! Kick!” Even though at times our kicks don’t connect, “Papa” simply held the padding up again and motions for us to go again! It is such a wonderful feeling training with such professionals.

No doubt there may be other Muay Thai gyms in Singapore but for me, Evolve is the first MMA gym i’ve joined in my life. I enjoyed my submission grappling experience at Evolve and right now i am enjoying my first Muay Thai experience. I might never have a chance to put what i’ve learnt to use but i do learn more than just Muay Thai. I learnt that the art of fighting transcends everything, including the language barrier. I also learn to control my breathing and work more on my cardio. It is definitely an experience i will remember. All i can say is i can’t wait for my next Muay Thai lesson. So what are you waiting for? If you have yet to try out Muay Thai, do so now!

How aptly titled. It is indeed a love affair that i had with submission grappling. I remember watching professional wrestling shows when i was growing up and i was never into the larger than life antics of wrestlers like Hulk Hogan or The Ultimate Warrior. Instead i was obsessed with the technical style of mat technicians like Chris Benoit and Bret Hart. I soon realize that the so called technical style has its roots in submission grappling and that these moves can be very lethal when applied with malicious intent. When professional wrestlers uses a side headlock, a neck crank or an armbar, its simply rest time for both wrestlers, but when a professional fighter applied the same moves, the results could be very different. Then i chance upon an MMA show and find that the display of striking and submission holds really interests me alot. I then started sourcing out MMA shows from the UFC and PRIDE and gradually amassed quite a collection of MMA media.

There was this one time during my national service; i was posted to a service unit and was an auto tech. Myself and a couple of other technicians were fooling around during lunch time and then out of no where one of my fellow NSF grabs me from behind in a rear naked choke, sinking it in so deep that i simply felt the world fading to black! He immediately releases the hold and i turn around to look at him but i was not angry at him, in fact i was intrigued by how easily i was put to sleep. At that moment i told myself, if i ever get the chance, i would want to learn this move. Ten years down the road, i am currently training with one of the top MMA gyms in the region, Evolve MMA under a great submission grappling instructor, Ben Iams and i learnt not just the rear naked choke but also other holds like the kimura, the americana, the heel hook, the knee bar, the armbar, the triangle and many other holds that can potentially injured anyone. The one thing though that Ben always instill in us is the safety aspect; that we are here to train and learn and not maim each other. Never in my life did i ever thought that i will join a MMA gym and actually learn submission grappling techniques. Though i am not really proficient in the techniques, i do believe that practice makes perfect. I have an unofficial mentor in Mike Thompson, one of the student training at Evolve who is a BJJ brown belt and he often teaches me the basics like how to go for a takedown or how to escape mount whenever he have time to spare after classes. Ben and Mike always emphasize to me how important the basics are and if you do not have a solid foundation, you actually have nothing at all.

It’s ironic how i started out in Evolve MMA wanting to just train in mixed martial arts after watching MMA shows and ended up training in submission grappling. To me the art of submission grappling is so fascinating, every single joint in the human body can be manipulated to cause pain to a person. I walk away from every lesson feeling sore and tired, sometimes with injuries but i always went home thinking about what Ben will teach us in the next lesson. One of my other gym instructor, Chatri spoke to me the only day on how i should take up another art, Muay Thai or BJJ to make me a more complete fighter. I am leaning towards BJJ since there are students telling me that after training in BJJ, it will bring my submission grappling (aka no gi grappling) to another level. Whether or not i gradually take up BJJ is another story altogether but for now, my love affairs with the art of submission grappling continues..

All Over SG Pro was never really meant to be a column. It is simply a place for me to update you readers on the happenings around this little community. Where shall i start? How bout the writers? Johan Yusof and Xanthos? Let’s start with Johan..

I got to know Johan in late 2003 when i started this online community (bear with me which i do my little shill!), Singapore’s 1st ever Professional Wrestling Community Forums! Art Of Pro Wrestling. Its been almost 6 years and i have always been in contact with Johan all this while though we have never met. Johan has always strikes me as gentleman’s gentleman. As avid MMA and professional wrestling fans, we often have distinct likes and dislikes but Johan never tried to enforce his thinking on anyone and it shows in his MMA shows reviews. Which is why Johan was the first to hit my mind when i decided to start SG Pro. Who else better to helm a MMA column than Johan? Like myself, Johan recently signed up with a MMA school and i would say that would only serve to fuel his love for the sport. Expect great reviews from him and do approach him if you wish to have a discussion bout MMA be it the UFC, K-1, Dream, PRIDE. The one thing bout Johan is that he don’t proclaim to know everything but he definitely will make an effort to make it an interesting discussion. So here’s to my friend from over the causeway!

Now that we got the columnists portion settled..

If you own a martial arts gym in Singapore or Malaysia, do email me the following details so that we can put your gym in the list of martial gyms.

Name of gym
Contact number
Address
Specialize in? (MMA/Muay Thai/BJJ/Boxing/etc..)
Your gym logo (preferably in high res jpg format)

If you are an aspiring writer, do email me a sample of your work and we will get in touch with you!

SG Pro – Fight Community may not have the glitzy setup as other forums in Singapore but we hope to give everyone a platform whereby they can talk about the common love for mixed martial arts and professional wrestling. There have been instances where certain forums blatantly promotes certain gyms. That is not going to happen here in SG Pro. Each and every gym will get the same publicity and promoting on the site and on the forums should they approach me. The fight community in Singapore and Malaysia is not really that big, so let’s all work together to promote the fight scene in Singapore and Malaysia. Just in case any of you are wondering, “Gary is based in Singapore, no?” I am in Singapore and for the Malaysia gyms’ publicity and promoting, my good friend, Johan will be helping me on that.

The publicity and promotion is basically very simple. Simply send us the details and we will put it up in the gyms page. I will then proceed to create a thread for your gym and you (the gym owner) can post any events or promotions that you will be having. How much your gym is being promoted really depends on how much effort you put in.

If you are interested in getting the top banner space on the SG Pro site, simply drop me a mail.

With that i conclude my first posting, now.. don’t expect lengthy write ups from me. I’m not really that good with words!

Cheers
Gary