This was Rob’s first Muay Thai bout and as the bell went in the first, his opponent looked cool and relaxed delivering some well placed front and head kicks. Rob took a few hard shots but recovered well and picked up his movement, finding his range and landing, some clean crosses,hooks and kicks to end the first round.

The second round started more slowly giving Rob an easier job of setting up some good punches while evading his opponent’s heavy straight combinations, a lack of concentration saw Rob crash to the canvas by a clever leg sweep.. The third round started in the same fashion as the second with Rob keeping his boxing form, picking his shots and moving his opponent from corner to corner. Experienced fighter Joshua, shown that this clearly was not his first ever bout as Banbury’s Nak Rop Muay Thai was told, started to get the upper hand. Rob showed true courage and heart to take the fight the FULL five rounds and gave a real good fight.

A great performance from Rob and a credit to Fighting Fits, Nak Rop Muay Thai

More Photos and Video to follow shortly

Anyone interested in taking up Muay Thai or any of the other disiplines that Fighting Fit have to offer can call or text 07545 233 525 or check out www.fighting-fit.net

Banbury, Oxon UK – 20 September 2011 – Fighting Fit, Banbury’s leading gym, martial arts, self-defence and fitness excellence centre today announces that fifteen new members were signed up at the Fighting Fit 10th Anniversary Open Day which took place on Saturday, 3 September 2011.  Approximately eighty people attended the Open Day including current member and former England Rugby International, Richard Moon who was on hand to share the benefits of being a Fighting Fit member with the new joiners.

Visitors were treated to a day of free activities and taster sessions, the most popular of which judging by the interest they attracted included bouts in the boxing ring with resident instructor Tom Malcher, Eskrima, cagefighting, and weightlifting displays as well as demonstrations of the facilities in the fitness and circuit training zone.  Visitors were also given an overview of treatments and therapies available from the on-site Sports Therapy Clinic.

Fifteen new members were signed up on the day, with a further twenty showing positive interest in wanting to join the centre, which John Shiels, Fighting Fit’s owner and General Manager said more than exceeded his expectations.

Shiels said, “Having invested recently in new equipment and facilities for the centre, we wanted to make sure we made the local communities around Banbury aware of what we have to offer.”

“To sign up so many new members on the day has more than exceeded our expectations, particularly given the current economic climate.  Having Richard Moon on hand to speak with visitors and existing members added a real buzz for people as they could hear directly from an internationally recognised sportsperson on the benefits of the facilities and the approach we take at Fighting Fit.”

“What’s more, seeing such a broad range of visitors from younger children through to older women and men taking such an interest in as well as participating in the activities and displays we’d included in the Open Day really helped to exemplify everything Fighting Fit stands for.  I’m so pleased with the outcome, we’ve decided to hold another Open Day in January 2012.”

The Open Day was designed to showcase Fighting Fit’s full capabilities, services and equipment to the local community.  The team’s specialist, qualified instructors held master classes and interactive demonstrations in each of the centre’s core disciplines which include mixed martial arts, karate, boxing, self defence, fitness & toning, circuit training, cagefighting and weight training.

Since 2001, Fighting Fit has been committed to transforming the provision of fitness and training to the local communities in both Banbury; from Unit 2, Power Park, Banbury (adjacent to Banbury railway station) and Stratford-upon-Avon; from Stratford Oaks Golf Club, Bearley, Stratford-upon-Avon.  In the last 10 years, the members-only Banbury facility has evolved from a boxing pure play to now encompass a fully-equipped MMA, karate, boxing, personal training, group classes, gym and training centre.  Members are also provided with additional services included sports and remedial therapy, diet and nutritional advice, and overall recommendations for health and wellbeing.

For further information please contact:

Lisa Rogers
Fighting Fit
07545 233 525
info@fighting-fit.net

Unit 2
Power Park
Banbury
Oxon
OX16 5AB

About Fighting Fit

Founded in 2001 by John Shiels, Fighting Fit is a privately-owned, members-only martial arts and fitness centre providing a unique blend of gym and training facilities coupled with combat sports instruction and personal training services.  Our mission is to improve and enrich the life of our members in the areas of fitness, training and wellbeing.

Fighting Fit’s extensive facilities include custom-built Dojo, boxing ring, cage-fighting arena, weights area, climbing wall, full range of mixed martial arts and combat sports equipment, as well as sports therapy treatment rooms and relaxation area.

At Fighting Fit our dedicated, experienced and highly motivated team is determined to turn your aspirations into a reality.  Our trainers are fully qualified fitness professionals, who specialise in various areas such as weight management, injury rehabilitation, sports specifics, nutrition, Martial Arts, flexibility and personal training.

The Fighting Fit ethos is not only to train hard but to train smart ensuring optimum results in minimum time.  Irrespective of age, fitness level, or ability, the Fighting Fit team is committed to helping all members realise their full fitness potential

Fighting Fit operates from 2 centres in Oxfordshire and Warwickshire.  Fully-equipped martial arts and fitness centre located at Unit 2, Power Park, Banbury (adjacent to Banbury railway station) and purpose-built fitness studio at Stratford Oaks Golf Club, Bearley, Stratford-upon-Avon.  For more information visit www.fighting-fit.net

About John Shiels

John Shiels is founder and owner of Fighting Fit.  John has studied martial arts since the age of five, becoming Irish school-boys boxing champion and representing his country in the British Karate Team for eight years.  John has held many National Full Contact Championship titles and is a 6th Dan and Chief Instructor of Bujinkai karate.  John also fought in the prestigious invitation only “10K” Karate tournament in 2003 and has held both the English and British Karate and Kickboxing Championship titles.

Since founding Fighting Fit in 2001, John has focused his time and energies on building his team of equally qualified professionals to help others achieve their fitness, training and wellbeing goals.

John continues to be instrumental in changing the perception of martial arts and combat sports.  Once considered highly specialist available only to the few, through Fighting Fit John brings the philosophies and disciplines he has learned and makes them available to everyone through all fitness and training programmes.  For more information visit www.fighting-fit.net

Members £10

Non-Members £15

Nigel will be conducting another fantastic seminar only at Fighting Fit on the 13th of November so dont miss out! Contact us today to book your place! Only £10 for members and £15 for non members.

Not a member of Fighting Fit? Then pop down and join today!

Eskrima, Arnis and Kali refer to a class of Filipino martial arts that emphasize weapon-based fighting with sticks, blades and improvised weapons. Although training starts with weapons, empty hand techniques, trapping and limb destruction are also core parts of these arts as the weapon is considered merely an extension of the body. Eskrima and Arnis  are the most common among the many names often used in the Philippines  today to refer to these arts.

The teaching of the basic skills in Eskrima are traditionally simplified. With limited time to teach intricate moves, only techniques that were proven effective in battle and could easily be taught en masse were used. This allowed villagers, generally not professional soldiers, a measure of protection against other villages, as well as foreign invaders. This philosophy of simplicity is still used today and is the underlying base of escrima. Because of this approach, escrima and the Filipino martial arts in general are often mistakenly considered to be “simple”. However, this refers only to its systematization, not effectiveness. To the contrary, beyond the basic skills lies a very complex structure and a refined skillset that takes years to master

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques and skills, from a mixture of martial arts and non-martial arts traditions, to be used in competitions. The rules allow the use of both striking as well as grappling  techniques, both while standing and on the ground. Such competitions allow martial artists of different backgrounds to compete.

The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be traced back to various mixed style contests that took place throughout Europe, Japan and the Pacific Rim during the early 1900s. The combat sport of Vale Tudo that had developed in Brazil from the 1920s was brought to the United states by the Gracie family in 1993 with the founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Professional MMA events had also been held in Japan by Shooto starting back in 1989. In due course the more dangerous Vale Tudo style bouts of the early UFCs were made safer with the implementation of additional rules, leading to the popular regulated form of MMA seen today. Originally promoted as a competition with the intention of finding the most effective martial arts for real unarmed combat situations, competitors were pitted against one another with minimal rules.[1] Later promoters adopted many additional rules aimed at increasing safety for competitors and to promote mainstream acceptance of the sport.

The name mixed martial arts was coined by Rick Blume, president and CEO of Battlecade, in 1995.Following these changes, the sport has seen increased popularity with pay per view reach rivalling boxing and professional wrestling.

Muay Thai (Thai: มวยไทย, RTGS: Muai Thai, IPA: [mūɛj tʰāj]) is a hard martial art from Thailand  that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese styles of kickboxing, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei  from Myanmar and Muay Lao from Laos. Descended from muay boran, Muay Thai is Thailand’s national sport.

The word muay derives from the Sanskrit mavya and Thai comes from the word Tai. Muay Thai is referred to as the “Art of Eight Limbs” or the “Science Of Eight Limbs” because it makes use of punches, kicks, elbows and knee strikes, thus using eight “points of contact”, as opposed to “two points” (fists) in Western boxing and “four points” (hands and feet) used in sport-oriented martial arts. A practitioner of Muay Thai is known as a nak muay. Western practitioners are sometimes called nak muay farang meaning foreign boxer.

Thai boxing has been around for over a thousand years.  However, it can be traced back using records to 400 years ago in the former capital of Thailand known as Ayutthaya. Various forms of kickboxing have long been practiced throughout mainland Southeast Asia. Based on a combination of Chinese and Indian martial arts,  practitioners claim they date back two thousand years. In Thailand, Muay Thai evolved from muay boran (ancient boxing), an unarmed combat method which would probably have been used by Siamese  soldiers after losing their weapons in battle. Some believe that the ancient Siamese military created Muay Boran from the weapon-based art of krabi krabong but others contend that the two were merely developed alongside each other. Krabi krabong nevertheless was an important influence on Muay Boran and so Muay Thai as can be seen in several kicks, holds and the movements in the wai khru which have their origins in armed combat.

Muay Boran, and therefore Muay Thai, was originally called toi muay or simply muay. As well as being a practical fighting technique for use in actual warfare, muay became a sport in which the opponents fought in front of spectators who went to watch for entertainment. These muay contests gradually became an integral part of local festivals and celebrations, especially those held at temples. It was even used as entertainment for kings. Eventually, the previously bare-fisted fighters started wearing lengths of hemp rope around their hands and forearms. This type of match was called muay khat chueak (มวยคาดเชือก).

Muay gradually became a possible means of personal advancement as the nobility increasingly esteemed skillful practitioners of the art and invited selected fighters to come to live in the royal palace to teach muay to the staff of the royal household, soldiers, princes or the king’s personal guards.[citation needed] This “royal muay” was called muay luang (มวยหลวง). Some time during the Ayutthaya period, a platoon of royal guards was established, whose duty was to protect king and the country. They were known as Krom Nak Muay (“Muay Kick-Fighters’ Regiment”). This royal patronage of kick-muay continued through the reigns of Rama V and VII.

Modernization

Ascension of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) to the throne in 1868 ushered in a golden age not only for muay but for the whole country of Thailand. Muay progressed greatly during the reign of Rama V as a direct result of the king’s personal interest in the art. The country was at peace and muay functioned as a means of physical exercise, self-defense, recreation, and personal advancement.[citation needed] Masters of the art began teaching muay in training camps where students were provided with food and shelter. Trainees would be treated as one family and it was customary for students to adopt the camp’s name as their own surname. Scouts would be sent by the royal family to organise matches between different camps. King Rama the VII pushed for codified rules for Muay Thai, and they were put into place. Thailand’s first boxing ring was built in 1921 at Suan Kularp. Referees were introduced and rounds were now timed by kick. Fighters at the Lumpinee Kickboxing Stadium began wearing modern gloves during training and in boxing matches against foreigners. Rope-binding was still used in fights between Thais but after the occurrence of a death in the ring, it was decided that fighters should wear gloves and cotton coverlets over the feet and ankles. It was also around this time that the term Muay Thai became commonly used while the older form of the style was referred to as muay boran. With the success of Muay Thai in the mixed martial arts, it has become the de facto style of choice for competitive stand-up fighters. As a result, western practitioners have incorporated much more powerful hand striking techniques from boxing although some Thai purists accuse them of diluting the art.

Nai Khanomtom

The most popular folklore regarding muay boran is that of Nai Khanomtom.

At the time of the fall of the ancient Siam capital of Ayutthaya in 1767, the invading Burmese troops rounded up thousands of Thais and took them to Burma as prisoners. Among them were a large number of Thai kickboxers, who were taken to the city of Ava.

In 1774, in the Burmese city of Rangoon, the Burmese King Hsinbyushin (known in Thai as “King Mangra”) decided to organize a seven-day, seven-night religious festival in honor of Buddha’s relics. The festivities included many forms of entertainment, such as the costume plays called likay, comedies and farces, and sword-fighting matches. At one point, King Hsinbyushin wanted to see how muay boran would compare to the Burmese art Lethwei. Nai Khanomtom was selected to fight against the Burmese champion. The boxing ring was set up in front of the throne and Nai Khanomtom did a traditional Wai Kru pre-fight dance, to pay his respects to his teachers and ancestors, as well as the spectators, dancing around his opponent. This amazed and perplexed the Burmese people, who thought it was black magic. When the fight began, Nai Khanomtom charged out, using punches, kicks, elbows, and knees to pummel his opponent until he collapsed.

However the Burmese referee said the Burmese champion was too distracted by the kick, and declared the knockout invalid. The King then asked if Nai Khanomtom would fight nine other Burmese champions to prove himself. He agreed and fought them all, one after the other with no rest periods in between. His last opponent was a great kickboxing teacher from Rakhine. Nai Khanomtom mangled him by his kicks and no one else dared to challenge him.

King Mangra was so impressed that he allegedly remarked, “Every part of the Thai is blessed with venom. Even with his bare hands, he can fell nine or ten opponents. But his Lord was incompetent and lost the country to the enemy. If he would have been any good, there was no way the City of Ayutthaya would ever have fallen.”

King Mangra granted Nai Khanomtom freedom along with either riches or two beautiful Burmese wives. Nai Khanomtom chose the wives as he said that money was easier to find. He then departed with his wives for Siam. Other variations of this story had him also winning the release of his fellow Thai prisoners. His feat is celebrated every March 17 as Boxer’s Day or National Muay Boran Day in his honor and that of muay boran’s.

Today, some have wrongly attributed the legend of Nai Khanomtom to King Naresuan, who was once taken by the Burmese. However, Nai Khanomtom and King Naresuan were almost two centuries apart.