Things are all starting to come together here at Absolute MMA Thailand in Rawai, Phuket. Our beautiful Thai-style open air facility is getting one hell of a facelift, and the Muay Thai classes are filling out nicely.
What was once an elevated boxing ring at the rear of the gym is now a flattened concreted area. The builders went to work with jackhammers and steel maces, demolishing the thick concrete and breeze-block ring walls. Ironically, at one point there was actually someone doing a strength and conditioning routine that involved sprints, tyre flips, and then hitting the tyre with a sledgehammer. If it wasn’t for the language barrier the builders probably would have requested the energy be put into smashing up the breeze-blocks at the other end of the gym for at least a round or two!
Somehow, an enormous concrete mixing truck was masterfully reversed down our skinny, banana-tree-lined road to the back of the gym and the concrete was poured. Top-of-the-line MA1 roll out grappling mats will cover this space with plenty of room for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling. We can’t wait for the mats to be laid and the grappling classes to be ‘rolled’ out in proper Absolute MMA style! We hope that you are all just as excited for the week-long Craig Jones seminar coming up on May the 20th as we are, and we couldn’t be prouder to bring this to you all on our brand new mat space.
As for the rest of the gym’s floor space, we’ll be making the most of it by converting what is currently another elevated boxing ring in the center of the complex into a 5 metre x 5 metre octagon. We have centered this octagon intentionally to be featured right in the middle of all the action. (Maybe one day we’ll see a Thailand ROGUE series emerge! A gym can dream…).To add even more room for cage grappling practice, there will be cage paneling installed down one whole side of the gym (with the added benefit of stopping grapplers being hurled out onto the driveway).
Our team is busy at work, calling in favors and connections and really coming together to make this one of the most impressive facilities in Thailand! Our Muay Thai coaches have been an amazing help and their local knowledge is priceless. Phuket, and Rawai in particular is such a tight-knit community that even one of the construction workers has a son who was trained by Coach Chenrit during his fighting career. It’s beautiful to see them reminiscing about old times and we’re proud to be part of a community with such strong history.
We’ve pulled down and re-purposed or recycled sections of the gym and donated what we could to friends, relatives and nearby businesses when possible. It’s great seeing everyone get in and get their hands dirty as a team. Just yesterday everyone – fight team included – took turns using an old Olympic barbell to remove what used to be a monkey cage bolted to the ground behind the gym. It’s great to see everyone’s enthusiasm and willingness to contribute to the transformation of the gym. We’re excited to write our own history along with the island, and form our own tight knit Martial Arts community, just like our team back in Australia.
Stay tuned for more updates and progress shots! Over the next few weeks there are going to be some massive changes happening around here.