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We have many amazing people with interesting stories that walk into all our gyms! The member spotlight turns to Young Nghiem aka CCB, long term member and official cheerleader of Absolute MMA.

Occupation: Office & Accounts Manager

Martial Arts/Sports: All of them. MMA, Wrestling, BJJ, Muay Thai/Kickboxing

What are your immediate training goals?

“Always have fun and learn some s***.”

Why do you love training at Absolute MMA?

“What isn’t there to love?! Coaches, training partner, facilities, attitudes/environment are all top f***ing notch.”

What do you like to do to relax besides training?

“Be incredibly annoying (especially to my partner), plenty of swearing, eating and cooking. And massages. I f***ing love getting them.”

Can you tell us about where you’re from and any interesting stories growing up? If you’re not originally from Melbourne, how’d you end up living in Melbourne, Australia?

“My parents were “boat people” from (Viet)Nam. They were in mortal danger escaping Nam and I was named after the bloke who saved their lives (his surname was Young). Quite good, no?”

Who are the kind of people that you look up to and why?

“People that are good humans. People like my Dad. He has been through some s***. Vietnam war, concentration camp, escaping to a new country with LITERALLY nothing, raising kids on his own as a single parent and putting himself through university whilst working 3 jobs… And after all that hardship, he isn’t messed up in the head/mentally, he is an asset to our community/society and keeping s*** real.”

What’s your favourite place to eat in Melbourne and your #1 dish recommendation?

“F*** me. Don’t be like that. No way can I pick just 1 place. Lots of excellent places in Melbourne to eat and each has their “jam”. Having said that, check out “Eis Japanese restaurant” in Albert for excellent contemporary Jap food, “Komeyui” in Port Melbourne for Sushi/sashimi & sake pairings, “France Soir” in Toorak for French, “38 Chairs” in South Yarra for Italian, Pacific House on Victoria street for Roast duck/Crispy skin roast pork, My House for brownies or braised pork belly and egg.”

If you could go back in time to your first martial art class, what would be the advice you give to your past self?

“Hey there youngin’ Young, do not dishonor the family.”

“Young is one of the coolest people I know – even though she’s a midget, she literally takes down people twice her size like a boss. If you don’t keep your hands up, she’ll punch you in the face and your contact lens will most likely fall out; if you don’t invert fast enough to recover guard, she’ll oil check you; if you don’t sprawl fast enough, she’ll double leg the shit out of you.

Not only is she an amazing grappler and a striker, she’s just an awesome human being. She organises all the social gatherings for all three Absolute gyms. She will be there to cheer you on if you’re fighting or competing – doesn’t matter if it’s MMA, Muay Thai, Boxing or Jiu Jitsu, Young is on everyone’s team. Although we see her sucking up to Lachie and Liv by bringing food exclusively for them, she makes it up to the rest of us by baking brownies and cookies, bringing vegan cakes for the vegans, and cutting up fruits for the ones that are cutting weight so that no one feels left out. Young is full of love and just an awesome person to have around the gym ❤” – Chisaki Akiyama

“To train with Young is to train with a gentlelady. She is very appreciative of everyone she trains with, always making it a mutual learning experience and leaving her ego out of it. She’s always humorous, an angel with the mouth of a sailor.” – Alyra Bartasek

With Easter just around the corner, many Melbournians are set to enter holiday mode and relax. The Absolute MMA team may have a slightly different idea of what holiday and relaxing means, with yet another packed weekend of competitions and fights having just passed us.

The weekend began with the highly anticipated Hex Fight Series 13 on Friday the 23rd of March kicking off at Melbourne Pavilion. With not just one Absolute MMA coach fighting on the card, but two, our team was out in full force and support! Coach Simon Carson was first up from our team, after a hard fight camp and inspiring weight cut. Simon dominated the fight, however was caught in a foot lock towards the end of round one and lost via submission. Some days you win, some days you learn and irrespective of the result, a great performance from Simon with many of our team feeling super inspired by his efforts. Well done boss man!

Coach Sean Le Gourrierec was next up on the card, making his debut in the Hex octagon for the first time. An explosive beginning and ending to the fight with Sean knocking out his opponent just THIRTEEN SECONDS into round one! We couldn’t be happier for you Sean, you absolute champion! Can’t wait to see you back in the octagon again soon.

Truly inspiring to have coaches on the team who continue to actively fight and it is great that you both lead by example. Thank you for all your teachings and congratulations on all your efforts!

Our next generation of athletes showed us just how much they’d improved with the Kids Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grading happening the next day Saturday at Absolute MMA St Kilda. Congratulations to all of you on your new stripes!

On Sunday, our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team headed to the Super BJJ competition in Broadmeadows. With over 40 competitors from all three of the Absolute MMA gyms ranging from kids, adults having their first competition to seasoned competitors- results were excellent across the board! Thank you for everyone that stepped on the mats and put their BJJ to the test, and of course, congratulations to the coaches whose guidance has made our teams great result possible.

Photos: (William Luu Fight Photography, Livia Gluchowska & MMA Media)

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.  

Our newest location, Absolute MMA Thailand in Phuket continues to progress! Classes are now growing steadily with a mix of students who have experience in different Martial Arts styles, those who are just starting out their Martial Arts journey as beginners, and those who have experience on a professional level. It is great to see such a varied amount of people from different backgrounds converging in this one location to become part of our newest community, and despite everyone coming from different countries and levels of experience, all share the same passion for Martial Arts.

As we are starting again from scratch, the class sizes have been small with an intimate, enthusiastic vibe. It has been wonderful hearing all the positive feedback about our trainers from the people who do train here. Our gym patrons have in particular enjoyed being able to get away from the classes at other gyms with 50+ students, where there is not enough trainers to hold pads or adequately assist with technique adjustments. Our trainers aim to play to a student’s strengths while working on their weaknesses, and ensure every student gets advice where needed.

What has been particularly rewarding at the Thailand location is seeing our beginner students come out with a smile on their face and feeling like they have improved their understanding of the fundamentals.  We definitely also aim to assist fighters getting ready for a bout and the trainers put them through their paces and pushed them hard where needed! It  is great to see that one of the key values of our gyms in Australia – making Martial Arts accessible for everyone – has been carried across to our Thailand location.

One advantage of the smaller class sizes we currently have is that students receive close, personalised attention. Emphasis is placed on keeping things technical and mastering the basics whilst still getting a good sweat on – which really isn’t hard in Thailand! For our intermediate students – in their first sparring experience with us, one of the coaches guides them through a few rounds and familiarises them with the technical, playful nature of Thai-style sparring.The more experienced fighters are paired with each other to get the high-level rounds in under the watchful eye of our seasoned trainers.

It has been impressive to watch how every one of our coaches in Thailand adapts to the needs and abilities of each individual student while holding pads for them. If someone is preparing for a fight, they get on the pads with ‘Beer’ (our coach’s nickname, not the beverage). As Beer  is an active fighter, he knows first hand how demanding fight preparation can be on the mind and body. Transitioning from another style? A pad session with Dam will put your power to use, all while he suggests adjustments to your current game to suit the style of Muay Thai. Only a beginner and just need to find your rhythm and feel things out? Then hitting pads with Chen and his careful instruction and occasional theatrics will build your confidence and have you leaving the mats with a smile on your face. 

Watching our trainers work together as a unit and apply their skills to every student to make sure everyone gets the most from their sessions gives us confidence in the future of the team here at Absolute MMA Thailand.

It hasn’t been all fresh faces here in Thailand though! We have been lucky enough to get visitors from our Australian locations come to stay onsite and enjoy Muay Thai training in Phuket with us. Shout out to Georgia Verry who stayed for a week and smashed out double sessions almost every day! Power couple Tim and Tina also stayed for a week and sweated up a storm with the team. It was great to see that everyone still managed to squeeze in trips to the nearby Nai Harn Beach and hikes to the Kata View Point in between smashing it out in their Muay Thai training sessions. All of you who visited recently brought such positive energy to the gym and we cannot wait for more of our Australian Absolute MMA family coming to train with us in our little slice of paradise! 

We are happy to report that the culture at our Thailand gym is friendly and welcoming. Students head to the beach together between sessions and share their favourite restaurants with newcomers. Patrons who stay on site are training regularly, and even cooking and eating with the trainers, amidst much laughter and story-swapping. With Rawai being a particularly beautiful part of an already stunning country, it is easy to slide right into the relaxed and family-vibe that’s being created here at Absolute MMA Thailand. Come and experience it for yourself!

The Absolute MMA team started March with a bang, with four fighters from the gym stepping into the ring at Roots 6: Natural Mystic/Rebellion Muay Thai 18: Return of The Weapon on Saturday, 3rd of March 2018.

Gracie Astill-Torchia kicked things off for the team on Roots 6, fighting against Lucy Duvnjak.
Having gone through an incredibly hard fightcamp that left her a little depleted, Gracie came forward, gaining strength as the rounds progressed and pushed hard to grind out a win via UPD against a talented opponent. Congratulations on continuing your winning streak Gracie!

James White was up next in the ring, fighting against a tough opponent with significant reach on him. Despite a loss via SPD James fought hard and we couldn’t be prouder of the determination he showed. Well done James!

Headlining Roots 6, Albert “Timorese Assassin” faced off against Sulamin Hashemi in the main event of the card. Alby fought a great battle, but didn’t get the result wanted in a close decision via SPD. Can’t wait to see Alby back in the ring stronger than ever for the experience gained!

With Roots over for the Day, Rebellion Muay Thai 18 began at 6pm, with Joe “Smokin Joe” Coverdale fighting second on the card against Angus McLennan. Joe displayed great technique and had a lot of fun in the ring against a strong opponent, unfortunately coming out with a loss via SPD.

On Sunday, four of our Absolute MMA Boxing team members went to St Albans to fight at the VAMAA Interclub.

Dushan Oshin Lankaputhra Wanniarachchige, Juen How Low (Jacky) and Daniel Morandin all won their bouts, with Aneira Connell’s bout resulting in a draw. All members of our boxing team showed improved technique, with Coach Pradeep Sihag “The Indian Warrior” noting “the highlight of the day was (the) straight right hand punch from each boxer”. Congratulations to all of you on your hard work!

Photo Credits: William Luu Fight Photography & Pradeep Sihag Singh

We have many amazing people with interesting stories that walk into all our gyms! The member spotlight turns to Kyle Morgan aka Kyle “KP” Morgz, long term member (since the yellow mat era) at Absolute MMA.

Occupation: UX Research & Design Manager

Martial Arts/Sports: Mixed Martial Arts

“When I think of Kyle, one quote comes to mind ‘I don’t call 9-1-1, I call on 4-1-1 – giddy up, bitches!’.” – Brenton McKiterick,