I Started getting an interest in martial arts when I was 12 watching Jean Claude Van Damme films and always loved the fact he could do the splits! And of cause always idolised Bruce Lee. Joined Brian Townrows TAGB Tae Kwon Do club on Dean street when I was around 14/15 which at the time was great but found there was a lot of theory and patterns to learn, trained for a few years till I reached blue belt red tag, this is also where I first met Fran! At this point I started entering a few sparing and pattern competitions but was never really put 100% into my training.
After a few years passed as most 18 year old do I started lifting weights and this was all I did for a good 4 years or so, then as working in health clubs at the time was getting me down I looked elsewhere for training and started Muay Thai at studio 2000 Derby with Sai Varley this was completely different from anything I had ever done before the training was intense and the techniques extremely dangerous, I loved the fact it was so direct and straight to the point. My fitness levels were almost instantly increased and striking vastly improved.
With loving this sport so much I decided to travel to Thailand and train there and get the full experience of Muay Thai. I went to Bangkok and trained at the famous Sor Voripins Gym which turned out to be awesome, Training twice a day and getting personal tuition from Thai boxers who had been training since they could walk was an experience I will never forget! When returning I went back to the training at the gym but I was always interested in MMA and watched UFC etc on TV so with the stand up I fancied leaning the ground side to become a more complete fighter.
Having many conversations with Fran he mentioned opening the MMA gym and passing his knowledge on to others so I stared training atShaftesbury Urban Warrior is a great club and a nice atmosphere to train with all the equipment u will need to make a fully rounded fighter or just to improve your fitness MMA has it all! MMA is a sport where you are always learning and on your day I believe anyone can beat anyone its just the nature of the game.