A recently formed Muay Thai kickboxing club in the Sault is sending one of its fighters to a southern Ontario tournament in search of his second win.
Dragon Muay Thai was founded about a year ago by Benjamin Roswell, who wanted to bring the kickboxing martial art to Sault Ste. Marie.
"There's been gyms that offer some form of martial arts, whether it's kickboxing or some form of karate or taekwondo, but there hasn't been an official traditional Muay Thai gym," said Roswell.
The 33-year-old learned Muay Thai as a teenager in Brantford, Ont. and later spent five years training in China and three weeks training in Thailand.
"Muay Thai is known as the art of eight limbs. It teaches you how to punch, use your elbows, your knees, and your kicks," Roswell said.
It also comes with a lot of traditions that Roswell has learned along the way and seeks to preserve through his teaching. Roswell uses the title of kru, or teacher, as head of the program.
He first became interested in Muay Thai while watching mixed martial arts, or MMA events, because many fighters use that form.
"When I was younger, my brothers used to watch UFC and I would tag along with them. There was a local gym [in Brantford] called Cage Dragon and that's where I got to see it firsthand," he said.
Dragon Muay Thai has about 20 adult male students, which Roswell said is about the maximum he can support at the moment.
"I'm not only teaching them how to defend themselves and how to fight on the streets or in the ring — I'm trying to implement how to have better character and better their lives moving forward," said Roswell.
One of his students, Alec Real, competed in a K-1 kickboxing match during a Northern Fights event held in front of a capacity crowd at The Machine Shop in November. In that event, Real, 25, won his match against Owen Rawlings of Superior MMA by TKO in the second round.
"Having my first win was awesome. It felt really great," said Real, who has trained in multiple forms of martial arts.
"Getting to train here and getting to do the traditional Muay Thai is great because this is the first place that offers it. A lot of people think it's the best stand up fighting. I want to prove that too and show people around here that it's something they should get into if they want to learn," Real said.
Roswell is heading to Brantford this weekend to support Real, who will compete in his second kickboxing tournament to chase a second win in the ring before another upcoming event in Sudbury in May.
"We're trying to build a good community here in this gym," Roswell said.
"We we're not looking for those guys who are just out to completely kill you and rock you every class. We're looking for a good group of guys that get together every week and train their hearts out. Most of us are fathers and guys who work full time."