Muay Thai class...

Recently went for a muay thai class at Evolve on Tuesday at the 4:15pm time slot. Was quite interesting to attend an afternoon lesson because the class size is HUGE compared to the early morning time slots. To accomodate the huge class there were three muay thai instructors. Learnt an interesting combo of leg block followed by knee. The muay thai instructors are really funny jokers especially kru yo. Haha... but I think I still prefer to have a smaller class size so I'll probably try to go in the morning.

Have not been going so regularly for training lately due to knee injury + cough + life is busy. Excuses I know but those are the reasons nonetheless. I have not totally revamped the website as I had previously planned but I have managed to make a logo. :)

I initially tried to make the whole thing from scratch but in the end I decided it was easier to just go with a pre-made vector template and just modify it from there. The coat of arms vector is courtesy of www.vectorlady.com

The words on the coat of arms are Spiritus and Zelus meaning "spirit" and "zeal". Ok, it's latin and may seem pretentious and all but I like latin so there. I seem to attend schools that have latin mottos so I always liked the sound of latin words.

Evolve family

So I'm done with training and heading back home on the north east line. Learnt transitions from half guard to mount or side control. Also learnt the Ezekiel choke from half guard. All around interesting stuff but nothing too fancy.

This morning I briefly considered skipping training to play diablo 3 but decided to come in the end and I'm so glad that I did because today was Zoro's birthday. At the end of the lesson, the whole class as well as a whole lot of his students decided to take a picture with him to congratulate him on his recent muay Thai win. After the photos were done, surprise cake came out. The look on Zoro's face was incredible. Zoro is always smiling anyways but he was somehow smiling even more and Papa Rich gave him a gag present, a mini tripod and camera case, before giving him his real present a digital camera. It was so funny to see Zoro sitting there holding his camera case thinking how come it's so light and wondering what's going on how come my present is a camera case and still smiling being polite. Haha. But it was really great to see and I think Zoro really liked his present.

This is just one incident that shows how friendly and inclusive Evolve is. Sometimes gyms are always saying you join us we are a big family and I'm always thinking "yeah right" but with Evolve I feel like I can believe it. The instructors as well as the other students here are just good to train with. Inclusive, friendly, have not met any partner so far that is the gym hero kind that wants to dominate others to show how tough he is. All in all, I feel that all this has just reaffirmed my choice in deciding to train at Evolve.

It's evolving....!

Evolve MMA Singapore

Since I am currently attending lessons at Evolve MMA Singapore, I felt it would be useful to let people know about what Evolve is like and why I chose to attend Evolve out of the many MMA gyms already established in Singapore and the many more that are still sprouting up as MMA is becoming more popular. 

Training under Champions

First off, Evolve has a star-studded roster of instructors and fighters. It's a great feeling to know that you are training under the instruction of a world champion and if you come to Evolve to learn MMA you will definitely at one time or another be taught by a world champion. Just a look at the instructor wall at Pomo and you will see the words Mundials Champion and Lumpinee champion all over. In fact you will see Lumpinee champion next to words such as "two times" and "three times" and even "four times".

Location and Schedule


Secondly, Evolve has two branches, one at Pomo and one at Far East Square. Both are conveniently located in the heart of Singapore. There were some other gyms that I looked at in considering which to join but the locations were typically at extreme ends of the island or some place that I had no idea how to get to. Aside from location, Evolve also seems to have one of the best schedules for me. Evolve runs lessons very early in the morning. I really mean VERY early, like 6:45am kind of early. This is great for me because most of my classes start in the late morning or early afternoon so I have time to go to the gym in the morning and then head home to rest before heading off to school.


Atmosphere


Learning something new is always slightly scary. Learning something as intense and physical as martial arts is especially intimidating. In this aspect, I found that Evolve had a very friendly and welcoming environment. Although the instructors are all so accomplished, they are not arrogant nor are they harsh. They greet everyone as they enter the gym and they are quick to praise you if you do well. Not only are the instructors friendly but the other gym members are all very friendly too. When I attended my first BJJ class, the other student who was my training partner was friendly and helped me learn the steps to the techniques. In terms of physical facilities, Evolve looks very well-maintained and professional. The mats are always constantly being cleaned by the cleaners after every lesson and the training equipment all looks to be in great condition. The toilets are also a pleasant surprise. They are so clean and modern-looking, I might say it's even better than some country clubs. Nice towels, nice showers. All in all, it's really good that you can enjoy a nice shower before going from the gym to work or school


Cost


The one downside I perceived from learning at Evolve is mainly that it is not cheap. I think I can safely say that Evolve is among the more expensive MMA gyms in Singapore. If you have a small budget then probably Evolve will not be so suitable to meet your budget. However, when I consider all the other things I mentioned earlier I still felt that the quality justifies the cost.


Conclusion


My experience at Evolve so far has been nothing but positive. I enjoy every lesson I go to and I feel that I am learning new things all the time. The quality and professionalism of how the gym is run is very impressive and although the price of membership is high but "you get what you pay for".

First things first...

Introductions


This is going to be a typical first blog post kind of post. Let's get it on! I'm a 24 year old (1988) Chinese Singaporean male who has recently started to venture into the world of MMA. I decided to chronicle my journey into this exciting world of martial arts and at the same time consolidate whatever useful resources I can find onto this blog.

Background


As for my existing experience, I have learned Taekwondo and achieved a black belt level at the age of 16. Admittedly, rising in rank in Taekwondo seems much faster and relatively easier than the martial arts that I have started to learn recently. About a month ago (Feb 2012), I enrolled at Evolve Mixed Martial Arts located at Pomo together with my friend. So far I have attended both the Muay Thai lesson as well as the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) lesson and have thoroughly enjoyed both. The BJJ lessons especially appeal to me because I have never experienced this level of grappling and technique while learning Taekwondo and the complexity combined with strategy makes for very interesting lessons. After one month of training I had managed to achieve my first stripe at white belt for BJJ and the satisfaction has really gotten me addicted to BJJ.


Physical Fitness


I am an asthmatic. I have been since I was 5 years old but my asthma is relatively well-controlled so I have engaged in sports most of my life. Playing badminton in primary school and squash in my junior-college. During my national-service I managed to complete the 21.1km army half-marathon but I feel that my physical fitness has definitely fallen since then. I currently weigh 65kg and hope to bulk up through the MMA lessons at Evolve. Apart from Evolve, I have also recently signed up for the Sundown Marathon but only for the 10km distance. Don't want to overestimate myself. 


Aims


So what's up with this blog? Firstly it is going to be a fitness journal. I am going to blog my progress of my physical fitness. I believe it is only with regular and specific monitoring will I be able to make progress with improving my fitness. Secondly, I hope it can be useful to others who are thinking of picking up MMA. I hope I can give some insight into what it is like to learn the martial arts and also some preview into the gyms that I am a member of.