Want to earn the swagger of MMA world champions? The first step is to find a MMA gym that’s willing to put you through your paces, and get you to dig deep. In Singapore, there’s no bigger name than EVOLVE.
Opening its fifth location in Clarke Quay, EVOLVE caters to everybody, regardless of schedule. Home to some of the greatest fighters in history, you are sure to get a premium lesson in ass-kicking, no matter which martial art you prefer.
“EVOLVE’s mission is to unleash greatness in everyone through the power of martial arts, and with one more state-of-the-art academy EVOLVE academy in Singapore, more people will have the opportunity to learn authentic martial arts taught by World Champions.
EVOLVE Clarke Quay Central’s comprehensive schedule makes it easy to train any time, seven days a week. With the opening of EVOLVE Clarke Quay Central, our academies’ combined schedules will now have over 700 classes per week led by our World Champion instructors.” said Wesley De Souza, Vice President of EVOLVE MMA.
I had the privilege of working with the award-winning Nong-O Gaiyanghadao, who’s been a world champion more times than I’ve even kicked.
His recent return to the ring for ONE: Edge of Greatness tournament saw him defend his Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title against young phenom Saemapetch Fairtex with a stunning knockout at 1 minutes and 46 seconds into round 4.
He basically won a fight in the time I usually take to get out of bed.
And it’s no wonder. Where Nong-O’s Muay Thai technique was swift, dangerous and deadly, mine looked more like a Magikarp on land. But a session or two with this master and I was sure to be transformed into a Gyarados.
Not that my Pokémon references were making me seem all that more threatening. Unless you were planning on challenging me with a Charmander.
However, my instructor was more than willing to show me the ropes. He focused on the basics, telling me whenever necessary to fix my posture, or to rotate my hips and shoulders more to generate more thrust and power.
In just half an hour going through some basic moves, I’ve learnt a lot more about Muay Thai and how vicious it can be, and definitely could feel my muscles aching. It’s not a traditional gym workout, but a martial arts training session is infinitely more interesting than lifting weights.
Who knows? Maybe you might discover the world champion inside you.
Evolve MMA is located at Clarke Quay Central, #04-18.