As a coach and owner of 2 gyms in Mississauga, I often get approached by students telling me that they are interested in fighting. Our Muay Thai gym has over 100 members. Let's be honest, not every member will get an opportunity to compete and represent their club. There is a lot of time and resources that goes into preparing someone for battle, and it’s just not feasible nor practical to have the entire club fighting. Extra pad rounds with coaches, putting together your workout plan, finding cornermen (2 person) to accompany you for the day of the fight, prospecting for an opponent, organizing and planning for the event, and other behind-the-scenes work are some examples of extra duties required by the club to prepare for you to compete.

“Being skillful isn’t enough.”

At our Mississauga Muay Thai gym, we don’t just look at skill to determine who makes the cut. Likewise, you could be the hardest-working Joe out there, but if your skill doesn’t measure up, then keep training.

So how does a club determine who gets to be on the fight roster? I can tell you how Legacy decides.

How to Join the Legacy Fight Team (in no particular order)

1. Work ethic
   Training hard and pushing yourself each class.

2. Attendance
   You must be attending classes regularly (minimum 3 classes a week while also doing fight-related training at home or elsewhere for a total of 5 training sessions a week).

3. Time in as part of the team
   If you just joined our Muay Thai club in Mississauga, understand that it may take some time for all of us to get to know each other before we can work together.

4. Drive and passion for the sport
   Are you fighting for the right reasons? To get girls, to beat up on people, or to show off on social media that you are a fighter aren’t good reasons. We want fighters who love Muay Thai and the spirit of martial arts.

5. Skill
   You don’t necessarily have to have the highest skill at the club, but you must prove that you understand the fundamentals, can bring home the victory, and can protect yourself in that ring. Only through hard sparring at our Mississauga Muay Thai gym can you show this.

6. Attitude and character
   Douches, arrogant, and egotistical people are not representing our club. Luckily for Legacy, we don’t have this problem as we don’t draw in those types of people anyways.

7. Ability to listen, learn, and follow direction
   Self-explanatory.

When you first join, it’s perfectly fine to let the coach know that you are interested in competing. You can go a step further and ask how the club determines who gets to fight and what the requirements are. Just understand that competing and representing your club in Muay Thai tournaments near Mississauga is a privilege, NOT A RIGHT. You get chosen based on set criteria, and unfortunately, not everyone will get chosen. There is usually already a waitlist of students patiently waiting for their turn, so if you are a newcomer interested, you will have to be patient.

So you got chosen to join the fight team? Well, with great power comes great responsibilities. This is what teamLEGACY in Mississauga expects from our fighters:

Specific Requirements and Expectations for Our Fighters

1. Go to the advanced classes at least twice a week for 3 months before your scheduled fight. One of those classes has to be the sparring classes (currently on Tuesdays).
2. Train hard - don’t skimp out on hard work, challenge yourself by sparring with tough partners, give 100%, 100% of the time.
3. Be a good teammate and contribute to the club in some ways. What value do you add to the team or club?
4. We expect that shortly after your fight, you are back on the floor helping your teammates prepare for theirs through sparring and pad work. Long extended breaks after receiving your fight are unacceptable. If this happens, then you can expect that we will not be finding you another fight.
5. You are also training and doing your homework outside the club times. Road work, cross-training at other gyms, working solo on the heavy bag at home, studying fight videos, etc.

Do you have what it takes?

Hey guys, my name is Bao aka Baoy, aka Dennis.  You guys also probably know me as head muay thai coach at Fight Club and Stronghold, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Purple Belt competitor, and co-owner of Legacy Fight Apparel.  But how did it all begin?  How did I end up living my dream?  Well, let me tell you...wait wait wait...not at this very moment, and not all in the next post. 

But I would like to invite you to follow this blog, which will be a collection of honest stories of me striving, winning, failing, but ultimately learning and growing...and through reading about my endeavors, I hope to inspire you to go after your dreams.  Lets do it together.