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Lunar New Year Bash - January 25, 2025

tahminehs

The very first event of 2025, and it was definitely a full house, with more than 30 people turned away at the door. The event was organized by Kru Mat (Etobicoke Martial Arts), who now owes Kru Harold $50 for delaying the first bell by 20 minutes. Kru Harold messaged me last week wanting to bet that the event would start on time, trying to cover both outcomes. I’m glad I didn’t take that bet, though I was tempted. I’m on to you, Kru Harold. The event included four class A fights with no gear, a class B fight, and six class C fights, including our youth with rosy cheeks and the cutest smiles. And no, I wasn’t one of them!


Our Tylo, fighting for Kingdom, lost the fight with the biggest smile and celebrated by having three matcha cookies (made by MT Cookie). Tylo lost because he gassed out. I told him to eat the cookies before the fight. He should have listened! Next time, I’ll just shove them in his mouth when he’s getting wrapped up.


Mohamed Elniwairi from Genesis Striking fought (A class) Simon Bonello from Etobicoke Martial Arts. There were a lot of missed high kicks thrown by both sides. There were a couple of elbows that landed, giving the audience wrinkles. I don’t know if it was just me, but there were a few instances when clinches turned into very intimate hugs. I don’t think they scored for the hugs, as the judges felt they had to look away. The fight ended by referee stoppage in the second round after Simon landed a high push kick to Mohamed’s head.


The highlight of the night, in my opinion, was the female class A fight between Jenelle Garcia from Etobicoke Martial Arts and Sam Skinner from TKMT. Kru Dylan hung up his judge’s robe and cornered the fight for Sam himself. The two warrior women really set an example with their technique and fight ethics. Jenelle took a liver shot, and I was shocked at how quickly she recovered, especially since I recently took one of those myself during Krav Maga training. Sam was phenomenal at clinching, and that won her the fight.


The fight between Deval Garvey from Dunamis Muay Thai and Dimitri Campbell from Legends MMA was an interesting one. Deval’s kicks made very loud noises when they landed. It was as if Dimitri was wearing bubble-wrap, and Deval kept popping the bubbles with his kicks. Our Ako, who had been nagging me all day for not having a fight, said Dimitri’s techniques, especially at clinching, held him back and were the reasons he lost the fight.


The last fight of the evening was an A class battle between Basil Tago from Triumph Muay Thai and Kaden Chrichlow from VRTU. When I talked with Basil before the fight, he said, “Fighting for me is the closest thing to going to war, coming back stronger, no matter what.” I was amazed by how calm and collected Basil was during his fight. The 200 lbs of goodness cornering his fight might have had something to do with it. Kaden was taller, making his knees in the clinch extra effective. Basil’s strong low kicks kept scoring for him and even caused an 8-count for Kaden, which won the fight for Basil.


Thank you, Kru Mat and Etobicoke Martial Arts! What a great event to kick off 2025 with.


A few notes on our community:


PC Krus had their official ceremony hosted by Ajahn Suchart, receiving their red traditional MT outfits. I hear red is becoming the new black in our MT community.


The 6-year-old girl from 9 Spears Muay Thai took a jab to her face at Youth Scrimmage and won the Best WTF Look of 2025. We can all appreciate CAS for that!


I attended my first sparring session with “SHESpars,” held at Valhalla Mixed Martial Arts. It was very liberating to spar on mats not dominated by testosterone. I look forward to their upcoming event on March 16th at Lotus Fitness and Thai Boxing.


We suspect Kru Arash is in an abusive relationship, as he’s been showing up to the gym with a lot of cuts and bruises. He had the biggest cut on his forehead, and when we asked what happened, he said he was shaving his legs! I think we’re planning an intervention.


Kru Justin from Triumph Muay Thai recently celebrated his birthday, and he didn't kick his number. I think he's trying to hide his age... Word on the street is that he’s very old!


Does anyone know why York Muay Thai’s BJJ coach left their gym? I don’t want to draw any attention to the issue… I’m just curious. 


Ladies, if you've read my previous blogs and are considering messaging PC Kru Vince, hold off for a couple of months, as he’s attending my yoga sessions after training, working on his flexibility.


Last but definitely not least, an important fight is coming up on February 8th at the Dog Pound. It’s not every day that we see a coach fighting his students. Stay tuned for that blog!










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