Three Collie boys are working hard to train for their first ever state Muay Thai fight.
The fight will be taking place in Mandurah on November 7, and will feature fighters of all ages from across the state.
Muay Thai Trainer Waylon Prater has been training the boys at Eclipse Martial Arts since February.
Mr Prater is a Muay Thai fighter himself and had spent the past four years living and training in Thailand, perfecting the art of Muay Thai.
“MMA takes a lot of time to learn and you have to put a lot of time in to perfect the techniques,” he said.
“In Thailand the sport is like a religion, it’s a massive thing in their culture and they are so dedicated to perfecting the art.”
“I see a lot of myself in these kids and its better they learn the proper techniques in here than on the streets.”
Mr Prater said the boys have been working hard in preparation for the fight.
“The boys train three times a week and they will up it to four times a week with cardio on the weekends when the fight is closer,” he said.
“The biggest thing that these kids learn besides fighting is punctuality, manners, and how to hold themselves outside of training,, it’s all about teaching discipline and the kids respect me for it.”
Mr Prater said the club started off small and has continued to grow as a community.
“We started out with only a few kids and the club has grown; now we have around 15 training here, we have definitely grown as a club and it’s really good to see,” he said.
“We are trying to get the message to the schools that we want to grow as a community and a club.”
“Parents are always welcome to come and supervise the event as well.”
Mr Prater encourages anyone who would like to give it a go to come down to a training session.
“I would encourage anyone who is interested to come down and try it, the main thing is that we have fun and you can learn defence and engage in fitness at the same time,” he said.
“We just want to try and get behind each other as a community.”
The boys are placed in a fighting a division based on the amount of fights they competed in, their weight, and age.
“They used to be placed in weight divisions but they are trying to discourage this due to the weight cutting that used to occur, so now there are other factors that come in to play,” Mr Prater said.
Twelve-year-old Hunter Buckley from Collie said he is looking forward to competing in the state competition.
“I have been learning different techniques in order to prepare for the fight,” he said.
“I enjoy MMA because we have learnt a lot of techniques such as how to spar and how kick.”
Justin O’Halloran, 13, has also been training hard for the fight and said he is constantly improving his techniques.
“I am always learning to improve and get better,” he said.
“I am looking forward to winning at the fight, but at the moment I am just working hard on my techniques and cardio.”
Fourteen year old Aiden Reid said he loves to constantly learn new skills in the sport and learn about discipline through training.
“I like it because I am trying something new and having fun at the same time,” he said.
“I have been working on my sparring, and we have been doing lots of drills and working on cardio and strength as well in preparation for the fight.”
“Also, I have the best trainer ever.”
