Strikeforce gym began in 1988 , in the beginnig our facilites were a classroom at Miami Highschool with then students Matt Bolwell, Steven Rosten and myself.  Most of us came from a Zen Do Kai Karate back ground , except Mark Simpson who had a boxing background and joined us in 1989.  Combining his boxing skills and our kicking abilities,  we started to win some title fights.  In the summer of 1989 Bob Jones stayed at my house for 3 days and introduced us to Muay Thai.   The rest as they say, is history - we were all hooked!  

 

In 1990 we rented our first factory and things really started to happen - we had secured a sponsorship deal with a well known Nightclub -  all our fighters were wearing their logo on tracksuits & pants.  Muay Thai was starting to take off  and many more people started joining the gym.  

 

In 1991 we took our first trip to Thailand to learn more and fight it was hard back then as most gyms were not really interested in training us . Our big break came in 1993 when a good friend of mine Tim Darmajiva  recommended a gym that was based at a camp in Kanchanaburi, north of Bangkok called Thai Rung Rehia.  For 3 years, Aaron Warner and myself we went there to train and we fought up country. Everything we learnt, we either wrote down in a journal or videotaped.  

Then in 1998, after Jongsanan "Woodenman" Fairtex (who had used our gym in 1996), invited Ben "Pixie" Burton and Dru Livingstone  to stay and train at the home of Jongsanan, the legendary Fairtex camp in Bangkok.   The boys jumped at the chance and trained there for 2 months.  So impressed by the gym, they made the back page of the Bangkok Post, with photos and an interview.  Ben fought at Rajadamnern and Dru at Samarong.  So, for the next 3 years we all trained and fought from Fairtex when we were there.

 

In 2002, we started bringing a trainer/fighter "Meow"  from Eminent Air gym in Bangkok over to Australia to boost our knowledge and to develop our fighters.  In 2003, Aaron "TS2" Leigh travelled to Eminent Air to train & fight and we have been training there since, striving to learn more.

 

In 2008, the time was right to move to a larger, full time facility.  the new Gym opened to the public on the 1st of March and is still going from strength to strength.  Located in Burleigh Heads, in boasts 2 boxing rings (1 full size and a smaller grappling ring), numerous bags, pads, weights, excersice gear.  The Gyms facilities are up there with the best in Australia