THE START OF LOVETTS!
I was working as a landscape gardener in Albany and training at a local Brazilian Ju-Jitsu gym, where I assisted others prepare for their upcoming fights. A few others from the gym were interested in trying Muay Thai and I saw this as an opportunity initially just to have someone hold the pads for me so I could train! We started out in the garage at my house where we had 1 punching bag and almost no other equipment. As a few more people became interested, my fiance Suzie and I decided we needed more space and we moved to a small 60sqm shed in town which we outgrew again in about 6 months. We then made the move to a road fronting shed that was 160sqm and got our first ring and some more punching bags. At this stage we had about 60 members and it quickly became more than just having someone to hold the pads for me.
In 2019 the opportunity came up to move into our current gym which is a 200sqm area. It was a big financial commitment, and I wasn’t sure if it was going to work out but something in my gut told me to do it and of course I had Suzie and a few close friends supporting me all the way. We now have over 200 members, 2 coaches plus 4 junior coaches. We offer kids, women’s, and mixed level of experience classes every week.
The Beginning of Rob Lovett
When I was young, I had plenty of energy to burn and loved martial arts movies. I wanted to be a ninja. I loved the idea of walking around silently and disappearing in a cloud of smoke. So, my mum enrolled me in Taekwondo when I was 11. It became a great outlet for my energy and focus and I was pretty good at it, having over 30 fights as a junior. I then discovered Muay Thai whilst on a family holiday in Thailand when I was 20. On our first night of the holiday, we went to a fight show and I was hooked. I spent the next 2 weeks of our holiday training with the Thai guys and had a first Muay Thai fight and win at the end of those 2 weeks.
When we got back to Australia, I spent the next 6 months trying to find a coach or training partner until I found my first coach on the mine site I was working at. We would work a 12-hour shift at the mine, then train together for another 2 hours after work each day. I had my first professional fight in Australia 4 months after that.