gym review aug13.qxd

gym review aug13.qxd
10/07/2013
14:24
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TILLERY COMBAT IS A GROWING FORCE
ON THE UK MMA SCENE. SITUATED IN
BLAINA, GWENT, SOUTH WALES, THE
GYM, OWNED BY HEAD COACH RICHARD
SHORE, IS HOME TO NO FEWER THAN 17
ACTIVE PRO FIGHTERS AND 25 ACTIVE
COMPETING AMATEURS. NESTLED IN A
VALLEY ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF BLAINA,
THE GYM ATTRACTS OVER 90 MEMBERS
AND WITH TRAINING TAKING PLACE 6
DAYS A WEEK PEOPLE COME AS FAR AS
CARDIFF AND RHONDDA SOME 25 MILES
AWAY TO BE PART OF WHAT RICHARD
SHORE DESCRIBES AS ‘ONE BIG SOCIAL
FAMILY.’
T
he original team started training in a
celler under a nightclub in a small town
called Abertillery. They couldn’t decide
on a name so went for the easy option
and called it Tillery Combat MMA Academy. Now
the gym is housed in its own facility and has a
large main class area fully matted with a large
selection of heavy bags and pads, a separate
weights and cardio room and a fight training room
which consists of a boxing ring and and a caged
area for MMA sparring.
Training takes place six days a week, Monday to
Saturday. Richard Shore is head coach and has
many years of combat sports and martial arts
experience, training in MMA and Jiujitsu for the last
13 years and prior to that Karate and Judo. Richard
is a BJJ Brown Belt under Dave Coles and has
been competing in MMA and grappling
competitions since 2002.
THE REST OF THE COACHES INCLUDE:
BJJ COACHES – Dave Coles (Black Belt), Steve
Jayne (Purple Belt) and Darrell James (Purple Belt)
BOXING/STRIKING – Gavin Rees
(Former World and European Champion)
Jack Marshman (MMA and Boxing Champion)
9 6 | M M A U N C AG E D
WRESTLING/JUDO – Anthony Johnson (Former
British Junior and Senior Champion,
Commonwealth Bronze Medallist, AMMA Pro
MMA Champion)
Training takes place Monday to Saturday and
breaks mixing separate striking, BJJ and MMA
sessions as follows:
MONDAY – NO GI.
TUESDAY – BOXING/KICKBOXING
WEDNESDAY – BJJ
THURSDAY – MMA/WRESTLING
FRIDAY – BJJ/KICKBOXING
SATURDAY – BOXING
Richard now has a really strong young team. The
guys at the moment who are leading from the
front are Jack Marshman, Martin Mcdonough,
Kris Edwards, Ashley Beaumont and Joe Orrey.
They are all established pros fighting on Europe’s
best shows. Other guys to watch out for who
have had good starts to their pro careers are
Owain Parry, Timur Mercanoglu, Chris Tetley,
Leon Rosser, Lee Russel and Kyle Prosser. “I
have a load of amateurs who are gonna break
into the Pro ranks by the end of the year,” states
Richard and it’s hard to disagree that the future
talent pool at Tillery Combat is looking very
promising.
Competition plays a massive part in the club’s
activities. As a head coach Richard Shore
spends approx 3 weekends out of 4 on the road.
The gym’s very busy BJJ and MMA team means
there are members constantly competing. “I’m
probably doing close to 20000 miles a year but
the success we have at competition makes it all
worthwhile.”
The Fight Team has now amassed a number of
achievements in both BJJ and MMA competition.
In MMA their main achievements are:
MARTIN ‘MR PINK’ MCDONOUGH - VOK BW
Champion, Pain Pit BW Champion and will be
fighting for the Cage Warriors Bantamweight
world title in September in Cardiff.
JACK MARSHMAN - Shock N Awe MW
Champion, BAMMA British Champion, GWC UK v
USA Belt Winner.
KRIS EDWARDS – AMMA BW Champion, VOK
BW Champion, Pain Pit BW Champion.
ASHLEY BEAUMONT - Ultimate Impact WW
Champion, Pain Pit WW Champion.
In BJJ, Richard himself has won the British BJJ
Championships in 2013 and 2011, The British No
Gi Championships 2011, Seni Invitational 2010,
and has won the Welsh and Hereford Opens a
few times over the past years
Jack Shore has won the Juvenile British BJJ
Championships in 2011, The British No Gi
Championships 2010.
The BJJ team have taken Gold medals at every
competition they have travelled to since the club
was formed.
Currently Tillery Combat has one competing
female, Kaitlyn Jefferies. She joined Richard’s
team when she was 12 years old. She is now 16
and has competed as often as anyone else on the
team in BJJ. She has recently won Gold medals in
the Welsh Open and Hereford Open at adult level.
According to Shore she works as hard as any of
the men at the club is a pleasure to work with.
With such a large, strong, hungry team, Richard
now believes they are able to compete with any
gym in the UK. “When you consider we have no
funding and live in the poorest region in the UK
where unemployment is at an all time high, what
we have already achieved is incredible. I believe
that we don’t get the recognition we deserve
because of where we are based. If we were
based in a major city, I believe our profile would
be much higher.” Indeed, when you look out the
front door of the gym and see hills and valleys it
does feel isolated, away from the bright lights and
big cities most successful gyms are surrounded
by. It’s a testament to quality and dedication of
gym review aug13.qxd
10/07/2013
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LEFT:
WITH HIS SIGNATURE PINK
MOHAWK, MCDONOUGH
ALWAYS BRINGS EXCITING
FIGHTS TO THE CAGE.
MARTIN COMPETES FOR
THE CAGE WARRIORS
BANTAMWEIGHT WORLD
TITLE IN CARDIFF IN
SEPTEMBER
OPPOSITE: NESTLED IN THE VALLEYS OF
SOUTH WALES, TILLERY COMBAT LOCATED
IN BLAINA, GWENT
BELOW LEFT: ASHELY BEAUMONT –
WELTERWEIGHT STAND OUT MMA FIGHTER,
HAS WON ALL 4 PRO FIGHTS IN THE FIRST
ROUND. CAN THIS BE THE FIRST
WELSHMAN IN THE UFC?
people who travel big distances to get here. Up
and coming pro fighter Joe Orrey has travelled
from Barry to train with Richard 4 times a week
for the past 2 years. That is a 100 mile round trip
each training session. Fortunately he is moving
to the area in the next few weeks which should
cut down on his fuel bills.
“On the Welsh scene ourselves and the Chris
Rees academy are definitely the two leading
MMA gyms in the country,” adds Shore who
states that the team are like one big family who
train together and are all very close socially.
“Everyone wants their team mates to do well.
There are no egos and I can honestly say that
everyone gets on well.”
HEAD COACH
AND OWNER
RICHARD SHORE
IS BUILDING A
TEAM OF
CHAMPIONS
would like to see them continue to gain rank and
take more British titles.
“On a personal level I still have a full time job
outside of the gym due to financial restraints.
Hopefully I can go full time as a coach in the not
so distant future. If any wealthy business men out
there would like to offer financial help so that I
can realise the dream, please get in touch,” he
laughs.
The gym is growing in numbers every year and
this is something Richard has already spoken
about to the owner of the building. “He has told
me that If It gets to the point that the building is
not big enough for the size of the team then we
will restructure the 2 flats above. He is a huge
MMA fan and has been very supportive to the
club over the past 4 years. In the past I told him I
needed a bigger place and he just said ‘No
probs I will build you an extension!’ Not many
landlords out there are as good as him, I can tell
you, so I think that the fact he has told me this
means we will always be at our current
premises.”
This cohesive unit is obviously very important to
Shore as he adds, “If I have someone join and I
think their attitude and ego is going to disrupt the
atmosphere that we have created, then I have no
worries about asking them to train elsewhere”.
Martin ‘Mr Pink’ McDonough competes on Cage
Warriors 59 in the Bantamweight 4 Man Title
Tournament for the Cage Warriors World Title at
the Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena, Saturday 14th
September 2013.
See www.fightshop.com/blog for more details.
When asked about his long term plans or goals
as an MMA coach and gym owner, Richard
simply breaks it down as follows; “For the team,
hopefully we will get a fighter into the UFC, and
see many more of the pro team competing on
Cage Warriors shows. As for our BJJ team, I
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M M A U N C AG E D | 9 7