“Give back to the community and they will give back to you”

Dan Eden

STMA Academy – Reading Owner Dan Eden shares his thoughts on our third birthday.

Hundreds of members, multiple champions, fourteen coaches and countless lives changed — we have much to celebrate on our third birthday.

And as we look ahead to a new year, here are some of the things I’m proudest about:

Community

We’ve grown to 260 members from a standing start in November 2021. That steady rise in numbers is due to our reputation as a safe, inclusive environment for enabling personal growth, and for ensuring fighting excellence. This is not down to me; it is thanks to our coaches and our members, who are all contributing to the atmosphere we are generating at STMA Academy Reading, Scours Lane.

Another plus is the diversity of our members. They are not just multi-national, but also mixed in terms of sex, age, experience, income and background. Our partnerships with schools are helping to keep kids on track and off the street. We are helping to boost confidence, improve physical and mental issues, and we are giving people more purpose in their lives – whether they are of school-age or in their fifties. That gives me an enormous sense of pride.

Another way we are growing our impact is our charitable work. This has included numerous Ultra White-Collar Boxing and MMA charity fundraising shows (raising aa total in excess £100k for Cancer Research and over charities), sponsoring refugees with free boxing lessons, plus other public events.

Facilities

We’ve continued to invest time and a lot of money in our gym, adding equipment and a brand-new shower and toilet block to create one of the premier fight training environments in the UK. We now have more than 3,000 sqft of high-spec space being used around the clock to help people hone their skills.

Events

I always wanted STMA Academy Reading to be a welcoming environment where people could improve their mind as well as their body. To that end we have hosted numerous seminars including inviting Muay Thai legends Liam Harrison and Sam Gogh to share their insights. A large STMA contingent also attended a Master Class Seminar at the Hilton, Reading, where we learnt from One Championship Stars from Thailand such as Superbon, Nongo and Phetjeeja. We’ve also heard from UFC/MMA stars Nathaniel Wood and Brad Picket in a separate event. Added to that, we’ve now had a dozen gradings to help assess our students.

Ring experience is invaluable for any fighter, and we have welcomed many clubs into the gym for our regular ‘interclub’ contests. We’ve had 11 interclubs at the gym, which average 40-50 fights each, and have been involved in 70+ external interclubs. This has improved our fighters’ experience, giving them a chance to perform in front of family and friends, as well as increasing recognition of STMA Academy Reading.

Muay Thai

We’ve excelled in Muay Thai, with Jimmy Stevenson and Rahul Patel recently picking up a gold and silver medal respectively in their age groups at the Muay Thai GB Championships. Chamen Treacy and Jehmeil McNeil have also had notable victories recently, including Chamen’s TKO victory last Saturday on the Diamond show. Added to that are regular seminars, holiday options, and the enhanced training sessions we have been offering at the gym.

We’re now looking forward to fight night events in November and December, with new coach Kru Serdao, a 600-fight, 20+ years veteran, helping our lads to get in shape. Kru’s appointment is a real plus-point for the gym; it’s no exaggeration to say he has worked at the pinnacle of One Championship and UFC for many years. My thanks also to Alex Wright, Dan Stevenson, Marius Binisevicius and Attila Nagy for their skills and support.

MMA/ BJJ

More gold medals have come in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu courtesy of Josh Berkin, Sameer Abbas and bronze from Serkan Yilmaz. We’re now training hard for the next Pro Sport Grappling BJJ Reading Open Tournament at Rivermead, Reading, on November 10th. Thanks to Matteo Frascone and Kai Obe for their elite coaching.

 

England Boxing

The Scours Lane Boxing Academy is making our gym a centre of excellence for the sweet science. We have an incredible coaching team (all Level 1 & 2 qualified), including newly Tommy Johnson (Head Coach), plus his son Henry, Dan Stevenson, Julien Palk, Stuart Holt and Simon Pierssene, who are all teaching talented men and women how to duck, weave, cross and sting with style and strength.  We now have 20x amateur carded boxers making an impact including hot prospects Cody-Cooper Jones and Shoib Toofan.

Pro Boxing

We now have our first professional boxers fighting out of the gym under the guidance of newly qualified professional coach Tommy Johnson.

We are also sponsoring Andy Howson, the former 5x World Muay Thai Champ – from Bad Company Gym in Leeds, for his preparation in his big pro boxing debut early next year. 

White Collar Boxing

Lots of successes to report in white collar boxing, with Cameron Pridham, Michael Simon, Julien Palk, Rob Clark (all current champions in different weight categories).  Kacper Rajkowski, Alex Blake-Coulter, Dan Cooksley, Charlie Lawson and Tommy Johnson have also flied the flag for us with big wins. Graham Corker, Dan Stevenson and Hessel Williams are helping scores of fighters of all ages to lose weight, sharpen skills and fulfil their potential.

… and finally

My purpose in life is to help change peoples’ lives for the better through Martial Arts and Boxing. I have invested £200k+ of my own personal funds to help change the lives of others. I have done all of this as volunteer as have many people who have helped make the gym a success. We have a shared goal and shared philosophy: money is not real wealth. The real wealth is changing lives and watching people expand in confidence both physically and mentally. Watching the gym grow and seeing fighters starting to win titles across all fight disciplines shows we are now starting to reap the rewards of three years of hard work and dedication.

Long may it continue!!!

Dan