Introduction to Phase One

Though it started as a Thai boxing club three years ago, the past 18 months have seen Phase One Chute Boxe evolve into a full-fledged MMA club, with help from Olympic-level wrestling coach Amir Esmaeli and BJJ black belt Carlos Lemos Jr.

Chief Instructor

Salvatore Pace started his training in Muay Thai and moved on to boxing under the coaching of Mark Hammond, having several professional fights before retiring from the sport and starting his training in BJJ, earning a blue belt under Carlos Lemos. Interestingly, he’s also got a black sash and twelve years training in traditional Wing Chun...

Top Students

Lightweights: Joel Snape and Frank Bohec have both competed in the Combat Sports Open Trials 2005 - Joel will be in the finals at the end of October - and Heavyweight Ian Blackford will be competing in the Grapple And Strike Amateur Finals in November. FYI: Ian’s a black belt in Wado-Ryu karate and Joel’s trained at the Shaolin Temple in China.

Typical Session/ Class Structure

Mondays and Wednesdays: Fifteen minutes warm-up, fifteen minutes padwork, then advanced students move onto standup/ground sparring (with or without striking, depending on how close to competition we are), while everyone else works on two or three combinations/ground techniques.

Fridays: we typically do a more demanding warm-up and some cardio-heavy standup before moving onto half an hour of clinch-work and takedowns and half an hour of BJJ, finishing off with half an hour of rolling. It’s all no-Gi, although several of us practice BJJ at other clubs during the week.

Club Facilities

Two punchbags, one spare one for practicing ground ‘n’ pound, a mirrored gym and some mats. Phase One also has plenty of cardio equipment and a comprehensively equipped weights room and sauna for anyone who needs to warm up/finish themselves off after a session.

Club Time Table

Monday: 20:00-21:00 (Muay Thai/MMA)

Wednesday: 18:00-19:00 (Muay Thai/MMA)

Friday: 19:00-21:00 (MMA)