The fighter mentality that they applied in their daily life, each their own, was front and center.
The love of learning true striking skill, for a competitive aspect or for personal prop and confidence building.
Making sure you are walking into a welcoming, non judgmental community that all share the same goals, no matter where they are on their fitness journey.
1MR One More Round has evolved from Lanna MMA, one of the most prestigious Muay Thai, Kickboxing and Boxing schools in Canada.
We feel our founders’ story, individually and as a family, represents so many different people that we meet in the gym and beyond. And that’s why we believe –
They were Immigrants that came to Canada with 3 young boys. They spent most of their time working hard in the daily grind, building a business and taking kids to extracurricular activities.
He’s an elite athlete, picking up martial arts from a very early age. He competed in judo throughout elementary and later moved on to other sports such as soccer, tae kwon do, jiu jitsu and Muay Thai. He’s a fierce competitor at heart. But that is not his only motivation to train. Family health history of high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression motivated him to keep himself busy and active. Watching his parents struggle, he knew that exercising was important for his mental health.
She’s a non-athlete, the kid that dreaded gym class throughout all of her her childhood. Always last, never picked for teams. She was a chubby child, weight conscious and body image was always part of her psyche. Walking into a gym was the last thing she felt comfortable with, and always dreaded doing so. Physical activity was not something she felt was a part of her.
One day they enrolled their son in a traditional Muay Thai gym. The son thrived, and they’d watch from the sidelines cheering him on. But when the owner wanted to close the doors because of financial struggles, they felt that maybe this was something they could do together and bought the gym to keep it open for the community they loved.
She loved the social aspect of the gym community. She also liked that Muay Thai was treated as a craft, and saw it as a learning experience rather than a fitness journey. He is a shy socially, even with all his confidence pairing up each class felt awkward, but nonetheless he enjoyed sparring and competition. But both knew, from being immigrants, from having life experiences, from running multinational businesses for years, that :
while you are comfortable it means that not much progress is made.
And then came Covid. While business was closed for an extended period of time, they missed it and decided to create a new concept. To create a space that the full spectrum of athletes can train in, from the likes of her to the natural talents like him. Everyone of all physical activity and skill levels can train together, with
combined with those who want to learn a skill,
And with Covid coming to an end, it’s easier to realize than ever that the:
A gym should be more than just a gym.
It must serve the purpose of getting in shape, but also It’s a support group, it’s a gathering place, it’s the new church, a place where you meet friends, adopt a healthy lifestyle, come for entertainment value and community, all rolled into one.
