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New Whitehorse combat gym has big plans

Just months after opening its doors, a new combat gym in Whitehorse is helping a fighter reach the national stage.
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Just months after opening its doors, a new combat gym in Whitehorse is helping a fighter reach the national stage.

N60 Combative Arts, which opened in May, offers a lot to members — kickboxing, taekwondo, mixed martial arts, personal training, nutrition and more.

Greg Sanderson wants to compete at the National Muay Thai Championship this November in Toronto and N60 is offering help with that too.

“We’re talking about sponsorship to give him a bit of a hand,” said owner Graeme Campbell. “Because we’re a new club we can’t fork out for a lot of things.… We give him free training and give him all the resources we have – physiotherapists and nutritionists and a lot of what fighters require.”

“I’m trying to make my way over there (to nationals),” said Sanderson. “I want to do it, but it’s about $1,000 to get down there and then time off work. Graeme is talking about getting some fundraising going. If I can just get a ticket down there, then I’m pretty much set. I’m trying to see if I can get the resources to do it.

“I’m training like I’m going.”

Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand focused on stand-up striking with fists, elbows, knees and shins. Sanderson, who moved to Whitehorse a year and a half ago, has been doing Muay Thai for five years with four amateur bouts under his belt.

Having N60 — an abbreviation of North of 60 — with Muay Thai classes, instruction and coaching has been terrific, said the 25-year-old.

“It’s a great setup there. They have some nice heavy bags,” said Sanderson. “I’ve had a lot of guys support me, are holding pads for me, pushing me, so having that here is pretty sweet.

“They’ve been putting the time in with me, which is definitely a necessity. If I’m going to take a fight, I need people to train with.”

“I need to get a lot more fights under my belt and get more experience, but ultimately it would be pretty cool to represent Canada,” he added.

The first thing you see when you walk through N60’s door at Yukon Inn Plaza is a padded dojo area with heavy bags, but there’s more to the gym than just martial arts and Campbell is quick to point that out.

“We have a dojo, but we’re not a 100 per cent a fighting gym; we’re a nice combination of them both,” said Campbell.

“We have a mixture of personal training, fitness classes and martial arts. We have some crossover classes. For example, we have ladies kickboxing, which is a fitness based kickboxing class. So we have crossover classes that are combative but non-contact — the best of both worlds.”

In the back next to an equipment room is another area being prepared for yoga, pilates and tai chi, “and whatever we can fit in here. We have some interest in step aerobics, which is coming back into vogue,” said Campbell, who has about a decade and a half of experience as a personal trainer plus a background in judo and kickboxing.

N60 rounds out its holistic approach with guidance on nutrition. Partnered with the gym, which currently has about 30 members, is registered dietitian Renee Young of Young Nutrition.

“She works in partnership with me to develop programs for the community,” said Campbell. “We want to offer programs through the club where people can get an all-around package.

“With the education she’s got, it’s nice to offer her through the club.”

Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com