Combat Academy finds quick success

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This article was published 17/01/2025 (443 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Fitness Combat Academy already has some young champions.

Rodman Batson, who is one of the board members of the non-profit space that opened last May, said his children, nine-year-old Marley and six-year-old Rory, plus nine-year-old Carson Robinson all took up wrestling in the last three months.

“He said ‘Do you want to go wrestling?’ and I said ‘Sure!’” Marley Batson said. “Then it worked out.”

It certainly didn’t take long to pay off, with all three earning medals at the Next Gen Open Wrestling event in Winnipeg held by WAMMA Canada last weekend.

The young trio was actually enrolled in the boxing program, where the elder Batson said they were workhorses with incredible cardio. As a result, he asked if they wanted to try the new wrestling program, which is led by Derek Pearson of Neepawa.

The two Batson children went to their first event with just a couple of wrestling sessions under their belts.

“It was ‘Try your best and have fun,’” Batson said. “Rory got a bronze and Marley lost by a point but they loved it. The second time, it was in December (in Niverville) and Carson was still boxing but I was getting him to start being a practice partner and he was a natural at it. I talked to his parents and said ‘Food for thought, maybe he should try it.’

“He came to a couple more classes and loved it so he went to his first competition on Sunday and won gold. He went through everybody. Now it’s maybe he’s wrestling, maybe he’s boxing, but either way, he’s doing good. It’s nice to see.”

At the first event in Winnipeg on Nov. 16, Rory won bronze while Marley lost by a point in the bronze-medal match and finished fourth. In Niverville, Rory won another bronze while Marley moved up a division and didn’t medal.

In Winnipeg, she won her first bronze medal while the two boys both took home gold.

The Brandon Fitness Combat Academy already has more than 100 kids participating in programs, including some hockey teams who are after the fitness component. They also offer karate and youth boxing.

The facility is located at 539 Pacific Ave., in one of the buildings that had to be rebuilt after it was destroyed in the Christie’s Office Plus blaze on May 19, 2018.

“It’s basically to help the community and bring some new sports to Brandon and help downtown a bit,” Batson said. “A lot of our programs our junior programs, and wrestling has really taken off. It complements the boxing well, and like gymnastics, is a lot of fundamental motor skills, which is good. I think it benefits the younger athletes. A lot of kids are school age and they’re malleable and pick things up really good and there are a lot more competitions around, which is nice.”

The gym is actually an offshoot of Peak Performance & Athletics, which hosted boxing classes for years. All the combat sports have since been moved to the new facility, with Peak continuing to target squash and power lifting.

The new facility has grown organically since then.

“My brother Ryker and I run a lot of the boxing and my dad (Rodson) is hanging out, but it’s kind of like a co-op where we have a sensei from Shilo who is originally from Saskatchewan who does our karate, we have a gentleman from Neepawa, Derek Pearson, who runs our wrestling and has done MMA,” Batson said. “Honestly we’re expanding the programs and getting more help, which is nice, and the community is getting more sports, which is a win.”

The youngsters are certainly enjoying themselves.

Robinson began wrestling in December and said it was fun.

“I can’t really wrestle at home or do stuff like at home, because if I do, I’ll just get in trouble,” Robinson said. It turns out that’s a recurring theme.

“I get to knock down people and I don’t get in trouble,” Rory Batson added. With any sport aimed at younger participants, making them want to be there is a fundamental building block. It appears the organizers have that covered.

“It’s fun because Coach Derek is very fun,” Marley Batson said. “My uncle Ryker is really fun and he always gives me hints about wrestling.”

Of course winning never hurts.

“It’s really nice because I get to tell my friends,” Marley Batson said. While there are athletes at the new facility who are training to fight, that’s not for everyone. Batson said the beauty of the sports they teach is that each person decides where they want it to go, rather than everyone heading to exactly the same destination.

“Promoting health and wellness is our first initiative,” Batson said. “We don’t want to say we’re only a competition team. It’s definitely a goal for some people. Some people might want to lose weight or learn a sport. Some people just see it on TV.

“I’m not going to lie, the Jake Paul and Mike Tyson stuff has done a lot for boxing. If you ask a young boxer who their favourite boxer is, it’s usually an influencer but it works out for us because it’s getting the sport popular again.”

Batson added even the competitive boxing stream has a wide range of abilities and ages.

“My dad is nearly 70 and he’s still competing, and we have Carson and my son, who is six, competing,” Batson added. “The beauty of those sports is you can fit in where you want. If you want to be a coach or have a sport for life or if you want to do the high-performance stream we have, all that is here.”

The next big boxing event in Brandon is in March and Batson is hoping to put together a pro card in the summer, while the next big wrestling tournament is in February in Saskatchewan.

As they gear up for them, the Batson family’s new initiative is finding its way.

“It’s a non-profit so getting signage and getting more equipment are all these obstacles, but it’s a start-up so we’re trying to get exposure,” Batson said. “A lot of our athletes, like our wrestlers for example, have only been wrestling for three months, and in the three months they’re gone to three competitions, and our club record is pretty good, all things considered.

“We’re lucky to have a lot of athletes in Brandon, and having the events and the exposure of these sports, I think we could be a little bit of a mecca for these sports.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson