Mixed Martial Arts - Swanepoel visits Socga president |16 January 2015

Mixed martial arts (MMA) instructor Morné Swanepoel met Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (Socga) president Antonio Gopal on Wednesday evening ahead of conducting two training sessions.

South African Swanepoel is here to help promote the sport as the Seychelles Mixed Martial Arts Association (SMMAA) seeks to further enhance the reputation of mixed martial arts in Seychelles.

During the meeting, various issues were discussed including how to get more children involved with the sport. Mr Swanepoel said children need to join the sport for the proper reasons as despite being a combat sport, it promotes better physical and mental fitness.

He also pointed out the need for proper coaching as in such sport it is very easy for injuries to occur and therefore proper training and discipline are important for the sport.

SMMAA chairman Adrian Nanty said many athletes from other sports such as karate and judo have been training with them as it helps to develop their techniques.

Mr Nanty said Mr Swanepoel’s visit will go a long way towards building the capacity of everyone who attends the sport.

“We anticipate that activities such as this will help encourage people to take up MMA whether it is for fitness purposes, for those looking to learn some self-defence techniques or for those hoping to become top level athletes in the sport. MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world and is attractive because it has such a large scope, i.e. grappling and striking techniques. It also gives people a choice to either train only one aspect of MMA, or train MMA as a whole. Hopefully this seminar will contribute towards showcasing that,” he added.

Mr Swanepoel who is in the country along with his family who are all involved with MMA, will also be meeting with various organisations such as the National Sports Council (NSC) and representatives of the Citizens Engagement Platform of Seychelles (Ceps) in order to help develop MMA in Seychelles and to raise awareness of existing benefits MMA can bring to the youth and society as a whole.

The SMMAA was established in July 2013 with the aim of promoting and developing the sport of MMA in Seychelles. Currently it hosts training sessions five days a week at the Omnisports Gym, Roche Caïman and has organised a number of events such as fund-raising and public awareness activities and competitions and tournaments.

When asked about the future plans for MMA in Seychelles, Mr Nanty said: “As an association, it is important that we consider what we hope to achieve for the sport 10-15 years down the road. While in 2013-14, the focus was on raising awareness of the sport in Seychelles and promoting the association so as to build membership, now that we have a stable foundation to work with, within the next few years we hope to build the capacity of our athletes, coaches and competition officials through increased training opportunities such as those offered by the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) and those offered by the thousands of clubs around the world.”

Last year the SMMAA held two competitions – the National Submission Grappling Championships and the National Mixed Martial Arts Championships – and chairman Nanty, a former swimmer, has confirmed that these two competitions will return this year.

S. N.