MarkHolst.com

Hello everyone!

I want to thank everyone for all of the love, support and encouragement throughout 2011. I am so fortunate to have such wonderful family, friends and teammates. I want to thank my instructor and mentor, Pat Cooligan, along with the OAMA team for the great opportunities I have had this year and for giving me the best job in the entire world! I am very lucky to work with such inspirational people; the OAMA staff and all of the OAMA students, you guys make my day–everyday!

Lots of love and a big thank you to my mom who is always so supportive of me xox J’taime maman.

I can’t wait for another amazing year to come in 2012! As Kru Chris would say, “I am living the dream.”

Take Care & Happy Holidays!

BoOts!

Hello everyone!

I have been extremely busy training all of the students at OAMA, Carling and Kanata location, and managing the Kanata academy! I am loving this!

Last weekend, 6 Renzo Gracie fighters competed in PRO MMA at the WRECK MMA event in Gatineau. The team went 5 wins , 1 loss. I am super proud of all 6 fighters! They were amazing and showed what a Renzo Gracie fighter is all about.

Derek Boase, known in the ring as “Bowser,” was up first. It was his first competition in MMA. I trained a lot with Bowser for this fight and watched him develop good technique with a high level of fitness and toughness throughout the training camp. The game plan was very simple; punch your way in, takedown, GNP with elbows and go for the sub. It went just about that way…I look forward to seeing Derek fight at 155lbs, lightweight division—he will be Bowser. I am very proud of Derek and you guys better keep your eyes on him in the future! All 24? seconds of action.

Next up was Kru Jeff, who I also trained and took part of his training camp for this fight. He fought a talented wrestler and tough fighter but came out on top with the judges UD. Even with a bad cold he managed to tough through the fight and come out the winner. I only managed to catch the last few minutes of the last round because I was warming up Randy. From the feedback I heard about the fight, Kru Jeff’s opponent visibly tried to keep the fight on the ground where his strengths lie in grappling, even refusing to get up on his feet once Kru Jeff had skilfully passed his guard. Kru Jeff wasn’t baited in and whether the fight was standing boxing, or his opponent trying for a takedown but instead feeling the full force of solid muay thai knees, or both fighters on the ground grappling, Kru Jeff proved that his strengths are not limited to one area of martial arts and he continually maintained a position of greater power. Congrats Jeffy!
After Kru Jeff was Randy “Relentless” Turner. Just like Kru Jeff, Randy also was fighting a really bad cold all week before the fight, but he still fought his heart out for 3 solid rounds! He showed great takedown defence and got to work on his striking, coming out the winner of the standing exchanges by landing solid punches and even a high kick to the head! Even under pressure he kept his cool, defended the takedowns very well, and didn’t let his opponent do any damage on the ground. Randy won by split decision. Very close fight, really happy for Randy and to see all his hard work pay off! Good job Rambo!
Next up was Chris St.Jean. I wasn’t able to see the fight since I was warming up the guys, but from what I heard he won the first round and in the second round got caught in a triangle. On to the next fight Chris, it will make you better and stronger in the end brother.

Remi “Bam Bam” Morvan was next up fighting. Remi made his debut at 125lbs. He came on weight and the day of the fight was a huge fly weight! Remi dominated his opponent with a beautiful double leg take down, then got the pass to mount, then missed a triangle but recovered from bottom guard and locked on a tight heel hook that got him the win and sub of the night! Great job Remi, 125lbs is your home now brother!

And last but not least was Rolles Gracie fighting Lee Mein–typical BJJ vs Striker MMA fight. Rolles quickly took it to the ground, passed and mounted. Rolles put on his favourite sub, the head and arm choke, and finished the fight in the 1st round. Great job Rolles, great to see you back in the cage fighting!

Rolles’ brothers Igor and Gregor were there as well as Bruno Fernadez and Mark Colangelo. We had a great time together!

Renzo Gracie cornered all of the guys for their fights, what a guy, he is simply awesome! I got to have dinner with Nick, Pat and Renzo Gracie and also did the seminar the following day after the fight. It was so much fun to hang out with Renzo, Pat and Nick that night and the seminar was off the hook!

All in all, great job to Nick and Logan for putting on another great MMA show. Thank you to Pat for giving me this opportunity to corner and also bringing Renzo Gracie down here! Great job to all the fighters that competed on the WRECK MMA card, all you guys stepped in the cage and put it on the line!

Fighter’s fight!

Now for this weekend, I will be cornering Jorge, Channel, Jayson E. , Jayson M., Martello, Joey, Eric, Dave and Stan at the CASK muay thai provincials in Burlington! I cannot wait! I will let you guys know how we do ASAP!

Take care everyone!

BoOts!

Hello everyone!

I have been extremely busy training all the students at OAMA , Carling and Kanata location and managing the Kanata academy! I am loving this!

A few weeks ago Chris St-Jean and Randy Turner competed in the UGC MMA show in MTL. I coached both of them with Pat and they both won by TKO 1st round via GNP!

Then I went down to Hamilton to coach Stephane Bernadel against Will Romero. His fight was heartbreaking. It went down almost the same as my fight against Grandmont, Stephane was winning the whole fight and got caught with the overhand right punch. I know Steph will bounce back stronger then ever, shortly after my Grandmont fight I went to fight in the UFC, I am sure it will motivate Steph to achieve the next level!

And now this Friday night there will be 6 OAMA fighters going to war. Remi “Bam” Morvan making his 125lbs debut, Derek Boase making his MMA debut, Kru Jeff fighting at catch weight 150lbs, Randy Dube from RAMA making his debut, Chris St.Jean and also Randy Turner fighting their second MMA fight this month!

Also fighting from Team Renzo Gracie is Rolles Gracie!

Busy busy busy! All 6 fighters are ready to go! Team Renzo Gracie is going to war on Friday night WRECK MMA @ the Hilton\Hull Casino. Support your teammates, support your local MMA fighters and support MMA, the sport!

If you need good 60$ tickets,please email me at mark@oama.ca ASAP!

I will be posting a recap of the fights next week

Take care everyone

Hello everyone,

OAMA fighters were all over the map last weekend; competing in NYC, MTL, Tdot and Sudbury! I just came back from the Sudbury fight card: Freedom Fight, where Randy Turner and Chris St.Jean stepped in the cage. Here is a quick breakdown of my weekend.

Friday morning was the weight cut for both fighters, they didn’t have that much to lose, only a few lbs in the sauna They cut the weight at Sudbury BJJ & Muay Thai where they have a small sauna (Thanks Steve and Jenn) Friday night both Randy and Chris made weight, right on the money Randy 136lbs and Chris 170lbs!

Saturday morning we spent the day just relaxing and getting in the zone. The fights started at around 7:30pm, Randy was up first. I warmed up Randy and we walked to the cage; Randy was focused and ready to execute the game plan; GNP! We didn’t know anything about his opponent, which made it a very hard fight. His opponent came from out west but was training at a Karate gym, that was the only info we got. Randy came out strong and relentless! Taking his opponent down with ease within 20 seconds of the 1st round, he established top half guard and worked a bit of “body body head”. His opponent Aaron Montgomery swept Randy to get top half guard, Randy immediately tried to stand and gave away his back, he defended very well being in a very bad position and reverse positions to get top guard. Randy was working the GNP very effectivly but made a mistake of leaving one arm in and got caught in a really tight triangle choke. He escaped the choke then went to half guard to punish his opponennt with vicious GNP, Randy cut his opponent with an elbow then threw a flurry of punches. I thought the ref was going to call it but he let his opponent work and his opponenet scrambled to his feet.  Randy shot again for the double and finished it. At around 4:10 sec in the 1st round Randy made a mistake and got caught in triangle.

The fight was back and forth non-stop action, I believe it was the fight of the night; in 4 minutes there was so much action and both fighters were going at it back and forth. Great job on another exciting fight Randy!

Next up was Chris St.Jean! Batman was looking really nervous before his fight but thats what kept him on his toes and was able to fight so good! Chris touched gloves and start moving alot using good foot work and staying on his toes, he was fighting a BJJ brown belt from Franco Behring; Igor Caetano.The gameplan; stick and move! Chris did just that! His opponent landed a leg kick, they circled and moved around then Pat saw that his opponent had a really low and wide guard so he yelled out  “the left, let it go!” and Chris threw the big cross, it landed right on the button. KO of the night 24 seconds! Congrats Chris!

Also fighting that night was Syd Barnier, a MAS teammate, put on a Muay Thai clinic and got the TKO win in the 2nd round! Congrats Syd, south paw jinx nothin’!

Congrats to all 3 fighters! Randy and Chris will be fighting in 2.5 weeks from now in the UGC circuit in MTL October 1st, then they will be fighting at the WRECK MMA show later October along side Kru Jeff! Randy and Chris will have fought 3 pro MMA fights in 2 months!!! Fighter’s fight!

On the same weekend; fighting in MTL was Martello, Channel and Corrine. Khris Collins fought in NYC and the whole Renzo Gracie BJJ team fought at the Bravado open in tdot, congrats to everyone!

We have alot of upcoming events and fights for the OAMA fighters, I will keep you guys up to date!

Take care everyone,

BoOts!

Hello everyone!

I have been enjoying my summer to the fullest this year; doing what I love; teaching and training with the OAMA students\fighters.  I have been sooooooooooo sooooooo busy training all the students and competitors @ OAMA. There is so many fights coming up its crazy! Check it!

OAMA has been competing in all three different areas; BJJ tournaments, Muay Thai fights and PRO MMA fights! I have been very busy taking part of all the BJJ\MMA\Muay Thai fighter’s training camps for their fights. I really enjoy seeing everyone do so good on the mats\cage\ring and I am training them really hard for their upcoming competitions!

BJJ Fighters; On the horizon for this weekend is Derek Boase who won the World’s at white belt. He will be competing in his second Blue belt tournament at the MTL Open! He fought his first blue belt tournament only last weekend at the Boston open where he did very good for his first tournament, losing to the tournament winner by only 2 pts. I have been training with Derek everyday and he will be competing at the MTL open this weekend and next weekend fighting at the Bravado Open in Tdot!  Also Brandon “Jacare” McGourty (white belt), Joel Hadden (blue belt) and Matt “Hammer” Hache (brown belt) have been on fire on the mats, competing at high level in back to back tournaments; the Vegas Open, Chicago Open, Boston Open, MTL Open coming up, Bravado Open coming up and later in October our very own BJJ tournament; the Ottawa Open!

For MMA; Next up is Chris “Batman” St.Jean, who will be fighting at the Freedom Fight promotion in his hometown Sudbury next weekend! I have been training with Batman, working on the game plan and pushing him hard to get his next win! Along side Batman, Randy “Relentless” Turner will also be fighting at the Freedom Fight card in Sudbury. Both Randy and Chris have been going to the MTL wrestling club for this training camp and I have noticed a huge change in their MMA game and wrestling skills.  Kru Jeff, Randy, Marc, Chris and Remi (who will make his 125lbs debut) will all be fighting in the next WRECK MMA fight card in Hull coming up in October.

Coming back in the cage will be Stephane Bernadel schedule to fight Will Romero in October in Toronto. I have been training Steph really hard sticking on him like white on rice! This is his comeback fight and also the biggest fight in his career, this win can really put him up at the top of  the Canadian 145′ers MMA fighters.

Also coming back to the cage will be our very own Kru Jeff. I have been training him really hard during the MMA elite (1-3pm) everyday of the week, he is looking really sharp and is rounding up his skills to put on another great fight for all of you guys in October at the WRECK MMA Fights!

I have been putting a Friday night Shootbox (wrestling and boxing sparring) training sessions for all of the pro fighters in Kanata and it has been going really good, all the team is coming together and a few guys from the Carling gym come help out the pro’s in their training camp, that’s what OAMA is all about; Organized like a team, fighting like a family! Lovin’ that!

Kru Jeff, Randy, Steph, Remi and Chris all are looking really sharp and I have been training with all of them for their upcoming bouts, which in turn keeps me in really good shape ( I got to be able to put the boots to these guys and push them hard!) I am training so much with all of them that I am walking around at 168lbs! Thanks for keeping me in shape boys!

And nowwwwww the Muay Thai Fights! All our 8 OAMA fighter’s did amazing at the Throwdown in Otown fights on August 20th! Kru Jeff and myself were cornering all the fighters and are very proud of all of them! Jeff Chan won by TKO, Martello won by UD, Khris Collins won by UD, Cody Laskar won by UD , Stan loss to a very tough and tall fighter by UD, Dave MacDonald did amazing the first round but loss by UD and Alain Gravel put on a left hook clinic but loss by UD. OAMA went 4wins 3losses, all of our Muay thai fighters gained so much experience and put on a great show for their hometown! It is very different to be fighting hometown in front of all your team, family and friends. I am very happy all the OAMA Muay Thai fighters got in there and gained this experience, every fight will only get easier for them now. Win or lose, they represented well and had a great performance! Good job everyone!

Coming up for the Muay thai fights we have Channel, Martello and Corrine fighting in the MTL show next weekend and also the next weekend a last minute fight; Khris Collins will be fighting on the Take on show in the big apple NYC! I trained and sparred with Channel and she is looking really sharp and so is Khris Collins! Martello and Corrine are always ready to fight and will put on a muay thai clinic I am sure! OAMA Muay Thai FTW!

Does OAMA fight or…does OAMA fight?

September 10th weekend will be crazy: Randy and Chris fighting MMA in Sudbury (Freedom fight show). Channel, Martello and Corrine fighting Muay Thai in MTL. Khris Collins fighting muay thai in NYC (TAKE ON) and are whole BJJ Comp team will be at the Bravado open tournament! Skadoooshh!

Lot’s happening!

I will keep you guys posted on the training camps and the fights that are coming up! Take care everyone,

BoOts!

Hello everyone! I just came back from Pickering, Ontario where I corned 3 OAMA fighters ( Cody, Roshanne and Jeff) and I am a very proud instructor, they showed what an OAMA fighter is all about; TEAM, HONOR and LOYALTY.

Here are the results from the last weekend Muay Thai Fights with CASK: Cody Laskar from Kanata was up first to fight, he fought a very quick and skilled boxer that scored points and smothered Cody in the clinch not letting him work or score knee’s. It was a very close fight. When round 3 was over Cody’s opponent took a knee, Cody had hurt him really bad to the body with knee but unfortunately that was the end of the fight, Cody lost by majority decision. Next was Roshanne Musa, fighting a 4 round title fight, Ro came out strong and followed the game plan very well. She outworked her opponent in the clinch and stayed very busy with knee’s to the body. In the 3rd round Roshanne dropped her opponent with a knee to the body and her opponent got an 8 count. Roshanne won by unanimous decision and got her belt! And lastly Jeff Chan fought in the main event against a very tough p4p fighter. Jeff Chan started great but in the 2nd round got caught by a right hook, Jeff went down but bounced back on his feet showing great toughness and heart. Jeff fought all the rounds but eventually lost to unanimous decision. Jeff and Cody are back at it now getting ready for their next bout at Throwdown in O-town on August 20th, make sure you get your tickets!

There will be a total of 9 OAMA fighters fighting at the Throwdown in O-town show, Kru Jeff and myself will be very busy training all of them for the next month!

Enjoy the weather everybody and take care!

BoOts!

Hello everyone!

It has been a very busy for me this summer! I am teaching and training all day everyday at OAMA and enjoying my summer so far and especially lovin’ this weather!

In mid June I took part of Chris “Batman” St.Jean’s training camp for his fight in UGC in MTL. I fought his opponent before years back, Justin Doyon and won by TKO in the 1st round, Batman did just the same and won by 1st round RNC.

I have been training a lot with the OAMA Throwdown fighters and the OAMA MMA fighters, I took them out to the stairs for a workout, which Kru Jeff took me out there to prep for my UFC fights. All the fighters are in very good shape and everyone loved the training! The OAMA Muay Thai team is really pulling together, many of students stay after class to train the fighters and hold pads for extra rounds and clinch with them, thank you to all students that are helping them in their training camp, keep pushing them!

Up next to fight in CASK Amateur Muay thai will be “The Terror” Roshanne Musa, Cody Laskar and Jeff “Jackie” Chan who will be fighting in Pickering, Ontario this Saturday night. I will be driving them down and coaching\cornering them for their fights. Both Roshanne and Jeff are fighting for titles! I will be updating you guys ASAP on the results! Team 3 and 0h!

Take care,

BoOts!

Hello everyone!

I am doing great today, for the past few months I have been extremely busy training the team at the OAMA Westboro and Kanata location! A few weeks ago I took a team of 3 fighters down to the TBA’s Muay Thai amateur tournament.

I have been training a lot of MuayThai with two OAMA female fighters; Jill and Roshanne. I took both of them and big Dave Melbeuf down to the TBA Muay Thai tournament; the biggest Muay Thai tournament in North America who took place in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. Big Dave hammered out 19 hrs of driving to weigh ins on Friday and fight on Saturday. Big Dave and Jill both won their first fight by unanimous decisions Saturday. Jill lost her fight to a very close split decision in the finals and big Dave lost in the semi’s by decision. Roshanne won her fight with knee’s and punches for the TKO in 58secs to win the TBA championship belt! Congrats to Roshanne, Big Dave and Jill. It was a great time driving down and coaching you guys. You did great in the ring and represented the gym honor! I am a very proud instructor

I was also training a lot of BJJ with Derek Boase and Joel Hadden before they went off to compete in LA at the IBJJF World Championships. I was very proud and happy to hear that Derek Boase won the gold medal in his division. Joel won his first fight but lost his second fight to the eventual tournament winner, you can check out the breakdown of his experience at the Mundials on his website at www.ottawabjjchamp.com .

For the next few months I will be busy training the OAMA students at Carling and Kanata academy. We have many Muay Thai fighters that will be competing all over Ontario in CASK shows and also be competing in the August 20th Throwdown O-town show! Also the pro MMA fighters are always staying sharp and ready to fight whenever. Every day I train and coach with Kru Jeff the pro MMA fighters like Chris St.Jean, Randy Turner and Stephane Bernadel who are all staying sharp for the next Pro MMA shows. I have been doing S&C and running with Steph and Seb in the mornings, its great to stay in shape and be able to coach and train with the fighters, keeps me sharp and keeps me in fighting shape!

The weather has been amazing, I am lovin’ the heat! Hope everyone is doing well and that you guys are enjoying the summer time!

Take care,

BoOts!

Hello everyone!

I have been very busy training students at OAMA, teaching and training everyday! It’s awesome to train martial arts just for fun!

This Thursday morning I will be taking 3 fighters to compete in the TBA Muay Thai tournament in Desmoines, Iowa! Every year OAMA takes a team down to the tournament, this year will be Roshanne, Jill and big Dave who will be competing in the two day tournament! I can’t wait to be coaching them, it will be a great weekend of amateur Muay thai fights! The drive will be 15 hours! Road trip! haha!

I will be posting pictures of our adventure and the results ASAP!

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather! Take care,

BoOts!

Hello everyone! What a great night of fights last Friday at the Hull Casino! I can’t wait for the next one (WRECK MMA-September in Ottawa!)

First to fight was my best friend Nick Castiglia. Nick and I had a hard cut in the sauna to do, I was hurting the whole time he was in there and I was fully hydrated, not dieting and didn’t have a sauna suit on! It was an honor and a pleasure for me to take part in Nick’s training camp for his retirement fight and also help him with making weight. Nick followed the game plan perfectly; punch his way in, takedown and got the TKO from GNP from mount in the 1st round. It was his retirement fight and it was awesome to see him in the cage one last time and to finish on a good note! Awesome job Nick, I’m happy for you!

Next up was Cedric Grenon from RAMA who I got the chance to corner him. Cedric put on a great display of text book Renzo Gracie Jiu Jitsu; take down, punches and elbows from mount, his opponent turned over and Cedric sunk in the RNC for the win in the 1st round! Congrats Cedric good to see you back at it!

3rd Fight of the night was Chris “Batman” St.Jean! I was busy warming up the guys at the back but I saw the fight from far and got to see the finish; again a rear naked choke in the 1st round! Chris showed that he is a true warrior going in the fight injured and fighting through it for the win! I’m really proud of you Chris, heal up quickly!

Next up was my teammate and friend Randy “Relentless” Turner! Randy has been ready to fight for quite a while, he fought that night a very skilled striker. Randy wasted no time and got a beautiful take down on his opponent from there he established dominant position soften up his opponent with knees and elbows from the cross side. 3:28min.  in the 1st round Randy got the mount and finished the fight; TKO from GNP! Great fight Randy, let’s keep it going!

And last to fight was a student of Cedric at RAMA; Marc Lefebvre. Marc is a very tough fighter and has a lot of heart but that night was not his night. He got caught by a punch and loss in the first round. That reminded me a lot from what happened to me in my fight against Martin Grandmont, I know how Marc felt and how he is feeling now. I learned the most out of that fight, in 2009 I loss by KO to Grandmont and came back with 3 consecutive wins. I know Marc will learn from it and come back stronger.

End of the night recap; 4-1 ! Great job to all the guys who fought there, you guys represented the gym with honor. Thank you to all the OAMA and RAMA students that helped with the show and supported their instructors, fellow students and local fighters!

WRECK MMA was a great success, I can’t wait for the next fight card and the FIRST MMA show in Ottawa, Ontario!  I will keep everyone posted on the next events and what’s coming up for me for the summer!

Fighter’s fight!

Take care everyone.

BoOts!