Craig Harmer outlines 'big plans' for new GMAA premises

The GMAA spent the last four years located on Clifford Street, right near the centre of Goulburn. However, as its numbers grew, Harmer realised he needed a bigger location to teach all of his students.

"We used to run the Mixed Martial Arts class at 8.30pm, after Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and that was fine for the guys who were hardcore. All of my MMA guys are also all of my jiu-jitsu guys, so it was just added striking for them," Harmer said.

"For the guys that want to have fights, we need to get it back in an appropriate time frame at 6pm so they can train correctly. We wanted to make it more accessible for the masses.

"We have 30 registered for the MMA class, and the other space just didn't allow for a correct class structure, people were falling over themselves. This is a much better facility."

After a period of searching, Harmer found the Finlay Road premises, which was the ideal size for his classes. It has two mat areas, one in front of the other, which allows two classes to run comfortably side by side.

Harmer has also installed punching bags and padded walls to allow his students a greater variety in their training.

The academy opened its new doors on March 14 to a great deal of excitement from its students, and Harmer said the feedback has been unanimously positive.

Using the new space, he also hopes to begin the process of holding martial arts tournaments once again, which largely halted in 2020 due to COVID-19.

"For now it's about making the best of the space for the students we've got," Harmer said.

"A lot of things closed down last year, like tournaments. My goal is to try and get those up and running for these guys so they have something other than gradings to get to.

"I want them to have tournaments and training camps, everything we can offer I want to have here."

Special events like tournaments, seminars, and camps are important for martial arts clubs, as they give students opportunities to test themselves against fellow martial artists in a competitive environment.

Harmer likened training without such events to playing football without any matches.

"If you're turning up twice a week just to kick a soccer ball around, you're going to lose motivation if you're not playing," he said.

The GMAA intends to do an official opening of its new club at some point in the near future, with a date yet to be confirmed.

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