By Kayla Bruch

Province-wide MMA fighters gather in P.A.

Jan 24, 2015 | 3:08 PM

Over the weekend, Martial Arts enthusiasts from across Saskatchewan were learning MMA skills from a well-known coach out of Montreal.

Firas Zahabi is the head trainer at Tristar Gym in Montreal, he said since age 19 he has done martial arts every day, all day.

“I do seminars all the time, all over and I’m super happy to see this one’s a super success. We have about 70 people registered so I think that’s the record here. “We love martial arts right, we’re just martial arts lovers getting together to train,” he said.

Lucian Phillips, owner and head coach at LDP Martial Arts said having such a high caliber coach in Prince Albert is rare. He said MMA seminars like these are not only beneficial for LDP but also for MMA overall.

“It’s good for MMA as a sport right, because it’s still growing and in these parts, especially in Saskatchewan, we don’t have access to a lot of these high level guys. There are not a lot of big gyms around here so we bring him to us,” he said.

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Zahabi said since he began training in martial arts the sport has really developed and improved.

 “Everybody’s becoming amazingly well-rounded and the fans are starting to know more and more about the sport,” he said. “[MMA is] kind of unifying the martial arts world.”

Most athletes in martial arts possess a sense of humility rather than an ego according to Zahabi, and this all starts with a positive mindset. He said it’s easy to be an “arm-chair quarterback,” until you are the one on the floor.

“The mind is the most important thing, after that the rest is technique, you know, but it’s hard to teach somebody that doesn’t have a good attitude,” he said.

UFC Champion Georges St-Pierre was one of Zahabi’s students over the years. Zahabi said it was truly a great experience being Pierre’s coach.

“It’s been a dream come true because not only has he become world champion several times over he’s also attracted a lot of great trainers that I got to work with and learn from as well so it’s been a great privilege for me as well,” he said.

Out of all the time they trained together, Zahabi said there was one fight which really stuck out in his mind.

 “His first super fight with B.J. Penn, you know, UFC 94, it was the first time they were doing champion versus champion, two guys wearing a belt from two different divisions meeting up,” he said. “It was the biggest fight …of our generation, you know, it was champion versus champion and our team came out on top so it was a really great moment for us.”

kbruch@panow.com

On Twitter: @KaylaBruch1