By Joel Huncar

I have to say I feel kind of chagrined because I have dropped the ball the last year in highlighting the amazing things that have been happening in our gym in Cranbrook.

Rocky Mountain Martial Arts Family Centre has always been at the forefront of developing children and adults into active combat sports athletes, but more importantly we have become known for our life skills training and personal development in children and youth.  However, I have been neglectful in letting the community know what has been going on for us.

Even though we seem to naturally follow an ebb and flow connected to the school year, we are a full time, year-round fighting gym and family centre.  Some people think the two don’t mix, but we continuously have proved them wrong.  We have had fighters fight and win nationally and internationally in Kickboxing and Muay Thai.  Yet we also work with athletes who may not want to be fighters, and we have come to be known in the community for our work in the school system and with social services societies working with multi barriered youth and children.  Our coaching staff work from the heart.

My reason for being a little distressed about not keeping up on my community posts is that last fall we had three fighters go to a few continuous kickboxing and Muay Thai competitions and brought back several gold medals and one silver.

In fact, Brantley C, Leyton G, and Kurt Lalach have shown that they are true champions and did our gym proud and as their coach I should have been shouting from the rooftops about them but time and distraction got the better of me and I did not.  They did not come away from a competition without bringing our gym gold.

Also, Charlotte Hewgall from our gym has a one and two record fighting in amateur Muay Thai.  She won her first fight in Thailand, beating a thai fighter with her vicious elbows.  Her next fight she stepped in the ring in Thailand against a fighter with over 200 fights, Charlotte lost this fight but showed that she has the heart of a lion.

On March 3 this year Charlotte fought in the Muay Thai Women’s Gala in Airdrie, Alberta and lost a hard fight against Eisha Sharda.  Anyone who actually knows and follows combat sports understands that getting into the ring makes you a champion, regardless of how it goes.  Charlotte is a true champion, and we will see a lot more from this amazing firecracker of a fighter in the future.

Also on July 25, this year, we had a very successful tournament in Calgary through the World Diverse Martial Arts Federation.

Out of our gym Barret G won one gold medal, and one silver medal in the children’s division.  Teens Zachariah P, and Emmett B did amazing, Zachariah came away with a gold medal in Muay Thai and a silver medal in Kick boxing, and Emmett came away with two silver medals.

For adults we had Eric Larsen and Zackar do amazing things.  Zackar fights out of both RMMA Family Centre as well as Acclimate Jiu Jitsu, under Sheldon Doll.

Eric did not have anyone in his weight class so fought up into the David vs Goliath level of fighting.  Unfortunately, not having a sling to fell his opponent and a horrifying accidental knee to the groin stopped Eric, but he fought like a true champion.  Zackar came away with a first place win by showing masterful ring control, working angles, and placing meaningful combinations of punches and kicks.  He showed real mastery and skill, making both his coaches very proud

Beyond competition, I as a coach have been working very hard to bring new things to the gym and I have received a few awards and ranks in the last year.

In August of 2025 I earned the title of Master Instructor Level 1 in Cane Fighters International under the founder Master Guy De Ro.   This organization is based out of Brussels, Belgium and it specializes in training people to use Canes and Walking sticks as tools of self protection.  I am very excited to be part of this and to bring this to Cranbrook.  This is something that is not found outside of a few major urban centres.

Then in January of 2026, Grand Master Songlith Singthong, the first person to bring Muay Thai to Canada, gave me the honour of being awarded the rank of Ajarn, or Master, in Muay Thai.  This was not expected, and it is a rank I am very Grateful for, because it comes from a man that I hold in very high regard.

As well as this rank, I was awarded the title of Grand Master in the World Diverse Martial Arts Federation, and made the representative for British Columbia, for my efforts of training for four decades in various martial arts and combatives systems; my 30 years of teaching martial arts and my continuous amazing luck in finding brave and hardworking fighters to carry the honour of our gym.

I will close off this media post in saying that I have no idea what it means to be a Grand Master, in fact I hate titles.  However, my journey in my 60^th year of life is to be a better version of myself.  I have failed many times to be as good a person as I should be in the past, we all stumble at times, and many of us carry the survival traits and attitudes we were given as we grew up, but we don’t have to stay enslaved to them.  I would rather my legacy be “he became a better man, and helped others do the same,” than being a master martial artist or a Grand Master… whatever that actually is.

I go back to the drawing board every day and look back at the mistakes of the day before, and I can honestly say I am not still making the same ones, or the same choices in my life as I have done in the past.  If there is one thing I want to pass on to those who come through my gym it is this; We are all equal, being a tough fighter is good, but having the courage to be empathetic, to embrace our mistakes and change, and to try to be a better person each day is true power.  If that is what I can pass on to a few people from what I do at our gym, then the struggle to keep this thing going is worthwhile.

All the medals and trophies my fighters earn is nothing compared to knowing that they are all good people.

True Muay Thai is the art of humility.

Khob Khun Krap (Thank you with respect in Thai).

Lead image: Emmett B, Zacharia P, Zackar Pavlenko, and Eric Larsen, in front are Kru Pierre-Luc Belanger, me (Ajarn Joel Huncar) and Barrett G.  Photos submitted

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