Today we’d like to introduce you to Austin Thornton.
Austin, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I competed in eight mixed martial arts fights when I started competing when I was 18 years old in Port Huron. When I turned 20 two years later a couple of bad injuries forced me to be sidelined until I healed. During that time I decided I wanted to coach and start my own gym. It took me 10 years with lots of bumps in the road to finally get my gym Lost Soul Mixed Martial Arts off the ground. Now we are located at 3948 24TH Ave across from Kroger in the old chameleon salon.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It was definitely not a smooth road for me. Never having any prior knowledge of starting a business of my own at 20 years old. It took the help from my best friend Liam Gobeyn who started his own business to guide me in what I needed to start mine. Location was one of my biggest struggles, finding commercial property at a decent price was tough. Knowing what type of insurance, licenses and other things that revolved around starting a mixed martial arts gym were difficult to overcome as well.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Lost Soul Mixed Martial Arts?
Lost Soul Mixed Martial Arts is a martial arts gym that provides all types of services ranging from, MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing, jujitsu, wrestling, women’s self defense classes, and youth classes. Me personally I specialize in Muay Thai, youth classes, and kickboxing. My other coach and trainer Rick Dombrowski specializes in wrestling, jujitsu, women’s self defense classes, and youth classes as well. What sets us apart from others is we offer competitive pricing for people just beginning or trying out mixed martial arts, also very beginner friendly and more of a community setting opposed to a traditional gym setting. Brand wise I’m most proud of creating a family/community environment for the city. I’d like readers to know that we welcome everybody beginners, intermediate, and novices to our studio to get started on a weight loss journey, peace of mind with self defense, or even competing in the rapidly growing/evolving sport of MMA.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
My advice to anybody who is starting out would be to just, show up. It starts with walking through the door. Don’t be intimidated or shy. We all come from different walks of life and mixed martial arts is a place where we can all hold each other accountable, get better with one another and enjoy working out in a different kind of light. When I first started out I wish I knew the type of welcoming/family type of environment I was walking into because I would’ve started my journey a lot sooner.
Pricing:
- •$60 a month beginner classes
- •$85 intermediate classes
- •$110 amateur/pro competitors advanced classes
- •$60 personal training sessions
- •$20 Day pass/drop in classes
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lost-soul-mma.emergent.host/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lostsoulmma
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/19EFWyG6Tb/
