Adrenaline's pumping in London
Team Tompkins, a London gym started by now Xtreme Couture top trainer Shawn Tompkins, has produced some fighters of fame such as Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout, Mark “The Machine” Homonick and Chris “The Polish Hammer” Horodecki.
With the experience these fighters
have already had, especially at
a young age, they have evolved
from their roots at the world
famous Team Tompkins and have
made a continuation of the gym
started by Shawn Tompkins by
opening up the Adrenaline MMA
Training Center.
It wasn't easy leaving the old
gym, but with the growth of the
sport of MMA in general, that has
translated into a large growth at
Team Tompkins and now
Adrenaline MMA and with such
growth, and because of the
Tompkins and Adrenaline names,
London is permanently on the map
in the MMA world.
“There were some nostalgic
feelings leaving the old gym,” said
Hominick, the 12-year veteran in
MMA. “There were a lot of great fighters that came out of that gym,
and there's a lot of tradition and
memories from there, those are the
kind of gyms where champions are
born.”
But leaving the past behind and
moving forward is part of life, and
is something well understood by
the well-spoken fighters.
“This is a big opportunity for
us,” says 20-year-old fighter Chris
Horodecki. “There's also some
pressure because the old gym was
so great, we are going to continue
those winning ways here at
Adrenaline and give the all we can
to evolve not only as fighters but as
people and trainers as well.”
The new gym is a massive
11,000 square foot facility offers
3,000 square feet of mat space, full
size octagon, and ring, it also is
complete with heavy bags and
strength and conditioning equipment.
There's classes offered Monday
through Saturday, and it's not just
for experienced fighters, or people
who want to fight in general. If
you're looking just to get in shape
or learn some self-defense, there
are classes offered in beginner and
advanced Kickboxing, Jiu-Jitsu for
MMA, Wrestling for MMA,
strength and conditioning, and
general MMA training.
“I think that we are giving people
in Ontario, and more specifically
Southwestern Ontario, a great
place to train, and the proof is in
the pudding, from the fighters,
from our records, from our experiences,
we've all seen what it's like
and are just looking to pass that
on,” explained Horodecki, who
currently boasts a professional
record of 12-1.