Significant Strikes has been teaching MMA and boxing to those in the Traverse City community for a year now.
“It’s been a long road, lots of improvements along the way,” said co-owner Chris Franks. “Our community was without a place to train because the other gym shut down, and we all came together and decided we needed something. And we started in a small little warehouse space, and eventually this space became available. And we were able to pull together and make a move on it and secure the building and here we are.”
Franks is thrilled to see how much Significant Strikes has expanded in a year. He says boxing and MMA has changed his life and he hopes it will for others too.
“Well, fighting kind of changed my life for the better at a really crucial time in my youth,” he said. “I was able to make a limited career out of it, and have a lot of moments that are priceless to me. So I was hoping to really provide some of that for some of these kids coming up.”
Significant Strikes is for all ages. One participant, Geneva, is just 10 years old but loves this gym. She says she was a little hesitant about starting a new sport but “it was a great first experience” and she plans to keep coming here with her family.
This gym has grown so much throughout their first year being open, and they have so much planned for the next!
“We’re going to have to have a youth competition team this year,” said Franks. “We’ll be traveling with kids that are young, fighting and competing in other parts of the state to possibly even out of state.” Franks also says they hope to have a state champion.
