Sporting facilities in Benoni merge
Schaper shook hands with Basson at the beginning of January in agreement that the merge will take place.
Recently, martial fitness gym Junkyard MMA and Urban Shack have merged to become a Benoni family.
“Jesse Schaper was training with us for his last fight,” explained Ferdinand Basson, EFC referee and Junkyard MMA owner.
“When Covid-19 hit, we were forced to close as we were in a big commercial facility.
“Then Jesse offered his gym, and things grew from there.
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“I approached Ferdi with the idea of merging Junkyard and Martial Fitness with the help of Duma,” said Jesse
Schaper, coach, athlete and owner of Martial Fitness.
“Urban Shack then approached me with the offer of a shared facility.
“We were on the brink of disregarding boxing as part of our plans,” explained Amy Labuschagne, coach and manager of Urban Shack Benoni.
“After the hard lockdown and with fitness facilities being allowed to operate again, we decided to reach out to Jesse and to our delight, he told us that he had just started his own venture in Benoni.
“We then briefly chatted about what boxing could be in Benoni and proceeded to meet regularly and explore a possible merge.”
The merge officially kicked in on February 1 and all parties are very excited for what is to come.
“We are over the moon about the merge,” said Emilio Despotakis, coach and manager of Urban Shack Benoni.
“It has brought us such excitement to finally see a functional fitness facility and a boxing facility combine.
“I think it improves the sustainability of each entity, and will give Benoni residents facilities that caters for all their fitness and sports needs,” said Basson.
“Martial Arts has changed my life in ways I cannot explain, yet those changes can be seen by my actions and progression in life and I have thought hard about why this has happened,” said Schaper.
“The common principle I seem to get to is discipline, and I am now convinced that discipline is what most people lack in their pursuit of success.
“I want Martial Fitness to be the voice of martial arts and the face of discipline.”
Schaper shook hands with Basson at the beginning of January in agreement that the merge will take place.
Each facility will keep its title but will all operate under Martial Fitness.
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At the Urban Shack the boxing section will be under Martial Fitness’s control.
“We believe the merge will greatly and mutually benefit all parties included,” explained Labuschagne.
“Merging is a great way of increasing exposure to each brand and creatively expanding ways for the community to get fit and healthy.
“We aim to help Martial Fitness grow and vice versa.
“Covid-19 has unfortunately restricted us a bit, but as soon as regulations are eased, you will see events on a continuous basis,” said Basson.
All Urban Shack Benoni members will get exclusive rates for Martial Fitness classes and all Martial Fitness members will get exclusive Urban Shack rates if they wish to join any of the classes.
Contact the Urban Shack to book your free trial class.
