Big news came this week for Todd Elvrum, and the team from Total Martial Arts Centre in Timmins.
Elvrum has been announced as a member of Team Canada for the WKF World Championships, which will take place in Andria, Italy from November 7-12 later this year.
The 24 year old will be competing in Muay Thai, and most likely in the MMA event.
"I would love that, it would be sick. Probably like 6 fights in a few days, so that's a lot of experience" said Elvrum.
"I found out on my birthday, so it was a great present. I've always wanted to compete in martial arts, and I've always thought it would be cool to represent your country for something, now I get the chance to do that."
Born and raised in Timmins, Elvrum started in his youth in karate, and says this will be his first time competing internationally.
"I'm looking forward to it, and hopefully I can bring my team with me, and they can be there to support me along the way" he said.
The event will see Elvrum competing with fighters from all around the world, including MMA powerhouse nations such as the United States and Brazil.
It has been a long road for Elvrum, but his hard work has been paying off. His coach, and owner of Total Martial Arts Centre Matthew Poulin explains.
"Todd started with me 7 years ago. He's had somewhere around 15 fights. He's a good example of growth in martial arts, he started out only liking boxing and hand, then became a great kickboxer, now a well-rounded Muay Thai competitor. He's also ranked in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and does lots of wrestling" said Poulin.
Elvrum took his competitive drive to TMAC, and hasn't looked back.
"When I was younger I was in karate, and unfortunately due to moving quite a bit we had to stop that, but its always something I've been interested in and something I wanted to pursue. When I was in high school and a little more independent, 16 years old, I reached out and found this place and ever since then, they've been great to me. It's like a second family, if not first family" he said.
Elvrum competed at the Ontario provincials in Brampton in early June, which likely played a huge part in being rewarded with a spot on the national team.
"Me and another guy, we had a war, it was good. I ended up winning the title for provincials. I assume that's why, and my record, I've been fighting for quite awhile now, since I was 16" he said.
When asked what his long-term goals are in the sport, he had little hesitation.
"My main focus is MMA. At the end of the day, that's what I aspire to be. I aspire to be as great as I can get myself as a complete martial artist. Wake up every day, eat properly, train properly. Diet gets out of control sometimes, we all love pizza right? But that's my main goal, to get as high as I can get with MMA. However, to get there, I need to add a few credentials, for kickboxing, Muay Thai, and such" said Elvrum.
He recalls the nerves when he competed in his first match many years ago.
"My first fight, it was terrifying, but I ended up pulling off the victory."
After temporarily leaving Timmins, his focus on the sport was energized once again, and he realized he wanted to push himself to the maximum level possible.
"I went away to college, came back, a little bit bigger, little bit stronger. I took strength and core conditioning, so I really learned how to train myself more in the physical aspect of the sport. We needed more experience, there wasn't as many fights, I wanted to fight quite a bit. I'd fight every weekend if I could. So we started looking at entering Muay Thai fights, just to pick up a little extra experience. It doesn't count towards your MMA record. I've always been an outright striker, so we just picked up on that, and now hopefully we can keep it going"
Ontario only recently allowed sanctioned MMA fights, within the last couple of years.
"This year it started booming more than in the past, we used to have to go to Montreal quite a bit. It's going to get there, its such a growing sport, you can't ignore it" he said.
Efforts will be underway shortly for fundraising towards the trip. Poulin says there will be a 'Team Elvrum' t-shirt, in-house gatherings at TMAC, as well as a GoFundMe page.
Elvrum has been pleasantly surprised by the positive reaction from the community due to his recent successes, and assures everyone he will be giving it his all.
"I have a lot of local support. I love the reaction you get, you see people on the street, they say 'hey man, good job'. I work hard for them, the more support you get, the easier it gets I find. The more people behind my back, I just train a lot more" said Elvrum.
