Forward Thai Boxing Grand Opening

media release: Forward Thai Boxing Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting

Wednesday, December 14, 11:45am - 12:30pm, 2500 Rimrock Road, Ste 106, Fitchburg

Please join Forward Thai Boxing, The Fitchburg Chamber, and city of Fitchburg for the official Ribbon Cutting. Forward Thai Boxing is a martial arts gym dedicated to providing students with a fully equipped facility to learn Muay Thai and Krav Maga from skilled instructors while building a community of friends. Their goal is to make martial arts a fun and viable way to learn new skills, build a strong body, and build strong relationships. Refreshments and tours to follow.

more on the business:

Having dedicated her life to physical and mental health, Abbe Braun has entered an exciting new chapter with her own martial arts gym with her husband Brendon Shoemaker. One of only four martial arts gyms in the Madison area, Forward Thai Boxing is now officially open at 2500 Rimrock Road in the Novation Campus.

Forward Thai Boxing is on a mission to become the leading martial arts gym in Madison, dedicated to students by ensuring an inclusive environment to train the martial art disciplines of Muay Thai and Krav Maga. The focus of Forward Thai Boxing is to provide students with the highest quality martial arts instruction in a safe, strengths-based learning environment.  A sport that can be started at any age with any level of ability, martial arts training meets the needs of those who want to pair physical activity with learning a new skill.

“This is a sport for anybody, any age, any size, and any ability,” said Braun. “Everyone is welcome. We want you to show up and be you.”

Braun’s plans for Forward Thai Boxing have been ten years in the making.  She has a background in dance - jazz and ballet, as well as childcare and martial arts instructing, and kept telling herself she’d open her own gym “someday.” That “someday” came earlier this year when she left her full-time job to pursue opening Forward Thai Boxing.

Forward Thai Boxing’s philosophy is simple: provide students with a fully equipped facility to learn from skilled instructors while building a community of friends. Braun’s goal is to make martial arts a fun and viable way to learn new skills, build a strong body, and build strong relationships. The class structure offers students opportunities to learn skill and technique specific to each discipline, build strength and conditioning, apply skill in sparring, and specialized training for those who compete.

“We wanted to offer what we felt was missing from the local martial arts gym scene,” said Braun. “We have a variety of class types for both Krav Maga and Muay Thai, offer a competition team, and bring an educational aspect for beginners. We’re going to meet every skill level where they are and build from there.”

Forward Thai Boxing’s space looks a little different than a traditional gym. The most notable feature is an elevated boxing ring. The remaining space is covered in a specialized training mat, padded enough to be soft but structured enough to provide support as the disciplines are practiced barefoot, in addition to adaptive equipment for strength and conditioning purposes. The space connects to an expansive outdoor patio where classes will take place as weather permits.

“The Alexander Company made the leasing process simple,” said Braun. “We were in a tight spot before the build-out was complete, and The Alexander Company let us use the field next door to hold outdoor classes, which we dubbed Forward’s Backyard. We can’t wait to welcome everyone into our new space.”

Forward Thai Boxing brings another health-forward focus to the mixed-use Novation Campus, joining existing companies including Rutabaga Paddlesports, Exact Sciences, UnityPoint Health – Meriter, Great State Fitness, as well as Finca Coffee, Delta Beer Lab, and others. The Novation Campus is centrally located along two of Madison’s primary thoroughfares – Beltline Highway at Rimrock Road and Highway 14, and offers convenient access to downtown Madison, Dane County, and the Interstate System. In addition, the Novation Campus is accessible via Madison’s network of bike paths and the Madison Metro bus system.

Learn more at forwardthaiboxing.com.