Owners launch new martial arts centre in Finedon hoping to be ‘home of MMA’ in the town

A new mixed martial arts gym has opened its doors in Finedon’s Burton Road as The Hive Martial Arts hopes to enjoy a successful start to life at its new premises.

The Hive is the brainchild of owners and long-time friends Steve Li and Dan Crickmar, who admitted to being ‘emotional’ at the official launch, and was marked by a BBQ with friends and family on Monday (May 6).

The official launch of the business aims to inspire people to take up a sport that has grown in popularity over the past decade.

Steve said: “What I’ve found is that martial arts is fantastic for discipline. We’re in an age where people don’t go out as much but for me, martial arts made me the person I am. It’s stressful, but rewarding.

"In some places it’s not that martial arts is inaccessible, but it’s quite intimidating. I’ve made my best friends in martial arts and so we wanted this to be a friendly environment.

“Finedon has got a football pitch and a small park, but in terms of actual activities that kids can do, there isn’t much.”

The pair had previously been training at Shudan in Wellingborough, but the conflict of scheduling and training times means they were keen to expand and relocate.

They have started regular kickboxing classes for kids and adults as well as Brazilian jiu-jistu and MMA sessions through the week.

Steve and Dan will also be bringing over its ‘Fit and Fed’ scheme, which hopes to help kids from ‘deprived’ areas during the school holidays, offering food and training and supervision to help support the community.

The building that was previously Kings and Queens Hairdressing before spending some time without a tenant now features specialist equipment to help people hone their skills in mixed martial arts, though the new owners admit it wasn’t a completely seamless transition.

Dan added: “It was stressful to a certain extent, it’s been nine months in the making and the building wasn’t the most pleasant to begin with.

"We had to completely gut the place and add our own touches to it while running our other club in the background, so it’s been a real labour of love.”