Lion's Den Arizona Muay Thai coach Bob Karmel

A number of martial arts gyms in the Phoenix area have made a name have made a name for themselves with their Muay Thai programs. Arizona Muay Thai and Fitness(Reyes Ortiz) along with Phoenix Combat Academy(Josh Pickthall) recently had fighters walk away from Bad Blood Muay Thai 9 with USMTA Arizona belts. Of course you have to respect the MMA Lab's Muay Thai program ran by Kickboxing legend Rick Roufus and  Andy Russell. There’s one school that has established themselves as one of the elite schools in the country; not surprisingly it’s ran by the man who first trained Russell, “Master” Bob Karmel.

Karmel is a Muay Thai legend in his own right. In 1986 he was amongst the Americans to ever study and instruct Muay Thai in Thailand. It was at Fairtex, one of Thailand’s premier Muay Thai schools, that Master Bob got his start. Respected as both competitor and coach in Thailand, he helped introduce the sport to America. After promoting shows in Philadelphia, he founded a Fairtex Gym in Arizona. He parted ways with the company after the gym was moved to San Francisco though.

Master Bob is now the head Muay Thai instructor at the Lion’s Den Arizona. Using the same training regimen that he did in his time in Thailand, Master Bob has helped MMA fighters like Ben Askren and Seth Baczynski along in their career and has produce one of the best Muay Thai teams in the country.

Master Bob brags that his team can fight anyone from anywhere. He’s brought in fighters from all over North America to challenge his team, and none have been up to it. Recently he sent 14 fighters to the Thai Boxing Association World Amateur Championships. The team came home with 9 of it’s fighters victorious in their tournaments and a team trophy. With fighters like Nick Chasteen(12-3, 6ko) and Adrian Grotte (13-0, 8ko) along with a small coaching staff of true professionals leading his team, Master Bob’s sentiment is well founded.

As the state representative in both the USMTA and Thai Boxing Association, Master Bob works with promotions like Bad Blood to put on shows. With a hand in the matchmaking process, and the authority to commission fights, Master Bob says he wants to attract the best fighters around to fight in Arizona. His goal, to make Arizona a hot-spot for Muay Thai.