How Teaching Muay Thai Makes Luis Regis A Top-Class Competitor

WFO Muay Thai World Champion Luis “Soot Raaeng Geert” Regis (25-6-1) is renowned in the ring for his technical yet devastating style, but he is also admired for his leadership in the gym.

Ahead of his main event clash with Yodsanklai IWE Fairtex at ONE: DESTINY OF CHAMPIONS, the Brazilian-born striker has prepared at SRG Thai Boxing Gym, where he is the founder and head coach.

Regis spent years training in capoeira and a kickboxing style influenced by the Chute Boxe team in his homeland before he found a more traditional form of Muay Thai when he moved to Australia at the age of 19.

He was instantly enamored with the art of eight limbs and committed himself to learn as much as he could about the sport. This thirst for knowledge was insatiable, and he traveled to Thailand to absorb as much expertise as possible – right from the source.

His attention to detail helped to make him a success in the ring and meant he had the mind to be a great coach when he decided to open his own training center in 2010.

SRG Thai Boxing Gym was born, and it flourished right away.

“I feel like being a coach is definitely one of my gifts,” Regis explains.

“I feel so good when I am helping people. When I can see them learning and happy, it gives me a lot of pleasure.”

Regis also quickly realized the learning process was a two-way street. The more he had to break down the techniques for his students, the more he expanded his own knowledge of the fundamentals.

“It makes you better,” he says. “I realized it makes you go after more techniques, and you learn better so that you can then teach better.”

The Australian is responsible for building his own champions now that his gym has been open for eight years, but managing it alongside his own high-level career is not always easy.

As a martial artist preparing for competition, he often has to be more selfish with his time, especially when he has to gear up to meet a legend like Yodsanklai in the cage.

“Splitting that time can be difficult. When you make time for yourself for a fight, you have less time to teach, and it does have an impact on the students,” he says.

“I always want to give 100 percent to what I’m doing, so when I am fighting, I focus on that, but when I am not, my students get all of my time, and I help everybody as much as I can.”

Regis leads from the front as one of Australia’s top Muay Thai practitioners, and through his hard work, he has also built his business. The Sydney native recruited extra trainers to make sure his SRG students have the best tuition possible when he is in training camp.

His trust in other coaches has also allowed him to begin building a second branch as part of his ongoing mission to spread the beauty of Muay Thai.

“I have a big gym now, and we all support each other, it makes it much easier now that I have five Thai trainers who can help me,” he says.

“I live and breathe Muay Thai. It’s what I do, it’s who I am, and it has been since the day I started. I am living my dream.”

The esteemed coach and competitor continues to build his reputation as a teacher and an athlete, and his profile will soar if he can win his biggest contest to date on Friday, 7 December.

A victory against Yodsanklai at the Axiata Arena in Kuala, Lumpur, Malaysia will ensure budding martial artists are queuing up to learn his magic for decades to come.