Instructors at Hangar 4 MMA
CARL DRAPPER
Carl Drapper has been training in martial arts for over 22 years. He first started under the guidance of Mick Nicholls and Ricky O'Brien in Freestyle Combat, grading up to 2nd degree black belt. Whilst training under Mick he was exposed to many great and varied martial arts and martial arts masters such as Guru Dan Inosanto, Larry Hartsell, Erik Paulson, Tony Blaurer, Nino Pillar and John Will.
Carl was first exposed to Muay Thai when, in the late 1980s, Mick Nicholls returned from a training trip in Manchester, England, under the world-famous Master Toddy, and began to instruct the art. In 1994, Carl made his first trip to train and fight in Thailand under the World Muay Thai Council (WMC) and its General Secretary, Mr Stephan Fox (Contender Asia mentor), where he would return on numerous occasions to train and fight. Carl then moved to London, England, where he spent three years teaching at the revered Peacock Gym in Canning Town.
In 2002, Carl relocated to Thailand to work directly for the WMC in Bangkok and was immersed in the sport 24/7. Training with such legends as Nokweed Davy, Paul Slowinksi (The Sting), Bruce MacFie (The Preacher) and Alex Dally, Carl forged strong relationships with many world-class fighters and trainers. After three years in Thailand, Carl returned to Melbourne to rebuild the Hangar 4 Gym (originally based in Essendon). Carl is now the owner and head Muay Thai coach at Hangar 4, Preston; one of Victoria's best MMA facilities incorporating BJJ, Muay Thai, Wrestling and Boxing all under the one roof. The gym is now proudly producing some fantastic young, up-and-coming Muay Thai and MMA fighters.
PETER BACKMAN
Peter Backman, Hangar 4's grappling and BJJ Will-Machado black belt, began boxing as a teen before going on to find Karate in the 1970s. Peter is a 1st dan black belt under Tino Ceberano, under whom he also studied Arnis. Peter and Tino travelled to the USA, South America & the Philippines to train and, upon Peter's return to Australia, he began boxing again with his friend of 40 years, Commonwealth Champion and world-ranked Bantamweight, Glenn Walsh.
It was not until 1996 that Preter found submission fighting through some of the BJJ blue belts he was training karate with. From then on, Peter trained in BJJ in Richmond, at Footscray Uni and, amongst other venues, the original Hangar 4 at Essendon Airport (where Peter was one of its first members). He also undertook (and still does) a weekly private lesson with John Will himself.
Peter went on to found the Sunbury BJJ club before moving to Bairnsdale and starting the local club ther. Peter brings 15 years of BJJ, and over 30 years of martial arts and boxing coaching experience, to the Hangar.
GLEN WALSH
Glen Walsh has been involved in the boxing industry for 35 years. He is a former world rated Bantamweight boxer as well as Australian and Commonwealth number 1 contender. In 1981 Glen became the Victorian Bantamweight Champion.
Today Glen’s passion and interest lies in training others in boxing techniques both as a personal trainer and in group fitness sessions. His drive for professionalism towards excellence has led him to successfully complete his Certificate III in Fitness, Certificate IV in Fitness as well as Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training.
Glen is a qualified and registered personal trainer and a Professional Boxing Trainer, both amateur and professional. He has worked with AFL clubs Fremantle and Essendon as a skills trainer to enhance the players' reflective actions.
ROBERT RENNEY
Robert Renney has been a student of combative sports and martial arts from age 8. Studying Karate for a number of years, he moved onto Freestyle Wrestling. For the next 10 years he achieved both State and National titles at both junior and senior levels. He represented Australia in many international competitions, culminating at the '94 Commonwealth Games and '96 Olympic Games. His training phyilosphy is that perfect technique is the key to success.
ASH POWELL
A natural athlete and competitor in sports including footy, cricket and basketball, Ash was introduced to MMA at the age of 18 through Pete Backman at Sunbury. Ash trained in boxing until he was 19, and then moved into BJJ. Coming to Hangar4 in 2004, Ash was graded to blue belt in early 2005 and then purple belt in March 2007.Ash is equally dedicated to Muay Thai and has travelling to Thailand to train in its camps.A regular competitor in BJJ tournaments, Muay Thai and MMA fights, Ash is one of the Hangar 4 coaches who runs classes in these disciplines. Ash's motto is, "Plenty of time for sleep when I'm dead". Ash is the current Victorian WMC (World Muay Thai Council) Welterweight Champion.
STEVEN FOULDS
Steven Foulds started his martial arts training at 8 years of age studying karate. Whilst always being a boxing fan, Steven had an epiphany, of sorts, when he caught a glimpse of the UFC when he was around 13 years old. At 17, he began boxing under the tuition of Peter Backman who, by chance, was also a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructor. Having found his calling, Steven became an inaugural member of Sunbury's BJJ club and was presented with his purple belt mid-2009.
Upon Peter's move to Bairnsdale in 2004, Steven trained at the original Hangar 4 and entered competitive amateur boxing under 4x Australian Champion and 3x world title contender Tony 'Maddog' Miller. He also received weekly personal tuition from John Will and competed in numerous BJJ tournaments. Steven has also trained in Muay Thai, Freetsyle Wrestling, Traditional Jiu Jitsu, Judo & MMA.
BEN ACKROYD
Training in both Karate and Taekwondo from a young age, Ben was active at state and national level - as both competitor and coach - for several years. Ben then began training in Muay Thai at age 18, and is currently one of Hangar 4’s fighters.
As well as practical experience, Ben holds a Bachelor Degree in Applied Science (Physical Education) and is a personal trainer and strength coach at Hangar 4. Ben believes that strength training plays an important role in helping an athlete reach their potential. He likes his music loud and his weights heavy.