Ian Bone Martial Arts Coach

19/06/2026

COMMITMENT.

I was talking to someone today about how long I believe it takes someone to be proficient in martial arts or fitness for that matter. And I truly believe most people’s idea or perception of the commitment required is off target. A 6 or 12 week boot camp or a weekend intensive whilst fun is really selling the commitment extremely short.

When we discussed it I simply asked how long is an apprenticeship. For most trades its generally 3 years. Then I asked how long it generally takes that trades person to really become a good problem solver etc and the conclusion was made that we thought generally 8-10 years.

I think this could be really applied to understanding most things in life. Now there are always going to be exceptions. People who are gifted exist but it’s nice to know that if you just take your time and learn one thing at a time and are in it for the long haul you can be great.

I never really feel like I know enough about fitness or martial arts. But that’s the hook for me. 🤷‍♂️🥸

So before you get bummed about not getting a fight, a blue belt or getting your but kicked in sparring, it’s a long journey, learn to enjoy the process. Just look to improve inch by inch.

Coach Bone
Courage Training Centre

17/06/2026

Come on Tasmania open up a hunting industry and make billions! Those deer are dollars! 🦌💸

17/06/2026

I have loved building the team. I will fight for what it stands for…..always. I love the struggle of maintaining it. I’m grateful for it….

People without the guts to build something of value that has nothing to do with money will never understand.

And the best thing is you don’t need them too.

If I died or closed shop tomorrow I would die proud of myself and my team and what we have achieved already.

16/06/2026

A victim mentality is a cancerous mindset. It will eat you from the inside out. It is riddled with entitlement and steals your personal power.

It will destroy dreams, sabotage your health, erode relationships and limit your growth.

Once you shed the feelings of victimhood and entitlement you are free to be the hero of your own story.

You can move towards your dreams, take control of your health, build meaningful relationships and achieve limitless growth.

Steps to removing this can include but are not limited to gratefulness journals, positive affirmations, coaching, counselling, reading books, podcasts and simply not being a jerk......

Coach Bone
Courage Training Centre

15/06/2026

Courage is knowing something is going to hurt and doing it anyway. Stupidity is the same, this is one of life’s tricks for us. And just one of the many reasons why life is difficult. And confusing courage and stupidity can be detrimental to your results and your health. In the military it can cost your life. In martial arts it can destroy your results and permanently damage your health.

The difference is in the preparation. If you know it’s going to hurt prepare. Harden yourself, train yourself, add skills and upgrade your attributes to deal with the suffering. Be humble enough to know where you are at and adjust accordingly. Do not get complacent and let an unhealthy ego put you in situations you have no business being in.

Upgrade your support network and team so you have people to lean on before, during and after. Surrounding yourself with people that challenge you will help you stay on the path of growth. If you have nothing but yes men and women around you, your results will suffer and your life may begin to spiral.

And well if you’re stupid just ignore everything and move on. 😂🤷‍♂️life’s full of choices.

Being a soldier taught me how to prepare and plan. I’m grateful for my time in the military. It was full of suffering, lots of endurance activities and even simple exercises were turned into walks that never ended. It was to make sure we were ready to endure. Even the rank structure was there to make sure you suffered 😂

If you’re going to compete in combat sports make sure you are ready to endure. You can’t accept all the benefits of martial arts if you aren’t willing to accept the suffering. You must never become too cool to train with your team and stay involved in the process.

CoachBoneCourage
Courage Training Centre

13/06/2026

11/06/2026

Lessons I want my kids and students to know…

Life is unfair. Work hard to make the most of what is in front of you anyway.

Your choices will determine your destination.

Kindness is not weakness. It is strength. It can turn an enemy into a friend.

There is always something worth fighting for. Metaphorically and Literally.

Keep moving. Movement is life. Strive to stay in motion.

Be adventurous. Try new things. Travel to new places. Life is about experiencing things not collecting them.

The attitude and energy that you take to a place will bounce back at you more often than not.

Enjoy the small things. Small wins…patting your dog…making others smile…be grateful for it all.

Try and be a student always, learn from everything you experience. All good things and bad things have value.

Make sure you look after the people that look after you.

CoachBoneCourage
Courage Training Centre

11/06/2026

If you want to genuinely get good at mixed martial arts you need to study the individual parts to an extent you understand what is going on. So you can adjust to different styles, rythmn, systems, strategies and distances. Something I wish I did better earlier. But we have fixed that now.

It is a considerable commitment in time and discipline. With fighters commiting and studying better than ever before because we now have some rich experience all over the country. And we have had athletes boxing, Thai boxing and fighting MMA for us for almost 10 years now.

Do your research, select carefully there is still lots of people out there with MMA, Muay Thai and Boxing used to attract customers through Google with zero experience in the arena at all. Given MMA has been active in Australia for over 20 years there isn’t much of an excuse for this behaviour anymore. And we have had so many great Boxing and Muay Thai Champions. Lots from North Queensland!

We have setup our timetable so people can train boxing, Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu every day. With morning and evening classes. You now also have access to local boxing, Thai boxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitions so there is no excuse not to build the parts seriously if you wish to compete in MMA. We want to help create great martial artists in all these disciplines and have been working hard at that for a long time now.

It’s such a wonderful time to be involved in martial arts. Whilst not everyone will compete if we wish to grow MMA seriously and have more Australian Champs those clubs and people wishing to market themselves or compete themselves you must support all these other arts and competitions. It’s an important part in the development of all combat sports and I think in the future we will see more multi sport champions and MMA champions from Australia and hopefully some from NQLD.

Most our Thai boxers compete in boxing quite well. And it’s a expectation of our MMA competitors.

It would be nice if everyone could understand that the more people that do it and enjoy the experience because it is done in a fair and honourable way the better everyone gets.

It’s small thinking to avoid these competitions, competing with other clubs or different associations because of any reason. In the end it’s the athletes that miss out because of peoples weak egos.

There is no s**t talk, obstacle, person that will stop my athletes from having opportunities wherever they may lie….

I’m impressed by these multi sport athletes win or lose. It’s the people they are and the work they do at the centre.

We have been involved in boxing, Muay Thai, BJJ and mixed martial arts for well over a decade. And I have been involved in combat sports personally for over 2 decades.

Ian Bone Martial Arts Coach
Courage Training Centre

10/06/2026

If you ask yourself the right questions and answer with honesty and a certain amount of savagery you will be able to step into a place of growth.

There is nothing to be gained hiding behind an ego that protects you from difficult questions and difficult answers.

It’s a tight rope I personally walk between self confidence and self criticism. Sometimes it leads me to dark places but more often than not I emerge from the darkness stronger than I was before I went in.

Coach Bone
Courage Training Centre