Board of Directors

Khan Phady

Khan Phady was born in Vietien, Laos, but his parents are of Thai descent. He is the seventh of eight siblings.

Ajarn Khan comes from a family of professional Muay Thai fighters in Laos, and his father owned a gym called Sing Lek See Camp and owned the largest stadium, during the 1970s, in Laos. Khan’s first experience in the ring was at the age of seven, in an exhibition contest. His first professional fight was at the age of just nine and he went on to have twenty fights during his career, with an impressive record of 17-2-1.

In 1980, the Phady family was fortunate to get sponsorship to come to Canada. The family settled down in Cambridge, Ontario. After departing Thailand, the thing that worried Khan the most was if there were any Muay Thai clubs in Canada. To his disappointment the only thing that was available was a Kickboxing club. Without any hesitation, Khan joined the Ron Day Kickboxing Club in Kitchener, Ontario. He trained there for a year and a half under his coach Jim Fields. During this time Khan was only able to have two fights. This was because Kickboxing fights were banned in Ontario. The first fight was in Detroit, Michigan. The contest lasted 1 minute 35 seconds with Khan winning by TKO. The second fight lasted a little longer: in the second round his opponent gave up because he could no longer endure the punishment from Khan.

In the 1980’s Kickboxing was banned, so Khan was forced to train in Quebec under Say Moinsourath at the Phadkyanakha Muay Thai Gym. After just seven fights Khan hung up his gloves to pursue a career as a Muay Thai instructor.

In the 1980s Ontario did not have a Muay Thai association and therefore, Ajarn Khan and a few other people who were passionate about the sport, helped found the Canadian Amateur Muay Thai Association of Ontario (CAMTAO) in the hope of making Thai Boxing a safe and recognized sport within the province. Finally, in 2003, after over a decade of struggle and hard work, Ajarn Khan and his colleagues finally obtained recognition for Amateur Muay Thai from the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Recreation by the Honourable Minister, Frank Klees. Currently, Ajarn Khan is forming a new national body for Muay Thai in Canada and he is working with the International Body (WMC) to do so. He focuses on traditional Muay Thai and modern self defense in a safe and healthy environment.

Ajarn Khan runs Phady’s Muay Thai in Cambridge, Ontario and he has been active in conducting seminars at local high schools; at Martial Arts schools across the country; and he has conducted seminars for the Peel Regional Police force, the largest police force in Canada. He has trained several young, hardworking men and women who have gone on to become regional, national, international and world champions. Furthermore, many of Ajarn Khan’s students have gone on to open their own successful gyms across the province.

Tony Buchholtz

Kru Tony has been training in the martial arts for over 23 years. In addition to the ranks held, he has attended numerous seminars and workshops for various other martial arts. Some of these arts include Boxing, Wing Chun, Kali, Silat, Grappling, Modern Arnis, and Jeet Kune Do.

Kru Tony`s goal is to help each student reach 100 % of their potential. He works with each individual as a team and guides them through the great challenge of transforming mind, body and spirit into one, observing the physical and spiritual growth of his students on their life long journey of self discovery.

• 23 years Martial Arts Training
• Certified Muay Thai Instructor
• Certified Kenpo Karate Black Belt
• Canadian National Coaching Certificate Level 1
• Certified Canadian Red Cross:
  • Standard First Aid
  • CPR Level C
• CAMTAO certified:
  • Instructor
  • Judging and referee
  • Corner man and coach.
• 18 years teaching experience.

Laura Vuculescu

A 28 year career in sport, of which 20 years was in Martial Arts. International Judge and Referee in Muay Thai and Kickboxing. Laura is a Kru in Muay Thai and a Sensei in Martial Arts, as well as a two Dan Black Belt in Kickboxing and a Boxing Coach.

• Master of Sport - Awarded by Ministry of Sport in Romania
• Gold Medalist - Full-contact Kickboxing World Championships, Kunsan, South Korea 1996
• Gold Medalist - Full-contact Kickboxing World Cup, Bucharest, Romania 1997
• Gold Medalist - European Muay Thai Championships, Paphos, Cyprus 2000
• Bronze Medalist - World Muay Thai Championships, Bangkok 2003
• Silver Medalist - World Muay Thai Championships, Bangkok 2005
• 2-time Romanian National Boxing Champion 2001, 2002
• Gold Medalist - Italy Boxing Championships 2002
• Certificate for Sport First Aid & CPR Level C
• NCCP Level 1

Zubair Khan

Zubair began combat sports at the early age of 5 years. After earning a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do he discovered Muay Thai and was immediately fascinated by its simplicity, effectiveness and intense training regimen. He was also attracted to the culture of respect and sportsmanship that came with it.

Zubair began competing in full-contact Muay Thai in 1995 and has been an active competitor ever since with a reputation for his highly technical style. As of December 2008, he has participated in a total of 44 amateur and professional Muay Thai and Boxing bouts, achieving the following titles and designations:

• CAMTAO Canadian Super Middleweight Champion
• WMF North American Light-Heavyweight Champion
• WMC 2003 World Championship Silver Medalist- Bangkok, Thailand
• IKF 2008 World Championships Tournament Champion- Orlando, Florida
• WMC Certified Judge and Referee – Bangkok, Thailand
• CAMTAO Certified Kru (Instructor) Designation – Issued by Ajarn Khan Phady

Before establishing Warrior Muay Thai, Zubair has coached students at several different schools including:

• Phady’s Muay Thai (Cambridge, Ontario)
• Backstreet Boxing Studio (Guelph, Ontario)
• Ultimate Martial Arts (Scarborough, Ontario)

As a Muay Thai coach, Zubair has trained several successful athletes including Bilal Chawich who won the 2008 IKF World Classic Championships Heavyweight division, as well as Christopher Williams who won the TBS-SA World Classic Tournament Middleweight B-Class tournament.

Alongside a successful Muay Thai career, Zubair is an English graduate of the University of Waterloo, a full-time IT Staffing Advisor with the University Health Network and an advocate of humanitarian aid, who strives for success in all aspects of life.