After two years away from the ring, Alexandria world champion Muay Thai kickboxer Amine “The Lion” Ballafrikh has announced his comeback.
Earlier this month, Ballafrikh announced on social media that he’d spent the last two years with his young family, building his Atlas Muay Thai gym (2395 S. Dove Street) and coaching his fighters.
A local Muay Thai dojo recently moved to a new location in Alexandria.
Atlas Muay Thai Gym opened earlier this month in its new location at 2395 S. Dove Street. The gym opened in 2023 in a former CrossFit gym at 215 N. Payne Street, part of The Link coworking office, and is owned by Muay Thai world champion Amine “The Lion” Ballafrikh.
Like a scene from Cobra Kai, local martial artists are getting it on.
On Saturday (Nov. 9), fighters from a number of local martial arts gyms participated in an informal smoker’s kickboxing tournament at Atlas Muay Thai (6301A Richmond Highway).
Things were looking up for Richard Romero, founder of Seichou Karate in Alexandria. The Old Town dojo is facing imminent closure thanks to redevelopment, but Romero finally found a new home just northeast of Springfield.
But, like a crane kick at the end of a karate championship, Romero said some surprising zoning issues have cropped up that could spell trouble for plans to open Seichou Karate at 5710 General Washington Drive.
Alexandria health director reflects on sudden retirement, tenure with city — “When Dr. Stephen Haering, director of the Alexandria Health Department for the past 11 years, unexpectedly announced his retirement on April 9, he did so for what he called ‘deeply personal’ reasons. Haering, whose retirement was effective immediately according to a city news release, told the Times in an interview that his departure was ‘not associated with the pandemic response.'” [Alex Times]
Vaccination drive brings a dose of hope for restaurant workers — “More than 1,000 restaurant and small business employees have filed through the doors of the old Fireflies restaurant over the past few weeks with the same purpose: receiving COVID-19 vaccinations. The location’s current vacancy made this the perfect site to administer such a large number of shots, Bill Blackburn, restaurateur and co-owner of Homegrown Restaurant Group, said. Blackburn joined forces with community organizer Charlotte Hall and Scott Shaw of Alexandria Restaurant Partners – who donated the space – to orchestrate the Alexandria Restaurant Drive whereby restaurant workers could receive vaccinations in a streamlined way.” [Alex Times]
Stuck at home? Potomac Kempo has been teaching Japanese martial arts virtually through the pandemic.
The dojo has a number of locations in Alexandria, and while hundreds of students are starting to come back the business is transitioning from offering online-only services.
