‘He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything’.
(Arabian Proverb) (from formabattaglia.com.au)

 

Forma Battaglia's website is unlike most, much like Forma itself. It is at once life affirming, encouraging and promising. Full of hope. 

 

Giving hope, together with health, underscores everything Forma stands for, and the results are consistently seen in the performance of Forma's clients in the Masters Boxing Australia ring. So much so that when it came to appointing MBA's 2023 Boxing Gym of the Year, it was a fast decision. It had to be Forma. 

 

If you had to choose one word to describe the approach that Mike and Kristy Battaglia take to working with their Forma clients, it would have to be 'holistic'. 

 

"Our purpose is simply to help people be better. To help them achieve what they thought they could not, to provide that family-like support. We want you to feel comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. The world needs so much more of what we do."

Mike and Kristy Battaglia

 

Forma, meaning 'shape' in Italian, is an accurate description of what Forma does for its clients. Not just fit shape but mental shape as well. Health, and hope that whatever life has thrown at you in the past, whatever you've been through, you're just getting started. There's no going back. We'll help you draw a line in the sand. Your life (not just your fitness) starts, or re-starts, here.

 

"Believe in my belief in you."

Mike and Kristy Battaglia are of one mind and approach to their successful gym, and that is to invest in the individual. Mike is the head coach and authentic voice of the business. The mentor. Kristy runs the business side and provides a female aspect to training in the gym. The clientele demographic could not be wider. From young kids to 70+ years, and some have been with Forma for over 20 years. Members though, are deliberately kept at a capped number in the belief that a small number gives Forma the greatest advantage of being able to provide the right mix of people, making each one feel special and motivated. Safe.

 

Forma specialises in "people who didn't think they could". Some with trauma in the past. As Kristy notes, it's a "non-business, business approach". Everything is earned. Every decision is important.

 

Not just a boxing gym.

Mike and Kristy talk about Forma being a "culture" where the members are "comfortable belonging". A place where members want to hang out. There's a determination to "mean more to less people". To really know each one. And for each Forma client to feel part of a community. Clients can expect the Forma community leaders to check in with them regularly, to see how they are progressing towards the goals they themselves set right from the start when they are asked "what do you want to achieve?".

 

"My greatest achievement is my family."

Mike Battaglia knows challenge. Inside and outside the boxing ring. In a not unfamiliar story amongst sporting elites, Mike relays the challenge he felt when his career in amateur boxing, for all intents and purposes, "finished". That journey led him to evaluate the self-worth of a competitor once the sport finishes. To ask the difficult question, "Who am I without boxing?". The result? A belief in good, in vulnerability, in what it takes to be the best person you can. And how to get there. And in the power of that to overcome adversity and achieve "good things". All of which has been translated into the creed of Forma Battaglia, with unequivocal success. On a personal note, Michael leads by example, having soared to an emphatic victory in Germany in September 2023, taking home a WBF World Title and the belt that accompanied it. In the same year also winning not one but two MBA Open Class Championship belts at consecutive tournaments - the Oceania Titles in August (alongside Forma Battaglia boxers Mitchell Paterson and Toby Reading); and the MBA Golden Gloves in November. Much to the delight of Team Battaglia, one of the most united and delightful boxing 'families' in the Australian masters boxing arena. When Forma arrives at a tournament, you feel it and the smiles begin.

 

There can be no more worthy recipient of this the inaugural MBA Boxing Gym of the Year for 2023. Congratulations, Forma Battaglia.

 

Forma Battaglia is a boutique fitness space in Brookvale. A unique gym experience offering Strength, Cycle, Boxing, Cardio, Mobility and PT. With thanks to Mike and Kristy Battaglia for sharing Forma Battaglia's formula for success.