Antony has been training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at Straight Blast Gym Buford for the last decade, joining the tribe way back in 2012.
From our humble beginnings in our original, hole-in-the-wall location to our current 9600 sq foot facility on Buford Hwy, Antony is one of the longest-standing members of the SBG Buford tribe.
Antony’s first experience with martial arts came as a young child. He was trying out some of the striking-based martial arts moves that he’d seen and/or learned on his dad only to find himself defeated easily with a single takedown. Amazed by what he had just seen and experienced, he began learning about mixed martial arts and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu from his father. Antony never looked back.
Antony sought out Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts coach Phil Gentry and became his student as a Jiu Jitsu white belt. After nearly a decade of hard work and being a great training partner, Antony earned his BJJ brown belt in 2021.
Sean Coleman, who has been a coach and training partner to Antony since the very beginning of his martial arts journey had this to say about his friend and student:
“Antony and I have been training together Since SBG Buford Season 1, lol. He has been one of my smoothest training partners and has found the perfect balance between competitiveness and being super smooth and safe. He is a great reminder to all of his teammates that training in Jiu Jitsu can and should be fun while still getting after it on the mats.”
Antony has developed a reputation for being one of the premier training partners at SBG Buford. Despite that, Coach Sean is correct in his assesment of Antony; when he’s getting ready for a competition, he trains hard and often. Coach Sean continued:
“I remember coaching him at a tournament back when he was a blue belt and he was going against a local Atlanta fighter, who will probably end up being in the UFC, and the fighter was going for a straight ankle lock on Antony. All of the guy’s friends & teammates were going crazy and whooping it up like it was a wrap and Antony just stayed calm, properly defended the submission, stood up, and looked over with a smile at all of the people who had been yelling out and being over-the-top. He then wagged his finger like Dikembe Mutombo, gets rid of the position, and passes the guard. It was absolutely hilarious. After the match, he and the other guy were cool and he was even laughing it up with his opponent’s teammates.”
Ok, one more story from Coach Sean:
“Another time at a different tournament years later, he was in his opponents closed guard. Antony stands up and the guy keeps a Antony in the closed guard and makes him carry him. Anytony stands up tall, “dabs”, and then opens the closed guard LOL. To an outsider it might sound like he’s being a poor sport, but it was always the opposite of that. Antony never disrespects anyone, does everything in good fun, and always has an amazing attitude. It’s contagious to his teammates, his opponents, and just anyone that’s around him.”
During the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020, Antony had to take a hiatus from SBG in order to keep his family safe. As soon as the landscape was safe for him to return to the gym, he was right back on the mats doing Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai with his friends and teammates.
Antony isn’t the only member of the Bui family to train at SBG, as his wife Christine also trains with the tribe.
When Antony isn’t training Jiu Jitsu at Straight Blast Gym Buford, he is creating and editing amazing advertisement and tesimonial videos for crowd-funding campaigns and businesses in Atlanta, Buford, and beyond. You can learn all about his company Launch Light Films by clicking right here.
Antony and Coach Sean have also collaborated several times to make some absolutely hilarious Jiu Jitsu related videos. Click on the image below to see some of their work.
