Every brand has a shoot day story. Some are glamorous. Some involve a studio in Fitzroy, a professional lighting rig, and someone handing you a green smoothie between takes. Ours involved a beanie, a heavy bag, Conor McGregor on the TV and an order from Saul's Sandwiches that arrived at exactly the right moment. This is that story.

World Fitness Cartel, Oakleigh — The Venue

If you're looking for a gym that screams "this is where real fighters train" — World Fitness Cartel Oakleigh is exactly that. Black walls. Yellow steel. Heavy bags that have clearly seen things. The kind of place where you walk in and immediately feel like you should be training harder. Est. 2015, as the logo will remind you, loudly, from across the room.

This was Stryke's first ever photo and video shoot. We didn't hire a studio. We didn't rent a backdrop. We went straight to where fighters actually are — a real Muay Thai and combat sports gym in Melbourne — because that's what this brand is about. Authentic fight wear from an Australian Muay Thai brand, shot in the kind of environment our gear was built for.

Team Stryke on the bags at World Fitness Cartel Oakleigh · 12 July 2026 · The beanie was not planned. It was cold. We kept it.

The Morning — Getting Set Up

The crew arrived early. Cameras were set up. Garments were steamed — because wrinkled fight shorts in a product shoot is the kind of thing that haunts you in post-production. The run sheet was distributed. Everyone nodded like they'd read it. At least two people definitely hadn't.

The brief was simple: capture Stryke muay thai shorts and fight wear in action. Real movement, real effort, real sweat. No posed nonsense. No filter that makes it look like the footage was shot underwater. Just the gear doing what it was built to do — holding up through kicks, knees, clinch and everything in between.

Coach Wanzi was in the building. If you know, you know. The energy in the room shifted the moment he walked in. We'd like to say it was because of the cameras. It was absolutely because of Coach Wanzi.

The Gear — On The Bags, In Real Life

This is the part that matters. The Stryke Core Shorts OG Black were on the bags, on the mat, through every combination. What you see in the photos is not a controlled environment with perfect lighting and a wind machine pointed at the waistband. This is a real Melbourne Muay Thai gym, on a cold July morning, with fighters going actual rounds.

The high-cut leg held up through every kick. The polyester-nylon blend didn't bunch, didn't ride up, didn't do anything that muay thai training shorts aren't supposed to do. The Stryke scorpion on the waistband caught the light every single time someone threw a clean teep, which we are choosing to believe was intentional and not just good luck.

The Core Rashguard was also on set — compression fit, short sleeve, black on black. You don't notice it until you need it, which is exactly the point. Premium muay thai shorts and rashguards shouldn't distract from the training. They should disappear into it. That's what fight wear from an Australian Muay Thai brand should do. That's what Stryke does.

Two fighters. One bag. One shared understanding that neither of them is going easy. WFC Oakleigh · July 2026.

The McGregor Situation

Here's something that wasn't in the run sheet. Halfway through the shoot, someone put on the Conor McGregor vs Max Holloway fight on the TV in the corner of the gym. We'd like to tell you that we professionally carried on with the shoot, unaffected by the spectacle unfolding on screen.

We did not professionally carry on.

There was a collective pause. There were opinions shared about McGregor's left hand. There were opinions about Holloway's chin. There was a moment where the camera was technically rolling but nobody was moving because everyone was watching a particularly dramatic exchange in round two. We're calling this "organic creative direction." The footage from this period is still under review.

In all seriousness — it set exactly the right energy for the shoot. Fight footage playing in the background of a real combat sports gym while fighters train in Australian fight wear from a brand that actually gets it. That's not a coincidence. That's the Stryke environment.

Catering — Saul's Sandwiches

Every great production has a catering story. Ours is simple and beautiful. Saul's Sandwiches arrived at the midway break, timed to perfection, like a corner man throwing in the towel at exactly the right round. The crew stopped. The fighters stopped. Everyone agreed that this was the best part of the shoot.

We're not going to pretend that sandwiches changed the trajectory of Australian fight wear. But we will say that good food in the middle of a hard shoot makes everything better. The fighters were happier. The camera operators were happier. The creative directors made better decisions after eating. This is science.

What's Coming From The Footage

The content from Stryke's first shoot at WFC Oakleigh is currently in post-production. What's coming: hero product shots of the Core Shorts and Rashguard, video content for Instagram Reels, and a cinematic brand trailer that we're genuinely excited about.

If you're a fighter in Melbourne looking for muay thai shorts that were tested in a real gym, by real fighters, on a cold July morning while McGregor played in the background — you're in the right place. You can buy muay thai shorts online australia at stryke.com.au — the OG Black shorts and Core Rashguard are live right now.

And if you train at WFC Oakleigh — you might recognise the bags in the background. You're already training where Stryke was built.