The gym is small, cramped and wouldn't pass for much in some high schools in the U.S. Yet me and several friends gather there each week to get in a good work out, spar with each other, and share knowledge about different disciplines of martial arts.
It was started by my friend's Nick and Matt. Both are fitness freaks with interesting back stories. They share a love for martial arts, particularly Brazilian Jujitsu. Both are currently learning at least two forms of martial arts a week. As a means to share and gather with others, they worked out a deal with the owner of the BBJ gym the train out of. A year before I came to Korea, fight club was born. Together they run mini-classes mainly for foreigners on the weekends as a means to give people a taste of martial arts and a place to spar and trade ideas about fighting. Nick's girlfriend Susy is also there, usually working with the girls who come in each week (and does a good job of it).
This is how i spend my Saturdays. After meeting with Nick, he used his fanatical sales pitch (a jack-legged Baptist preacher would be proud) to get me to check out fight club. I was impressed and I started coming. At some point, it became a need for me each week. Sure, one of the best parts about Fight Club is that we all gather and get to meet up with people we consider friends, but the majority of us have a desire to learn more about the sport of Mixed Martial Arts and all the elements that can be added to me. I myself have only my wrestling background to fall back on. I turns out that it's really helpful when things go to the ground. I've also found that it helps with my standing game.
Each week I go home sore, bruised and/or tired from the beatings I've given or received from the rest of group. We have a lot of fun, but we also work hard. More than few of us at least want to be in fighting shape. Not so much that anyone wants to fight; we just want to be able to say we COULD train to fight if we wanted to. I have no illusions of becoming the next UFC star. I only want to drop weight. Some of the girls who come in only want to learn basic self defense, kick boxing or Taekwando. Sometimes the girls will even go off on their own and do Yoga. There are a few girls who don't mind mixing it up and learning how to fight, but no one is pushed. One of the rules is you put the work you want, no one is going to make you do something.
One of the fun things about this gym is that the Koreans who are members will come in and sometimes spar with us. There are a few who are training to become professional fighters and they are REALLY GOOD. I've seen guys smaller than my brother take down someone who's almost as big as me. I've learned a few little tricks from a few of the Koreans there. One of them I like to mess with because he's funny. He goes by John and he's a high school kid with a lot of talent. He gets a little cocky, but he's a nice kid. I sometimes treat him like a little brother because he gets a little high on himself. I think if he sticks with it he might be able to go pro one day.
The highlight of each Fight Club session is "The Brick". One man gets in the ring for five minutes and each minute the sparing partner changes. Basically it's 1 vs. 5 one at a time. It's tiring, but it's become a gold standard. Now because of Brendan, there is a new teir for the brick; the "Ten Stack." 1 vs. 10!
Recently, I've gotten very serious about Fight Club. I've seen that I've lost weight and the slow improvement in my technique. I also bought to pairs of gloves to spar in (I used to use the ones the gym provided - very stinky) and I've noticed an improvement in my stamina. I want to see more results and I want my skill set to improve faster. I can't do it just going one day a week, so I plan on joining the gym full time in August. I will be able to join in on any of the weekday sessions and I'll work with the hardcore teachers and students. I will more than likely have to rolled out of the gym the first 30 days because I will be tired. I've seen the workout these guys do and it's ROUGH. I know what must be done, but I really want to build myself up into a more healthy individual. Also, it would be nice to know I have the ablity to fight if needed.
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