After the fire back in March, I have been anxiously waiting for our new home to be built. I may only teach and train at KnuckleUp one day a week recently, but it is a part of my life like no other gym in my past. Why you may ask? KnuckleUp is the heart and soul of my group. The positive energy at KnuckleUp is tangible for me and I try to soak up all I can.
After the fire in March of this year, I started to feel like some of that energy was slipping away. But since then I have seen our fighters take on all comers in MMA , BJJ, and Thai. Our BJJ team is stronger than ever, with phenoms like Parker, Forrest, and Alex killing it in BJJ tournaments and setting the pace for the future. In MMA, Vitkay, Chazz Walton and the rest of the boys are grounding and pounding their way through the competition in the cage. The Thai classes and now the Fitness and Cross Fit programs are also pumping up the amplitude. Energy is flowing.
When I walked into the new location, I had to catch my breath. Even though the club was nearly empty, I could sense the energy it possessed. The mat was a mile long and beautiful. The Kickboxing area was perfect and with CrossFit and the fitness area were stacked. There is nothing a martial artist or fitness nut could want. I am super-proud to be part of the family at KnuckleUp and with the new location under our feet, there will be many more champions forged on those mats.
Time will tell but after seeing the guys training Thai and MMA next to my Kali Class, I understand the reason KnuckleUp is successful as a fighter’s gym. It is the coaches and the trainers that make the gym. If we were in a rundown warehouse, KnuckleUp would still produce top flight fighters, but with this type of facility, we will continue to dominate the Atlanta fight scene for another decade to come.
And we will be pulling out all the stops for this year’s Krampus Stick Fights December 20th. If you have never watched Filipino Stick Fighting this will be an awesome afternoon of beatings.
Chief Instructors of the Atlanta Kali Group