BJJ Training In A Gi For Real-Life

JIu Jitsu portland

How BJJ Training Can Simulate A Real-Life Self-Defense Situation Many newer grapplers often wonder: does gi training simulate real-life self-defense situations more than no-gi training? The short answer: it depends. Unless you live on the beach, chances are good that our physical altercations are almost always going to include attackers who are wearing clothing. These… Read more »

Women’s Self Defense

Kickboxing in Portland

I’m starting to get the hang of some of the foundational moves involved in Muay Thai self defense. So far, I’ve participated in three classes and I’ve worked with three different partners. I’m learning a lot from Coach Russell and watching his strikes and kicks, but I’m also learning a lot from the people I’m… Read more »

Training at NWFA

MMA in Portland

Being a member at and training at NWFA offers more than attending two classes each week. During my first consult with Coach Russell (a short check-in about goals, how class is going, etc.) he mentioned that there are semi-private sessions I could attend with Chad as part of my membership. I signed up to attend… Read more »

Don’t Abuse Your Self-Defense

Train MMA in Portland

Don’t Abuse Your Self-Defense Abilities Just because you’re an experienced and efficient grappler, doesn’t mean that you should go as far as to break an opponent’s arm or leg during a physical altercation. After all, 99% of the attackers that you’ll ever face in life will likely have no experience in BJJ. Some may have… Read more »

Muay Thai Blog

muay thai kickboxing portland

I sort of ate my own words after my last Muay Thai class. There actually are some techniques that take some time to learn.For example, there is a move that involves kicking Thai Pads your partner is holding, one knee at a time. It sounds and looks pretty simple; but for me, this was one of… Read more »

Top 3 Punch Block Counters That Every Grappler Should Know

MMA in Portland

BJJ is inherently a self-defense sport. Due to the massive amount of media exposure that BJJ receives for its tournaments, it can be hard to remember this. And since it’s a self-defense sport, there are three very important punch block counters that you have to learn. #1: Punch Block + Hip Throw This technique is… Read more »

Carly’s Blog #5 – An Awesome Kickboxing Workout

Kickboxing in Portland

A Kickboxing workout is such fun! It’s great to learn the self-defense skills that go along with Muay Thai; however, even if I never use those skills, I can feel my body getting into better shape with every class I go to. Having good form is the basis to everything we do in class, more… Read more »

Finding a Good Tai Chi Teacher

tai chi ichuan portland

There’s a lot of information out there Reading books and articles can be a good way to expand our knowledge about whatever subjects catch our fancy and for whatever reasons. And with the amount of information available to us via the Internet, there’s never been a better time for self-research. But in order to master… Read more »