Total Fitness Center offering intro class to martial arts
Looking for a way to boost your self-esteem?
If so, Total Fitness Center is the place to be on Saturdays.
A newly-developed business relationship between TFC co-owner Joe Isaac and SVT Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts & Fitness owner Aaron Stephens, of Russell, Ky., is combining fitness with self-defense at the Ironton fitness facility.
The weekly classes, which take place from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturdays, offer an introduction to the world of Martial Arts. Members of TFC of all ages are welcomed as participants.
Fans of the Ultimate Fighting Championship should be familiar with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
"All of the ground moves in the UFC come from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu," Stephens said. "These are extremely popular and effective techniques."
As Stephens demonstrated his trade on student Travis Stevens in an introductory session last Saturday, Greg Igo, John Thompson, Jerrod Jenkins and Isaac attempted to follow their leader's directions. Repetition, Stephens constantly reminded, is the key to success. Each new participant left with a desire to learn more.
"I train with Aaron at least four days a week," said Travis Stevens, adding that he has been a student of Stephens' for close to two years. "I'm ate up with it. He's sold me on it."
The introductory session covered techniques such as the guillotine choke and rear-naked choke, as well as definitions and examples of guard and mount positions, to name a few. With each technique, Stephens provided step-by-step guidance concerning hand and arm placement as well as body positioning advice.
"Jiu Jitsu is a mental art," Stephens, a purple belt, said. "It isn't strength reliant. Technique is the number one thing."
Sticking to his mantra of repetition, both mentally and physically, Stephens added that athleticism isn't a determining factor in success in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
"You don't have to be an athlete to excel at this," he said. "In this art, you don't force things; you finesse them."
Indeed, many of the techniques he displayed seemed effortless, yet deadly effective.
"In any given situation, using these techniques, you will be able to subdue an attacker in around 10 seconds," Stephens said, adding that counter moves to the moves he taught will be covered in future lessons. "In competitions, it comes down to how well you know each possible move. Everything I've taught you today has at least 10 counter-moves, and there are at least 10 counters to the counter-moves."
Stephens, who said that the clientele in his Russell business spans ages from 5 to 60, stressed the life-altering awareness Brazilian Jiu Jitsu provides.
"The ones who have too much confidence are quickly brought down, while the one's with low confidence are built up," he said.
"This is for health and fitness as much as for anything else," Stephens added. "I have a client in his mid-30s who lost 60 pounds in about three months. It's for everyone, for a variety of reasons."
By BILLY BRUCE
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