At Ballistic Fighting Methods, parents and teachers train alongside law-enforcement agents as they learn Bruce Lee’s personal martial-arts system, jeet kune do. Adults learn practical, real-world self-defense skills, and antibullying seminars teach conflict resolution and martial arts to children. Instructors build cardio-kickboxing classes around real boxing and kickboxing techniques, so students learn how to harness a fierce right cross while simultaneously sculpting and shaping a stronger body.
A slideshow of Midwest Training Center's star fighters depicts them in various states of victory: sporting championship belts, hands raised by crowning referee, or slamming an opponent into the ground. Perhaps they owe their athletic prowess to the 3,000 square feet of space that the training center offers, complete with two fighting cages and one ring. That's where its instructors drill battling skills into fighters and teach MMA classes such as muay thai and Brazilian jujitsu.
Chuck Masny describes himself as an “eternal student of the martial arts,” always learning more about his chosen disciplines despite the black belts in Goshin jiujitsu and American karate that already encircle his waist. Chuck brings his insatiable appetite for refinement to his classes, encouraging his students to ask why a technique is performed a certain way or to adjust motions to suit their unique physiques. This allows students to determine what mix of fitness exercise and self-defense training best suits their needs.
Chuck’s youth programs focus on developing not only the physical fitness skills that will grow into combat ability, but also the mental skills important to a child’s scholastic success. Kids practice listening and self-discipline and engage in a “bully-proofing” program in which they learn how to deflect insults by mentally transforming their bodies into rubber. Adult classes swing the focus to the practical underpinnings of self-defense, studying why and how certain moves and combinations work to arm students against real-world violence. Chuck also schedules cardio-enriched kickboxing classes, which incinerate calories in a furnace powered by flying fists and feet.
At FLO CrossFit, their vision combines martial arts with the cardio and endurance of fitness. Multiple black-belt-holding and championship-winning instructors pour more than 100 combined years of experience into molding students of all skill levels into accomplished martial artists. The 8,500 sq. ft. facility contains a wide variety of state of the art equipment, such as an elevated boxing ring, collegiate wrestling mat, tatami area, and weight machines. They also offer free weights, and a cardio area with elliptical, treadmills, and bikes.
Boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, krav maga, mixed martial arts, and muay thai kickboxing are just a few of the classes on offer; FLO encourages students to combine aspects of multiple styles to create a formidably balanced skill set. Memberships grant users unlimited access to the gym and group classes, and private lesson and personal training packages customize regimens with one-on-one attention.
Any martial-arts education involves hard knocks and tough falls, but U.S. Elite Martial Arts & Fitness Center cushions the blows with its 4,000 square feet of matted floors. Atop them, trainees exchange blows in boxing and muay thai kickboxing classes. Brazilian jujitsu, wrestling, and judo fighters perform takedowns as elegant as they are brutal, following up with holds and joint locks that immobilize an opponent’s body. The center also trains children in self-defense, tying their lessons into school to raise grades and impart nonviolent antibullying techniques, such as calling a playground summit.