Classes are held in a large heated garage converted into a workout studio right off Hwy 5. in Lake Elmo, making it a short drive no matter where You live in the Twin Cities!
The Instructors are Two Brothers-Nick and Chris, who started training in Martial Arts together in 1998, studying under Instructor Karl Sanders, (Rest in Peace). Some of the things he emphasized in class were intense workouts, maximizing each repetition to the best of Your own ability, proper form, and most importantly helping each other work toward a common goal of bettering ourselves. Though we do teach some movements designed to quickly incapacitate individuals, and we train for maximum speed and power with each repetition, we hope that these movements are only needed when You are presented with great danger and have no choice but to defend Yourself. We don't teach nor encourage violence or engage in toxic or negative energy while we workout-ever. If Your goal is to train here to become a good fighter or to practice what You have been taught to hurt others, You are not welcome; know that if nothing else.
We are currently studying Wing Chun, Tai Chi, and also getting refinement in our technique from a lifelong practitioner of the Martial Arts who earned His Black Belt with Instructor Karl, and everything we know we will eventually show You.
We believe a strong foundation is necessary to build the body correctly, and no facet of the body is ignored when we work out. Much like a house's structure is dependent on a good foundation, so is Your body. Having a good foundation means having a strong core, excellent balance, proper breathing, great flexibility, full range of motion, and many, many, many other techniques. We strongly emphasize maintaining proper form at all times to maximize each repetition and make each movement purposeful. You get the best workout when you do an exercise to it's TRUEST form, and from what I see on a daily basis, about 95% of people who workout do not do this.
You will become proficient at moving your body in the most efficient manner should You attend. You will notice immense improvements and benefits immediately from the workouts we put You through! And no workout is ever the same-rather we switch it up all the time to keep the body from becoming complacent. One day we may be roundkicking Muay Thai pads, and causing people driving by on Hwy. 5 to conclude there is a thunderstorm. Other times we may be practicing plyometric based medicine ball throws to build explosive power. Another time we may be practicing static, isometric martial arts positions that have been around and refined for well over 1,000 years. Most of the time we will be doing all of the above mentioned in the course of one class.
For Instructor Nick, physical fitness is not a job or a hobby-rather it is a Way of Life, and always has been from a very early age, when he was imitating movement from Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, and watching American Ninja 1 through 57 with Chris and practicing spin kicks, or doing his best Kirby Puckett impression (keep in mind this was well before the Red Rock incident) by playing baseball and generally treating the neighborhood like a personal playground. Nick is employed as a Personal Trainer and likes to design workouts/classes that incorporate and combine form from the best of what both Fitness and Martial Arts have to offer. He encourages maximization of each repetition throughout the workout, among many, many other techniques which You will have to attend to learn about. He has a great idea of what it takes to build You up responsibly, yet quickly, no matter what Your level of fitness is, and is extremely sensitive to the concerns of others, regarding this subject. His metaphorical cup is usually empty and he is always looking for ways to gain knowledge involving the body and mind. Some of his past pursuits toward that knowledge (not including fitness and this particular style of martial arts) have included practicing Muay Thai Boxing for 6 months from a Thailand born practitioner, taking Yoga and Bikram Yoga classes to learn new stretches and breathing techniques, implementing plyometrics training into workouts to add explosive power to strikes and buying pilates and Pavel books to add to the workouts, just to name a few. Those aforementioned pursuits are just scratching the surface though. Weekly trips to the Library to check out books and test techniques and exercises is a weekly regimen for Nick as he believes the mind and bodies abilities are heightened when they are both exercised strenuously! For example, he is sure that if You are overweight, but extremely intelligent, You would get much smarter with the help of exercise as your synapses would fire more rapidly and information would travel through your brain much more efficiently. Just like there is fat in Your body, there is plenty in the brain We could all afford to lose.
Every workout he puts people through he puts himself through first. All his acquired knowledge and hard work is condensed and delivered in a way so that the student can get a "Cliff's Note" version of what to do, thus progressing at a rapid pace, and eliminating unnecessary movement. What took him 10 years to try to perfect You can learn in a matter of weeks. His learned failures are Your newfound knowledge. His energy knows no bounds, and he loves to teach what he knows to others so they can find similar satisfaction. Often classes are conducted in a fun, engaging manner, usually involving motivational quotes using philosophers as diverse as Socrates, ("thoust should eat to live-not live to eat") to Satchel Paige, "How old would You be if You didn't know how old You are?")
His latest favorite though is Von Goethe's, "There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity" as he sees it everywhere he goes, especially in workout techniques at the gym, but also sometimes when he looks at himself from an outside perspective when self evaluating at the end of the day.
For Instructor Chris, who recently earned his Black Belt after 12+ years of practicing martial arts, martial arts is "The Way." Martial Arts provided structure and discipline in his life, when there was little, and he would like to show others that are in a similar position that a degree of inner peace can be attained through the Martial Arts, no matter how bad they think things are. His pursuit of learning new techniques for Martial Arts seems to be based off of animal instinct, that can be likened to that of a thirsty Gorilla in search of water. In the past his pursuit of higher knowledge involving martial arts has taken him from deep into Chinatown, California where he studied under a Chinese practitioner, all the way back to Minnesota where he learned to break coconuts with his bare hands. He has also trained at the Minnesota Martial Art's Academy and many other schools in the metro area in pursuit of more knowledge. In his earlier years, before he started Martial Arts, he also studied American Boxing at the Legendary Burnette's Gym in St. Paul, and still practices and teaches the techniques he learned. He pushes himself to the max, and expects the same from his workout partners.
Everything we do is straightforward an presented in Lehman's terms so everyone can understand it, and the environment is non-intimidating and we are accepting to all person's from all walks of life, regardless of age, race, creed, religion, political leanings, etc. (though you will be expected to keep any beliefs to Yourself regarding politics, religion, or sex when working out here.)
We have the the belief that taking the best form and techniques from an assortment of styles and incorporating all of them into a workout is the best way to get a complete workout. There are over 600 muscles in the human body and we try to work out just about every single one during the course of an average workout rather than just working out the ones that are seen most prominently-for that leads to imbalance's in the body, and that is not a goal one should ever strive for. To maintain a good center and be able to move in all directions equally is a worthy pursuit, both physically and metaphorically, and training here will help towards that.
We are always seeking knowledge and trying out new techniques, movement, strikes, form, breathing, stretching, etc. from a multitude of styles, then bringing them into our workouts when we are confident that they are helpful in some area.
Everyone who trains here loses weight very quickly, and builds strength, speed, power, balance, flexibility, hand/eye & foot/eye coordination on an exponential basis, week by week, especially in the first few weeks. Life is enjoyed much better as a result of pushing ourselves and there is no greater reliever of stress than punching the mitts, thai pads, and/or heavy bags, (in my opinion) and by the time we leave class, we feel so great, no matter how bad we felt walking in, and that is a result of a great workout and the endorphins and good vibes that come with a great workout. There aren't many things You can do for exercise that will burn more calories per hour than an intense martial arts session (do Your own research and see) besides maybe swimming. I am confident there is NOTHING You can do that will give you such a well rounded workout this efficiently. Again, I have practiced most every sport out there, and tried most every workout, and I always come back to Martial Arts as the best way to improve oneself. Having the collective energy of other's adds to the energy level of any workout as well, and that is another reason to work out with others rather than hiding in the corner of a gym all by Your lonesome exercising with improper form. Some can find motivation without the help of others, and I am one, but I also find that I can never equal the motivational energy that I encounter when working with others in a martial arts setting.
Also, for all You women out there that want to get rid of waist fat, there is no better fat dissipater of love handles then practicing kicks-the fat gets kicked right off the sides, and we also do abdominals each night at the end of class just to tax those abdominals to the nth degree.
There are obvious and apparent consequences for a such a drastic change in lifestyle from the way the average human being used to live just a hundred years ago. We went from having to forage and grown our own food, to having to do nothing but extend a limp, pasty hand (one repetition) through a car window to reach for a steaming bag of shit at a drive-thru that provides nothing but space for our all ready overly enlarged stomachs..All in about a hundred year time period this has happened, and the consequences of such a sedentary lifestyle is 1 in 3 children being born in the U.S. have diabetes in the Year 2000-and it is skyrocketing upward as I type this now. Nutrition is a definite culprit, but if You eat like crap AND don't exercise You might want to start writing that will. Remember we are what we eat...so let us cut down on the swine consumption. Just to give You an idea of how badly skewed the American diet is towards meat consumption take a look at this telling stat from Howard Lyman's "Mad Cowboy".."The average American gets 70% of their protein from animal sources. The average Chinese gets only 7% of their protein through animal sources." Is it any wonder, this country has never been in sadder shape? I could go on forever with stats like that, but You will have to attend a workout to hear them.
There are plenty of excuses people will make and use as a crutch for their bad habits-like bad genetics, or whatever the illegitimate excuse may be...but statistically only about 1 in 10,000 people can claim the fat gene or slow metabolism and actually be stating a fact-the truth is the culprit is lack of exercise and the saddest diet humanity has ever known..SO the next time someone tells you they have a slow metabolism, take the cheeseburger out of their mouth and replace it with knowledge acquired through books like "Mad Cowboy", "Fast Food Nation", "Animal Factory", "The Omnivores Dilemmna" and others..If they are still too delusional and stubborn send them over to the Dojo-I will debunk every excuse they have through acquired knowledge, statistics, cold hard facts, and personal experience, (in a less aggressive manner than I am presenting the argument here.)
Also, the dependence on Western Medicine in this country has gotten to a level of comical ineptitude that may be looked back on in a hundred years as the saddest and lowest point of human existence regarding nutrition. The way we treat maladies is so irresponsible and unethical. Everything seems to be designed to maximize profits for drug companies, and create a reliance for drugs that those same companies have a proprietary monopoly on. It seems most doctors nowadays are just whore's for pharmaceutical companies-peddling whatever the latest drug is to trusting, unsuspecting individuals, instead of recommending what I believe to be Nature's Cure All......EXERCISE! I have personally not had health insurance since June of 2000-over 10 years ago, and I have been sick exactly one time-a period that coincided with when I stopped practicing martial arts and exercising as a result of breaking the fifth metatarsal in my foot. I also gained over 20 pounds in that 2 month time period. But I never blamed genetics for the newfound fat around my stomach and brain, rather I drew a common sense correlation and made a vow to preach what I know to be true.
So remember, the first class is Free, and You are encouraged to bring loose fitting comfortable clothing-You have nothing to lose but fat, erroneous beliefs, bad habits and sweat!
Nutritional advice and philosophy come free with every class unfortunately ; )
"Change must come from within..but it won't come without exercising mind and body."
-Nick
Instructor Nick finding his center atop a Stability Ball:
