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A day at the gym, why MMA is now for everybody
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Carlos Mena coaches Jiu Jitsu with a gi, he is also a co-owner of POWER MMA
October 15th, 2009
Adam Peeples is a pro fighter with a pro record of 17-7 going back 10 years (although he acknowledges that many the local promoters didn't properly record his victories especially when he first started fighting so they are not all listed on sites such as Sherdog.com). Peoples has seen the sport evolve and has found a certain joy in working with all kinds of different persons in the sport.
Peeples' first fight was in the original Reality Combat promotion in Homa, when it was owned by Chad Robicaux and Karl Schmitt. Ten years later Peoples is still training and coaching MMA although age and injuries have sidelined his professional career. Peeples now spends a lot of his time training new fighters like Eddie Gonzales, Blake Dufour, and Albert Lewis; all of whom are at the beginnings of their potential careers. But the reality is that Adam goes to the gym everyday because he enjoys training in MMA and he needs the competition to keep him sane. An extremely talented engineer, Peeples is a master at the sport, catching POWER gym's skilled grappler Paul Hume in a tight tapping calf crunch and blasting bicep crunch back to back within a matter of minutes on Thursday afternoon before class starts.
Paul Hume, 32, works at Epic Diving and prior to to beginning his education in Mixed Martial Arts a year ago only took martial arts as a discipline, learning forms and movements, not combat. "I needed something more kinetic," said Hume. Hume is no slouch as a grappler having won the the 1st Place in the Master's no-gi beginner division in the state Louisiana Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament. "I need the challenge of a hyper-kinetic chess game." Hume returns the favor to Peeples and taps him out a few minutes later.
A few minutes later, in walks Hume's good friend and training partner Shamus Rohn. Rohn was bored with TV and looked into Jiu Jitsu because "it keeps me physically active and teaches me viable self-defense." Shamus is a bit of a New Orleans, hero, who works for Greater Unity as Director of Abandoned Buildings Outreach, where he makes contact with homeless people and tries to bring them in for basic services and housing.
Jacob Cox, has been working out at Jiu Jitsu and MMA for nearly five years, and was an original members of the West Bank Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Club which started out of kiddy gym known as Gymrompers on Manhattan Blvd. in Harvey, LA. Cox, a 31 year-old paramedic by trade, Cox continues to study the sport saying, "i truly enjoy the sport" using it as an avenue to channel his everyday stress. On his bag he has a patch with a skull and crossbones with a physicians medical staff in the center which reads "Do No Harm" and below it "Do Know Harm." Cox calls the patch his code of ethics.
As Carlos Mena warms up the gi class at POWER, people from all walks of life roll in. A bar bouncer, a grant writer at the United Way, a couple of high school students. One member who walks in, Darryl Jones is one of the original members of the club and studied under Vernon Shlief in Belle Chasse with POWER founder and CEO Brett Hughes in a hobby that has spanned the past five years. Jones is about 5'5 and wieghs about 145 Jones is a kids coach, "I like watching the kids getting a sense that just even though someone is a small guy they can still stick up for themselves."
Suddenly this door to POWER opens, and in walks Kevin Johnson, arriving at the gym for the first time in six months to announce that he would like to return to glory. Issuing a declaration that he will fight in March, Johnson, who secured a victory in April of this year at Harley Dealership in Metarie was a crowed pleaser, at 36, he serves as a Captain in the Plaque mines Sheriff's office and just about the entire brass attended the event. Peeples immediately issues instructions for Johnson for fight team and issues him practice days.
The reality is that MMA is for just about everybody. Its boundaries are sportsmanship and respect, technique and power anchor each participants base and are built through individual effort and team work. The sport is a life long endeavor for many and as the athletes evolve so do the coaches.
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