We’d like to catch you up on some exciting news. First off, though you may already know, I’d like you to hear directly from me that a team of five Cool Hearts fighters went undefeated last Saturday June 25 @ Inkosi Productions K1 event. This is even more impressive given that all were first time fighters and nerves and fatigue alone can make cowards of men. All of our lads handled themselves with composure beyond their experience (especially considereing they got to see a different side to me that put the fear of god into some of them – Sorry Jack). However, after me COMPLETELY going mental on Jack Hillock between Rds 2 & 3, he then put his opponent away with the most brutal and convincing KO of the evening. Tuff Love kiddes… Tuff Love.

Now direct on the heels of that event we have my own bout July 22 @ Friday Night Fights (televised on SNY)! The undercard features an awesome 70kilo 8 man amateur tournament stacked with talent. The great news here is that our own Bobby Slavin And James Gregory (who fought last Saturday) will also be matched up on the undercard. No rest for the wicked! Tickets are already available @ the Camp and this is the Broad Street Ballroom which always sells out and is ‘Standing Room Only’.

The very next night our own Champion and WBC #1 ranked fighter, Justin ‘The Purple People Eater’ Greskiewicz’ makes his first ‘Stateside appearance (last 2 bouts in Bangkok & Calgary, respectively) since March. He is fighting for the 147lb WBC Int’l Belt against 2 time World Champion and muayThai icon, Liam ‘Hitman’ Harrison in Lincroft, NJ. This is the first FULL RULES muayThai event on the East Coast. With this much talent in the ring this will prove to be an exciting bout and the rest of the card is stacked as well. Don’t miss out on this historic event!

One week later, our own MMA Champion and coach, Sideco Honorio will put it all on the line again July 29 @ XFE in A.C. @ 135lb Sideco is one of the most dangerous fighters you’ll get a chance to see. Come out to support and see how it’s done.

The Camp will be closed Monday (though fighters will STILL be training in the daytime – see me or J for details) in observance of the American Independence Day Celebration – So go drink domestic ale, eat hot dogs, and blow shit up – it’s the American Way! If I weren’t in training I’d surely be doing the same. I MAY still blow up the sky a bit.

The OTHER big news is this. Cool Hearts Muay Thai & MMA Camp proudly welcomes a new instructor to our already talented staff: Tim Sylvester will begin Tuesday July 5 teaching the 7:30 no-gi jiu jitsu class. This class will now be a full 90 minutes of instruction. Some of you already know Tim as he supplements his MMA training by training with us during 3-5 Team Training, but here’s a brief bio to give you an idea of his accomplishments:

Gracie Jiu Jitsu BLack Belt under Regis Lebre (Royler Gracie)

4X Grappler’s Quest Champion

NAGA Champion

Pan American Jiu Jitsu Silver Medalist (2004)

2X Pan American Bronze Medalist (2006, 2007)

Mundial (World) Championships Bronze Medalist (Rio de Janeiro, Brasil 2006)

Philadelphia Grappling Championships Superfight Champion 9/5/2009

Combat in the Cage ‘Submission of the Night’ Honors 1/12/2008

As I said, Tim has been a member of our fight family for some time and has trained with me since before we opened the new Camp in Northern Liberties. So we’re VERY excited to add his expertise to our teaching staff & I highly encourage you to check out his class. We’re always looking to expand and to please the students so this may be just the start.

Ok, kids, I’m on my way to Camp directly and hope to see you all soon.

PS July 31st (after all the amazing fights) The Camp will be demo’ing and participating in 2nd Street/Northern Liberties Street Fair. More on that later but ‘SAVE  THE DATE’

Cheers,
Rigel ‘None of my fat clothes fit me anymore’ Balsamico

We’ve all seen the neat drills they do on “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show. We’ve seen the various pre-fight hype shows, and out favorite athletes using various props and pushing their bodies though exhaustion while someone minds the stopwatch or split timer. Most of us have done similar exercises in the various classes available at Cool Hearts. There are so many common drills that work across the board from BJJ to Muay Thai to Krav Maga and of course MMA.

That’s exactly what this class is all about, supplemental training. I’ve had the pleasure to participate in these sessions over the last few weeks, and while I’m strictly a Muay Thai guy, all of the explosive exercises done for time have helped tremendously. I had flashbacks of being at a CrossFit gym for a moment as our group ran a few really fun and challenging circuits over the span 30 minutes. There were some individual exercises in the circuit and a few partner-oriented activities spread across a group of people with various fitness levels. Much like kettlebell training, all of the exercises incorporate various muscle groups working together for a set period of time, and the primary focus is on explosive movements. There was also an intense component that worked on agility and speed in a few segments of the circuit. Plain and simple – it’s a bit more effective for combat conditioning than your isolated bicep curls and bench press.

While nothing beats doing the actual thing you are training for, learning through experience by sparring, supplemental conditioning training certainly cultivates a greater threshold for aerobic and anaerobic endurance. What it also does is allow our fitness level to increase while being less damaging to our bodies overall. So when we do more specific drills in our various disciplines or when we do get to sparring, our bodies can move with greater speed and strength while all of our major muscle groups work together…lessens the chance of gassing out from physical exertions.

Personally, I’m pretty excited for this class, and think it’s an effective way for people of all fitness levels to do some hard work together. It’s pretty damned fun too!

Be well,

–Isaac

WHAT IS IT?
SUN’S OUT, GUNS OUT is an all-inclusive program in which you can come to ANY class, ANY time. All the Muay Thai, BJJ, Krav Maga, and Kettlebell classes as well as breakdancing.

HOW MUCH? HOW LONG?
It’s a 6 week program for $250 total, no commitment and no registration fee. (Tanktop and sun screen sold separately.)

CONTACT US to sign up!

No but seriously, come check it out, even if you aren’t going to audition for “Step Up To the Streets, Again, in 4D”, this is a good way to cross train, build balance, work some muscles you probably haven’t used before, and dancing is basically just awesome!

Hope to see you there! We Break Sexy!

–Jacob aka B-Boy Stance