Thanks to the Irish Times for visting us and to Angela Ruttledge for painting such a positive picture of the gym. Great to see her getting stuck in during her visit!

Pity that the girls weren’t around when Angela called in but we’re delighted to see she had such a good time!

The article is in today’s print version and it’s also available to read online here

Here’s a quick reprint. In fairness it’s 95% accurate, paints a good positive picture and that’s what we’re all about!

Wham Bam, Thank You Ma’am

GETTING FIT: If you find wrestling a bit too slippery, and boxing a bit too brutal, then Kokoro Mixed Martial Arts might just be the blend of fitness and physical contact you’ve been looking for, writes ANGELA RUTTLEDGE .

THANK GOD I’M not a man. Being a woman is tough enough. But you don’t have to remember lines from The Sopranos. Or radiate manliness: that defender of the realm of physicality, that readiness for a fight not so carefully hidden under the polished exterior of the modern male. You can see this defensiveness wafting off men, even when they are decked out in pink shirts and pinstripes.

My husband (I nicknamed him The Flash in my first article – it’s really sticking) can be quite the alpha male. He regularly squares off against our two tomcats, determined to demonstrate his superiority, especially when the bigger cat cuddles up on his favourite pastel blue jumper. I need to find him a good hobby where he can vent this “energy” before he strangles one or both of our feline charges, so I’m considering sending him to the Kokoro Mixed Martial Arts studio in Fairview, Dublin. On the other hand, I don’t want The Flash to get damaged, as he is very useful about the house, so I decided to go along first to do a sanity check.

The garage door rolls up to reveal a container of men changing into shorts, putting on jock straps and shin guards. We take our socks off and move on to the mat. The owner of the gym, Welshman Shane Thomas, notes that I’m a leftie, a southpaw, “so you’ll have to strike left when I say right and vice versa, but you’ll get used to it,” he says.

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) combines boxing, kickboxing, judo, wrestling, and submission wrestling techniques. Each of these has a specific range. The idea of MMA is that you can apply the techniques from each discipline, so if you get knocked down while kickboxing, you can start to wrestle and apply those rules instead. Thomas explains that “when wrestling, it’s unnatural not to strike out; when striking, it’s unnatural not to wrestle.” To warm up, we shadow box, then do a round of jumps, lunges, press-ups and sit-ups. My press-ups are pathetic. There is what looks like a whiplash-inducing neck-strengthening exercise that I avoid completely. Thomas agrees I should skip it and doles out a prescription of some more lunges while talking over the music. “People sometimes say MMA looks like brawling,” he says. “In fact it’s insanely technical, the more intellect you employ, the better you will be, it has all the strategic elements of chess but with adrenaline and risk.”

I check out his bandaged ear. I’m not really keen on The Flash ending up in hospital, so what about injuries? “It’s a contact sport so minor injuries are common, but significant injuries are rare,” says Thomas. “There is less head trauma than in boxing, because opponents also wrestle, and less spinal trauma than with wrestling, because they can also box. For those taking it to competition level, there is a line in terms of aggression that fighters need to cross in order to compete.” He explains that there is a safety mechanism called a “tap-out”, and he demonstrates by putting a nearby student in a chokehold; the fellow taps gently to be released.

I feel slightly out of place, being the only woman, but the feeling soon wears off. Women are welcome to join Kokoro (which is Japanese for “heart, mind and spirit”) and I am made to feel welcome. As we warm up, one or two lads flash gumshield grins at me, and politely ask the glaringly obvious question – is it my first time? After the cardio session, we move on to drills, this week focusing on striking, and Thomas entrusts a fine young man to practise a “catch and bash” drill with me.

I feel like I’m ruining this guy’s session because he has to show me the basics. He gallantly stops “catching” my punches, puts his hands behind his back and offers his unguarded chin to show me that I still wouldn’t hit him because I’m not straightening my arms when I strike. Thomas tells me not to worry, everyone has to begin somewhere and when that guy started, someone showed him the moves.

Picking experienced fighters (but warning them not to throw a hook or they’ll hurt his ear), he demonstrates some moves, emphasising the importance of positioning. I try to keep up as he talks about pivoting your ankle and striking your opponent from the side – “filling the plughole” he calls it. He tells the class “if something is called an ‘art’ it’s because it’s difficult to learn. If it was easy, everyone would do it. But we run a 12-week cycle, running through each technique twice. Once you’ve been through a cycle, the moves will start to fall into place.”

The class lasts an hour and a half, which comprises 30 minutes of cardio, 30-40 minutes of drills, followed by sparring. Thomas conducted a survey asking the gym members what they want from MMA. Ninety-five per cent are here for fitness, self-defence, or because they have watched the Ultimate Fighting Championships and now want to participate – five per cent actually want to compete. He says the membership is very mixed.

“There are people from all over the place, directors, door men, prison officers, business analysts.” They all look the same in shorts; their raw and, for the moment, solely masculine unity in anticipation of self-improvement and an honest fight thickens the air. Flash, go and join your people, but please, please . . . keep your mitts up.

Author: Kokoro MMA .
Categories: * KOKORO NEWS, * MMA NEWS, - Kokoro Dublin, ~ IRISH MMA .
June 13th, 2009 .

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