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Sponsoring An Amateur Mixed Martial Arts Fighter- Taking The Plunge!
Was Santa’s marketing department working overtime to grant the wishes of good little boys and girls??? It was all I could do not to jump around my file stacked IKEA desk like a preteen at a Miley Cyrus concert. It all started with a simple text message, not much else really, just an ominous and frightening text message. I get chills just thinking about it! Maybe how Ginobli feels about the UFO’s so much in the news lately. “ Interested in sponsoring fighters?” Me- “Maybe……………” Certainly, sponsoring an MMA fighter amateur or otherwise could be done, had been done by others. Just saying the words, had a certain cache. But, really, what did we know about that? We hadn’t explored too much in the way of enlarging our logo line of fightwear. So, was this really, way too soon??, Well, since that fortuitous text…………..this sponsor/fighter relationship has taken on a life of its own. So, simple as it was, that introductory text has morphed into a full blown sponsorship of an up and comer Amateur Fighter- straight out of the heart of Central Texas. Jared Luna, Ast. Coach. Training out of Gillaspy Mixed Martial Arts (GMMA) through Central Texas Taekwondo studio. Under the tutelage of John-Michael “The Punisher” Gillaspy- Senior BJJ Instructor. Here, in an abbreviated format is Omegazone’s interview with John-Michael about GMMA, all things MMA, and his career as a very effective grappler, par excellence! OZ- How did Gillaspy Mixed Martial Arts (GMMA) come about? GMMA- GMMA came about because I love to teach, and it was a natural next step on my way to supporting my dream of being a full time martial artist. OZ- Why “The Punisher”? GMMA- I hate being shot on, and while watching me wrestle a friend made a comment that I “punish” people for taking shots, so I thought it'd be a great name. OZ- How are you structured for classes or individual training of potential contenders of the MMA sport ? GMMA- We have Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes which not only include BJJ but also Judo, Freestyle, Folkstyle, and Greco Roman wrestling. We also have kickboxing and taekwondo. I think that traditional martial arts are often over looked when training for MMA but look at Machida. There's a reason he's successful. OZ- Who are your instructors? Do they each specialize in a particular form of mixed martial arts? GMMA- Myself- I specialize in the ground aspect of MMA although I have rank in other stand up martial arts as well. I like to focus on takedowns, working for submissions, and looking for the TKO. I don't let my fighters try and lay and pray a decision. If you see a fighter from GMMA be ready for a show! Assistant Coach Jared Luna- Coach Luna is 22 and has trained in BJJ almost 3 years. He helps me teach the BJJ class. Master David Shadden- We work in conjunction with Central Texas Taekwondo, which is who our taekwondo and kickboxing programs are through. He's the owner and operator of CTT as well as the senior Taekwondo and Kickboxing instructor. OZ- Do all of the members of your coaching team have aspirations of MMA participation either at the level of Amateur or Professional? What’s the transition timeline from Ammy to Pro? GMMA- Master Shadden doesn't, his focus was always TKD and he is a US Open champion himself in 2006. Myself as well as Coach Luna though do plan to make a long career out of MMA. The timeline from Ammy to Pro I think has a lot to do with the fighter. I'm not going to force you to go Pro if you're not ready but if you're an amateur champion with a good record why not get paid for what you do? OZ- Will you eventually go Pro yourself? GMMA- Hell yeah! The only thing hindering me right now is a thyroid condition which I'm working hard to remedy at this point. I have aspirations to the big show and I get what I want! Hell Yeah, indeed. Think I’ll just hang on for dear life. Sometimes, you just gotta take the plunge, you never know where it might lead, so, here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com c jones Marketing omegazone.com cjones@omegazone.com Omegazone features extreme sportswear, including: MMA clothing, equipment & gear Extreme Board Sportswear Omegazone is also expanding its own line of MMA clothing & gear |
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