Mixed Martial Arts 101

Jesse Hale likes spending his free time at school.
At 6 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon you'll find him in the school gym flipping guys more than twice his size and three times his age.
Make no mistake he is learning.
Hale is one of the pupils at the Thorburn Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) club.
The club was started last April by Cory Odo. It closed for the summer, but just started back up again last Tuesday and is looking for new recruits. The class is offered free to anyone 12 years old and above on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 6 p.m. to about 8 p.m.
Odo said when he moved out to the Thorburn area the school approached him and said he could hold the classes there.
He was thrilled at the chance.
Odo has only been involved in MMA about five years ago, but has been involved with martial arts since he was a teenager.
He's participated in two cage fights and is hoping to do more in the future. But for now he's hoping to spread his love for the sport to others through the Thorburn club.
"To put it into words I can't. I just love the sport," he said. "I really enjoying doing it and being able to pass it on to the younger guys."
MMA combines a variety of fighting styles including boxing, judo and jujitsu.
Odo said he loves it because it is both physical and mental.
"It's physical contact and it allows me to stay in shape and it's a mental game more than a physical game," he said. "You really have to be thinking a lot."
Odo has one word to describe what it is like in the MMA cage: "scary."
"You get in there and they lock the door, you and the other guy and he seems to be pissed off at you and you don't know why," Odo said.
But that's when the training comes in.
"Once you're in there and you get the first couple hits it's just like you're training out here," he said. "You realize this guy ain't looking to kill me. He's just looking to kind of eliminate me so he can be the winner and then it's just a game, just like a hockey game."
The stereotype that MMA is just violence is absolutely wrong, he says.
"When you're doing mixed martial arts you can actually grab a hold of the guy and catch your wind," he said.
In other sports, such as boxing, there is little reprieve.
Rather than promoting violence, the sport actually instils some good qualities especially in young people, he said.
"It gives them a sense of self-esteem," Odo says. "It makes them realize, 'If I can do this here, I can do this in all walks of life.'"
The result is young people who do better in school and are just happier with life in general.
"Instead of sitting down in front of a television, they want to go train, walk around or do something," he said.
Odo has seen that happen with his own eight-year-old son Dustin who he allows to train with the club.
Ray Ross, is a judo instructor and has been helping Odo teach portions of the class in Thorburn. He too said it helps boost a person's self confidence.
"What I found is you get into some pretty difficult situations and you learn that you can prevail. You don't have to give up. You can keep fighting and you can win," Ross said.
If you do go to the classes, don't expect to spend all your time fighting it out. Odo said a large portion of the class is cardio, especially at the first. If people don't have stamina, they won't last in a fight, he explains.
It's also important before people start flipping each other and kicking that they loosen up their bodies so nothing is pulled. They do that by doing a warm-up at the start of every session.
In that way, even for people who don't every have plans to get in a cage fight, it's a good club to participate in because it keeps them healthy.
"You see these older guys come in and they're just as good because it keeps them active," Odo said. "It's fun. It keeps them young at heart. If you feel young you are young."
For more information about the club visit their Facebook site called Thorburn MMA or email Odo at judocory@hotmail.com.