Hello All, We are back with our quarterly newsletter to let you know what has been going on at the den as well as what we have coming up over the next few months.Im also going to touch a bit on school affiliations in this newsletter as well as seminars. We have been super busy here at the Den as businesses and things are opening back up. We have a ton of new members in all of our classes and things have been going great. Jerrick's new sunday boxing classes have become very popular and parents are loving the chance to get to be able to learn alongside of their kids and vice versa. We had a great Seminar 2 weeks ago with UFC star Jimmie Rivera and it is great to see that some of our students not only learned some great new techniques but are using them and have added them to their toolbox.
Seminars and Affiliations : Over the next few months we are bringing in some world level talent and our students will have the opportunities to train from these athletes .These opportunities do not come along often and we will not have them again for awhile after next month. I like to use the summer for things like this so take advantage of them. In my early years of training I had travelled the country to train with some the other top level athletes and coaches and it served me well. To be able to have these opportunities right here at your home school is something that is very rare and you will not see anywhere else. On May 15'th UFC's Mike Davis will be here with us. Mike is currently one of the UFC's hottest rising stars. He won has last 2 fights in amazing fashion and his last fight was awarded the fight of the night after he beat an undefeated opponent who was also supposed to be one of the UFC's hottest prospects. On June 11'th we will have Cat Zingano here at the Den. Cat was one of the UFC's top female fighters for many of years and has wins over many of the UFC's best such as Miesha Tate and current champion Amanda Nunes. She is currently fighting in the Bellator organization and in line for a title shot . She is coming to us not just for her high level martial arts background but also because she comes with an incredible story . She was a collegiate wrestler prior to her fight career and also won the ADCC championship in grappling (no gi jiu jitsu) . It does not get much better than that!
She is teaching clinics for everyone while she is here. Youth Wrestling , youth grappling, adult grappling and even a mixed striking class for our Sunday crowd. Get in here and learn from a future Female hall of famer. Everyone should be at this event! In June we also have NCAA champion Mitch Clark here with us for a 2 day camp. Mitch is one of the best wrestlers and coaches from the top position . I personally brought my older sons to many of Mitch's camps over the years. He is an incredible teacher and has some great technique that will work for everyone. I would consider Mitch to be one of the top coaches in the country . He was an assistant head coach for Ohio State for many of years and now helps out Cornells program. If you have a child in our wrestling programs , they should not miss this 2 day camp.
Promotions: Our next Jiu Jitsu Belt promotion ceremony and Clinic with Professor Secor is Slated for June as well. Our school is an affiliate of Matt's and we are lucky to have him down every few months for a clinic. Matt is one of the top Jiu Jitsu competitors in the country today and regularly competes in the top invite only tournaments throughout the country. Matt will also be down here and there teaching classes and I will be up at his facility teaching a class in the coming month as well. Take advantage of these opportunities. Anyone that wants to come up the night I am teaching is welcome. I should be teaching a kids class and an adult class and would be great to meet and get to roll with different partners for a night. His facility is located in Glens falls and I will let everyone know which night I am out there in the coming week. Judo Promotions !! : We will have our next Judo promotion on May 8'th at Jasons facility in Scotia . Everyone who is up for a promotion should be there. An email will go out to everyone who is scheduled to be promoted.
NAGA : We are planning to compete at the NAGA Jiu Jitsu tournament on August 1st in Wildwood NJ. Personally I am staying at the Bal Harbor hotel and I think they still have a few vacancies but things are filling up down there. We should have a decent amount of students coming down so this is shaping up to be a fun tournament. The venue is at the convention center located right on the boardwalk. We plan to do a night on the boardwalk with everyone then maybe some beach time together for whoever is up for it while we are down there.
UFC Viewing Party !! Our next UFC Viewing party will be May 15'th for UFC 262. This is looking to be a really exciting fight card and UFC's Mike Davis will be here hanging out with us that night for the fights. If you haven't been to one before , come check it out. Cost is $10 and you have to bring a pot luck dish for members. Non members are $20 but don't have to bring anything. We provide the drinks , fights , plates , utensils etc.
Another fun thing we have added to our facility is a photo printer. Wait... you'r not excited? It is pretty cool because you can now have your photo taken with some of these stars we are bringing in , have it printed and then have them sign it before they leave. Its a fun way to save the moment.
Upcoming classes : Over the next few months you will see some added classes to our regular schedule. We will be adding a women's only Jiu Jitsu class on Saturdays in July or August. We will also be adding afternoon youth wrestling practices over the summer.
Thats all for now, see you on the mats!!