The Road Here

You don't get a gym like this from a franchise manual. You get it from miles, mentors, and a lot of rounds. This one was a long time coming.

Where it started: Las Cruces, New Mexico

Everything I teach traces back to the desert. In Las Cruces, under Coach Chad Petty, I learned to actually strike, not the watered-down version, the real thing. Stance, footwork, patience, clean technique. Chad drilled the fundamentals into me until they stopped being something I thought about and became something I just did. That foundation is the floor everything else has been built on, and it's the same floor I start every one of my students on today.

Mountain miles: Pagosa Springs, Colorado

From the desert I carried it up into the San Juan Mountains. Pagosa Springs was where the conditioning got serious, thin air, long days, and a deep respect for the kind of work that doesn't pay off for months. The mountains teach you something the gym can't: that the grind itself is the point, and that wind and will get built one hard day at a time. I think about those miles every time a session gets tough.

Sharpening: Lawrence, Kansas

Then came the prairie, and the polish. In Lawrence, under Coach Wayman Carter, the foundation got sharpened into something with an edge, ring craft, timing, and the lessons that only come from real rounds with good people. There's a difference between knowing technique and being able to use it when someone is trying to use theirs on you, and Lawrence is where I closed that gap. Wayman's influence is all over how I coach sparring and live application.

Home to the Lake

And finally, home. I brought all of it back to the Lake of the Ozarks, the desert fundamentals, the mountain conditioning, the prairie edge, and put it into a small room in Linn Creek. There was no dedicated striking gym anywhere around the Lake, so I built one. Not a franchise, not a packed class with a stopwatch, but a place where you get coached one-on-one, by name, like it matters. Because it does.

How I coach

My approach is simple, and it comes straight from the people who taught me. Technique first, always, before you ever spar, you'll have a foundation. Real strength to back it up, because power starts from the ground and the barbell makes everything else meaner. And zero ego, because nobody learns when they're scared of getting hurt or embarrassed. Whether you walked in to lose weight, blow off steam, learn to defend yourself, or chase a fight, you'll be coached like every rep counts.

I've stood on a lot of mats in a lot of places. This gym is the sum of all of them, and I'd be glad to pass it on to you.