Although it is a place of violence and brutality, there is a strange sense of friendliness when you walk through the garage-like door of the Art Of War fighting gym in Eugene. The sounds of heavy bag chains rattling and battle hardened shins hitting training pads fill the whole building.
Many people feel intimidated when they walk in for the first time, but little do they know they are about to meet some of the friendliest people they could ever have the pleasure of interacting with. With a row of heavy bags, walls covered in artwork, and a decent sized weight room, it is nearly impossible to be bored when inside the Art Of War gym. With several classes a day including Muay Thai, Boxing, Jiu Jitsu, Wrestling, and MMA, it is a fairly busy place. There are 3 different coaches that teach throughout the day.
Brent Alvarez teaches the Jiu Jitsu classes at Art of War. Jiu Jitsu is a non striking martial art focusing primarily on controlling your opponent and submitting them. It teaches a person to break many of the limbs in the human body and to avoid letting your opponent man-handle you. The art Of brazilian Jiu Jitsu was first introduced to the UFC by Royce Gracie and was proven to be one of the most effective martial arts to exist. Nowadays any mixed martial artist that isn’t trained in jiu jitsu will almost always lose. Brent began his martial arts training in Krav Maga, then transitioned to Bas Rutten’s MMA system. Brent has 6 years of training in Rutten’s system, has had 8 amateur MMA fights and has a 1-1 professional MMA record. Over the past several years, Brent has focused his training in 10th Planet Jiu jitsu and has earned his brown belt directly from Eddie Bravo.
Jason Georgianna teaches the Mixed Martial Arts, Wrestling/Jiu jitsu, and Boxing classes and is the head coach and conditioning coach of the Art of War competition team. In the MMA classes the students focus on a combination of striking and ground fighting. You will learn to complete several jiu jitsu actions while in full motion with light striking and full resistance. It is truly the best way to become fluent with ground fighting with or without previous jiu jitsu knowledge. Wrestling/Jiu Jitsu classes consist of lessons on taking the fight from standing onto the ground. You will learn many takedowns and transitions in this class. The boxing classes focus entirely on hand to hand combat including many boxing combinations and how to defend against an opponent effectively. Jason also does personal fitness training for weight loss, general health, and sports performance. Jason is an experienced professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter with 24 career bouts and a 15-8-1 combined pro-am record. He has also been a Mixed Martial Arts coach for 14 years. His bouts have been aired on Comcast Sportsnet and he has faced some of the worlds best fighters, including UFC vets Joe Benevides, Michael MacDonald, and Ian Loveland. Jason is a 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Brown Belt, and has also studied Wrestling, Boxing, and Muay Thai extensively. He has been training since 1995, and has studied under several excellent coaches during that time including: Rickson Gracie Jiu Jitsu Brown Belt Paul Grilley, National Collegiate Wrestling Champion Matt Paulsen, Pedro Sauer Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt Allan Manganello, Eddie Bravo 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Black Belt Gerald Strebendt, USA Olympic Boxing Coach Andy Mincer, Muay Thai Kru Thongsay Sanhtytham, and MMA Veteran Olaf Alfonso. Jason also has an MA in Physical Education and has been a fitness trainer for 13 years. Jason has trained numerous amateur and professional MMA fighters of all levels, including UFC and Bellator fighters.
Thongsay Sanhtytham, aka “Kobb”, teaches the gym’s Muay Thai Kickboxing classes and is the Art of War competition team Muay Thai coach. Muay Thai is a very intense class that is definitely guaranteed to give you an excellent workout. This class focuses on everything kickboxing. You will learn the proper way to throw a kick, infinite amounts of combinations involving kicks, punches, elbows, and knees, and will teach you how to counter an opponent's attacks. This class can be very brutal or very mild depending on the amount of effort you put into it. Kobb has been practicing Muay Thai since childhood, has experience competing in Muay Thai, and has 18 years of coaching experience. He has been awarded “Kru” status, the Muay Thai equivalent of a black belt. Training with Kobb you will always get a great cardio workout and benefit from his enthusiasm, expertise, and positive energy.
Whether you’re an experienced fighter or a young child, you will do learn a great deal of information about fighting or self defense. Even if you aren’t interested in fighting there are still a large amount of benefits to training at this gym including getting a great workout, meeting some great people, learning a thing or two about humility, and many more. If you want to know more about the gym then you can check out the gym’s website for information on scheduling, pricing, and location at http://www.artofwar-mma.com/
