6309 SW Capitol Highway, Portland OR, 97239
503 432 7450
Though the majority of martial arts schools are subject to financial pressures like rent, utilities, payroll, and whatnot, the vast majority are also full of people who love to train and share what they know. I’m guessing that’s why so many of them have open mat times.
What is open mat? It’s when you can come in and train whatever is squirming around in your mind that day. Are you struggling with closing a Kimura? Great. Come in and find someone who will let you work through the struggle. Are you wondering how to shut down the rear naked choke because you keep getting caught in it? Fantastic. Find someone who is pretty solid at the choke and they can probably help you learn how to shut it down.
It’s fun. We love martial arts. If you’re reading this, you probably do to. Come on down, no charge.
Check our schedule for times.
SW Portland Martial Arts Blog
Why Have an Open Mat?
June 20th, 2025Summer 2025 $100 Special
May 30th, 2025
Do you have lots of excuses that help you not train?
Is one of them finances? Well, we can deal with that one. Pay us $100 and you get unlimited access to our classes (yoga, martial arts, CrossFit, kids 8+) from now through August 31st.
How is this possible? Won’t we lose money? Is this some sort of trick?
Don’t worry about possibilities, the reality is here. No, we won’t lose money. No, it’s not a trick. You don’t have to sign a contract or anything like that. If you train all the way through August 31st and don’t want to sign up, that’s 100% fine.
The two rules: 1) You can’t have been a member in the past, or done any of our previous specials. Why? Because the point (for us) is to get new people in the door. 2) You can’t use it for kids ages 0-7. Why? Because we’re full up in those programs.
Spots are limited. Go here to sign up.
Resilience
May 24th, 2025One of the purposes of any physical training regimen should be to build resilience. Why? Because if this stuff isn’t making you more functional and adaptable to the problems you face in real life, what’s the point?
This may, in fact, not be a goal for everyone – I’ll admit that. Some folks exercise to look good, to lose weight, to hang out with that person they have the hots for. Those are all perfect reasons.
Let me try again… At our gym, we believe that all the programs we offer will help build resilience. What makes us think that? Because that’s what we’ve personally experienced and that’s what our gym members tell us they have experienced.
One example – this week a truck drove through our window. I won’t bog you down with the details (though it was 100% an accident and no one was hurt) but I will brag about how awesome and responsive everyone was. Everyone stayed calm. We got the window boarded up that night by some awesome neighbors. The CrossFitters helped pick up all the glass. Casa Colima let us use their dumpster.
It was amazing. That is to say, I wouldn’t want it to happen again, but I was super proud of how well we all responded.
To resilience and a lifetime of training!
Leglocks!
May 3rd, 2025
It’s another month of leg locks and hey, let’s start with a helpful graphic of the 6 basic positions involved. Why 6? Well, because you’ve got to start somewhere. There are definitely more, of course, but let’s not go diving into the deep end just yet.
If you’re intimidated by learning 6 new positions in a month, learn less. Better to learn one of them well than 6 of them badly. If this is your second or third time around diving into leglocks, good – see if you can walk away with a little more depth.
Oh, and if you’re wondering where I got this idea from… it’s from this video.
Spring Special
March 28th, 2025
Got a kid age 6-12 who is itching to try martial arts? Sign up now for only $30 and get unlimited training through 4/30.
That’s $130 off our normal monthly rate. In addition, should you choose to sign up after this amazing deal, we’ll give you 50% off your first month’s regular dues.
Deals, deals, deals!
Go to our kids intro page to sign up.