6309 SW Capitol Highway, Portland OR, 97239
503 432 7450
info@southwestportlandmartialarts.com
Want to receive updates about special events that are going on at the gym? You should fill out the form below!
SW Portland Martial Arts Blog
Join our email list
February 18th, 2020Kickboxing class
February 14th, 2020
Your dream of a kickboxing class has been granted. The Wednesday 10am boxing class is now a kickboxing class. Don’t be sad. You can still punch… now you get to kick too!
What will we do in class? Technique, padwork, drills, and sparring.
What kinds of technique? Punches, kicks, evades, blocks, checks… all the things that happen in kickboxing.
What kind of padwork? The fun kind, where sometimes you do prescribed combos and sometimes you freestyle but always you sweat and smile.
What kind of drills? The functional kind, where you work with a partner on timing, distance, and control.
What kind of sparring? Kickboxing, of course! We keep the contact light, and targets include the legs, body, and head. If your terrified of the sparring, don’t worry – you can skip it but we can also scale it and help you find that happy spot of challenge just above being bored and well below being terrified.
Is this a fitness kickboxing class? You’ll sweat but no, we are focused on the sport of kickboxing, solid technique, and the application of those techniques. That doesn’t mean you can’t use the class as a workout opportunity, it merely means you’ll be building skills while getting your heart rate up.
Bring a mouthpiece if you plan on sparring. If you’ve got 16 ounce boxing gloves, bring those. If you’ve got a pair of shin guards, bring those. If you don’t have gear – no worries, you can borrow ours… except mouthpieces. That’s gross. We don’t share those 
.
Angle of Attack
January 31st, 2020
Pick your favorite technique. Now that you’ve got that in your head, how many different positions can you execute that technique from? If you can only picture yourself doing the move from one place, then applying the principle of angle of attack might be a useful exercise for you.
Let’s take the armbar as an example. Many of us learn the armbar from bottom guard position, and learn to finish it by pushing out partner over onto their back. Can you picture finishing the move with your partner still sitting up? What if your partner stands up, could you finish it from there? And if they stack you up and rotate your belly toward the ground, could you finish it from there?
Thinking about different angles, of course, is only the first baby step. The real work is getting a patient partner and actually finding all those angles. Ideally, you’d pick someone who knows the technique pretty well, and maybe has a few ways of executing it that you don’t. Move, play light, and see how many different positions you can execute the move from. What was once merely your favorite technique will soon become your favorite endpoint that you can see how to get to from almost anywhere.
2 FREE Months Tuition Raffle
December 31st, 2019
We’re trying to get an AED installed in the gym and (surprise) they are expensive little machines! Help us raise some $$ to make the gym a heart happy place, and at the same time, enter to win the chance to get 2 months of free tuition.
If you’re already a member and you win, we’ll pause your payments for 2 months. If you aren’t already a member and you win, you’ll get 2 free months of training. If you just want to give us money for an AED and you win, we’ll let you give the 2 months to someone else or we’ll pick the next name in the hat.
$10 gets you one ticket and one chance to win. $18 gets you two tickets and two chances to win. $25 gets you three tickets and three chances to win… you don’t have to stop at three. Buy as many as you like!
Grappling Tournament!
November 29th, 2019
Ready to roll? We are. Come join us on Saturday, January 18th from 9:30am-1pm for a grappling tournament!
Kids? Yes! 9:30-11am. Ages 5 and up are welcome. Don’t know submissions? We’ve got a positional division just for you. Know submissions? Yeah, we got a submission division too.
Adults? Yes! 11am-1pm. Since the highest rank BJJ students we’ve got are blue belts, we’re making it a tournament for white and blue belts.
Go to the events page for more info!