SW Portland Martial Arts Blog

Meet You Where You’re At

February 24th, 2023

Some kids can jump right into our martial arts program, no problem. Others hesitate. Some try to jump right in and then decide they weren’t actually ready to leap in. In short, everyone is different.

We’ve always prided ourselves on meeting students where they are at and moving forward from there, so we’re not sure why we haven’t thought of the idea of an intro series for kids before but suppose we have to meet ourselves where we’re at too?

Whatever the case, we’re going for it! We’ve offering up one series for 6-9 year olds and another for 10-13 year olds. The idea is to introduce students to consent, ethics, control, punching, kicking, contact, throwing, falling, grappling, and forms – so that when they are ready to join the ongoing program, they feel good about it and know how to communicate well with their partners and keep themselves (and their partners) safe, learning while building resilience.

Ever improving, ever moving forward.

Check the events page for more details, times, and pricing.

A Systema Offering

February 10th, 2023

Want to learn practical self defense without any of the rubric or hassle of belt requirements and technique lists? Don’t want to sign up for a month to month membership with us, but you want to do more than dip your toes in the ocean that is martial arts?

Try our Systema series. With this package, we’re offering five hours of classes for only $60. That’s $40 off our drop in rate. The class will meet every Tuesday from Noon-1pm starting February 21st through March 21st.

Go check our events page to sign up.

Spring Break Camp! Early bird signup.

January 21st, 2023


We haven’t done a Spring Break Camp in a long time… so it’s time! Martial Arts! Crafts! Art! All the amazing things!

Ages 6-8 can do a half day. Ages 8 and up can do a whole day or a half day. Right now the full day prices are $325 for members and $350 for non-members. The half day price is $175 for everybody.

Go to our event page for more details and signup. It’s going to be amazing! No prior martial arts experience necessary.

What happens in the Muay Thai classes?

January 13th, 2023

People often ask about the content of specific classes. What does a typical class look like? What kind of equipment do they need to bring? Will there be contact? Will there be sparring?
The answer is, it depends on who comes to class. Each class is custom made, in the moment, to suit the needs of the students.
Even so, you can be sure if you show up to a Muay Thai class that there will be kicks involved. You’ll learn how to throw kicks, how to counter kicks, how to block kicks, how to catch kicks, and everything else about kicks. It’s a huge part of the art.

Coach Power

January 6th, 2023

Tots serious poseShelby and Alex are awesome. Have you been to their classes? Do it.

Shelby coaches the 9am Fitness Kickboxing on Wednesday, the 10am Muay Thai on Wednesday, and the No Gi BJJ at 10am on Thursday.

Alex coaches the 10am Monday Muay Thai class, the 6pm Wednesday Teens martial arts class, the Saturday 10 am Muay Thai class, and the 11am Teens martial arts class. Plus, he helps coach almost all the kids classes.

More coaches. More classes. The plans are all coming to fruition.