I’m sure most of you have seen this viral video that has been surfacing of a young couple getting into a fight with an older man at an NFL game.  The young couple was unhappy about their team losing and were standing up for most of the game, blocking the older gentlemen’s view.  Once the guy said something to the couple, a heated argument blossomed into a physical altercation.  While altercations like this are typical at sporting events, we see the same situations happen on the road and/or at bars and restaurants.  They typically become instant trending videos.  While the best defense is to not put yourself in that situation, certain times it becomes unavoidable.  The following is a list of 4 reasons to train martial arts after 40.

1) Self Defense

This is an obvious one but needs to be stated anyway. Like the above mentioned altercation, more and more videos like this are popping up.  Self defense is not only learning what to do in a fight, but also how to avoid it entirely.  This person had the right to voice his complaint to the young couple blocking his view, but once the situation escalated he didn’t have a clue as to how to resolve it.  Physical situations become a lot harder to avoid with alcohol and testosterone being added to the mix.  While this gentleman was able to call for security, he still got punched in the face and bloodied.

2) Confidence

Another gimme, but confidence goes hand in hand with training martial arts.  This very same confidence can get you out of a lot of altercations because bullies/tough guys typically prey on weaker targets.  This confidence you will exude will carry on to every aspect of your daily routine.  Whether at work or home, doing tasks with confidence is a whole lot easier than constantly second guessing yourself.  It will make you unafraid to try new things and meet new people.

3) Happiness

This is a big one for most people at any age.  Depression is a real disease and it can affect every part of your life.  Buying a bigger car or house is cool but its in our DNA to always strive for more.  Happiness is in the struggle, its about constantly trying to improve ones self. Happiness is also about the relationships you form with the people around you.  Helping others and giving back to the community feels a lot better than constantly taking and being selfish.  Martial arts aren’t about becoming a bad ass, they’re about helping others in the form of your training partners and others in the community.

4) Health

Most individuals after 40 these days rely on unhealthy ways to get them through the day and to fall asleep.  One of the best aspects of a good workout, is being so exhausted that you want to just hit the pillow after training.  Martial arts can lead a overall healthier lifestyle because your surrounded by others striving for health, and its contagious.  Its also in your best interest to not eat a cheese steak before training because you will undoubtedly throw up or feel sick.  Doing a boxing or kickboxing workout will take the bore out of the work out as well, and you’ll actually want to work out.

Once you start training martial arts you will realize all the countless benefits it comes with.  This could be a great way for you to reconnect with your entire family since most martial arts gyms have a kids program.  Even if its for the smallest reason, there is no bad time to start training martial arts!

JUDO SEMINAR!!

Marius Enache will be doing a Judo Seminar at Algeo MMA in King of Prussia on 9/30/17.  The Seminar will be an hour long and heavily discounted($20) for his set of skills.  Anyone person from any affiliation is highly recommended to come learn from the very skilled Judoka.  The Seminar starts at 11 am and Algeo MMA is located upstairs at a building named Aspiring Champions, at 970 Pulaski Dr.  Were located next to all major highways and a 2 min walk to the KOP Mall.

Quick Bio of Marius

Marius Enache is a seasoned, well-rounded fighter who specializes in the integration of all martial art forms, particularly judo for MMA, grappling and self-defense.  Marius has been training in martial arts for 30 years and fighting professionally in MMA for 5 years. Most recently, he won his 2015 Bellator fight at age 40, against a 25-year-old opponent who held the record for quickest knockout in Bellator history, with an old-school Americana. Marius has successfully leveraged judo throws in nearly every one of his professional and amateur MMA fights. Judo has been the mainstay of Marius’s entire fighting career – from his early success as Romanian National Judo Champion; to his application of judo in wrestling, helping him earn the title of Philadelphia All Public Wrestling Champion.

Wins/Rankings

• Bellator Veteran – 2015
• Professional Record of 3-3
• 2003 Dallas Judo Invitational Open – 1^st Place ( win against an up and coming young Judoka – Travis Stevens who turned out to win a Silver Medal at the last Olympics in 2016 Rio de Janeiro
• 2003 – Ranked Top 10 Nationally (Judo – 161 lbs.)
• 2002 US Judo Nationals – 7^th place
• 2002 Liberty Bell Judo Classic – 4^th place
• 2000 Rendez-Vous Judo Competition – 7^th place
• 1996 US Jr. Nationals – 3^rd place
• 1995 All Public High School Wrestling Champion
• 1988 Romanian Junior National Judo Champion

Hope to see all you guys there, I can personally vouch for Marius’s insane throws/sweeps.  He has taught me things that I have applied immediately to my BJJ, and MMA game.

All of the Thai Boxing trainers at Algeo MMA are very friendly, welcoming and knowledgeable.  In fact, you would never realize quite how dangerous they are when you speak to them.  However after watching the instructors fight these last 2 weekends you can see how skilled they are.

It started with the debut of Thai boxing trainer, and Kids class instructor Julia Hopkins.  Julia fought her first fight with the Warriors Cup organization at the 2300 arena in South Philly.  Julia made weight easily and had a huge crowd to support her.   Everything about her was confident from the warm up to the final bell.  She had a tough opponent from 8 limbs academy who had some experience on Jules.  This fight was a back and forth with Julia landing some solid punches and her opponent scoring from the clinch.  Judges gave the bout 29-28 Julia, 29-28 Margie (her opponent), and 29-29 declaring the bout a draw. This was a great starting point for Julia and will bring her a ton of confidence going forward.

A confident Julia Hopkins casually walks to go fight someone.

Now we move onto Irv Althouse’s event with USKA that had 3 of Algeo MMA’s Thai Boxing trainers fighting on the card.  Irv runs a Muay Thai/Kickboxing event every couple of months and a majority of Algeo MMA Thai Boxing trainers have fought for him.  He provides a great local outlet for guys and girls to show of their skill and has a lot of top talent fight on his shows.  This event had Philly’s Justin Greskiewicz vs Canada’s Ben Pride fighting for welterweight championship as the main event.

Friendly and Deadly Thai Boxing Trainers

First up for Algeo MMA Thai Boxing trainers was Raymundo Chavez.  Ray fought USKA rules, aka not as much clinching, against a Grant Swift who fought out of Gracie 717.  Raymundo looked sharp in the first round giving punches and kicks from different stances and chaining some nice combinations together.  2nd round was similar to the first with both guys starting to find their range. 3rd round Grant was more of the aggressor but both guys had their moments in the exchanges.  Raymundo won a unanimous decision 29-28 to improve hes record to 2-1.

Second up was the debut of long time student Sean Morgan as he fought a Chris Johnson at 205lbs.  Chris had a record of 1-1 and was fighting out of Etchfit.  Sean had the composure of a seasoned pro throughout the entire contest and warm up.  First round starts with both guys measuring their range and then Sean capitalizes with some brutal knees from the clinch seen here. 

Sean missed a right mid-line kick to Chris’ body and came back with a sharp side kick that dropped his opponent.  The ref ruled it more of a slip than a knockdown although Chris was noticeably hurt to the body after.  Chris started to pinch his elbows in a bit to cover up his body and that’s when Sean decided to kick upstairs with a heavy rear head kick.  This kick hurt Chris but he was able to tough it out and stay alert, however Sean followed this up with a lead head kick that put Chris on the canvas again.  This time it was considered a knockdown and the ref gave Johnson a standing 8 count which ended the first round.  The second round starts off with more vicious knees from the clinch from Sean and seemed like the finish was imminent.  Sean throw up a quick, lead head kick which knocked his opponents tooth loose to finish the fight in fantastic fashion.  Sean improves his record to 1-0.

The 3rd Thai Boxing trainer from Algeo MMA to fight was Daniel Inch.  Dan had made a lot of sacrifices for this fight including not eating or drinking anything fun on vacation with his family the week before the fight.  This was a Muay Thai fight at 144lbs against a David Harr from Next Level Martial Arts.

Dan starts the first round off looking composed and comfortable in both stances.  Harr threw more punches but Dan landed harder punches to face and body.  Both guys had their knees flying throughout the clinch but Dan scored some nice leg kicks as well.   The 2nd round was a close round that could’ve been scored either way with both guys having their moments.  Dan was able to slip some big right straights from Harr and was able to let his left leg fly from the southpaw stance.  Harr was aggressive and seemed comfortable in the clinch.  3rd round was also a very close round with Dan switching back to orthodox for a majority of the round.  Harr was able to press the action a little more this round with punches and clinch knees.  Overall great showing from both men, with Dan landing some big shots and getting a split decision victory.  Dan improves his record to 3-1 and left pretty much unscathed from serious injury.

Regardless of the outcome, the Thai Boxing trainers at Algeo MMA are dedicated martial artists that strive to improve.  They are always willing to spend time with any student to get them closer to their goals. Visit www.algeomma.com to learn from these guys for 2 weeks totally free, you won’t regret it!

While there are way more than 6 reasons to start training Kickboxing, we’ve summarized the most important reasons for people who have never put on a pair of boxing gloves.  This is by no way and ends all list, as we feel we can go on for days talking about how addictive starting any martial art can be.  Here are our 6 best reasons:

1)Fitness: Everyone wants to be in great shape and feel good! Whether it’s just to tone up or completely change your lifestyle, training kickboxing will help you get there. A cardio kickboxing class will keep you going when you feel like stopping and help you reach all of your health and fitness goals.

2)Self Defense: Training kickboxing will give you basic self-defense skills; you’ll have more confidence just carrying out daily activities. Not only will you have a higher level of cardiovascular fitness, but you will also be learning proper technique. Every movement is important, so learning good form is crucial to keeping yourself safe. Your instructors know this, and will assist you in learning these techniques.

3)Reduce Stress: Who doesn’t feel some relief when punching and kicking something? One of the main components of training kickboxing is hitting the bag in front of you! During this workout you’ll be releasing endorphins, hormones that have a feel-good effect lasting hours. This will not only lessen your feelings of pain, but it will also give you an incredible mood boost!

4)Enjoyable: Sure, spending all of this time working out doesn’t sound enticing, but once you try it you’ll be hooked! Between the positive atmosphere and all of the hardworking, friendly people around you, it’s hard to not be motivated. There is a ton of lively energy in all of our classes, especially after conquering a tough workout.

5)New/Adaptable: Doing the same workouts all of the time can make you feel stagnant. Switching up your routine and trying something new can help you feel great again! Following your instructors and doing new moves will keep you from getting bored or slacking. This high-energy workout will keep you going – especially when you feel like giving up.

6)Fit for Anyone: No, you don’t need a ton of experience to start training kickboxing. That’s exactly what your instructors are there for! These people have been training for quite some time, and are eager to get you to where you need to be. We always have new students starting their journeys, so there’s no need to feel embarrassed or nervous. Everyone starts somewhere and we know that, so why wouldn’t you give it a try?

Bill Algeo and Tim Williams, both Balance BJJ Blackbelts, will be fighting this weekend in CFFC 63, at the Borgata Casino in A.C.  Some of Balance Studio’s top BJJ Blackbelts Ricardo Migliarese(Owner), Tim Carpenter, Marco Perazzo, Jimmy Morrison will be cornering these fighters to victory.  Even the crowd itself at the Borgata, will consist of plenty of BJJ Blackbelts from the world class academy in Fishtown, PA.

Bill Algeo (8-2) will be fighting in the co-main event against Jarred Gordon (11-1) in front of the sold out crowd in Atlantic City.  Bill is on a 2 fight winning streak, and will look to keep his momentum going against the talented Jared Gordon.  Gordon, who is fighting out of Renzo Gracie NY, is also on a 2 fight winning streak.  His only loss came by way of Jeff Lentz who just so happened to be Algeo’s last opponent, in which Algeo won a unanimous decision.  The transitive property doesn’t always work in Mixed Martial Arts unfortunately, and this should be an interesting fight for the 145lb CFFC belt.

Tim Williams, a TUF vet, was originally supposed to fight Eric Roncoroni but Eric had to pull out due to an injury.  Now the “South Jersey Strangler” (14-3) will be fighting UFC veteran Jay Silva (10-10-1) in a bout that will surely end with a finish.  Both men have been known to finish fights and have had fights under the watchful eye of UFC president Dana White, who coincidentally be watching all the fights cageside this weekend.  He will be filming his show, “Looking for a Fight” and looking to scout top level talent from the east coast.

Both Bill and Tim need a huge win to get noticed and will hopefully be signed to a contract by the end of the weekend.  Although tickets are sold out fans can still watch the event on gfl.tv and it will also be aired on CBS sports the following week.

KOP Muay Thai Coach Lisa Edinger is making her pro debut as the first ever professional female Muay Thai fighter in Pennsylvania. She will be fighting another Pro with a 1-2 record and these fights are being held on Saturday January 28th at the Hamburg Field House.  Lisa had no idea this is where her martial arts career wouldve taken her when she started training in the cardio kickboxing classes 5 years ago at Nak Muay Gym.  Since then Lisa has graduated from student to KOP Muay Thai coach, where she teaches about 10 classes a week at Algeo MMA & Kickboxing.  

After taking the kickboxing class for a year she began her training in the muay thai program and progressed quickly, taking private lessons weekly with Coach Bill Algeo.  Kru Eric Karner asked her if she ever considered fighting, in which she quickly responded no but would love to test her ability. She packed her bags and went to the WKA tournament in Virginia in which she won her first fight with a knockout and lost in the semi-finals. Since then, Lisa has amounted to a record of 10-2 as an amateur fighter with 2 consecutive National belt titles in the WKAs.  KOP Muay Thai coach Lisa has also traveled to Thailand to train at the esteemed Sityodtong camp in Pattaya, Thailand.  She is a full time martial artist, with KOP Muay Thai and BJJ, as well as a student teacher during the day.

The doors to the Hamburg Field House open at 6 pm and we’re sure to hear a lot of supporters for the female bouts. The bell sounds at 7 and Lisa will be the 10th fight of the night.  Here is an interview Lisa did with the USKA fight promotion. Please come and support the local KOP Muay Thai!

Dan Inch Fights Thai Boxing this Saturday

Long time Thai Boxing student Dan Inch will be fighting this Saturday 1/21 in Pottstown PA, under the Full Metal Fight Promotions.  This Kickboxing event will be held at The Wyndcroft School (1395 Wilson st, Pottstown PA 19464), and will start at 7PM. Tickets can still be purchased through Dan or at the door if he runs out.

Long time student/coach Ray Chavez was supposed to fight on this card as well, but unfortunately, his opponent had cold feet last minute.  Luckily Coach Ray will be fighting for USKA in March and will look to improve to 2-0.  Full Metal Fight Promoter/Owner Jason Helfin is putting this fight card together and was also trying to match Julia Hopkins, an Algeo MMA student, with an opponent.  Unfortunately 2 women with more experience turned down the scrap with Julia, probably because they value their health and well-being, so she won’t be on this card.  Julia will look to make her Thai Boxing debut when she comes home from studying abroad in Europe.  We are all really excited to see her compete.

Coach Dan has been  a student in King of Prussia for the last 5 years.  Since then he has lost 85lbs and built a Muay Thai Boxing record of 2-0.  Both of his victories came by decision and were in the same weekend last May in New York.  Recently Dan has begun to coach more and more at Algeo MMA while training for a fight, working full-time and being a full time dad of 2 great kids.  He is a great role model and an excellent example of true hard work, respect, and humility.  “Sinchai”, has made incredible strides in his Muay Thai, whilst transitioning to an overall healthier lifestyle.  Come support Coach Dan this weekend!

Algeo MMA has a Kids Martial Arts near 19406 as well as other zip-codes in and around Montgomery county.  Last weekend we had a totally free Bully-Prevention seminar for all the kids.

We had a great turnout on Sunday for our Kids martial arts near 19406 seminar, at about 18 kids in total.  The seminar was filled with games, prizes and effective/fun techniques.  Long time Algeo MMA students Kaitlin Campbell and Cole Falin put on a great demonstration of martial arts to start the seminar off.  Kaitlin ripped into pads with her Muay Thai Kickboxing, and Cole put on a great display of Muay Thai, Wrestling, and BJJ.  Cole was able to finish Coach Bill with an armbar that he learned from his BJJ classes.  This was a great kickoff to our Kids Martial Arts  near 19406classes.

Here is a picture of the kid working on their fitness.  We have a rigorous but fun warm-up with the kids program comprised of obstacle courses, stretching, and calisthenics.  Typically the kids will call out the number of whatever exercise there doing together in unison.

Here is a picture of young Cole and a friend working on the armbars.  Grappling is a part of the program at Algeo MMA and we even have our on in-house grappling tourneys for the kids.  This a great day with each kid grappling for the chance for some great prizes and medals.

This is a game called push hands designed to be fun but helpful when developing balance and coordination.  The kids basically try to push/pull each other out their stance while trying not to move  anything but their arms.  This is just one of the many skill oriented games we have at our kids martial arts near 19406 program.

Thank you everyone for coming out and kicking off our program.

With anticipation for CFFC 63 when Bill, El Seňor Perfecto, Algeo steps back into the cage to claim his rightful possession of the 145 belt from Jared Gordon- Special guests from CBS Sports, Go Fight Live, and CFFC’s Burt Watson and Devon Mathiesen all paid a visit to Algeo MMA to grab a look at Bill’s preparation for the February 18th fight at the Borgata in Atlantic City.

There are still tickets available for this fight so be sure to get yours before they’re gone!

CFFC 63

February 18, 2017