Fight Core

 

  

My interest in Martial Arts goes back as far as I can remember. I literally walked around the house at age 6 with ”Enter the Dragon” under one arm and a pair of stinky old boxing gloves under the other. I’d take ”Rocky” or ”Game of Death” over a Disney flick anyday. I wanted to grow up to be either Conan the Barbarian or Bruce Lee.  My dad really perpetuated my interest in bodybuilding and fighting. He used to make me protein shakes when I was about 6. They tasted horrible back in 1985. No Muscle Milk in 80’s ; )  My favorite thing to do as a kid was boxing and wrestling with my pops.

My formal training began when I was 12 years old. I joined a competitive Tae Kwon Do team with my friend Richard King. We competed all over the United States together and eventually went to the Jr. Olympics where I brought a Gold Medal home to Utah. Richard King would eventually move to Hollywood and become a famous stuntman even getting me work on movies with him 15 years after we competed together.

 

My time training in TKD built a solid foundation and work ethic but I wanted something more practical for real fighting rather then sport. This led me to Salt Lake’s first Thai Boxing gym. I was one of the orginal members of a group that included local tough guy Jimi Scott, M’lisa Kiser and Cade Janjira. Cade would go onto become a world class Muay Thai trainer who led Randy Couture to Victory against Tim Sylvia.

 

The UFC was gaining popularity and I became very interested in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu especially when my friend Jared took me down and tapped me out after only training for a couple of months. Jared told me about a guy that was training at Pedro Sauer’s gym who was certified to teach Muay Thai and BJJ. Jared introduced me to Will Bernales who completely changed my life and everything I thought I knew about Martial Arts. I continue to train under Will Bernales and have done so since 1998.

 

One day I walked into MY Thai Boxing Class with Kru Bernales and there was this 140′ pound Japanese guy shadow boxing in the mirror. Will pulled me aside and said “Hey Kiser, this guy wants to fight, I am going to have you spar him, he seems pretty cool but I want you to put it on him and then we’ll see if he really wants to fight”. We paired up and threw down numerous times. I did everything I could to crush this guy’s dream of fighting but he kept coming back day after day. His name was Brian Yamasaki and he quickly became my new favorite training partner.

 

During one of my private lessons Will brought a Shootowrestling book to class and showed me the way these guys were blending different arts for MMA competition. I also noticed a lot of leg locks in the book which I hadn’t seen as they were frowned upon in the early days of my BJJ experience. Will started teaching me leg locks and I was catching guys left and right. I wanted more so he sent me to LA to learn from one of the best fight trainers in the world.

 

I made frequest trips to LA to learn from Sensei Erik Paulson who also had me working with other great coaches and fighters like Sean Sherk, Rico Chiapparelli, Khru Nelson and Lucia Rijker to name a few. I eventually became a coach in Shootowrestling. The Shootowrestling orginization evolved into CSW (Combat Submission Wrestling) and my coaching certification followed suit.

 

 Brian Yamasaki continued to pursue his goal of fighting. One day after a training session he asked if I was interested in buying his school. I suggested we team up and work together. We became business partners, training partners and best of friends. He continued to train for fights and built the foundation for our future.  Yamasaki got me inspired so I put my training to the test following the trail that he blazed.

 

 

 

My goal was to win a Utah State Title for MMA. The reason I fought was to become a better coach. I worked my way up the ranks and eventually won the UCE title over Olly “The Menace” Bradstreet.

 

 

After accomplishing what I set out to do, a back injury helped me get my focus back to coaching. Yamasaki and I took our Mushin Fighter Corps team undefeated for an entire year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I began training a group of Professional Fighters for some of the biggest MMA promotions in the world.

 

Yamasaki and I are currently bringing up a new generation of youngblood at Mushin and are also working with our seasoned fighters like Jake Paul and Kyacey Uscola.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Yamasaki and I aren’t teaching classes or training fighters we are usually working on our new TV show called DAMAGE CONTROL or guest starring on the Ultimate Combat Experience!

 

In addition to the classes I teach and fighters that I train I also make sure I continue learning from some of the best in the business. People like Cade Janjira, Will Bernales, Brian Yamasaki and Erik Paulson. These guys help keep me on top of my game so I can help you keep on top of yours.