Fight Core

SHANE TAYLOR

Shane Taylor didn’t get into martial arts until he was in his thirties, a chubby office worker with lower-back pain and decrepit knees. Now he claims to feel years younger than when he started. Anyone who rolls with him now would not believe he is close to forty. He feels like a bowling ball of muscle and sinew. Around the gym he earned the nickname Potato Bug, or now Coach Bug, for his ability to shell up and protect himself.

Shane’s excitement for the martial arts stems from an enthusiasm for self reliance and self defense. He is a husband and father of four kids, and he has a strong instinct to provide and protect. He has a BA in economics and an MBA. Shane has never competed in sport fighting and, although he hasn’t completely ruled it out, never plans to. He has trained, coached, and cornered many fighters from our gym, loving to participate in their growth and success.

When Shane was in middle school, a martial-arts video game once spat out the proverb, “Only the strong can be truly gentle.” Shane has taken that wisdom to heart, believing in the budo way of a gentle warrior—but one who can cave in a bad guy’s face if necessary.

Shane has attended every Erik Paulson Combat Submission Wrestling (CSW) seminar in Utah and has survived three worldwide annual fighter training camps at CSW headquarters in California. He earned his CSW Coach Level 1 certification from Erik Paulson in April 2010 and became the first coach ever produced by Brian Yamasaki and Brandon Kiser.

While his standup game is passable, Shane’s real passion is for the ground. He loves the art and science of positions and submissions. He approaches training with the eye of a technician. He believes in “the jiu-jitsu of life” and the attitude, “I’ve always got moves.” His ultimate goal is longevity and to someday be the baddest 80-year-old on the mat.

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BRIAN YAMASAKI 

Brian Yamasaki weighs in at 140 pounds but carries a powerful presence that is rivaled by few. When Yamasaki talks people listen. He knows how to bring out the best in his fighters and expects nothing less. He has experience fighting in both Muay Thai and Mixed Martial Arts. Yamasaki is a pioneer and was competing long before it was the popular thing to do and long before there was a consistent team of trainers and fighters to support him.

 He is a technician and perfectionist in all aspects of the game. He is a certified Muay Thai instructor and a CSW coach. If you want to know how to keep a fight standing and what to do once your there, he is the guy to see. He is one of the best MMA striking coaches around. As for his ground game… I remember one time watching Yamasaki enter the advanced division of a submission wrestling tournament, last minute and without any pre-competition conditioning. He submitted each opponent and walked away with a gold medal in the advanced division of his FIRST grappling tournament.  

In addition to his accomplishments in Martial Arts, Yamasaki has a Master’s degree in technical writing and a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy. One of the best parts of training with Yamasaki is listening to his stories, theories and coaching. After listening to him speak you are ready for anything.

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BRANDON KISER 

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.

LONGTIME FRIENDS KRU YAMASAKI AND CADE JANJIRA

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.

KRU WILL BERNALES AT THAI CAMP

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.

YAMASAKI AND KISER

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.

YAMASAKI VS ADAM RIDING

 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.

UCE LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMP

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.

Mushin Fighter Corps

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

Warming Melvin up for his 1st UFC

Training Burkman For Karo Fight

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.  

JTS, Kiser, Yamasaki, Uscola

Mushin Fighter Corps 2009

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.

Cade Janjira, Kiser, Kru Bernales, Kru Brian, Sensei Paulson