Highlight of Fight Core in 2009

JANUARY

Kyacey Uscola heads to Salt Lake City to get acclimated to the higher elevation before his fight with Hank Weiss on Febuary 20th at the Energy Solutions Arena.

Brian Yamasaki and Brandon Kiser start working on the Ultimate Combat Experience as guest commentators for the long time friend Mike Stidham.  Tune in on Channel 30 every Sunday at 3:00 pm

Fight Core meets a Catch Wrestling legend Billy Robinson and the founder of Scientific Wrestling Mr. Jake Shannon. These guys taught some moves on our show Damage Control and forever changed my game by teaching some of the coolest moves I have ever seen from Catch Wrestling! Meeting these guys is absolutely one of the best memories of 2009 and my entire Martial Arts Journey.

FEBUARY

Jake Paul defeats Cole Rose and Kyacey Uscola defeats Hank Weiss at the Energy Solutions Arena.

Konrad Jones goes the distance in his first fight against one of Utahs toughest, Kofe Azitzu.

MARCH

Record breaking attendance at the 2009 Erik Paulson seminar as we covered everything from STX (Savate Thai Cross Training) Kickboxing, to Judo Throws, to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. 

 Johnny Miller wins at Throwdown Fighting Event.

 APRIL

Konrad Jones and Kensei Sato make their MMA Debut at the UCE in Vernal Utah.

MAY

Brian Yamasaki and Brandon Kiser take our team to CSW Camp 2009.

Mushin Fight Team ranked in top 10 on one of the biggest internet fight sites in the world Sherdog.com

Me and Yamasaki travelled to Idaho to participate in a 10th planet JJ seminar and filmed some more segments for our show Damage Control.

JUNE

 Fight Core clothing line prepares to launch.

Aaron Okura and Paul Roberts both represented the Bernales Institute in the Ultimate Combat Experience bringing home two more wins.

Jake Paul defeats Lee Doss after much negative talk from the Jeremy Horn camp. This win made Jake the new Gladiator Challenge Champion.

Team Eilte demands a do-over and the rivalry builds. Jake gets an immediate rematch scheduled with Lee Doss after Jeremy Horn and company complain about the stoppage of the first fight.

Former Kickboxing Coach of Randy Couture and long time friend Cade Janjira joins the Fight Core team completing the coaching Trifecta.

JULY

Brandon Melendez joins Jake Paul on our fight team and rumors of a possible future fight agains Josh Burkman start buzzing.

AUGUST

Mushin to participate in Mike Stidhams new reality TV vison.

And still the Gladiator Challenge Champion… JAKE PAUL defeats Lee Doss with an 8 second K.O. in the immediate rematch that was demanded by Jeremy Horn and Lee Doss.

SEPTEMBER

Brian Yamasaki and Brandon Kiser featured on Hapkido TV.

Kiser travels to Puerto Rico joining Babalu and Eric Bad Apple to corner their friend Kyacey Uscola against one of Greg Jacksons fighters.

OCTOBER 

 Kiser travels to Boise to corner Kyacey Uscola with Urijah Faber and Jake Paul

NOVEMBER

Kiser and Yamasaki corner Brandon Melendez against Josh Burkman in one of Utahs biggest fights to date.

DECEMBER

Fight Core Soldiers show their loyalty. Chris “Super Grappler” Lanham and Trevor Warner get Fight Core ink.

After weeks of drilling fight specific combos, Jake Paul went out and KO’d Lee Doss in 5 seconds using the core technique we built for this fight.

A solid training camp was assembled for Jake, Johnny and Jeremy. It brought together the experience of three coaches. Cade Janjira, Brian Yamasaki and Brandon Kiser. Unfortunately for Johnny and Jeremy their opponents didn’t show so they were unable to fight.

The pre-fight tasks ran smooth as Jake prepared for battle. He has a lot more experience then most fighters his age and he was surrounded by a very experienced team of coaches and support staff.

What a sweet victory after all the controversy and trash talk that came from their camp.

Wendover was packed with the biggest concentration of Friends & Family of Fight Core that we have ever assembled. Thank you so much to everyone that made the trip to Wendover to support the team. A lot of people were also set to come down for Johnny Miller and still decided to make the trip even though his fight was cancelled.

The Victory was awesome and the after parties were epic!

THE END…

Mushin Self Defense barely has 1,000 square feet of training space but that hasn’t stopped the Mushin Crew from makin big things happen.

The gym has a hard core yet cozy vibe with an old school feel to it. Long before the big chain gyms and MMA Super Centers like Throwdown came to town, Yamasaki and I were putting in work on the MMA Frontline and 10 years later we are still on the hustle.

We currently have two pro fighters training for title fights. Jake Paul and Brandon Melendez have their fight camps in full effect at Mushin right now. In addition to that we also have Mike Stidhams new reality TV show filming out of our gym as we try and get a female fighter with no experience ready for her first MMA fight in 5 short weeks. Mushin attendance for the regular scheduled Muay Thai and CSW classes is at an all time high and we have also added a new class to the line up… Girls Kickboxing. Yamasaki and Pete getting ready to leave for the Annual TBA camp in Oregon. On top of all that we are also filming for our new TV Show DAMAGE CONTROL.

With all of this going on we have had to rely heavily on our most senior student Shane “potato bug” Taylor and Fighter Corps graduate Konrad “Rebar” Jones. These guys have been warming up the classes everyday and keeping our students sharp.

We have also called in reinforcements in the form of one World Class Muay Thai Coach Cade Janjira. Cade has been running the sparring sessions and keeping the fighters in line.

Stay tuned for updates. We will keep you posted on the results of the Title Fights, Jakes rematch, and Rachels debut. 2009 has been one of our best years ever and we are only half way through.

With CSW camp approaching we decided to start a new class at Mushin to help us get in shape for hell week.

Normally the 5:30 to 6:00 time slot is reserved for Pro Fight Training. Now it’s open to anyone that is willing to work hard. Yamasaki, Taylor, Kensei and myself will utilize this time to prepare for camp. Once camp is over we intend on continuing the class.

When the Fighter Corps team gets a fight scheduled then the focus of this class will shift back to them and students will still be welcome in more of a support role.

If  your goal is to fight with the full support of the Mushin Team then you have to give before you get. Doing the conditioning class in the support role is one of the best ways of accomplishing that.

I didn’t even realize how much my limited time with Billy had effected my game until Yamasaki pointed it out to me. I was at The Bernales Institute teaching an old Shooto Lock Flow when I realized how my exposure to Catch had connected so many of the dots.

I can say the same for Yamasaki’s game as well. He has been more difficult to deal with then ever before. The Catch training he received from Billy has brought out the best in him.

I just feel so fortunate to have received this opportunity and would like to sincerely thank Billy Robinson and Jake Shannon for making this possible.

If any of you ever get the chance to train with Billy Robinson I would be all over it!

I want to sincerely thank everyone that supported the Erik Paulson seminar this year. It is a lot of work to put these events together and we couldn’t do it without you. Your efforts are not forgotten and do not go unnoticed. 

Thanks to Erik Paulson and Tonya Paulson for coming to Salt Lake and spoiling us with such great material. Thanks to Kru Yamasaki, Kru Bernales and Heather for everything they did to make this happen!

There was record breaking attendance at the 2009 Erik Paulson seminar as we covered everything from STX (Savate Thai Cross Training) Kickboxing, to Judo Throws, to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. We also got to hear a lot of great jokes and put in a bunch of awesome sparring rounds.

I loved hearing Sensei Paulson speak at the end of the Seminar. I especially liked the part about him keeping balace in his life by prioritizing his faith, family, work and passion.

Congratulations to Kru Bernales and Kru Yamasaki for their CSW promotions!

I would love to hear from everyone who attended what their favorite part of the seminar was : )

Below are some pictures of the seminar:

Cade, Kiser, Bernales, Paulson, Yamasaki

Konrad Jones and Erik Paulson

Cade Janjire with Erik Paulson

The Desert Eagle working the mitts

Erik Paulson teaching the group

Wendy and Andrea representin'

Kensei "Alpha" Sato and Paul Cruz working STX

JTS working a single leg on Dave

Dave and "The Doc" working the STX

Cade and Ryan working some Muay Thai

2 minutes after Cade was grappling and I have the pics to prove it : )

Yamasaki filming some DAMAGE CONTROL with Sensei Paulson

Jared and Jason Bringhurst just kicking back before they make em BLEED!

My bro Pete slaps a tight triangle on Ryan

Way to keep your left hand up Paul

Shane and Mark working their submissions

Kiser about to get a turn back kick to the gut

Kiser just got a turn back kick to the gut

The Bernales Crew showed up in full force and dominated the competition with three of their top fighters – Aaron Okura, Paul Roberts and Paul Sizemore.

Paul Roberts looked like the Georges St. Pierre of the minor leagues. He dominated in every range, even winning the wrestling exchanges against his opponent who is a highly accomplished wrestler. Paul Roberts finished his opponent in the second with a Rear Naked Choke.

Unfortunately for Aaron Okura his opp0nent backed out last minute due to an injury but Aaron wasted no time getting back to training as he was in the Bernales Gym the following morning at 7am.

Paul Sizemore made short work of a very tough opponent in the main event. His BJJ was on point as expected as he finished with a tight arm bar!

Former World Catch as Catch Can Wrestling Champion Billy Robinson and the coach of Sakuraba made an appearance at the fights. He came in all the way from Japan to teach a seminar with Scientific Wrestling founder Jake Shannon.

Richard Prescott receiving shirt from BLEEDOUT owner Jason Bringhurst

After the fights the whole crew celebrated including BLEEDOUT owner Jason Bringhurst and Mushin Buddy Week winner Richard Prescott…

Kiser and Shannon

Jake Paul, Kiser, Shane Taylor

Dave Seljested and Shai Solomon

Erik Paulson and Kru Nelson

March 21st and 22nd 2009 in Salt Lake City, Utah at the Bernales Institute. Click on the picture to see a video of last years seminar.

Call Kiser at 801-828-8504 or stop by the Bernales Institute or Mushin Self Defense to register.