Ever Try to Pay for a Gym Membership with Vegetables?

Dec. 1, 2009 - PRLog -- CONTACT: Gabrielle Drinard
(415) 722-2762 or Gabrielle@alivemma.com  

ALIVE MIXED MARTIAL ARTS, A VERY DIFFERENT GYM
Ever Try to Pay for a Gym Membership with Vegetables?

Portland, OR -  Walk into Alive Mixed Martial Arts/Brazilian Top Team Jiu-Jitsu on South East Woodstock Boulevard and you’ll see plenty of what’s expected from an Mixed Martial Arts gym—athletes wrestling, playing Judo or Jiu-jitsu, boxing, and kickboxing.  Then, a charismatic man with cauliflower ears welcomes you in an almost suspiciously warm manner. Next, you start noticing things like the basked of fruit and bread at the front counter, free to anyone that might need it. In fact, depending upon whether the catch has been good, there may literally be loaves and fishes there to be shared.

Longtime coach Bill Bradley opened Alive MMA last February with a great deal of good will but very little capital in the depths of the Great Recession. More than a few members had lost their jobs, and given notice to terminate their membership, only to be offered “union-wage work trade” building the gym community. Mobilizing his background in economics, social work, union, community, and cooperative organizing, the former founder of the Red and Black Cafe and Portland Collective Housing has been able to build his new gym from scratch as an exercise in what he calls “Venture Communism,” along the “Tough Times gym model.” Naturally, when a paying job comes to his attention, Bradley takes note and consults his mental member list to think who should know about it. It’s kind of like an informal employment agency, with sweat all over it.

“This is where really seeing people pays off,” Bradley smiles, “I start noting people’s talents, abilities, and interests, from the moment they walk in the door. Some communities raise barns; ours remodeled the old machine shop into a fully functional weight room, fashioned a massage space, and built a beautiful sauna.” Likewise, there is a farmer who pays his dues in the form of produce for other members and a tattoo artist who expertly administers free ink to members every month. Established instructors pay for their membership through teaching classes on by far the most extensive schedule in town (see for yourself at alivemma.com), and promising apprentices receive instructor training as part of their already low cost membership.

“People in or out of work, over-or-under-employed need exercise, and even more they need PLAY.” Largely absent from the gym is any kind of macho or aggressive vibe, and, in its place is a competent but fun-loving environment in which athletes learn to relax and function in the presence of stress.  “Mammals learn best under conditions of play, not when they feel genuinely threatened,” Bradley maintains, “so that if we are genuinely threatened, we can function and do what we have to do.” As a result, professional fighters, little kids, teenage bad-asses, and brand new students train alongside each other, each getting what they need.  It doesn’t hurt that Pro’s report getting some of the most individualized and helpful instruction of their careers at Alive from some of the best in the business, like Team Quest stand out Judo Jon Krohn or UFC veteran Matt Horwich, without the ego trips that often accompany coaching of that quality.  Neither does it hurt that Alive offers fighter representation at half the cost normally demanded.

Beyond fighting, Bradley is constantly expanding gym ventures to match member and community needs, for example by founding AMMA Least Force Necessary Tactical Security or by joining with Allegra Drum Crafters, next door, to launch a cage manufacturing enterprise. There’s a class on the schedule called “Adaptive Movement”, which was originally made up for his mother-in-law to make exercise fun for seniors. A Google calendar is being created for female gym members to facilitate finding a like-gendered workout buddy. Alive MMA has also been key in helping to re-shape not only the bodies of its members but in some cases, their whole life missions. Some members have moved from obesity to fighting trim, from substance abuse to healthy recovery, or from depression to active engagement in a vibrant community.

Alive MMA even hosts its own monthly grappling tournaments and cage fighting productions, including Milwaukie MMA/First Friday Fights, held monthly at the Milwaukie Elks Lodge. At this intimate setting, site of decades of Golden Gloves Boxing, Bradley reveals yet another surprise, a past career as a radical stand up comic.   The result has been called the most unique and entertaining mixed martial arts production in memory, where the “fun” has been put back into “functional self-defense.”

Alive MMA is located at 5607 SE Woodstock Boulevard in Portland. For class information, please contact 740-3004 or visit www.alivemma.com. For media inquiries, please 415/722-2762.

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IN OUR 4,000 SQUARE FT FACILITY, we have 3000 square feet of mat space. The floors, walls and beams are fully padded in the jits area and there's a wooden floor area for boxing and conditioning and yoga. The West facing wall is covered in caging for those wanting practice up against the cage wall. We have Muay Thai length and boxing length heavy bags, double ended bags, a speed bag, medicine and stability balls, focus mits,Thai pads, kick pads, gloves, yoga gear and much more.

We have personal trainers available for specialized training, both adult and kids Mixed Martial Arts programs with an emphasis on Jiu-Jitsu, Greco-Roman and Free-style Wrestling, Judo, Submission Grappling, Boxing and Muay Thai Kickboxing.

In the back room we have a Sauna which seats 14 people, a therapeutic massage room with an on-staff massage therapist, weights, kettlebells, an elliptical machine, stationary bicycle, gymnast rings and other plyometric workout equipment. Men and Women's changing rooms.