Martial Arts Academy

   The biggest movement in martial arts has a new home in Milledgeville. Over 70 people packed into the Milledgeville Academy of Mixed Martial Arts anxious to meet a famous fighter and check out the training area.
     Numerous autographed magazines and posters line the walls grabbing the attention of wandering eyes waiting for a moment with the champ.
     A photo album with over thirty pictures of MAMMA owner Frank Mullis standing beside a who’s who of ultimate fighting champions draws a few looks as all ages nervously wait.
     With the shiny gold belt and the charisma to match, current Ultimate Fighting Championship and Welterweight Champion of the World Matt Serra pleases all his fans with pictures and autographs.
     With growing interest in the Middle Georgia area, a Mixed Martial Arts academy known as MAMMA officially opened on Sept. 8.
     Sophomore psychology major Jeff Fajay, a novice instructor at MAMMA, met Serra once before but remained excited about the visit.
     “It’s amazing to have Serra come down to Milledgeville of all places,” Fajay said.
     The creation and grand opening of the academy is the joint effort of owner Frank Mullis and chief instructor James Gardner. Over the past few years, Mullis taught Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes at GCSU.
     Student interest in the class grew along with the sport of Mixed Martial Arts as the UFC pay-per-views now rival boxing matches in revenue.
     With this growth, came need for more space to match the increased turnout. Gardner and Mullis talked about opening an academy for a few years, but the right location eluded them.
     “We finally found a spot that we could get at a reasonable price,” Mullis said. “We looked at locations all over town and this was the largest and most reasonable.”
     The timing was perfect as a martial arts school in Americus, Ga. was closing. Mullis and Gardner bought them out, so the equipment came at a low price.
     MAMMA is the first affiliate academy under Paul Creighton, a renowned teacher and Mixed Martial Arts fighter. The academy also operates under the name of Renzo Gracie the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend who trained Creighton and the Serra brothers.
     Creighton runs the Creighton Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Duluth, Ga. The opening of the Milledgeville academy will allow some GCSU students to train near their Atlanta homes during the summer and continue their training at MAMMA during the school year.
     “Our goal is to have a place to train mixed martial arts in Milledgeville providing a clean safe place to help people achieve whatever goal they want to be a part of,” Mullis said.
Being connected to the greatest names in the sport foreshadows a bright future for the school. So far, Gardner is excited about people signing up for classes in the first three weeks.
     “We’ve averaged about 12 students signing up per week,” Gardner said.
     About 60 GCSU students without memberships come to MAMMA to take their college jiu-jitsu class every week as well.
The benefits of MMA training go beyond self-defense or the competitive arena.
     “The sport has grown because everyone wants to get their hands into MMA, but mostly people just want to get in shape,” Creighton said. “It’s a great way to relieve stress in college where you’ve got to study so much.”
     Sessions for all ages, genders and skill levels are open Monday through Friday at MAMMA. The school is located in the Town and Country Shopping Center off South Wayne Street.1300 W. Hancock St.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 14 2007. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry