P5 Academy

Congratulations to Michelle, Moses, Yonatan and Layce for all testing and passing their Brazilian Jiu Jitsu exams this past week.  My first ever testing group of kid practitioners, Michelle, Moses and Yonatan showed a great deal of focus, determination and technical prowess in earning their first kids rank, the grey and white belt.

Congratulations to Layce Barmaki for testing for and passing his blue belt examination this past Friday, May 11th.  His testing group were all senior in rank and weight, pushing Layce to his limits and forcing him to earn his color through sweat and pain.  After all was said and done, Layce was sweating and smiling as I donned his well deserved blue belt around his waist.  I look forward to Layce being a part of P5′s first generation of BJJ senior students.

This past weekend, Brian Andrews and I had the pleasure of riding the Tour of Long Beach bike festival.  Representing my sponsor, SunRype, we tore through the city of Long Beach on that perfect Cinco de Mayo weekend.  Clocking in just over 50 miles that day, it was a great way to start the cycling season as a rider for Team SunRype.

Like usual, Corey Cass ran a quality event in a descent location, Long Beach Poly Technic High School.  There were several hundred competitors there and one in specific that was representing P5 Academy, Layce Barmaki.  He entered in the Beginners division at 165lbs.  His division had 6 competitors total ranging from 10th Planet to SD Combat Club.

In the first round, Layce was given a bye, automatically advancing him to the semifinals.  His semifinal match was almost picture perfect, getting the takedown, transitioning from a failed back take to the diamond guard that we worked specifically for this tournament.  He baited the triangle with a flower sweep attempt and the rest is history.

In the final round, Layce fought a well conditioned opponent with a surprisingly sneaking and advanced open guard game.  Layce was able to secure the win after shutting the other athlete out and scoring 4 points of his own.  Although he would have been happier with a submission victory, a gold medal is still a gold medal.  You can watch both matches here.

On another note, Will Baldwin of The Harris Academy, younger brother to head instructor Sifu Jeff Baldwin, performed with great heart and tenacity as he competed at 145 in the advanced division.  He wasn’t able to medal that day, but for a purple belt of only a few months going up against school owners and brown belts, his showing was inspiring.  Great job to both competitors and let’s keep the winning going at P5 Academy in 2012!

Layce and I just got back from a weekend journey to Las Vegas and Extreme Couture for the Pankration National Championships and 2012 World Team Trials.  The event was clean and well run just like last year.  The brackets were posted early and all fighters were given proper time to warm up and prepare for their matches.  I represented the Pankration 65Kg division (143lbs) which is essentially a gi division of MMA.  I returned to the trials as the reigning California State Champion(145) and last years 60Kg (132lbs) division representative from the World Team in Serbia.  I guess the word got out that I was coming because no one wanted to fight me.  All the brackets on both sides of the board, gi and no-gi, were stacked.  There were many 65Kg no-gi fighters, but alas, I walked away with a National Championship and my spot on the 2012 US National Pankration Team without even having to fight.  Anti-climactic to say the least but due to the fact that I had a fever and the flu, I was stoked to not have to fight sick.

Karma has surely been on my side this year as I have won Ca state Pankration Championships, Stickfighting Nationals and Pankration Nationals all within a 2 month span of time.  Let us see how much fighting merit I have accrued as the year has just begun and I have to fight in both the Philippines and Moscow, Russia this year for Filipino Stickfighting and Pankration World Championships respectively.

The contest is over and the winner of one free lifetime membership to P5 Academy is Louie Morales.  He has only recently begun training with P5 but it was evident quickly that his heart and spirit were 100% committed to the fight game and to P5 Academy.  Keep your eyes open because Louie will be representing P5 in the amateur and pro MMA circuits very soon.  His membership winning P5 Academy tattoo is shown below.

A few quick pictures of our Wednesday night 8pm Jeet Kune Do class.  We are starting to get a good group of regulars who are able to consistently reach new levels in their martial arts careers.  Although they all have different goals for practicing from self defense to professional MMA, all levels and motivations are welcome.

The official grand opening of P5 Academy was a great success.  We had many visitors, awesome seminars, savory foods and plenty of laughter.  Sifu Harris began our training with a teaching series focused on modified Jeet Kune Do trapping for boxing and MMA.  It was eye opening and inventive, everything I have come to expect from my Sifu, one of the foremost martial arts instructors in the world.

After Sifu was finished, my close friend $ Penny Thomas donned the black belt and Gi to show our team a little of her secret and super successful spider guard techniques.  $ Penny is a fantastic instructor and has an uncanny ability to attach techniques to stories and ideas to make them more easily digested by the student.  She also injects her lessons with a substantial amount of tasteful and delightful humor all her own flavor.

A special thanks to LBC and Sunshine for spending so much time preparing the food that was provided for all in attendance.  We will continue to grow and foster relationships and family members as P5 pushes its way into the forefront of martial arts academies in San Diego.  We have lofty goals this year from our first representation in the cage, to trips to Moscow and more.  It is an honor to be teaching in San Diego and I look forward to seeing you on the mat soon.

This past weekend, Layce and I drove up to the city of Alameda in the bay area for the California State Pankration Championships.  The tournament was held on Coast Guard Island, a small, man-made out post sitting just off of the shores of downtown Oakland.  This quaint, scenic island was host to about 50 competitors from various regions of California all gunning for the top position of the best Pankration fighter in the state.

Layce was nursing a partially torn MCL and thus, was unable to complete in the tournament.  He did however support and document the trip and assist in my preparation and logistics.  We stayed with the most hospitable Mr Cornell in South San Francisco.  The father of P5′s LBC, Mr Cornell was clever and astute in our lively, yet short conversations.  We are greatly appreciative to him for allowing us to stay in his most spacious abode.  We also want to thank US Fight League’s President, Jon Frank, for putting on such a great tournament with quality judges, ample facilities, warm up space and respectful competitors.

A full recap of the tournament in our latest vlog can be seen here.  Full video of the matches can be seen here.

Recently P5 was added to the list of martial arts schools on dojolocator.com, thekickereffect.org  and yelp.com .  Please feel free to go to these website and leave some feedback for P5 Academy so that other interested individuals will be able to understand how awesome P5 really is.