Results tagged “York Mixed Martial Arts Academy” from MMA Explosion

I tell ya, man, it's great to see martial artists in York County and the surrounding area getting together, training and learning from each other. My co-worker Tom Joyce, whose taken a great deal of martial arts over the years, always recalls the squabbling he used to witness and hear about between schools and martial arts masters. It makes you wonder why petty differences couldn't be put aside for the greater good.

George "Phoenix" McGinnis of York Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Red Lion has been at the vanguard of the MMA cross-pollination in York County and beyond, and a recent facebook post by him illustrates this:

"Had a good work out last night. Hit up Blackman's MMA (in Harrisburg) for some mat time with their fighters and then bounced on over to Jay's (Haas' academy in Lewisberry) to work in with their wrestling team. The beauty behind association and comraderie is that everyone generally wins. Hell, just last night I noticed 2 - 3 wrestling techniques at Jay's that I am going to start drilling as early as today to incorporate into my own game..."

As a source of inspiration, I also asked George about how he got his nickname:

"It was decided upon by a couple of friends a good ways back due to my uncanny ability to bounce back from any bad situation. Example: I would be in a match where I was down numerous points and unlikely to recover, and then out of no where I would spark enough energy or motion to escape / reverse the position and or submit my opponent from an unlikely angle."

"An example of how it applies to me off the mat is again my ability to bounce back from a bad situation, or what I often refer to as 'rock bottom'. I have hit rock bottom a handful of times in my life. I have made mistakes that have cost me dearly. I have said and done things that I was certain I would never be able to redeem, but like the Phoenix, its old physical form perishes in the ashes of its self-made pyre and a new emerges stronger and healthier then ever. To me, the Phoenix represents redemption, a fresh start and perhaps a new lease on life..."

Students, family and friends:

This has been in the works for some time, but due to our schedule and several others events, this particular event was put on hold. I would now like to bring it back to light and out in the open for those both previously involved and potentially involved with the project in the near future.

What's going on? Well, it has always been a goal of mine to set some sort of record. Why not do it within the realm of what I truly love? Martial Arts. Due to confidential reasons, I cannot (at this time) go into dramatic detail about the event, but what I can tell you is as follows...

Where: Location: West Manchester Mall (pending) - adjacent to Elicker's Kenpo Karate
When: A Saturday to be later determined (12:00pm - 2:00pm) 1/2 hour Uke registration, 1 hour record attempt, 1/2 hour awards and appreciation
Who: Coach George McGinnis, Team YMMAA and dozens of other schools and participants
What: Coach George McGinnis to set the first Judo based world record in the history of 'Guinness Books'
How: One Tori (person performing throwing techniques), countless Uke's (person receiving the technique), 1 hour time limit, mats, sponsors, media, crowd, friends and family and good old fashioned camaraderie as it was meant to be.

This event is going to be awesome. Its purpose is to obviously not only bring some advertising to our academy, but much more importantly, it is an opportunity to give back to the community and our instructors. Martial Arts has saved my life and I wish to share its beauty and culture. Judo is highly effective and functional yet so many people dismiss it from their training and arsenal. This will also give us (schools and club owners) a chance to work together and expose our students to an atmosphere that isn't primarily based on competition.

WHO'S IN???!!!

I will need to know the following...

(A) Would you like to attend and or participate in the event?
(B) Would you like to be listed as an Uke (oh yes, you will be thrown), or as a helper (event support / assistant)? If you are a YMMAA member, don't even think about option 2 of (B), ha ha...
(C) School owners - Can you attend the event and bring students to participate?
(D) This is a great sponsorship opportunity as well. If you are a business owner or know someone who is, this is a cheap and easy way to get involved with the MMA community while supporting an event that will not only make the books but will have a decent amount of media.

(E) There will be prizes at the event. One -->lucky<-- participant will receive a high end Gi (company pending) during a raffle towards the end of the event. Each Uke participant will receive a (ticket) upon completing their registration form. A number will be called, if its yours, you win!

More details to come soon. Please contact me with feed back, questions, concerns, interests, suggestions, etc. Thanks for your time...

Sincerely: Coach George McGinnis
York Mixed Martial Arts Academy
Contact # (717) 650 - 0500
www.YMMAA.com

George McGinnis, owner and head trainer at York Mixed Martial Arts Academy, sent me this email on his impressions of Friday's event in Harrisburg:

"I would like to congratulate Coach Blackman and all those involved in a successful evening. There is no doubt that his personal involvement in the entertainment business is what assisted him in running an impressive show. Steve Blackman took the appropriate amount of time to converse with the trainers and was extremely composed during the event which was a refreshing change of pace. I was impressed with the easy to find location, the venue itself, as well as the talent pool in both the amateur and pro divisions. I do believe that we will be looking to work with Mr. Blackman in the future"...

Eric Tschanz, a student of George McGinnis' at YMMAA, hosts an MMA radio show at
York's Only True Alternative, WVYC.

Here's his description of the show:
The only Mixed Martial Arts talk show in all of South Central Pennsylvania on 99.7FM WVYC.

We cover all MMA from the UFC to Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge as well as local Martial Arts events.

Tune in Wednesdays from 11am-1pm.

Brett "Night Crawler" Myers, Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge's 170-pound champion, right after his submission victory over Justin Krebs on Friday night. Catch Brett and head instructor George McGinnis at York Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Red Lion.

YMMAA owner/purple belt George McGinnis and Nate Grove.

Nate Grove of Red Lion receives his yellow belt last night (Oct 21 09) at the York Mixed Martial Arts Academy.

Nate was the first official youth program student to tutor under Coach McGinnis more than a year ago. At ten years old, this young man is off to a great start in a sport that has been sweeping American soil by storm since its introduction years ago.

McGinnis said, "I think its safe to bet that majority of us in our 30's and above in some way wishes that we would have known about or been involved with BJJ / Judo in our younger days. However, that's the beauty behind BJJ. Not only is it clearly dominating and highly effective, but because of its leverage based applications and design, pioneers like Professor Helio Gracie were able to participate in BJJ and its growth well into his 90's. That's insane!"

Other youth students like Tyler and Robby good have been training at the YMMAA and are sure to shine along with Nate in the future.

Congrats, Nate, on your yellow belt. We'll be following you here on MMA Explosion!

George, in the middle, with the gray T-shirt, surrounded by his friends/trainees.

From George McGinnis:
I was the only one from our particular school that attended the event. I was also the only one who traveled to the event as well so there is unfortunately no photo's or footage of the event or my matches at this time. However, one of my opponents taped a couple of my matches and mentioned that he would send me the footage to me as early as he could. I honestly don't expect to see it...

Purple Belt 165lb and under (1st place)

Purple Belt 'Absolute - open weight class' (2nd place)

No Gi 170lb. Advanced (1st place)

No Gi Advanced 'Absolute - open weight class' (3rd place)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Events coming up that I will likely be attending / competing:

CPWC Grappling Challenge - Lancaster Oct 24th 09

New Jersey BJJ Federation - November 14th 09

PABJJ (Team Tatu - Super Fights) - Nov 21 09

As always we would like to thank our sponors...

Sheetz
Miles Muffler
Red Lion Chiropractic
Flying Feet
Ricke Bros Auto Sales / Royal Motors
Imagineered Signs, Inc.

Sincerely Yours: George McGinnis
York Mixed Martial Arts Academy
Contact # (717) 650 - 0500
www.YMMAA.com

From George McGinnis, owner of York Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Red Lion:
Here is a video from my two matches at Grapplers Quest a few weeks back. I was a hair rusty and it shows but I have vastly improved over the past couple of weeks and am now back into tournament mode. Match 1 is against a Team Balance brown belt. I opted to go up in weight and experience because I got bumped out of the No Gi advanced first round and couldn't fight for third because I was first on the card which always seems to happen to me. Second match (No Gi) is against a Maxercise brown belt. Needless to say, it was a tall order for the day. It was a good experience either way and I am actually not as disappointed with the Gi match as I am with my No Gi performance that day. I will be competing next in Lancaster on the 24th of October just a day after my bro Brett is slated to take on Justin Krebs for the 170lb title...

Last week I posted details of George McGinnis' great run at the UGC recently in Mcungie, Pa. Now you can take a look. Here's George's comments from the Youtube entry: "This is a compiled video of 6 out of my 7 matches this weekend. Missed match number to because they added the match last minute. I decided to hit the tournament to tune up for several other events that I have lined up over the next couple of months. Finished the day with 2 No Gi Gold Medals and 2 Absolute Championship belts... "
Make sure to hit George up at York Mixed Martial Arts Academy.

Here's George McGinnis's U.G.C. results from "Best of the Best" held this past weekend in Macungie, Pa:

Match 1: No Gi Intermediate / Advanced Mixed (win via. points) - Gold
Match 2: No Gi Intermediate / Advanced Mixed (win via. rear naked choke) - Gold
Match 3: No Gi Absolute 200lb. and under (win via. triangle to inverted arm bar)
Match 4: No Gi Absolute 200lb. and over (win via. points)
Match 5: No Gi Absolute 200lb. and over [finals] - (win via. triangle) - Championship Belt
Match 6: No Gi Absolute 200lb. and under [semi finals] - (win via. triangle)
Match 7: No Gi Absolute 200lb. and under [finals] - (win via. triangle / descending arm bar) - Championship Belt

"Yeah, its safe to say that the triangle is working for me. I think between my recent diet adjustments and conditioning programs, that my performance is steadily increasing. Its a small sacrifice to pay when considering the results. The U.G.C president (Robson Pereira) has approached me and offered me a super fight at one of the up coming events. I'd like to take a moment to thank all of our sponsors..."

- Sheetz, Miles Muffler, Flying Feet, Rickie Brothers Auto Sales, Imagineered Signs -

George is owner/head trainer at York Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Red Lion.

Video was sent to me by Brad Souders. George McGinnis then sent his comments to me:
"My boy Genki is at it again. I received an email from Coach Brad Souders that listed a link to one of Genki Sudo's music video's in which he wrote, performed in and produced. One thing I love about the guy is that he doesn't allow himself to be bound by the laws of any one style in regards to MMA or personality. We could all learn a lot from him not just on the mat and MMA, but how he chooses to live in general. I can really appreciate the fact that he isn't afraid to express himself creatively and through his passion for music. You would honestly be surprised how many fighters have a hidden knack for music. Some quick names that come to mind is Oscar Del La Hoya (Boxing World Champion), Kaensak (Muay Thai World Champion), Genki Sudo MMA legend and pioner and I do believe during my travels that GSP has expressed an interest in the music industry as well. Who woulda knew right?..."

Sincerely Yours: George McGinnis
York Mixed Martial Arts Academy
www.YMMAA.com

Brett Myers trains the Muay Thai clinch with Hanover Academy of MMA's Jay Haas.

Talked with George McGinnis, owner and head trainer at York Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Red Lion, tonight about several topics. We'll start with his brother Brett Myers' training. Brett is gearing up for a 170-pound title fight against Justin Krebs at Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge III on Oct. 23 in Lancaster. The title was vacated by Justin Scott, who won it at CPWC I in April and defended it at CPWC II in July (against Krebs). Scott will make his debut as a pro at CPWC III.

Anyway, about Brett, George said, "Training's going good, Brett's healthy. We've stepped up a few things (his diet and conditioning) Brett's looking strong."

"No matter where this fight goes, I'm pretty confident that's Brett's capable of handling the situation," George said. "We wish Justin Krebs a healthy camp and good luck."

George said he has continued to work with Hanover Academy of MMA head trainer Bob Bitner on striking, both for himself and Brett. George has also logged time at Jay Haas' new school in Lewisberry.

It's George's hope that Brett wins the title, defends it several times, and then moves on from there. "We're looking at the future for Brett; we're not just concerned about what's going on right now."

George also said that he competed in the recent Grapplers Quest tournament in Lancaster. George, a purple belt under Rogerio "Tatu" Taborda, entered the no-gi advanced division, which meant he was going up against purple, brown or black belts. taking on a member of Maxercise, one of Philadelphia's best academies, George lost by rear-naked choke, he said. Putting on his gi, George took another high-level opponent, a brown belt, who was at least a weight class above him. George was able to hold off any submission attempts by the Team Balance member, but lost on points.

I talked with Mark Jovich, owner and matchmaker of the Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge. With two successful events in York Township at Wisehaven Banquet Hall, Jovich moved his end of the year show to a bigger venue, the Lancaster Convention Center. Mark said at this point, things are going well for the Oct. 23 event, ticket sales are brisk, and the card is complete. We've got a lot of local, exciting fighters on the card, so it no doubt will be a great show. Looks like 19 fights, including the return of local pro Biff Walizer. Click here for the Web site and click here for the card.

Here's an email I received from George McGinnis, head trainer at York Mixed martial Arts Academy:
This article was sent to me by one of our top students (Tom Fleming) yesterday. I personally read the article twice because I thought it was that informative. Though most of us have been instructing for some time and have likely developed our own style of teaching, this article could still benefit you (as well as the students) in more ways then one.

It reminds us of the three most common styles of learning and reception (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic). Though I feel that our facility commonly accommodates for all three types of learning behaviors, I decided to adjust last nights class out of curiosity. To be completely honest, last night was probably one of the most responsive classes that I have ever tought. Students were asking twice the amount of questions, getting more involved, changing their angles of view and complying to the outline. I am also receiving emails and text messages about how great of a class we had. Give it a read. You could too be missing one or two angles of curriculum that could benefit one or more students.

George McGinnis, head trainer at York Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Red Lion, sent me this pic of his brother, Brett Myers, facing camera, training with Jay Haas. In the photo, Brett has the Muay Thai clinch on Jay, meanwhile Jay is swimming his right hand inside to try to counter with a clinch of his own (I'm guessing).

Myers trains at YMMAA and Jay trains at Hanover Academy of MMA, but both schools often train together. Both Brett and Jay are on the card at Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge in Lancaster on Oct. 23. Jay has a pro fight against Sean Santella and Brett has a title fight - I believe it is the 170-pound championship - against Justin Krebs.

Casey Bush

Joey "The Kid" Elmore

On Saturday, Sept. 19, local fighter Casey Bush will make his amateur debut - at 145 pounds - at Barbarian Fight Club's Dire Conflict event, to be held at the Virginia Sports Complex in Ruther Glen.

Casey's got a great amateur wrestling background, and has been training at Hanover Academy of MMA, where is part of the team, but also has trained at George McGinnis' York Academy of Mixed Martial Arts in Red Lion in the past.

Casey is 27, stands 5'7" and Casey's opponent, Joey "The Kid" Elmore, is 25, stands at six feet, lists boxing, grappling and submission as his styles and has a 1-2 record. He is from Great Mills, Md., and says he is an independent fighter, i.e., no school/team affiliation.

Stay tuned here to find out how Casey did.

On Sept. 19th Rogerio "Tatu" Taborda and his black belt student Ronaldo are coming to my school Extreme SportsPlex in Martinsburg, WV to do a 4hr seminar. Each will teach a 2hr section. I am hoping to get Ronaldo to teach some Del La Riva guard as he train with him while living in Brazil. Seminar is from 10am-2pm for $60 a head.

By George McGinnis

Hi. My name is George McGinnis. I wanted to set aside some time today to discuss how to decode various MMA programs and the vital importance in selecting a legitimate Martial Arts / MMA academy that will be handling your educational and competitive needs. First things first. The key word in that sentence was your needs. Countless schools out there (Nationwide) are so concerned with promoting themselves, that they often allow students to attend advanced training before they are ready, or their fighters to take a fight long before they actually have the arsenal to do so. How does this affect you? It's simple. In the world of MMA, first impressions are critical. When a fighter steps through that gate for the first time, they (in my opinion) have to leave a lasting impression with the promoter, fighters, other surrounding teams, as well as the crowd. You have to let people know (win or lose) that you've got game and come from a school that clearly has worked diligently with you and has your best interests in mind. Listed below are some key things that you should be looking for and considering before settling in with any one mixed martial art academy.

This is the inside of The Arena, just imagine there's a cage there instead of a ring.

Jerod said overall, the event was cool, although the fights were reduced from 11 to 7, for unforeseen circumstances. The Arena, Jerod said, is like a big, stuffy, sweaty warehouse. I remember hearing about ECW fans talking about hot it would get in there and what a great experience it was - it seems to add to the gritty, primal nature of fighting, whether it be real or choreographed.

"The crowd was really into it, it was loud," he said.

Jerod also said the main event between Dutin Pague, who beat Biff at the Respect Is Earned event and Jeff Lentz was an all-out war.,

"Dutin got beat up - Lentz is crazy with his strikes, unorthodox," Jerod said. "It was a hell of a fight."

Jeff Lentz

Talked with Jerod Phillips of Tap or Sleep fightwear, who attended last night's The Arena Assault at The Arean in Philadelphia. Phillips, who was there to support Hanover Academy of MMA's Jay Haas, said Jay lost in the second round by guillotine.

But, Jerod said it was evident that Jay's ground game had greatly improved.
"He did fine in the first round; he had some big takedowns," Jerod said. "He wrestled good; that's been somehting that had been missing from his game."

In the second round, Jay scored another big takedown, but, unfortunately, "He kind of got himself in a guillotine," Jerod said.

The way I see it, Jay's only gonna get better, and probably quickly. He's been working regularly with BJJ purple belt George McGinnis of York Mixed Martial Arts Academy and Jerod talked about getting Biff Walizer (local York pro and All-American) to train with Jay some more (the two have trained at George's place before).