Come springtime, KP MMA fight team is back in action and very busy at that!

Saturday, April 7th – Dead Serious 3 event featuring Chris Remedios making his MMA debut! The event will take place at the Rahway Recreational Center in Rahway.  Fights start at 7pm

Friday, April 13th – Lester Caslow looking to come back strong at Bellator 67 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Saturday, April 14th – Big night in Atlantic City as Cage Fury heads to the Borgata! Anthony Craparo making his professional MMA debut, Raphael Chaves looking to keep his undefeated record as he represents Pellegrino MMA for the first time, and George Sullivan fighting for the Cage Fury welterweight title!  Afterwards, Coach Kurt will be hosting an afterparty at Mixx.  Dont miss out on this night!

Friday, April 27th – The Ring of Combat is back at the Tropicana in Atlantic City, featuring Derrick Kennington making his 1st appearance at 155lbs representing KP MMA, Mervin Rodgriguez, & Ryan Vaccaro back in action!

Come out and support these guys putting it all on the line!  Tickets for all the events will be available in the office.

…..Hope you will all still have some energy left for Coach Kurt’s return to Bellator at the Boardwalk Hall on Friday, May 11th!!

Yesterday, Nick Greenquist earned his spot in the Region 6 tournament coming up this week!  Nick pinned his first opponant from Point Beach and defeated his 2nd opponant from Neptune 6-4 in OT.  His final match was againt a tough Nick Costa from Brick Memorial. Nick fell short, 3-0, but wrestled tough!  Region 6 tournament starts this Wednesday night at the Ritacco Center in Toms River.  After almost a year and a half of private sessions with Coach Kurt, you can see Nick’s dedication to improving has really paid off.  Nick heads to Regions with a 27-4 record…not bad, when only 3 years ago his record was 0-21. 

Good luck to Nick this week!!!  We’re all rooting for you!

This month we will roll out our new Pilates program!  This is very exciting news for our current members as well as any others that are looking to take advantage of this new program and explore the many benefits Pilates has to offer.

Pilates was developed in the 20th century by an athlete himself, a German boxer, Joseph Pilates.  It encompasses more than 500 exercises that simultaneously stretch and strengthen muscles.  Of the six Pilates Principles, stabilization is first, followed by control, concentration, flow, breath, and precision.  The following is a list of benefits of Pilates for the athlete:

• Improved posture and flexibility
• Stronger, longer muscles without bulk
• Abdominal muscles that draw in and up, rather than protrude
• Greater energy and vigor
• Better balance and coordination
• Riddance of compensatory weakness that contribute to chronic injuries
• Improved concentration and focus
• Increased mind/body awareness and connection

We believe that Pilates is a great compliment to all of the Martial Arts programs we currently offer.  Pilates is the fastest growing fitness activities in America, and not only just for women anymore!  Once favored by rock divas, actresses and supermodels, Pilates has become the latest training rage for male professional athletes.    Here is a quick article that talks about the benefits of Pilates to professional male athletes:  Male athletes get no pain, big gains from Pilates.

On Sunday February 26th at noon,  we will offer a free trial class for anyone who is interested in seeing what Pilates can do for your mind and body.  Our set schedule will begin on Tuesday, February 28th at 9am.  Mat Pilates classes will take place on Tuesdays at 9am, Thursdays at 830am and Sundays at 12 noon.  Classes are $15, but pre paid packages are also available at a discount.  Our certified Pilates instructor, Sandi Vilacoba has an extensive resume and we are excited to begin working with her!  Read more about Sandi here:  Sandi Vilacoba

Take your fitness to the next level with a Pilates class. Tell your friends and your significant others as well, all are welcome!

“In 10 sessions, you will feel the difference. In 20, you will see the difference. And in 30, you’ll have a whole new body”, Joseph Pilates.

We are so excited to welcome our new instructor this week, BJJ blackbelt & world champion,  Raphael Chaves!  Raphael is coming to us from our good friends at The Armory in Jupiter, Florida.  Raphael brings with him an extensive BJJ resume and we are so lucky to have him here in NJ. Raphael has been teaching BJJ for over 7 years and is a decorated veteran in the BJJ world.  He holds medals in numerous state and national tournaments in Brazil.    The following is a list of just some of Raphael’s competitive accomplishments.

NAGA – 3 time National Champion
Arnold Classics – Gi Champion
Mundials No Gi 2009 – 3^rd Place
Pan American No Gi 2008 – 3^rd place
Sao Paulo State BJJ Champion
Brazilian National Team Runner Up
Copa America – Champion
Rival Submission Tournament (Open weight class) – Champion
2011 International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation World Champion

Most recently, Raphael won the black belt division in the IBJJF World Championships in November of 2011.  Raph submitted his opponent in the final match.  Raphael is also a professional MMA fighter with a 3-0 record.  To note, not one of his fights has made it past 2 minutes of the 1st round!

Coach Kurt and Raphael have been the best of friends for almost 10 years.  Coach Kurt met Raphael on his 1st day at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, FL back in 2003.  They both made the move to The Armory a year later and taught there together for over 4 years.  Now, they will both be back to teaching side by side to some very lucky students.  Raphael will be a full time instructor at our academy headquarters in Belmar and will also head our BJJ program at our new affiliate location in West Windsor, NJ.  Raphael will also be the head BJJ coach for our fight team.  He has vast experience in the fight game, cornering the likes of Coach Kurt, Edson Barboza, & Vagner Rocha in the UFC and many up and coming fighters in local shows.

Raphael’s 1st class will be Wednesday night in Belmar.  Please join us in giving him a warm welcome!

We would like to extend a warm welcome to the newest members of our martial arts family!   The following people have started their new year off just right, congratulations & welcome!

 
John Niedrich
Jonathan Markell
Angel Ramos
Joseph Mimish
Joe Jankowski
Jeremy Ahn
Brian Mulcahy
Angel Quiles
Michael LaMura
Christopher Farfan
Mark Runyan
Vlad Goldstein
Robert Maddalone
Kristy Allen
William Baranyai
Leo Roman
Jimmy Perry
Jason Ferrari
Philip Gallo
Chris Tuzeneu
Kellen Ball
Evan Vacchiano
Eric Denhartog
Curran Iglay
Ryan Sobol
Jalen Todd

Pellegrino Mixed Martial Arts’ 2nd affiliate will officially open on Thursday night, January 19th in West Windsor NJ.  A Brazilian Jiu Jitsu program for kids & adults you wont want to miss out on!  If you live in or around the area and want to learn the most popular and effective self defense martial art from some of the best BJJ’ers in the world, this is the place for you.  Our full time head instructor will be announced shortly.  Join Coach Kurt on January 19th for our very 1st BJJ class at this location.

For more information on registration, please call (609) 799-0088

217 Clarksville Road in West Windsor, NJ

We are so excited to be expanding, once again!

This is the following schedule for the upcoming holiday weeks:

Friday 12/23 – Friday BJJ 10am only, no evening classes.

Saturday 12/24 thru Monday 12/26 – Closed

We will re-open with a normal schedule on Tuesday 12/27

Saturday 12/31 – Closed

We will re-open with a normal schedule on Monday 1/2/2012.

We hope everyone has a happy holiday and a safe & prosperous new year!  2012 will be KP MMA’s best year yet, many new and exciting things in the works!

This past weekend at Grapplers Quest our BJJ Competition team took home a few medals!  We’d like to congratulate those who got out there and competed!

Chris Remedios took 1st place in the adult no gi, in his first ever grappling tournament!

Robert Kanniard took home a 2nd place medal in the kids BJJ advanced division

Ian Walsh took home a 3rd place in the kids BJJ beginner division

Luke Scillieri took home a 2nd place in kids BJJ & and 1st place in the no gi

Congrats to everyone!  The next Grapplers Quest will be March 24th and 25th in Wayne NJ!

On December 10, 2011 at the Grapplers Quest World Championship at the Asbury Park Convention Center, Coach Kurt will be inducted into the Grapplers Quest Hall of Fame, joining the likes of Greg Jackson, Saulo Ribero, Diego Sanchez, & Ricardo Liborio.  The ceremony will take place at 10:30am that morning.  Kurt’s professional competitive career spans over 13 years.  Coach Kurt has competed at the highest levels in both jiu jitsu and MMA, an honor only few in this world are lucky enough to ever have.  He was invited to compete in the 2007 Abu Dhabi World Championships, in which only 16 competitors in the entire world partake in each weight division. Coach Kurt also competed at the highest level in professional MMA fighting in the UFC for 6 years and 13 fights, bringing his entire fighting career to over 30 professional fights, including numerous “Fight of the Night” and/or “Submission of the Night” awards.  Although his most recent fight at Bellator 59 may have ended in a controversial loss, his 13 year career as a professional grappler and fighter speaks for itself, and rightfully so.   Aside from his professional accolades, Coach Kurt takes pride in running his successful MMA academy of almost 300 loyal students and is excited to be in the process of expanding his academy’s name into 3 different areas all over New Jersey.  He is excited to continue to grow his academy and welcome many more martial artists with dreams and desires of their own.  Coach Kurt’s ultimate goal is to guide his students to accomplish whatever goals they set and to teach them that nothing is ever impossible.

While you (may) have seen the last of Coach Kurt in the cage, he is looking forward to competing back on the mats early 2012!

Wether Coach Kurt is retired or not from fighting, we are proud of his character displayed and very proud to call him our coach.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Martin Luther King, Jr.