The Heart of the City

Wow. I can’t believe the new school is right here in the heart of the city. When I started training at PMA over 16 years ago, it was tucked away in a small corner off Emory Valley hunkered down in the shadow of a Food Lion that doesn’t exist anymore.

That’s me at 17 years old at the old PMA Emory Valley location in 2007!

I was a teenager then, and it never occurred to me that my martial arts school might move — as if businesses stayed in one place forever; never growing or expanding or updating. I knew already that life, by definition, was impermanent, but my world view wasn’t all that big yet, and so in my mind, my dojo would be in its small corner forever. But look at it now.

The official Ribbon Cutting at our new location on Oak Ridge Turnpike last Friday!

PMA has been a part of Oak Ridge for nearly 20 years, and it’s so fitting that a place that has brought so much joy and character, so much enthusiasm and heart to this community will now be at its center. PMA works not only to improve peoples’ lives by providing quality martial arts training in a fun, safe, and welcoming way, but to be an asset to the community by providing free training opportunities to the public - like Bully Buster programs and Women’s Self-Defense seminars, by participating in school programs and community events like National Night Out, and by helping our youngest community members develop character and confidence so that they too will be an asset to this city we love so much.

Some of PMA’s Juniors and their instructors!

PMA may have started out in a small corner of our town, but it’s influence has reached into every corner of Oak Ridge. I know it has impacted my life in profound ways and, though I’ve grown quite a bit since I started as that teenager all those years ago, I’m still here in this small but wonderful city, just like PMA. And I’m so grateful that PMA has made my small corner of this world big by pushing me to be the best version of myself, by instilling me with confidence, by teaching me drive and perseverance, and by providing friendships that are encouraging, supportive, and wonderful. It has given me relationships and skills that have been life changing. PMA has made my world bigger and better and brighter. PMA makes this already great city feel bigger and better and brighter by sharing its passion and dedication and knowledge with us, and I’m so glad that it gets to keep doing that, here and now, in this bigger and better and brighter location right in the beating heart of Oak Ridge.

The Dynamics of Our Kenpo

Many years ago, long before the term “Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)” was ever coined, this logo was designed.

 I chose the triangle to represent strength and improvement.  A triangle represents structural strength, but it is also the mathematical symbol (delta) for incremental change.  This change is what a good martial artist must continuously seek as necessary to remain effective.  However, change doesn’t mean that you abandon your art for another – through the process of refinement and change, you make your art stronger and better.  In my case; Kenpo.

The three characters on the triangle represent the base concepts that develop the dynamics of my Kenpo. 

The kickboxer represents the use of constant and energetic movement along with the inclusion of aspects from every possible philosophy of kickboxing/boxing, i.e. western boxing, Pananjakman, Panantuken, Savate, American rules, European, Thai – and whatever else the future brings.

The Kali warrior represents the dynamics of weapons; not in the form of just memorizing a weapons kata, but complete integration.  This integration means – if I can do it empty hands, I can do it with weapons and vice versa.  Weapons training will also significantly develop the awareness of range and entry into combat.

The ground-fighters not only represent the full integration of ground and throwing arts, but also represent the study and mastery of the points of transition from vertical combat to horizontal combat and horizontal back to vertical.

The center of the triangle contains the symbol “taijitu.”  The color of this particular version of the symbol represents Jeet Kune Do (JKD).  JKD is the root of the inspiration that “started it all,” and opened my path to acceptance, redesign, and change while still maintaining the art of Kenpo.  This symbol also represents “integration to create one.”   That means we don’t practice each art as a separate way but practice one art (Kenpo) that incorporates aspects of arts with other origins and primary focus.

However, and probably more importantly, the taijitu (Yin & Yang) represents the natural balance of traditional with modern.  If you only accept the modern and discard the proven methods of traditional arts or the way Kenpo develops a way of life which includes ethics, benevolence, warrior tradition, and health – you lose balance and meaning.