Nexus Wins Region’s Best Health & Fitness Center for Third Consecutive Year
The story is below... Thanks to everyone who voted!
Congrats to our Youth Competitors!
Congratulations to our Kids and Teens Competitors who rocked the house in regional tournaments this month. Although we only had three kids compete, they all did an amazing job! Also thanks to every member of the Nexus team... without all of our great kids to train with in class, none of the competitors would such success. Here are the results:
Christofer Smith – Won gold at the Mass State BJJ Championships after being moved up a division and weight class, then took Silver in No Gi and Bronze in Gi at this past weekend’s huge NAGA event.
David Appleton – Won Gold in both Gi and No Gi divisions at NAGA on Sunday.
Gage Silva – Won Gold in No Gi and Silver in Gi at NAGA.
Nexus Coach Trains UFC Veteran for Upcoming Match
Pictured: Coach Steve, Spencer Fisher, Jeff Perez
Mark DellaGrotte of Sityondtong has enlisted Nexus Chief Instructor Stephen Whittier to coach veteran UFC Lightweight Spencer “The King” Fisher on his jiu-jitsu training for an upcoming fight with Dennis Siver. The match will take place at the Ultimate Fighter Finale on June 19th. Spencer relocated his training camp to Team Sityodtong in Boston in preparation for the match. Also assisting is Nexus athlete and wrestling coach, Jeff Perez.
Seminar with Top European Trainer, Karl Tanswell
Karl coaching Rosi Sexton, #1 Ranked 125lb. Female in the World
Join us on Saturday, June 12th for a workshop with one of Europe's most well-respected combat sports trainers, BJJ black belt and revered MMA coach Karl Tanswell. Karl is the European Vice President of SBG International and trainer of numerous grappling and pro MMA champions, as well the creator of the famous STAB edged weapon defense program. He was also recently featured in a BBC documentary about mixed martial arts.
Best of all, he is a great instructor of all aspects of the game, from standup striking to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and submission grappling and MMA. He also makes learning MMA a blast for people who aren’t interested in fighting.
Time:
10:00AM – 12:00PM: BJJ
1:30 – 3:30PM: MMA Skills & Drills
Cost:
$40 for one section, $70 for both.
Please reserve your spot ASAP!
Workout of the Month
During our Mother’s Appreciation Month in May, we did a special class
just for moms of our existing students which included this full-body
routine you can do right in your home (this will also be the workout for
June’s Father’s Appreciation Month). We thought we would share it with
you. This is a fun, dynamic workout that works your cardiovascular
conditioning and your muscles at the same time, and can be easily
modified to avoid boredom. Best of all, you can do two circuits of this
routine in under 10 minutes! If you are not familiar with any of these
exercises, a quick google or youtube search will give you some good
results for video. Note: Make sure you properly warm up all muscles and joints
before starting the circuit… and never stretch cold muscles! Also, the
repetitions are just a guideline; it is more important to maintain good
form and avoid injury than doing a specific number of reps.
- 30 jumping jacks
- 15 squats
- 20 rotational squat jumps (knees bent, shoulder width apart, quick
180-degree jumps)
- 20 mountain climbers
- 10 pushups
- 20 hip bridges
- 10 burpees
- 30 ab bicycles
Congratulations to our Newest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Blue Belts!
Congratulations to all of our BJJ Blue Belts! They all did an amazing job during their test.
The newly promoted include: Mike Bromberg, Kevin Rose, Eric Crockett, Matt Soares, Mitch Craveiro, and Nicholas Roberge. Great job everyone, and thanks to all the other students who jumped in and helped with the test.
Nexus Chief Instructor Receives Rare Honor
Just in -- Nexus Chief Instructor Stephen Whittier received a big promotion this week from renowed Muay Thai trainer, Mark DellaGrotte, director of Sityodtong USA.
From Kru Mark:
"I am very proud to announce Stephen Whittier's promotion to the rank of purple mongkol in Sityodtong Muay Thai, and with it the title of 'Kru.' Steve is one of only a handful of students to attain this level as a trainer, and our high standards are evident in his technique as well as the performance of his students."
Benefit for St. Jude Hospital – Sat, May 8th
On Sat, May 8th, we will be holding a Martial Arts Benefit for St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Nexus Youth and Adult Students will be participating in a "Kick-and-Roll-A-Thon" to help to raise funds for childhood cancer research.
About St. Jude:
St. Jude has developed protocols that have helped bring survival rates for childhood cancers from less than 20% to more than 70% overall. Participation in Special Events like this fundraiser helps raise funds to support St. Jude, which treats patients regardless of a family’s ability to pay. St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer center where families never pay for treatments that are not covered by insurance.
Nexus in the News
http://www.wickedlocal.com/wareham/topstories/x43857992/Nexus-Marital-Arts-attacks-bullying
Nexus Marital Arts Attacks Bullying
GateHouse News Service
Posted Apr 18, 2010 @ 10:01 AM
WAREHAM —
Nexus Martial Arts & Fitness of Wareham is expanding its anti-bullying program beyond its own student base and reaching out to area schools. The need for more comprehensive and effective bullying programs has become even more important amid growing anxiety about the dangers and consequences of bullying, especially among adolescents.
“For every tragic event that grabs headlines, like what happened to Phoebe Prince, there are many more potentially traumatic and potentially tragic situations involving bullying going on in communities all over the country,” personal safety expert and Nexus Chief Instructor Stephen Whittier said.
Prince, 15, hanged herself Jan. 14th after nearly three months of routine torment by students at South Hadley High School.
“Bullying has always been around,” Whittier said, “but now that kids can torment and embarrass others through social networking sites online, as well as in person, it has become more sophisticated and the stakes are higher than ever. Even in cases where the child ‘survives’ being bullied, severe psychological trauma suffered early in life can persist and hold extremely negative consequences that persist for the rest of his or her life.”
Whittier noted that confidence and leadership building have been cornerstones of his youth programs from the outset, as have personal safety and bully prevention curriculums. The relationship between these facets of the program, he said, cannot be emphasized enough.
“A confident, well-adjusted child with a strong sense of personal responsibility does not just take a participant or bystander role when bullying is going on,” he said.
For over a year, he has been working on expanding these same programs into some area schools and hopes to expand the program into other schools.
He also said it is important to note that bullying as a phenomenon is never just about individuals.
“When something bad happens, everyone looks for the perpetrator to punish,” he said. “But this is an oversimplification; bullying is systemic. It is a symptom of a social culture, and in order to prevent it from happening, the idea of what is acceptable within that culture must change, and everyone must be on the same page.”
In addition to holding after school programs based on confidence building through martial arts, Whittier has also been working on helping schools modify current bullying policies into more comprehensive programs in which teachers, students, and parents are all included in the anti-bullying system.
For more information, contact Nexus Martial Arts & Fitness at 508-295-5427.
Gym-Fighting Man
By Cyrus Moulton | Apr 18, 2010
Wareham Week
(Photo by: Cyrus Moulton)
You might think that after being sidelined with a broken collarbone for nearly three months, 14-year-old Josh DeOlim would be reluctant to return to jiu-jitsu, especially when he had only been practicing the sport for a few months at the time of the injury. But he hurt himself doing motocross - motorized dirt-biking - something he said was way more dangerous than mixed martial arts.
"I get hurt less in this," Josh said. "In motocross, I crash and break something. "Here, I just..." he shrugged.
For an athlete who seeks adrenaline-rushing sports like motocross, jiu-jitsu, and Muay-Thai kickboxing, which his coach Stephen Whittier of Nexus Martial Arts and Fitness gym called "the most formidable styles of martial arts," Josh is pretty quiet. He said that he always liked the idea of martial arts. But he is more animated when describing the grappling strategy, where the goal is to force your opponent to "tap out" by immobilizing them with various holds, than articulating its appeal.
"It keeps me active, in-shape," Josh said. "I figured, 'why not?'"
He has been pretty successful. In his first competition at the New England Grappling Championship, he won a gold medal in the Teen No-Gi Beginner Fly Weight, competing against mostly 14- and 15-year-olds who, like him, had practiced the sport for less than a year. He won a silver in the same class for the Gi competition. (A Gi is the traditional jiu-jitsu uniform; in a sport that depends on grips to overwhelm their opponent, it can make a difference if they are wearing a Gi or only shorts.)
"Josh has been progressing really well," said Whittier. "He is a really solid all-around young man and does very well because he is always consistent with his practice."
His mother Tracy said she appreciates the dedication that the sport requires.
"He's an impulsive kid," she said. "He needs something organized in this way to keep him from being out and about and impulsive. This keeps him concentrated and focused.”
A freshman at Wareham High, Josh recently moved up from the young-adult class to train with adult students. Older, more physically developed and stronger, they tease Josh as if he were a little brother. (Josh has two older sisters, he said they don't fight...)
His next grappling match will be in Springfield at the end of May, and it will require that Josh move up a weight class. He said he would like to move up soon to more mixed martial arts, combining jiu-jitsu with kickboxing, the latter of which involves "strikes" such as hits, kicks, knees, etc.
But he seems pretty safe from injury for now - motorcross season has started, but he's trying to sell his bike, so he is competing less than usual. And although the combination Muay-Thai kickboxing / jiu-jitsu sounds a little like 'anything goes' martial arts, it doesn't mean that he'll be appearing in any of the Ultimate Fighter-type cage matches soon.
New Article in Ultimate MMA Magazine
Check out Nexus Chief Instructor’s newest technical training article in Ultimate MMA Magazine, “Push, Pull, Pin.” It’s on sale now!
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The Nexus Team Shines at
Region’s Largest Tournament
The Nexus competition team
took home an amazing 33 medals at the recent N.A.G.A. New England
Championships, which were held on Feb 6th. The Nexus team, which was
comprised of students from nine to forty-nine years old, also learned last week
that it took third place overall in the teams division – a rare achievement for
such a young team.
The N.A.G.A. tournament is
the largest of its kind in Northern America, and the February event drew an
estimated 1,300 competitors from around the Northeast.
Nexus Chief Instructor
Stephen Whittier states that: “The results were really exciting for me and all
of our students on a number of fronts. First, we finished third in teams as a
young school; when I relocated to the South Coast from Boston and opened the
new school three years ago, we started from scratch with all new students. To
hold our own with the largest and most established teams in the Northeast is a
testament to our unique training methods and great group of people.”
Unfortunately the
tournament ran very late due to the huge turnout, and a number of the Nexus
students who won or placed in their first divisions could not stay for the
later divisions. If the team had only one more medal it would have taken second
overall!
Thanks to Assistant
Instructors Matt Borges, Jon Madeira, and the other members of the team for all
the help coaching the team.
Nexus Confident Kids,
Fitness Conditioning Programs in Area Schools
As we mentioned in the
last newsletter, there is no greater or more important quality we can foster in
our children and students than confidence. Developing and giving direction to a
positive, “can do” attitude is one of the primary pillars of our Nexus Youth
programs, and we are proud to announce that we have expanded our outreach to
local schools for 2010.
Nexus Chief Instructor and
personal safety consultant Stephen Whittier has been working with the Carver
Elementary School administration since last fall to help institute and support
a comprehensive program to confront both psychological and physical bullying.
An after school program is
being planned for Carver later this Spring, and the Nexus Confident Kids Self-Protection program will also be
returning to Sippican Elementary in Marion next month courtesy of the VASE
(Volunteers at Sippican Elementary) organization. Last Spring’s after school
program was among the most popular offerings at the Marion school.
Coach
says:
“As many adults can attest, bullying of all types
can leave scars – often emotional – for years, even decades after the fact. In
many cases, bullying occurs in much more subtle forms that just physical
intimidation or abuse; kids are marginalized, ridiculed, excluded, and now,
increasingly at risk for public humiliation and insult through online social
networking sites.Having the self-esteem to
make oneself unattractive to bullies, and having the tools to deal
appropriately with bullying when confronted with it, is so crucial for kids. We
are really excited to be working with our area schools to extend the reach of
our Character Education and Personal Safety/Anti-Bullying programs.”
-Stephen Whittier
Stephen has also been
working with the Old Rochester Regional High School Hockey Team on their
in-season Strength & Conditioning. Nexus was the first training center in
the United States to be certified in the renowned Burn With Kearns Core Fitness Conditioning method.
Upcoming Events for March
John Kavanagh BJJ
Seminar – March 19 & 20th
Irish Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
legend John Kavanagh will be bringing his trademark Leprechaun Jits to Nexus
this year -- don’t miss this rare chance to train with this great instructor and world-class competitor
as he covers his popular BSG (BJJ
vs. the “Big Strong Guy”) curriculum, his famous guillotine and other topics. This seminar is open to all skills levels, including beginners.
Date/Time
Fri, March 19, 6pm –
7:30pm
Sat, March 20, 12 – 3pm
Coach Steve Headed to Reno, NV to Teach
Coach Steve will once
again be teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai Kickboxing at the annual
SBG International Spring Camp, held this year in Reno, NV March 26 –28. Other
coaches on the roster include SBG founder Matt Thornton and fellow BJJ Black
Belts Travis Davison and John Kavanagh.
Coach Stephen Whittier Becomes Regular Contributor for Ultimate MMA Magazine
Nexus founder & Chief Instructor Stephen Whittier has become a regular feature article contributor to Ultimate MMA Magazine's technical training section.
Ultimate MMA, formerly Ultimate Grappling, is the industry's premier publication for grappling, striking, and mixed martial arts.
New Classes Coming Soon!
Look for even more new classes to be added to the roster in the coming weeks, as well as some great value package plans for private instruction. New classes in the works include:
- Womens Thai-Fit (fitness kickboxing and core circuit training class
- Youth BJJ Competition Team Class
- We are also working on adding a morning Power Pilates class as well
For information, please contact us at 508-295-5427!
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