6/28/2008 FTW Year Party

Congratulations to Casey F., Alan and Oguz for being FTW’s newest BLUE BELTS! The new belts were broken in Brazilian tradition with a trip through the gauntlet. Josh, Todd and Casey W. who were promoted by Royce a few months earlier, also had their belts made official by the group. We had a great turnout with overwhelming support from the team. Aki and Fernando L. also helped with the festivities, along with a number of the guys from Black Belt USA. Debbie came through once again with an awesome slide show of events and training of FTW. Putting things into perspective of just how far we have come in the past year.

After a day of training and promotions we went out to dinner at Dave and Busters. In true FTW style we ate, drank and played.

This wouldn’t have been such a great day without everyone’s help, THANK YOU ALL for making FTW the best place to train. To see more pics click HERE.

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6/28/2008 FTW Year Party is Coming Up

It has already been a year since we first opened our doors. We have seen many great changes to the school and now it is time to get together and celebrate!

Saturday June 28th we will meet at the school to train at noon. That evening we will all meet for dinner.

It is very important that everyone mark this one on their calenders. This is a great chance for us to update some of the pictures on the web site. We will also have a few of the guys from Florida planing to come up and spend the weekend with us. It will be a big deal, so it is also a good time to bring in some new faces to see what we do. Feel free to have your friends and family join us.

We will have snacks and drinks at the school, and any help with this is appreciated.

It is coming up quick guys, so let's get the word out. Those who were with us for the grand opening last year can tell you that this will be a good time for everyone.

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6/23/2008 FTW Kids Program Begins

We are officially starting our kids program Monday June 23rd. It will primarily be run by Debbie with my guidance.

To schedule will be Mondays and Wednesday from 5pm-5:45pm.
Ages will range between 7years-12years, but will be determined on a case by case basis. This means if your child is out side of this range he or she may still fit in, just ask to find out.

Pricing will be $50 a month for the program plus uniform etc. If you have a child that you would like to enroll in the program you can talk to Steve or Debbie.

If you have friends with kids please help pass the word around.

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5/31/2008 Rodrigo Gracie Visits FTW

This was our first official Fight To Win seminarand we couldn't be more proud than for it to be Rodrigo Gracie. Students of all skill levels from all around the Charlotte area joined us in welcoming him to our school. With an incredible four+ hours of instruction, everyone left this day with plenty of new things to work on.

If you missed Rodrigo this time, don't worry. We hope to have him back in the area some time in August. Any one that was there can tell you it is worth clearing your schedule next time around.

See the pictures from the seminar HERE. More pics from the no gi will be added soon.

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5/15/2008 Class Schedule Change

I know a lot of you work in the city and it is difficult to make it to class at 6pm. I have also been soft on the rest of you about being on time. In order to change this and make it fair for every one starting June 2nd all evening classes will start promptly at 6:30pm.

What this means is that everyone must be on the mat and ready to train ten minutes before class starts. For each minute past 6:30pm anyone who is late will have to do 10 squats up to 100 as payment to get into the class. The only exceptions to this will be if you contact me before class and let me know you will be delayed.

All schedule changes will be updated on the schedule page in June. If you have any questions come see me.

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5/13/2008 Fight To Win Gets Muay Thai!

Instructor Paul Weis has graciously accepted teaching Muay Thai classes for FTW members. We are starting the program slowly and will add on as demand grows. As it stands the class will be held Tuesday and Thursday nights from 8pm-8:30pm. This will be right after the Jiu Jitsu class, so feel free to join us for both.

The more support we get for the program the more time will be allotted for it. This another big step for the school, so come out and support Paul and the rest of the team.

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4/25/2008 Women's Self Defense Seminar.

Tonight we had our first women's self defense seminar at the school. The "Out On The Town" women's event group came out to Fight To Win to see what Gracie Self Defense is all about. It was a huge success with over twenty women. Thank you Debbie, Brendon and Dustin for giving up a Friday night to help out with the group. Scott Zeman helped with organizing the meeting and also assisted with the techniques.

This was the first of many seminars to come. We will be hosting regular groups open to the pubic within the school in the near future. We are also putting together some community work around town. Any one from the school that wants to come out and help is welcome to, just be sure to practice your self defense. The next seminar is in the works. We don't have a date set just yet, but it will be posted here so check back often.

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4/16/2008 Debbie Makes the Mooresville Tribune.

For those of you who don't know, Debbie has been volunteering her time to help with a local women's shelter. After teaching a free self-defense course to several women, she has enthusiastically been asked to continue to help. This time around a reporter from the Mooresville Tribune joined the group and wrote a piece in the paper.

To read the article click HERE and don't forget to check out the VIDEO.

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3/17/2008 Royce Gracie visits the Harrisburg school.

Royce had a great showing tonight of 33 students from the Charlotte area. Two hours of perfect techniques were followed by nearly an hour of sparring.

He also promoted ten new blue belts, including four from FTW. This marks the first belt promotions for the school, ever! Congratulations Josh, Casey, Todd and Kyle, keep up the great work.

It took a lot of people to make this such a success. Big thanks go out to Snake for hosting the seminar. Aki and Steve assisted Royce. Thanks to everyone from FTW that went and represented the school and made Steve proud to be your coach. See the pictures from the seminar HERE.

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3/11/2008 The First Student SpotLight is on the Website.

As you know, the website has been and still is a work in progress. After being open nearly a year we finally have a Student SpotLight.

This page was created to give the students a chance to get to know each other a little off the mat. It will be updated regularly, so check back often.

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3/1/2008 Congratulations, Aki Gets The Black Belt.

After a fantastic weekend of instruction from Royce, Royler and Rodrigo, Aki was awarded the black belt from Royce. A total of eight black belts were given to help spread the Gracie legacy. In addition to great instruction Ralek Gracie, Greg Thompson and our own Steve Hall were on hand to assist with the seminar. Visit the Photo Gallery to see pictures from the weekend.

This makes Fight To Win home to two Royce Gracie Black Belts. Another huge step towards the growth of the school. Congrats again Aki, and keep up the good work.

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02/25/2008 Stan Wentz Joins Fight To Win.

We were fortunate to have Stan come in to FTW this evening and teach the Judo program. He is a very decorated and respected Judo player and coach who's experience spans over four decades. It was an honor to learn some of the paralells and insights from a man who still humbly refers to him self as a student to the art of competition Judo.

For those of you who missed out, don't worry. We are trying to work out a schedule for Stan to be a regular face on the FTW mat. If everything works out, I will be the first to say welcome to the team Stan.