Looking for dojo/gym near Mitchell, SD, USA

Nix · 08-14-2012, 07:09 PM

Fellow travellers of the Way, knowers of the dojo, oracles and wise men and women: I beseech thee!

One of our very good junior students is moving to the US as an exchange student for one year. He is very eager to keep practising during his stay, and I've promised to help him find a suitable place to train. He will be living in Mitchell, South Dakota.

Having previously taught him, before he was upgraded to the senior class a little more than one year ago, I can personally vouch for the student. He is energetic, diligent and a stand up kid both on and off the mat. While only fifteen years old, he is physically strong and used to hard sparring in the senior class.

What we're looking for, is a place for him to keep in shape, and hopefully learn a thing or two. Ideally, a good knockdown dojo would be great, but any place with hard training and contact sparring is of interest (MMA, Muay Thai, Kickboxing etc.).

Now, we don't come completely empty handed. After some research, we've found that the city does have a TKD dojang, but not much else. Despite my tireless efforts, I have not been able to conjure a list of those good quality secret underground dojo, that we know must be there somewhere.

Should you be able to help, we would be very grateful! Hollar at me, if you have any questions.

Osu!
// Nix

sandman · 08-14-2012, 10:01 PM

If he were looking for a good wide open empty space in South Dakota, he would be in great luck! But I suspect a good hard contact training gym will be a bit more difficult. Not a lot of people in SD, let alone people who train

Good luck!

vapor · 08-15-2012, 01:48 AM

I agree that it may be a tough request to fulfill!

vapor

**Shokei Marcsui** · 08-15-2012, 02:32 PM

Perhaps would be a good segway to establish a mini club in SD.

All it takes is a spark in the dry Midwest of America.

"Only you can prevent forest fires" ~ Smokey the Bear

Nix · 08-16-2012, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandman

If he were looking for a good wide open empty space in South Dakota, he would be in great luck! But I suspect a good hard contact training gym will be a bit more difficult.

Yeah ... I fear you are right.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shokei Marcsui

Perhaps would be a good segway to establish a mini club in SD.

All it takes is a spark in the dry Midwest of America.

The student is the current junior world champion of Ashihara, and is a confident teacher already, but I fear he is much too young to have that responsibility. Furthermore, he is there to go to school, and that must take priority.

The idea has some merit though; if anyone in the area is interested in teaming up for a sparring session, I am sure he would be interested.

Not giving up so easily, I've done some more research, and found out Mitchell is not too far from a larger city called Sioux Falls, which does have several options. Marvel at my findings!

• Next Edge Academy of Martial Arts
• Dynamic Martial Arts of Sioux Falls
• Action MMA (BJJ Academy)
• Sioux Falls Shotokan Karate

Honourable mention (aka stuff that contains phrases such as "Fast track to Black Belt" or "Camo belt")
• Tiger Academy
• Tiger-Rock Martial Arts International
• Meza's Karate America
• Hoover's Martial Arts

(I actually found many more, but they all make me want to go on a straight "ice cream and rum"-diet.)

If you know any of the listed schools, or think I have omitted one or two, please let me know.

Thanks again for helping out.

OSU!

**Shokei Marcsui** · 08-16-2012, 08:06 PM

I thought about that Nix, Google maps puts Sioux Falls it at just over an hour.

I saw some Sioux Falls MMA competitions on youtube, will try to find out more about the promo and possibly some of the fighters' gyms.

Check this out: http://invictafc.com/shayna-baszler/

Pro Record: 14-7-0

Gym:CSW/Next Edge Academy of Martial Arts

Baszler is scheduled to face Sarah D'Alelio at Invicta Fighting Championships 3 on October 6, 2012.

Nix · 08-16-2012, 08:14 PM

That would be great, Marc!

From what I could gather, Next Edge seem serious and they have a couple of professional fighters. Of course, that doesn't always mean it's great. A friend and me went to visit a well known gym here in Denmark recently, which enters a lot of ambitious fighters at big tournaments. The place itself was a joke though, and we eventually left before class was over.

I'm thinking I'll give him a shortlist of options, and tell him to check it out for himself.

**Shokei Marcsui** · 08-16-2012, 09:22 PM

Thank you Nix. I sympathize with your student because I can relate to the pain in trying to find a Kyokushin/Knockdown school.

The fighters at our MT gym get special treatment with extra time on pads and specific trainings sessions.

During regular gym hours the average talent is a spectrum of novices with sprinkled in amateur fighters.

I am sure he will fit in perfectly. Hope that the gym works out for him.