At Black Tiger Fight Club in Beijing Riviera, your child can unleash their inner strength while training in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). The program, designed specifically for children, provides a system that strengthens both body and mind. It also develops listening skills, teamwork, and a sense of responsibility.
The MMA program takes different martial arts and combines them into “one flawless, coherent and functionally effective system” of self-defence and exercise. Your child will learn a little bit of boxing, karate, wrestling and jujitsu – all unarmed fighting systems.
My son has been taking MMA classes every Saturday afternoon at Black Tiger and enjoys them immensely. He looks forward to every session and hangs on to his coaches’ every word to avoid missing out on techniques. Between lessons, he practices his moves with his dad and does his warm-up routine using a small punching ball at home purchased from Decathlon. Practicing his routine allows him to feel very grown-up; since he’s quite small for his age, this also gives him lots of self-confidence.
Though Black Tiger Fight Club has already been operating in Beijing for seven years, its roots go much farther back to a land far away. Gym owner Vince Soberano was a martial arts practitioner with a day job in IT in the US when he decided to set up his own gym to ramp up his competitive training in Muay Thai (or Thai boxing).
In 1992, Black Tiger was born; “Black Tiger” is the moniker conferred on Vince by his Thai trainers. Eventually, Vince went from student to coach. He gave up his job and focused on teaching as well as fighting professionally. Reaping one prize after another, Vince developed a unique style and consolidated his teaching philosophy.
A move to Beijing led to the rebirth of Black Tiger Gym in 2006. Vince is very hands-on with the training of his coaches. He wants to ensure that his standards are passed on to all his students. He personally takes on intermediate to advanced students for private training.
Black Tiger classes for fitness, self-defence and sport are all given in English. There is Karate for Kids, using the traditional Korean Tang-Soo-Do system in addition to MMA. Adults can choose from Muay Thai, boxing and cardio kickboxing, wrestling, grappling, and Brazilian jiujitsu.
For details, visit Black Tiger’s website. For pricing and scheduling, email info@blacktigerclub.com.
Photo by Dana Cosio-Mercado
Dana is the beijingkids Shunyi Correspondent. Originally from the Philippines, she moved to Beijing in 2011 (via Europe) with her husband, two sons and Rusty the dog. She enjoys writing, photography, theater, visual arts, and trying new food. In her free time, she can be found exploring the city and driving along the mountain roads of Huairou, Miyun and Pinggu.
