Kenneth Brown
Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Rickson Gracie > Pedro Sauer > Mike Moses
Some time towards the end of 2006, I found a marathon of the Ultimate Fighter on Spike, and I actually stopped and watched it. That experience made me desire to learn thai boxing, and I acted it on it by hitting up Google and typing Maryland Thai Boxing. Of the options that came up, I decided to give Evolve Academy a try. I put in all my information, they gave me a call, we set up the appointment, and I went in for my intro.
When I stepped into the gym, I was about 340 pounds at the time. So it cannot be said that I was in the best of shape. Also I had never done any sports in school or done any kind of consistent physical exercise for several years. Even given those facts though, I really felt that that first day was rough.
I made it through without quitting though and I signed up because I wanted to see what was possible if I kept coming.
For about nine months, I only trained in the PDS system there, which is a mix of thai boxing, self defense, conditioning. The catalyst that made the idea of doing Jiu-jitsu appealing was my experience volunteering at Mission Submission in VA
I helped out on the tables so I had a bird’s eye view of the matches, and what I saw was passion. It made me interested. So not long after that, I did a intro for BJJ and had my first class, but it still took me a few months before I officially started.
I wish I had started much earlier, but the past can’t be changed. All I can focus on is the steps I can take now to pursue this art to the absolute limits of possibility. This site is one aspect of that pursuit because when knowledge is shared, both the person who receives and the person who gives benefit.
