It begins slowly with jumping rope. I remember jovially jumping up and down the rhythm of my feet matching the melody of old nursery rhymes. Twelve years later without a nostalgic tune to hum I have lost my rhythmic step and every tenth jump the rope meets my uncoordinated stationary feet. The instructor calls time and I drop the rope immediately, breath stunted and my heart already palpitating steadily I realized were only 2 minutes into the warm up. But what did I expect? This is Mixed Martial Arts.
The Mixed Martial Arts clinic is led by instructor Eric Heegard a 10 year pro amateur MMA fighter and Georgia State alum who has and continues to travel the world competing in MMA and Jiu-Jitsu tournaments. He applies his experience to eager Georgia state students once a week at Georgia State Recreational center throughout the semester.
“I’ve found that students here really like to exercise and have fun so I love teaching this we get a lot of people who stick around,” said Heegard.
This class is covers the basics of Mixed Martial Arts an activity which as the name suggests is a combination of Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling, Judo, Muay Thai and boxing. It begins with a simple warm up of a mixture of cardio and stretches then moves to partner exercises covering the fundamentals of MMA cover striking, defense take downs, grappling and submissions. The moves while sometimes difficult are often broken down and those who need individual help are given assistance.
“I go through all levels of experience and I tell people to work at their own pace and I’ll come around help them. I teach at two levels and know whose advanced and I’ll give them extra stuff after class to practice, “says Heegard.
The audience while dominantly male contains students of different experience levels, genders and fitness capabilities. Anyone looking for a change of pace or the next level after mastering kickboxing should check out this challenging workout. The Mixed Martial Arts clinic is $20 for the semester and $40 for both semesters and is open to all GSU students so bring along a partner and get ready for some sweat-soaked pain -inducing fast paced fun!
