The faces of Mixed Martial Arts

Drew Arthur, instructor and owner of Lone Star MMA gym, stands in front of his class demonstrating how to escape a choke hold from a bigger and stronger opponent while on the ground.

“It’s all about science and physics,” Arthur says to the class as he tells them to point their chin to the ground while wrapping one leg around the opponents to increase leverage.

Robbie Dennis a University alumni, pelts a heavy bag at Drew Arthur's Lone Star MMA gym in Tyler. Dennis said he attends the gym at least four times a week and loves the fitness aspect of his training.

Arthur, who started the gym a few years ago in Tyler, teaches a relatively new form of fighting known as Mixed Martial Arts to his students, some of whom are current or former University students. The followers of Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting Championship will quickly recognize the style, which combines judo, kickboxing, karate, Greco-Roman wrestling and many other arts into one intense competition.

Arthur said the sport became official in 1993 with the first televised match. “They’ve taken a lot of techniques and codified it into a sporting aspect,” he said. The MMA viewers see on television today is much different than the one 15 years ago. “There are things they did in the old days that they can’t do anymore,” Arthur said. “When they first came on TV, they were hitting to the groin, grabbing the throat, hitting to the back of the head – to the brain stem. Now they don’t do that stuff.”

Arthur said the sport has come a long way since its inception, with standardized rules and regulations uniform across the United States.

He said a person who does Judo, wrestling or boxing will recognize things they are familiar with. “It just covered a lot of different techniques from a lot of different martial arts,” he said. “The draw for spectators is it moves from someone who looks like they’re being punched and they cant fight back to … the same guy who can hold on and clear his head and maybe make the other guy tap out,” Arthur said. “It’s a lot safer too.”

Arthur said the goal of a match is to make the other person tap out, like crying uncle, after putting the opponent in an uncomfortable choke-hold.

But he said the draw for many of his student’s ranges from fitness to competition. “For a lot of people it’s jus the fitness aspect -- just pushing themselves,” he said. “Some of them aren’t satisfied and they’ll master all the aspects of one martial art.”

For University criminal justice alumni Robbie Dennis, it’s more to keep his mind focused. “It wasn’t really about fighting at first,” Dennis said. “I was about getting back in shape. I was doing boxing with a friend and he asked me if I was interested. He introduced me to his trainer and we hit it off.”

Dennis, who said he’s been doing MMA for about two years, has competed in several matches in the welterweight category.

Dennis said he specializes in Muay Thai – a striking martial art from Thailand. But for Arthur, his rise into the MMA world began when he was a federal agent. “When I came to Tyler, I was a retired federal agent and I came over and started teaching at church,” he said. “I started teaching some other folks who wanted to learn MMA. My wife made the move to try and set this up as the first (MMA gym) in the area.”

Arther said his experience as an agent made him want to be more proficient in reality-based combat situations.

Mixed martial arts instructor Drew Arthur (standing) teaches his class basic skills to avoid being trapped by another attacker in a fight. The class is held every Tuesday at 7 p.m. Arthur said the main draw for many people is the fitness aspect, but self-defense keeps them coming back.

“I’m not the biggest guy in the world, so a lot of the things I do, like make an arrest – a lot of these guys wouldn’t give up,” he said. “I have taken weapons away from someone that were aimed at me.” Arthur said his MMA training helped him achieve his goals as a federal agent and he looks to pass on what he learns to his students, some of whom are women who want to defend themselves against attackers.

“Generally what they want is either kickboxing for the fitness of boxing, or they want ground fighting which helps them in tough situations,” he said.

Arthur said a woman who is outweighed and strong-armed by an attacker can defend herself if she knows the right skills.

“It’s like pulling a chair out from under someone. By the time they realize the chair is not there they can’t stop,” he said

Arthur has classes each weekday with different specialties. The gym has eight trainers and students ranging from advanced like Dennis to Arthur’s 7-year-old daughter, who competes in the 49-pound intermediate category.

For more information visit: www.lonestarmmagym.com