3/5/10 - Tickets for CAGE FIGHT 4
Tickets for CAGE FIGHT 4 in Scranton are now available for purchase at the academy!!! It always sells out so don't wait: then call me crying the day of the event

1/18/10 - Phil & Ric Migliarese return to Gracie NEPA
Phil & Ric Migliarese return to Gracie NEPA on February 11th, 2010 for a Gracie Jiu Jitsu Seminar. Seminar Flyer: http://i461.photobucket.com/albums/qq339/gracienepa/philnricfeb10.jpg

1/18/10 - Adidas Kimonos available for purchase at academy
Adidas Kimonos available for purchase at academy. Limited quantities and sizes. $70!

12/26/09 - Pennsylvania National Guard members flip for class
Pennsylvania National Guard members flip for class By Diane Petryk The Daily Item Gracie NEPA posts a mission statement that must resonate with soldiers: "We practice being aware of dangerous situations; we practice facing an aggressor; we practice freeing ourselves from hesitation, self-doubt and fear. We practice closing the distance between ourselves and an attacker; establishing solid controlling positions; remaining calm during the course of the ensuing struggle; and ending an altercation with appropriate and efficient measure." Sunday morning, Muenkel introduces "submission grappling" to the Company A trainees, advising them on positioning and advising them to wait for it before attempting to force submission. Tough match Everyone pairs up. Muenkel with Cory Thompson, of Shamokin. Thompson has been in the National Guard for three years and plans to be in "the full 20." He's been to Iraq twice and Afghanistan once. He's also been wrestling since he was about 4 years old. Guard members flip for class By Diane Petryk The Daily Item SUNBURY — "You're on the street talking to an Iraqi guy. He's angry because you kicked in his door. You don't want to pay for it. He lunges at you ..." This is Tim Muenkel, judo instructor and black belt, introducing a lesson in self-defense to National Guard troops at the Sunbury Armory on Sunday. "Close the distance. Put your head down. Push one shoulder while you're wrapping your leg around his leg on the opposite side," Muenkel says. The attacker, in this simulation fellow black belt judo instructor Tom McGuire, goes down easily. Why? Leverage, upset balance and because parts of the body act the way parts of the body are going to act "” the knee is going to bend if hooked from behind. The moves need to be practiced and smooth. "Smoothness doesn't mean add speed and power," Muenkel tells about 45 members of A Company, 3rd Battalion, 103rd Armored Regiment, 28th Divison of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. The lesson isn't wildly hypothetical to these guys. All of them have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, some both. Riot control Guardsman Lee Hardin, 26, of Lewisburg, said he was called upon to help quell a riot in Ramadi, about 20 miles from Fallujah, when he was stationed in Iraq between 2005 and 2006. No one was killed. Techniques he learned in crowd control and reasoned response were all put to effective use. Judo is a Japanese martial art derived from jiu jitsu, which dates back to 230 B.C. or earlier, according to the Web site of the Gracie NEPA Mixed Martial Arts Center in Scranton, where Muenkel and McGuire are on staff. "Judo is basic self-defense," Muenkel said, and "it's designed to make you a better person." "It's a way of life, not a set of techniques," McGuire put in. "It's one of the best ways to improve your life." It's also the second most popular sport in the world, he said. And "” surprise "” both men say, it's for the mutual welfare and benefit of the practitioner and the sparring partner. Sometimes that means giving way, walking away. "It's the best way for them to learn to finish a situation in Iraq," Muenkel said. "It's not to butt heads, force upon force. It's going with your force. I accept your force and use it to my benefit." This is both a physical act and a mental attitude. The first principle of judo, McGuire said, can be expressed as "maximum efficiency/minimal effort/mutual benefit." Muenkel, McGuire and their partner, Matt Marchinek, are asked to come to Sunbury for training periodically by A Company Capt. Robert Stevens, who has known them for quite a while. "The company derives motivation from stuff like this," Stevens said. "It helps them keep that sense of pride." Building a team The judo instruction, Muenkel says, is a great team builder. "No matter what your team is about," he said, "Shooting, armored vehicles, whatever, it's the group bonding together that's the most important, getting to know each other, sweating with each other. "When you don't know a person you're not as willing to subject yourself to danger for them." Judo and its philosophy meshes well with the military, Marchinek said, because "we train with the idea of helping each other win and not letting a buddy down." "Every day we get to know each other we want to accomplish this "” because we care for each other." A Company is an infantry unit that provides security for other units rebuilding infrastructure in war zones. Muenkel is a former U.S. Marine and taught martial arts in the Marine Corps. McGuire, who has not served in the military, said he respects what the soldiers do, and if judo helps, "I'm all for it." Gracie NEPA posts a mission statement that must resonate with soldiers: "We practice being aware of dangerous situations; we practice facing an aggressor; we practice freeing ourselves from hesitation, self-doubt and fear. We practice closing the distance between ourselves and an attacker; establishing solid controlling positions; remaining calm during the course of the ensuing struggle; and ending an altercation with appropriate and efficient measure." Sunday morning, Muenkel introduces "submission grappling" to the Company A trainees, advising them on positioning and advising them to wait for it before attempting to force submission. Tough match Everyone pairs up. Muenkel with Cory Thompson, of Shamokin. Thompson has been in the National Guard for three years and plans to be in "the full 20." He's been to Iraq twice and Afghanistan once. He's also been wrestling since he was about 4 years old. Faces get red. Grips change. Sweat pours. Thompson prevails. "I mostly overpowered him," Thompson said. Later, Muenkel said he doesn't "go 100 percent" or he'd always beat the student.

12/26/09 - Gracie NEPA Gym wins seven of 10 bouts at Cage Fight 2
Gracie NEPA Gym wins seven of 10 bouts at Cage Fight 2 BY DONNIE COLLINS (STAFF WRITER) Published: November 29, 2009 Especially at the amateur level, mixed martial arts isn't only about winning bouts. It's about learning, progressing, developing a style and implementing what years in the gym has taught you about yourself and martial arts. However, nobody is going to turn away the wins. And luckily for the contingent representing Scranton's Gracie NEPA Gym, they didn't have to. The local gym had 10 fighters - nine amateurs and professional featherweight Jim Hettes - on Friday night's Cage Fight 2 card at the Lackawanna College Student Union. Seven won. "I'm very thrilled with the way we performed," said Jeff Reese, the brown belt in Gracie jiu jitsu who owns Gracie NEPA and trained the fighters. "Our guys know it's about getting a lot of experience, and that's what we did. I'm proud of what every one of our guys did. Hettes whipped Hanover's Justin Haas, forcing him to submit just 43 seconds into the first round. Two Gracie NEPA middleweight fighters on the amateur side - Wilkes-Barre's Suliaman Ismail and Scranton's Steve Wilson - won their fights before they went to the cards. The 10 fighters trained together most nights for Cage Fight 2, and Hettes believes the fact that the fighters' backgrounds - he has been studying jiu jitsu for years, Dave Morgan is a national champion wrestler, Marty Flynn is an accomplished professional boxer - have helped make the group more diverse once they step into the cage. "We're mostly a jiu jitsu school," Hettes said, "but the way you interpret it winds up determining your style." Out of nowhere Very little about Bryce Felgenhauer looked big time, from the purple and gold shorts he wore into the cage to LB MMA, the name of the group that trains him. Even with his fast victory over Flynn in his MMA debut, the former West Scranton wrestler who has been studying Asian martial arts and kung fu for nearly a decade remained largely a mystery. "I just wanted to capitalize on whatever was there," Felgenhauer said. It seems like that's what he does best. With Flynn without an opponent heading into the card, Felgenhauer approached Reese and co-promoter Maury Nehme of Northeast MMA to try to wedge his way onto the card. After proving he was licensed to fight by the state, he was paired against Flynn on the condition that he could add between five and 10 pounds before the fight. After eating a big breakfast and drinking a gallon of water in half an hour Friday morning, he hit that weight. For coaches Dave Bender and Bill Bird, Felgenhauer's win was the product of hard training and extreme focus - and wasn't unexpected. "We kept everything real simple," Bender said. "We're nothing flashy. We didn't have the fancy gym. We didn't have the fancy clothes. There was nothing flashy." Wrestling with success Morgan would "like to believe" that the few punches he throws during a bout leave their sting on his opponents. What's certain is, they aren't what has led him to wins in his first two amateur MMA bouts. Morgan won all three rounds on all three judges' cards in Friday's win over Shamokin's Ray Eltringham, mostly using the wrestling techniques he learned on the way to earning legendary status at West Scranton High School and two NCAA Division III national titles at King's College. "I don't want to give any secrets away," Morgan said, "but I'm a good wrestler." Morgan has shown he can win fights convincingly by outwrestling opponents who, quite frankly, will probably never boast the same level of success he has attained. But he says the next step in his career will be working to implement more of his MMA training into his fights. "I think I have adopted more of an MMA style, and I feel very good doing that," Morgan said. "I work a lot with boxing and jiu jitsu, but a lot of that goes away when I'm out there (in the cage)." Good to be Rich Rich Gates has been training five years for his first shot inside the cage, and the senior wrestling star at Wyoming Area High School wasn't exactly disappointed once he got in. He earned a unanimous decision victory over 6-foot-7 striker James Rodriquez, but was caught with a hard punch in the first round and a sharp kick to the side in the second. He still didn't back down and was able to control the match with relative ease - even against a significantly taller opponent. "Same game plan as always," Gates said. "Just go in there, get the takedown, and ground and pound. I didn't get the submission, but I'll be OK. I'll take this for the first fight." Return to roots Tyler Calvey didn't get a knockout and couldn't get a submission. But he got the peace of mind he was looking for in his unanimous decision victory over Phil Parrish of Corning, N.Y. "You go in with an eight-second knockout, and most of the time, you don't really know what you have," the Scranton middleweight said. Calvey was able to overcome Parrish with his power, jiu jitsu expertise and, as it turned out, intensity. He said that, before the match, he took part in another viewing of "The Smashing Machine," the movie about MMA fighter Mark Kerr that helped him fall in love with the sport. And Calvey looked like a man possessed in the cage. He paced intently around the ring, rarely ever left his fighting stance when on his feet, and shadow-boxed as he awaited the official announcement that he had won. When that came, Reese rushed into the ring to embrace him and nearly fell backward as Calvey jumped into his arms. "I wanted to get him," Calvey laughed. "One more takedown."

12/26/09 -  Hettes' quick victory highlights Cage Fight 2 MMA card
Hettes' quick victory highlights Cage Fight 2 MMA card BY DONNIE COLLINS (STAFF WRITER) Published: November 28, 2009 Steve Wilson of Scranton won his match when Slatington's Andy Beil tapped out at 1:41 of the first round during their bout at Cage Fight 2 on Friday night at Lackawanna College. video Video: MMA Cage Fight 2 Video: MMA Cage Fight 2 [X] close Video: MMA Cage Fight 2 Blood had begun to seep through the bandage that Jim Hettes had wrapped around his head. The bottom half of a scrape on his cheek that the gauze didn't quite cover had begun to get red. His nose looked like it had just stopped bleeding, too. All in all, a small price to pay for 43 seconds of glory. The professional featherweight from Swoyersville dazzled the crowd with the quickest victory of Cage Fight 2, implementing a painful heel hook that forced Hanover's Justin Haas to submit just 43 seconds into their bout on Friday night at the Lackawanna College Student Union. Hettes' win could be a coming-out party of sorts for the area's premier mixed martial arts professional, a stunning win in a fast-paced bout in front of a crowd that gave him a rousing ovation as he entered the ring in the area's top big-fight venue. "He's a dangerous striker," Hettes said. "I just wanted to get in, submit him, and get the (heck) out of there." He didn't disappoint. Although Haas landed a knee to his forehead - which caused the scrape and a deep cut on his forehead - Hettes never wavered. He caught Haas' leg, lifted him, spun him to the mat and within seconds, Hettes had wrenched Haas' right ankle like his goal was to tear it from the socket. Unable to break the hold and in intense pain, Haas tapped out. An excited Hettes took his mouthpiece out, slammed it to the mat and screamed wildly as fans urged him on. Just before the obligatory announcement that he had won the fight, Hettes climped the side of the cage, straddled the top and raised his hands victoriously. He had taken a hit and he had delivered a bigger one. It was exactly the type of night he had dreamed about. "It's just that, when you're training day in and day out, you don't really think," Hettes said. "If I see the submission attempt for even a split second, you just go for it." Hettes provided perhaps the night's most memorable moment. The most stunning came in the last of the card's 10 amateur fights. Former professional boxer Marty Flynn tapped out just 47 seconds into his middleweight bout against virtually unknown Bryce Felgenhauer of West Scranton. A former high school wrestler who has trained in kung fu for almost a decade, stunned the crowd - many of whom had witnessed some of Flynn's greatest boxing wins inside the former Catholic Youth Center - when he took Flynn down and eventually wrapped a guillotine choke around his neck. Flynn tapped almost immediately, giving the unknown Felgenhauer a rather stunning win. "I'll bounce back," Flynn said. "I know what it's like being in the deep water, having a tough fight. I'm upset I let my fans down. I had a pretty good following, and when you lose like that, it takes a lot out of you. But I'll bounce back. I always do." For his part, Felgenhauer seemed to take less pleasure in beating one of the area's best fighters than he did in stepping into the cage at all. "There are no surprises," Felgenhauer said. "It's all an experience thing. Win or lose, it's about experience. I'm not here to surprise or shock anybody." Flynn's was one of the few down moments of the evening for the team that trained with him at Gracie NEPA in downtown Scranton. Two amateurs fighting out of Gracie NEPA got a successful run going with thrilling wins. Middleweight Steve Wilson hardly broke a sweat during his debut fight, dominating Slatington's Andy Beil and forcing him to tap out with a rear naked choke hold just 1:41 into the first round. The next bout lasted a bit longer, but it ended just as suddenly. Wilkes-Barre's Suliaman Ismail floored Cortland, N.Y.'s, Timothy Miller with a roundhouse right 1:39 into the second round in a battle of middleweights, prompting the referee to stop the fight. The decision drew protests from Miller and boos from the crowd, though Ismail had controlled the fight. Two Scranton-area fighters didn't record sudden wins, but for Tyler Calvey and Dave Morgan, it was business as usual. Calvey's first amateur fight was a dominant unanimous decision triumph in which he rarely ever allowed Corning, N.Y.'s, Phil Parrish get on his feet. The former Riverside wrestler won every round on all three cards, twisting and turning Parrish practically at will. "I've been waiting for this day for a long time," Calvey said. "If anything, I was over-ready, if there is anything called that. It's the best feeling when all your hard work pays off." Morgan leaned heavily on his sterling wrestling resume, controlling his fight with Shamokin's Ray Eltringham. Eltringham caught Morgan with a stiff jab at the end of the first round - perhaps the first good punch the former West Scranton and King's College wrestling great had absorbed in his brief amateur MMA career. But Morgan rebounded by sticking with his game plan - which meant, sticking with the style that had brought him this far. "I watched a lot of his fights," Morgan said of Eltringham. "It's just like wrestling where I'm not going to take anybody lightly. I knew what he had, and I knew my wrestling would overpower him." Wyoming Area senior Rich Gates' amateur debut went as well as he could have hoped it would since he received his license earlier this month. The 18-year-old repeatedly wrestled 6-foot-7 striker James Rodriquez to the mat during the three rounds of their welterweight bout, en route to a unanimous decision victory. Another Gracie fighter, Gary Peters of Kingston, took every round on all three scorecards in his win over Bethlehem's Kevin Myirski. Contact the writer: dcollins@timesshamrock.com Cage Fight 2 Results Amateur Bouts -Gary Peters (Kingston) def. Kevin Myirski (Bethlehem), unanimous decision, welterweights -Rich Gates (Exeter) def. James Rodriquez (Endicott, N.Y.), unanimous decision, welterweights -Evan Bates (Dingman's Ferry) def. Corey Cavalieri (Old Forge), unanimous decision, lightweights -Steve Wilson (Scranton) def. Andy Beil (Slatington) by submission (rear naked choke), 1:41 of 1st round, middleweights -Suliaman Ismail (Wilkes-Barre) def. Timothy Miller (Cortland, N.Y.) by TKO, 1:39 of 2nd round, middleweights -Brian Hawk (Jim Thorpe) def. Guy Solano (Pittston) by submission (rear choke), 1:29 of 3rd round, lightweights -Mike Bannon (Dingman's Ferry) def. Joe Fye (Kingston), unanimous decision, welterweights -Tyler Calvey (Scranton) def. Phil Parrish (Corning, N.Y.), unanimous decision, middleweights -Dave Morgan (Scranton) def. Ray Eltringham (Shamokin), unanimous decision, bantamweights -Bryce Felgenhauer (Scranton) def. Marty Flynn (Scranton) by submission (guillotine choke), :47 of 1st round, middleweights Professional bouts -Noe Quintanilla def. Bobby Gorman (Syracuse, N.Y), split decision, lightweights -Jim Hettes (Swoyersville) def. Justin Haas (Hanover) by submission (heel hook), :43 of 1st round, featherweights -Randy Smith (Cortland, N.Y.) def. Corey Mullis (Fort Wayne, Ind.) by TKO, :38 of 3rd round, heavyweights -Spencer Paige (Watertown, N.Y.) def. Nate Schut (St. Cloud, Minn.) by submission, 4:10 of 1st round, lightweights.

12/26/09 - Rich Gates Victorious at Cage Fight 2
Rich Gates Victorious at Cage Fight 2 JOSH HORTON Times Leader Intern Most high school seniors would want nothing to do with a 6’7 grown man with facial hair whose nickname is “Scarecrow.” But Wyoming Area senior Rich Gates was not intimidated by James Rodriquez when he stepped into the cage on Friday night CageFight 2 at the Lackawanna College Student Union Center. The 6-foot-1 Gates captured momentum early in the fight, and dominated Rodriquez, on his way to a unanimous decision, winning 30-27 on all three scorecards in his Mixed Martial Arts debut. Set to begin the final year of his high-school wrestling career in a couple weeks, Gates pinned Rodriquez against the cage early in the first round, and later had Rodriquez in a chokehold. The bell saved Rodriquez to end the round. “He’s (Rodriquez) a tall guy, but it was easier to take him down,” said Gates. “He came forward and was trying to be the aggressor, but I just went for his legs and took him down. It worked every time.” In round two, Rodriquez hit Gates with a hard kick to the midsection. Gates responded by easily wrestling Rodriquez to the mat again, to remain in control. The fight was briefly stopped in the beginning of the third round after Rodriquez poked Gates in the eye. But after the brief delay, Gates picked up Rodriquez and delivered a mat-shaking takedown. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu style fighter kept Rodriquez down for the remainder of the third round and the partisan crowd erupted as the bell rung.

12/26/09 - Swoyersville fighter has what it takes to be MMA 'rock star'
Swoyersville fighter has what it takes to be MMA 'rock star' BY DONNIE COLLINS (STAFF WRITER) Published: November 12, 2009 Jim Hettes is a 22-year-old who looks like he's 16, a professional who starts his day with a bowl of Fruity Pebbles. A 140-pound man who doesn't even bother to tell anyone what he really does for a living. He has learned a lot these last few years. One thing he has picked up is, it's not worth trying to get anyone to look past what seems obvious. "I tell them I'm self-employed," Hettes said. "I don't tell them I'm an MMA fighter. "Usually, when you tell them you're an MMA fighter, they look at you a little different. Some people understand it. Some people think you're just a thug or something. Half the people think I'm B.S.-ing them anyway." Actually, far from it. The Swoyersville native is unbeaten in seven pro fights, and he's on the card for Cage Fight 2, where he'll face central Pennsylvania's Justin Haas (5-1) on Friday, Nov. 27, at the Lackawanna College Student Union. Hettes is the only local pro fighter on the card, and it's not like he is just scraping by as a pro. There are some who believe he may be the best fighter at his weight in Pennsylvania. Jeff Reese, founder of the Gracie NEPA Gym where Hettes puts in many of his nearly eight hours of workouts per day, said Hettes has all the tools and drive to become a "rock star" in mixed martial arts. "He's built for this," said Tyler Calvey, a trainer at the Gracie gym and amateur fighter himself. "Some people are built to be doctors or lawyers. He was built to be a fighter. "It's just the work he does. So much work. But I think it's God-given, too." Everyone agrees he's different. Interestingly though, he came from just about the same place every other fighter on the Cage Fight 2 card came from. He was a high school athlete, wrestling and lining up at wide receiver on Friday nights during his days at Wyoming Valley West High School. He started to learn jiu jitsu when he was 16, thinking it could be a fun hobby. But the further he got from his high school playing days, the more he missed the competition the guy across the mat or on the other side of the line of scrimmage provided. The more he watched professional mixed martial artists fight on TV, the more he noticed the moves he had been working to perfect were the same ones the stars were using. Plus, he was a self-professed "fight nerd." By his own estimation, he spent too many hours watching cheesy kung fu movies - he gives The Drunken Master with Jackie Chan critical acclaim - and playing the Street Fighter video game. But in those seemingly wasted hours, he developed a love for what he was seeing. "Watching kung fu flicks, you'd see the little guy beating up 25 people," Hettes said. "After a little while, you start thinking, 'Yeah, I'd like to try that.' "I look real young. I've always been real small. Martial arts always seemed like the right way to go." What has made Hettes a prospect in MMA is that he has figured out what most professional athletes do: Ninety nine percent of his sport is not as exciting as most people think. That part of it is the work that goes into it. The hours on the mat. The repetition of the basics. The brutal grappling in the octagon when the lights and the cameras aren't on. The month he spent training at the Greg Jackson Camp in New Mexico, where he worked fist-to-fist with MMA stars like Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and Leonard "Bad Boy" Garcia. The one percent that is exciting, that people actually get to see, is what has made Hettes fights a must-see. His only loss came last year as an amateur in the Dominican Republic, at a showcase for the best amateur talent. It was the only loss of his career. And, he says, the greatest motivator he'll ever have. "Losing was horrible. That's what motivated me to keep training," Hettes said. "When you win, it's the greatest feeling you'll ever have. When you lose, it's the (worst) feeling you'll ever have." At first, Hettes' mother didn't like the idea of her son being a fighter. After watching footage of his first fight and noticing that he had been rolled onto his back on the mat, she walked out of the room, thinking he had lost. "I had to get her back in there," he laughed, "to show her I actually won." Typically, he does. When he stands across from Haas on Black Friday, it will be just another step in Jim Hettes' career, another chance for a win, another opportunity to get wherever it is this life takes him. It can lead him, perhaps, as far as he wants to go.

12/26/09 - MMA returning for Black Friday card at Lackawanna College
MMA returning for Black Friday card at Lackawanna College BY DONNIE COLLINS (STAFF WRITER) Published: October 18, 2009 Mixed martial arts are coming back to Scranton. Whether they come back better will be determined on Black Friday. It's already clear they're coming back bigger. Cage Fight 2 - the sequel to the June 12 card that debuted the sport in the area at both the professional and amateur ranks - is slated for Nov. 27 and will feature 14 professional and amateur fights, promoters Chris Coyne and Maury Nehme of Northeast MMA announced. The card will feature a few of the professionals who were successful at Cage Fight 1, as well as a handful of the area amateurs who helped pack the seats back in June. But the biggest difference between Cage Fight 1 and Cage Fight 2 can be found in where those seats are located this time. The November card will be held at the Lackawanna College Student Union, just a few blocks up the road from the Riverfront Sports Complex, which packed several thousand fans into its West Olive Street facility back in June. But Nehme said moving to the former Catholic Youth Center offers more parking and slightly better views from the seats farthest away from the cage, not to mention a step up in local fighting tradition. Still, the decision to leave Riverfront didn't come easily. "They were wonderful at the Riverfront Sports Complex," Nehme said. "It was a really difficult decision, because those guys were wonderful." Picking who should be invited to participate on the card was slightly easier for Nehme and Coyne. While the main event hasn't been finalized, Nehme said lightweight Spencer Paige will be in it. Paige (6-2) excited fans at Cage Fight 1 with an impressive striking display that resulted in a stoppage after the first round against former Penn State wrestler Biff Walizer. Unbeaten Swoyersville native Jim Hettes (6-0) will take on Havover's Justin Haas (4-2) on the undercard, as will two heavyweights, Randy Smith (8-5) and Corey Millis (5-1). Two newcomers to the pro ranks, Bobby Gorman of Hancock, N.Y., and Indiana native Darryl Madison, round out the four pro fights. No amateur fights have been finalized yet, but Nehme said local amateurs such as Dave Morgan and Marty Flynn of Scranton are scheduled to fight. Others on the card include Scranton's Tyler Calvey, Moosic's Jay Colarusso, Old Forge's Corey Cavalieri, Pittston's Guy Solano, Hanover's Ken Edwards, Exeter's Rich Gates, Wilkes-Barre's Sulaiman Ismail and Kingston's Joe Fye, who had an impressive knockout win in his first amateur fight during Cage Fight 1.

12/26/09 - Calvey travels long road for first MMA fight
Calvey travels long road for first MMA fight BY DONNIE COLLINS (STAFF WRITER) Published: November 20, 2009 Tyler Calvey, found the Gracie NEPA Gym when he returned from Mississippi. Most of all, he remembers the disaster. It's not surprising, because everyone who spent any time along the Gulf Coast during the fall of 2005 takes away the same memories Tyler Calvey did. Hurricane Katrina had just ravaged that area a month earlier. Homes were destroyed. Cities were crippled. Lives were lost. Almost on a whim, Calvey left his home on his 21st birthday with a friend, destined for a construction job in badly damaged Mississippi. Little did he know that, in the chaos, life would begin to get more clear to him. "It was a crazy experience," said Calvey, a 25-year-old former Riverside linebacker who will step into the cage for the first time as an amateur mixed martial arts fighter at Cage Fight 2 on Nov. 27 at the Lackawanna College Student Union. "It was really eye opening to see how everyone was displaced. You just go down there and see people band together and really help out." The short story is that Calvey has made a life out of his interest in Jiu Jitsu. When his work was done in Mississippi, he came back to the Scranton area, found the Gracie NEPA Gym, studied for years and became an instructor. The long story is that none of it came easy. In fact, most of it came by chance. That story started, ironically enough, during that time in Mississippi. In, of all places, a van. Every day, Calvey and his friend would have to commute an hour to work in that van, which had a video player, but only one video to play. It was The Smashing Machine, a documentary which followed professional MMA fighter Mark Kerr's career for a year between 1999 and 2000. "We watched that so many times," Calvey said, "it just set in after a while." If the future didn't become clear then, it certainly did the day of the following St. Patrick's Day Parade. Calvey wanted to do what a lot of people in the Scranton area did that day. But another friend had a Jiu Jitsu tournament that day, and Calvey didn't want to be the type of friend who chose a party over being there for a pal. So, he went to the tournament. "I was blown away," he said. "I felt like this was something I could do. I kind of missed the competition aspect of it all." Finally, seven years after his football career ended, Calvey will have that sense of competition back when he steps into the cage next Friday night. Where mixed martial arts will take him from here, he doesn't know. The future is as unpredictable as the road he took to get to the present. But over the years, he has learned that mixed martial arts are more about discipline and dedication, hard work and harder preparation, than it is about being the toughest, meanest guy at the bar. Come to grips with that, Calvey knows, and it's easy to see that it's not about how many fights you win. It's about what the fights can tell you about yourself. "I've always wanted there to be one," Calvey said. "I don't know about two through 20. But the first one, I wanted to see what I had."

12/26/09 - With MMA growing in Scranton, promoters hope to establish the sport around
With MMA growing in Scranton, promoters hope to establish the sport around the region, too BY DONNIE COLLINS (STAFF WRITER) Published: December 3, 2009 A year ago, nights like last Friday were little more than a pipe dream for Chris Coyne and Maury Nehme. Mixed martial arts competitions, in this state, weren't even legal then. Pennsylvania didn't begin sanctioning events like Cage Fight 2 until February - Coyne and Nehme were the first promoters to put on a full-fledged card last June. There was no track record for profit. No blueprint for how to build a fan base existed. Success - never mind that second Cage Fight card on Black Friday - was hardly a guarantee. But Northeast MMA's third mixed martial arts card is already set for March 26 at the Lackawanna College Student Union, and that may be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how big a part of 2010 the local promoters are hoping to make the sport - not just in Scranton, but throughout Northeast Pennsylvania. Which is interesting, considering Coyne and Nehme differ on how big they thought this venture could be. Cage Fight 2 was a near sellout, with thousands of fans flocking to the former fighting hotbed to see the likes of Jim Hettes, Dave Morgan and Joe Fye perform - or, in some cases, just to see what the sport was about. While Nehme said he originally figured MMA would be an 800- to 1,200-fan venture for his promotion, Coyne said he had a feeling it would be bigger. Now, both think 2009 was merely a stepping stone. "I think, especially in our area, if you continue to put quality shows out, it can grow exponentially - by a couple hundred people per show, even," Coyne said. "There are a lot of things we can change, and we know that. But if people enjoy the show, they will come back. People go where the crowd is." Coyne and Nehme said they are happy with how quickly they've been able to establish a fan base in Scranton, and they've even had some success drawing fans out of upstate New York, where MMA cards still haven't been legalized. But Coyne said the goal, even before the March 26 card in Scranton, is to show off their product in other areas around the region. There have been negotiations to bring a smaller show - about 700 fans, Coyne said - to the Woodlands Inn and Resort in Wilkes-Barre Twp. at the end of January. They've also talked about bringing the smaller shows as far south as Berwick, and perhaps east into some of the bigger resorts in the Poconos. Shows like that would serve two purposes: Exposing the product to fan bases that haven't had a chance to sample it, and getting fights for the growing number of fighters who would like to show their wares in the cage. "We want to nurture the guys who want to practice, the guys in the gym working hard and doing well," Nehme said. "If they work hard - not necessarily win, although winning helps - but work hard, we want to give them an opportunity. "If they want to stay busy, we want to help them stay busy. If they want to be hometown fighters, they can be hometown fighters. But we want to give them a chance to go where they want to go." Nehme said there already are plans to get some different local fighters on the third card in March, but a few of the more prominent fighters who appeared at Cage Fight and Cage Fight 2 certainly would be welcomed back. For instance, Nehme said he has "no doubt in my mind" that Hettes - an unbeaten professional featherweight from Swoyersville - will be on the card. Morgan, an amateur whose wrestling background has helped him to impressive wins on the first card, also has a place on the card if he'd like one, Nehme said. Meanwhile, Coyne is hoping to beef up the professional fights by introducing some Pennsylvania championship bouts in a few weight classes. "We're talking about being the originators of some title belts," Coyne said. "You can draw a lot of people just by fighting for belts."

11/18/09 - REMINDER. Thursday, November 18th, AM classes canceled.
REMINDER. Thursday, November 18th, AM classes canceled.

9/21/09 - Gracie NEPA has the Midas Touch!
The Gracie NEPA Judo team competed at the 43rd Annual East Coast Judo Championships in Newark New Jersey yesterday (9/21/09) and continued its winning ways. The club, only in existance for a little over a year, and coming off a strong showing at the Keystone Games this July, stepped into the gymnasium at the New Jersey Institute Of Technology ready to test themselves against some of the best competition that New York, New Jersey, and other regions had to offer and they passed that test with flying colors taking home the Gold medal in three seperate disivisons and silver in another Those Medaling Were as follows: Masters Men’s 175 lbs and Under- Eddie Adams (Gold) Men’s Brown Belt 198 and Under- Vito Picozzo (Gold) Women’s 125lbs and Under-Dayna Picozzo (Gold) Women’s 139 lbs and Under-Dayna Picozzo (silver also competing were Justin Green, who went 1-2 on the day competing in the Men’s Brown belt 220lbs and under division and unfortunately lost the opportunity to medal due to a controversial call by the referee and Black Belt Mike Lathwood, who went 0-2 and undoubtedly fought in the days toughest division, Men’s Black Belt 178 lbs and under. Congratulations to all on a a great day of medals and Hard fought performances!

8/16/09 - Morning Classes in August
I would like to remind everyone that during the period of 08-16-09 thru 08-26-09 ALL morning classes are suspended. Week night and weekend classes are operating as normal.

5/22/09 - Grand Re-opening Event / Gracie Seminar June 8, 2009
Come down and join us at our new 10,000 square foot location for a Gracie Jiu-jitsu seminar with three time UFC champion Royce Gracie and Pride FC veteran Rodrigo Gracie. On June 8th, a free, open to the public meet and greet autograph session will happen from 5pm -6pm. Immediately following the session Royce and Rodrigo will teach a three hour seminar to a group of pre registered participants the techniques perfected and popularized by their family.

5/22/09 - Gracie NEPA 4th featured article in Scranton Times
Card finalized for first-ever mixed martial arts event in Scranton BY DONNIE COLLINS (STAFF WRITER) Published: May 22, 2009 More than a dozen local amateurs will be making history next month, when they'll take place in the first mixed-martial arts event in Pennsylvania. Included among them is one who hoped he wouldn't have to make that history as an amateur. Scranton's Marty Flynn, a popular pro boxer who was booked for a professional fight on the June 12 "Cage Fight 1" card at Riverfront Sports Complex in Scranton, instead will make his MMA debut as an amateur against Lamar Bradley of Ashtabula, Ohio, in a light heavyweight fight that will headline the amateur portion of the card, announced promoters Chris Coyne and Maury Nehme of Northeast MMA. Flynn boxed 12 times professionally, posting a respectable 10-2 record during a boxing career that ran from 2000-2007, but the June 12 card is scheduled to be his MMA debut. Coyne and Nehme hoped Flynn's boxing career would be enough to waive the state of Pennsylvania Athletic Commission's rule that all mixed martial arts fighters must have three amateur fights before turning pro in this case. But the commission ruled Flynn needed an amateur fight first, which posed a problem for promoters bent on making the already seasoned fighter part of the historic event as an amateur. "I had to go to Ashtabula to get Marty Flynn a fight," Nehme said of Bradley's hometown, located just off Lake Erie in Northeastern Ohio. "Nobody wanted to fight him." As announced by Coyne and Nehme, Cage Fight 1 will feature five professional and 10 amateur mixed martial arts matches in addition to Flynn's fight - and most of the fights will have a local flavor. Two area fighters will be featured on the pro card: Middleweight Louis Armezzani, an Olyphant native fighting out of State College, will put his 2-0 record on the line against fellow young, unbeaten contender Nick Tinko. Armezzani is taking Flynn's spot on the pro card. Debuting as a pro is Swoyersville's Jim Hettes, a submission specialist with a 4-0 amateur record. He'll take on Bobby Gorham (1-0), a striker out of Hancock, N.Y., on the card headlined by the main event pitting middleweights Erik "Chainsaw" Charles (10-2) and Robbie Houston (6-1). Every amateur fight features at least one combatant from the region. Alongside Flynn, West Scranton's Dave Morgan is easily the most recognizable name. The two-time Division III national wrestling champion from King's College will make his MMA debut in a 125-pound bout against Lukas Barr (1-1) of Waterford. Tickets cost $75 for the Gold section, $50 for silver, $35 for ringside and $25 for general admission and can be purchased online at www.PACageFight.com or any of the following locations:

5/22/09 - Gracie NEPA 3rd featured article in Scranton Times
Scranton to host June martial arts card BY DONNIE COLLINS (STAFF WRITER) Published: April 13, 2009 Mixed martial arts is one of the fastest-rising spectator sports in the country, but even as fans have flocked to see it, a professional event has never taken place anywhere in Pennsylvania. In June, that will change. And Scranton is the city that will change it. A card featuring six professional MMA fights — and between 10 and 12 amateur bouts — will be held on June 12 at the Riverfront Sports Complex on West Olive Street, said Maury Nehme, the co-owner of the newly formed Northeast MMA. Nehme and fellow co-owner Chris Coyne — who formed Northeast Boxing, the venture that brought ESPN’s Friday Night Fights to the Lackawanna College Student Union in each of the last two years — branched out, hoping to make MMA as successful in the Electric City has boxing has become. In true MMA fashion, the card already has been named: Cage Fight 1. That can be taken several different ways. It has been less than two months since Pennsylvania’s legislature legalized the sport of MMA on Feb. 27. Although it has been long-rumored that the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s UFC 101 event will be held at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia this August, Cage Fight 1 is scheduled to be the first mixed martial arts event ever held in Pennsylvania. “We’re happy to say that Chris and I are bringing in the first one coming into the state,” Nehme said. “We’re pretty proud of it.” No bouts have been set officially, although Nehme did confirm that the main event will feature Erik Charles, a 185-pounder best known as a participant on the reality show The Ultimate Fighter 7, an MMA competition broadcast on Spike TV that features up-and-coming fighters vying for a UFC contract. The card also offers a bit of local flavor as former boxer and Scranton native Marty Flynn is slated to make his professional MMA debut. An official announcement on who will comprise the rest of the card is expected within the next 10 days, Nehme said. Tickets are expected to go on sale sometime next week.

5/22/09 - Gracie NEPA 2nd featured article in Scranton Times
Scranton MMA card adds two more bouts to schedule BY DONNIE COLLINS (STAFF writer) Published: May 8, 2009 The amateurs are getting hungry, many just a little more than a month away from their historic first mixed martial arts bouts inside the cage, in front of local fans. But the biggest sign that the first MMA card in Pennsylvania is just around the corner is the fact that the professional fighters are gearing up, too. Two more professional bouts have been signed for Cage Fight 1, said Maury Nehme of Northeast MMA, the card's promoter. That brings to five the number of pro fights contracted to go off during the June 12 card at Riverfront Sports Complex in downtown Scranton, and Nehme said one more likely will be added in addition to the full slate of amateur matches in the works. The latest matches announced include a battle of heavyweights, and a matchup pitting an up-and-coming youngster against a veteran wrestler in the middleweight division. In the heavyweight bout, 246-pound New Yorker Randy Smith (6-5) will face unbeaten 22-year-old Joel Wyatt (3-0). A Richmond, Va., native, Wyatt is 250 pounds and classified as a striker/grappler. Bobby Gorham, a Troy, N.Y., native whose only pro fight resulted in a four-second knockout, takes on veteran Ryan Victory (3-4) in the lightweight bout. Middleweights Erik "Chainsaw" Charles and Robbie Huston will face off in the main event, and Scranton native Marty Flynn will battle unbeaten Nick Tinko on the undercard of the fights, which will comprise be the first MMA card held in Pennsylvania. Tickets cost $75 for the Gold section, $50 for silver, $35 for ringside and $25 for general admission and can be purchased online at www.PACageFight.com or any of the following locations: - In Scranton at Carmella's Deli (106 N. Main Ave.), Joyce's Cafe (2734 Birney Ave.), and Whistle's Pub & Eatery (126 Franklin Ave.). - The UPS Store (1143 Northern Blvd., Clarks Summit and 201 South Blakely St., Dunmore). - In the Triboro area at Dooley's Pub & Eatery (120 Oak St., Old Forge) and TALcom/Nextel (Family Affair Plaza, Taylor). - In Luzerne County at Rodano's on the Square (downtown Wilkes-Barre) and T.C. Riley's (405 Carverton Road, Trucksville).

5/22/09 - Gracie NEPA featured article in Scranton Times
Tickets on sale for MMA fight card BY DONNIE COLLINS (STAFF WRITER) Published: April 30, 2009 The cage is in town, stored in hulking pieces at the Gracie Gym on Capouse Avenue. For Maury Nehme, the co-owner of Northeast MMA, the sheer size of a mixed marshal arts cage was a bit of a shock. And, in a way, a lot like bringing Pennsylvania’s first-ever professional MMA fight card to Scranton. “I didn’t think it was this big of a project,” Nehme laughed, about the cage. “It’s a big project.” Actually, he hopes it gets bigger than just the size of a cage. Tickets now are on sale for Cage Fight 1, the card scheduled for June 12 at the Riverfront Sports Complex on West Olive Street om Scranton, and contracts have been signed on three of the six fights Nehme says will ultimately comprise the professional portion of the card. In the main event, ultimate fighter Robbie Houston (5-2) will face Erik “Chainsaw” Charles (10-2), the former Ultimate Fighter 7 competitor, in a middleweight bout. Spencer “The Punisher” Paige (5-2) will oppose another ultimate fighter, Danny “Little Thunder” Balon (10-2), in a featherweight bout. The third professional bout on the card so far is the one with the most local interest: Scranton’s Marty Flynn, who made a name for himself as a professional boxer, will make his professional MMA debut against Edinboro’s Nick Tinko, who is unbeaten in his three pro fights. If Flynn’s presence on the card isn’t enough to garner local intrigue, there also are a dozen local amateurs scheduled to try their hand at MMA. Highlighting that portion of the show: Dave Morgan, the former King’s College and West Scranton High School wrestling star — and two-time NCAA Div. III champion at 133 pounds. Tickets can be purchased online at www.PAcagefight.com starting Friday, or any time at the following locations:

5/20/09 - JUNE 12 - PA's 1st MMA event in a CAGE- RIVERFRONT SPORTS Complex
Join us on Friday, June 12th, for the first ever MMA event in PA to be held inside the CAGE! The MMA extravaganze will be a 16 fight card and features local professional and amature talents trained at the Gracie Academy. Jim Hettes, Marty Flynn, Dave Morgan, and eight other Gracie Jiu Jitsu fighters will proudly carry the NEPA banner into battle.

1/30/09 - The Passing of a Legend
On Tuesday morning Grand Master Helio Gracie was tanning at his ranch in Brazil, and on Thursday morning at 9:15 he passed on due to natural causes. His legacy will survive forever in all members of the Gracie Family, jiu-jitsu practitioners around the world, and all those who have benefited from the revolution he began. In his final years, the creator of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu often spoke of his satisfaction with his life�s work. He openly stated that he had accomplished everything he had set out to do, displaying his preparedness for the transition into the afterlife. The Grand Master believed that such a transition should be seen as a positive step in one's spiritual evolution. In a recent interview he declared: �I�ve already told my sons that when I die I want there to be a party. No drinking, no debauchery.� To honor his request and his legacy, the Gracie Academy will host a celebratory gathering/slideshow presentation on Saturday, February 7, 2009. In anticipation of a large turnout of friends and family, we intend to have three showings starting at 4:00pm, 5:00pm and 6:00pm. If you can�t make it to the party, but would like to express how the Grand Master has affected your life, please send your story to heliogracie@gracieacademy.com so we can post it on the Gracie Academy website.

1/29/09 - Thursday's Move
Due to the inclimate weather conditions and other unforeseen factors today's scheduled move is reschedule to a date to be announced.

9/14/08 - GRACIE NEPA DOMINATES THE COMPETITION
At the September 13th MMA card of New Breed Fighters team GRACIE NEPA goes 4 for 4! Keith Jacobs began the night with a triangle submission victory at 1minute 27 seconds of the first round. Gary Peters followed that performance with a win at 1 minute 40 seconds of round one via rear naked choke. Not to be outdone Steve Mytych executed a three round beat down of his opponent to win a unanimous decision. Cappinig off the night Jim Hettes wins via armlock at 2 minutes and 43 seconds of round one! Check out the highlight pictures at www.newbreedfighters.com

8/16/08 - Jeff Reese Certified in G.R.A.C.I.E. Law Enforcement Tactics
G.R.A.C.I.E is the defensive tactics and weapons retention course created by the legendary Royce Gracie, 3-Time Ultimate Fighting Champion. Royce earned his titled by defeating his opponents using Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, proving the effectiveness of leverage and technique over strength and size. Royce has incorporated these defensive tactics into a comprehensive training course specifically designed for law enforcement and military personnel. The G.R.A.C.I.E program teaches simple, memorable, and automatic actions that lead to rapid yet smooth suspect compliance. The G.R.A.C.I.E program is the only defensive tactics program that truly gets officers to properly defend their weapons in any and all altercations.