Our Little Bulldogs class is a new class for children ages 3-5 interested in MMA. The focus of the classes will be on fundamental movements and positions for kickboxing, wrestling, and BJJ...and of course fun! Your child will be having fun while learning self defense, improving his/her confidence, as well as benefitting from discipline and structure. It's so important for kids to be active and engaged at a young age. We are happy to be able to offer this program to our students and the community.

Classes will be starting March 2, 2013 and will run on Saturdays from 10:15-10:50. Please contact Sarah immediately to register and save your youngster's spot on the mat!

I just found out that I'm #36 on UFC’s Ultimate 100 Knockouts. The Ultimate 100 Knockouts is a newly released compilation of the 100 greatest knockouts from the past 2 decades. It's available on PPV for January and February. My knockout slam of Roxanne Modafferi made #36 on the list!

I'm definitely honoured and ecstatic to make the list...and be the only female fighter to do so! UFC here I come :) Here's a preview of the compilation:

I am so proud of the Zuma Ultimate Kids who competed at the Musashi BJJ tournament Jan 20. 9 kids went over (with one winning his match before being forced to withdraw due to illness) and we brought home 1 gold, 9 silver, and 3 bronze. Medals are always exciting to bring back home, but the hapiness I saw in the kids really was priceless. For many of the children, it was their first experience in a tournament, and all rose to the occasion. I am a proud coach!

Thank you to Adam Zugec, Kirsten Slym, and all the parents for helping and supporting at the tournament!

ZUMA will officially be closed for classes from Monday, December 24 thru Tuesday, January 1, 2013. But just because we are closed, doesn't mean you have to miss out on training! If you're interested in training over the holidays check out the calendar section for open mat times each day. Usually an open mat time will be posted a day (maybe 2) in advance. Open mat is exactly what it sounds like: the gym will be open for you to come in and do what you'd like!

I'll also try to update this post for the training times as that might be easier to find. Hope everyone has a great holiday!

December 24 open mat: noon-1:30 (ish)

December 26 open mat: 12:30-2(ish)

December 27 open mat: 1:30-3(ish)

december 28 open mat: 12:30-2(ish)

December 29 Open Mat: 12:30-2(ish)

December 31 Open Mat: 12:30-2(ish)

November 3 was a busy night for the ZUMA team as Alexi Argyriou, Miles Anstead, Ryan Janes and Diego Wilson all prepared to step into the AFC cage. It was great having so many fighters competing as the crowd was almost entirely pro-ZUMA and we got our own changeroom (plus Dan McGiver from Fight Pit whom we like!) We got everybody wrapped prior to the first fight and started getting Alexi and Miles warmed up.

"Sexi" Alexi was up first and he looked impressive. Rd 1 showcased a little bit of everything from him: striking, wrestling, a submission attempt. In between rounds Adam talked gameplan while I provided water - an extremely important job :) Alexi went out round 2 and locked up a guillotine. At first I thought his opponent might get out, but Alexi kept the pressure on and got the tap. Now he's 2-0 as an amateur.

Miles was the fight following Alexi and he was taking on Bill Fraser from up island. Miles controlled the pace the entire fight as Bill was unable to stop his takedowns. Miles dilligently worked from top position for all 3 rounds. The one hiccup came in Rd 2 when Miles landed in guard but threw a headbutt to Bill's face rather than a shoulder strike. Even though he lost a point, Miles took home the win with a 29-27 decision on all the scorecards. Impressive to be 2-0 with both fights only 21 days apart. I'm so happy that Miles is now a part of the ZUMA team.

Third up was Ryan Janes, and if you didn't know how tough he was before, you do after the fight. Ryan got hit with some massive overhands in rd 1, yet didn't flinch at all. He just kept pressing forward and landing strikes and controlling the fight when it was against the cage. In between rd 1 and 2 Adam told Ryan to start landing the right headkick and sure enough rd 2 and 3 saw it land on more than one occasion with some damaging results. It would send Ceto Allan reeling and Ryan would unleash punches and knees. Rd 3 had a couple of moments where I thought the ref might stop the fight, but Allan survived and Ryan earned a decision win.

The night was ramping up to be a clean sweep for the ZUMA team, but unfortunately Diego didn't have his best performance and lost in rd 1. Diego is an amazing teammate and person, and I was heartbroken for him. I know how it feels to lose a fight when you have the skillset necessary to win. Frustrating, but it won't stop Diego from being the beast that he always is!

Overall, the ZUMA team had a great showing. The support from our ZUMA community was felt throughout the arena. You all help make us awesome! Congratulations to Alexi, Ryan and Miles on their wins and thank you Adam for being such an amazing coach!

Congratulations to Miles on his 1^st professional win. Miles took on Brad Faust at CWC in Kingston, Washington. Faust was an extremely tough opponent. Rd 1 started with Miles landing some great strikes but Faust was able to pin Miles along the cage for the majority of the round. Rd 2 saw Miles landing some strikes and getting a big take down then working his ground and pound, leaving Faust with a swollen right eye. Rd 3 started and Miles again got the takedown. He worked his strikes on the ground and got to mount then crossbody where he landed a few short left hands before connecting with a right elbow that split Faust from his eye to below his cheekbone. The referee called the fight and Miles was victorious at 3:39 of rd 3.

Listen today at 1:30 pst to CFAX 1070 or listen LIVE here: http://www.cfax1070.com/live/

BC just passed a new BILL creating a provincial athletic commision that will be overseeing MMA in the province. This is a huge step forward for MMA in BC and will no doubt bring in higher revenue for the province, as well as giving the local athletes safer (and hopefully more) opportunities to compete at a professional level.

Adam Zugec and I will be talking more about this new bill and how if affects the province today at 1:30 so make sure to listen in - online or on the radio.

www.sarahkaufman.ca

The Black Eye: Five To Keep Your Eye On

By Robin Black via topmmanews

We all, quite rightly, mostly talk about the great athletes in this country, but behind the scenes of Canada’s always growing MMA business the coaches, the promoters, the media and so many other people play a huge and, sometimes, thankless role.

Every month or so, I’m going to profile five of them.

Sometimes I’m profiling them because they are involved in noteworthy activities in the coming month. Sometimes its because they did something special in the last few months. Sometimes I’ll write about them as what I like to call a “founder”, someone who has contributed great things to the sport in this country. And sometimes I’ll simply write about them because they are someone you really should know.

This is just my profile of five MMA professionals in this country. Some are friends I know very well, and some are people I’m getting to know as I write this, because I feel they will be making bigger and bigger contributions to the fight game in Canada and we should take note.

These are five MMA professionals to keep your eye on.

Adam Zugec

Owner/Instructor Zuma Martial Arts. Trainer of Sarah Kaufman, Diego Wilson, Connor Wood, and others.

One of the West Coast’s top MMA instructors, Adam needs to be profiled this month after the fantastic performance of his prized pupil, Sarah Kaufman, at Strikeforce recently.

Adam is as educated an educator that you will find. He developed as a top trainer and coach by training under some of the best MMA minds on the planet, including Erik Paulson, Greg Jackson, Bob Carver, Yorinaga Nakamura, Dan Inosanto, the Machado Brothers, and the great Marcus Soares.

In this sport, we still put a huge premium on being a BJJ Black Belt, and Adam has been one since 2008, but Adam is also a top notch instructor of both boxing and thai, and an associate instructor of Shooto and Jeet Kune Do as well.

Sarah Kaufman, one of the best female MMA fighters in history, always gives so much credit to Zugec and, by all accounts, he deserves it all. His knowledge, skilled instruction, gameplanning, cornering, and mental preparation appear world class. He has Sarah prepared physically, and she enters every fight as a mental giant.

Watch for some of Adam’s younger fighters coming up too, as they enter their fights well rounded and well prepared. Connor Wood, Nick Driedger and Diego Wilson are just a few to keep your eyes on.

Victoria is such an incredibly beautiful place. As the word continues to get out about Zugec and his skills as a coach and reputation as a great human being, do not be surprised to see the odd top fighter make a move there to train with Adam.

Congratulations to Sarah and Adam for her win over Alexis Davis in one of the greatest fights that you will ever see. All the best against Rousey for the title.

Read the whole article HERE: http://topmmanews.com/2012/03/05/the-black-eye-five-to-keep-your-eye-on/