About the Gym

[Ray Wizard]

Name: Pinklon Witherspoon

Home Town: Huntington Beach, California
Style:

FREESTYLE KARATE (Taekwondo, Hung Gar, Kempo, American Kickboxing)
AMERICAN SHOOTFIGHTING

Age: 31
Height: 5'9''
Weight: 160 lbs
Occupation: Martial Arts Coach
Manager/Coach: Marton Vale, various instructors
Training Partners: Yusuke Takahashi, Brian Keck, Jim Mullen, Steve Jennum, Kazja Patschull, various NHB figures
Titles/Accomplishments:

Numerous Karate Titles
7-0 Full Contact Kickboxing Record
Undefeated in Bareknuckle Fighting

Biography: Coming soon...

Gym Description: Coming soon...

Training System: Thanks to the training philosophy of Bruce Lee, Witherspoon recognized early on that physical training plays an important role in martial training. An athletic fighter can overcome a more skilled but less fit martial artist, which is why every aspiring fighter in Witherspoon's gym undergoes an intense conditioning regimen. Witherspoon has studied under numerous boxing, wrestling, and athletics coaches to find the optimal conditioning program to train fighters who must be able to both strike and grapple with explosiveness.

For new fighters, the first skill Witherspoon has them develop is footwork. Punching is incorporated once basic movement is covered, and following that the new fighter will jump into the rest of the class as they work on kicking, throwing, and matwork. When Witherspoon feels confident in the new fighter's progress, the aspiring fighter will be allowed to spar and grapple with the other students.

Students can spar with different rules depending on what type of competition they're entering. Witherspoon usually enters newer students in open Judo and Kyokushin tournaments. Older students can fight in kickboxing and no-holds-barred matches when they feel they're ready. The gym has even hosted some of their own closed-door smoker matches with other schools. The weekends are usually the days when tournaments are scheduled. If no student is competing, Witherspoon will invite his pupils to watch some fight tapes from shows such as the UFC and K-1 to gain a greater understanding of combat.

Witherspoon often tries to bring in outside coaches to advance his training program. Some of the more frequent guests are:

Brian Keck- A Pan American Gold Medalist in wrestling who also competed in Vale Tudo.

Jim Mullen- A multi-time kickboxing champion and UFC veteran.

Steve Jennum- The UFC 3 tournament winner and founder of the Integrated Martial Arts System.

Kazja Patschull- Kage Kombat founder and trainer of Mike Bitonio and John Matua.

Witherspoon's recent hiring of Yusuke Takahashi gives his students their first really solid grappling coach. Takahashi has advanced the grappling abilities of Witherspoon's students significantly since his arrival.