SMMA Martial Arts Port Orchard

SMMA Martial Arts Port Orchard is the Brazilian jiu-jitsu location of Shaolin Mixed Martial Arts, teaching gi and no-gi BJJ to adults and juniors, with Jeet Kune Do, Filipino Kali, kickboxing and submission wrestling classes alongside. The Shaolin in the name honors martial arts tradition; the training itself centers on modern self-defense and MMA application. Owner and head instructor Sifu Victor Young, who opened the school in 2018, set its mission as teaching “ordinary people of all ages real martial arts for better self-defense, fitness, and sport.”

Young started with kung fu and tai chi in 1998 and earned a 5th Degree Black Sash, then trained in Jeet Kune Do, Filipino Kali, Muay Thai and submission wrestling under Sifu Mark Olsen from 2004, earning his black belt in 2010. He is a certified JKD MARS instructor under Sifu Ron Balicki, who is himself a Full Instructor under Dan Inosanto, and he holds coach level in Combat Submission Wrestling and STX Kickboxing and a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt from Sensei Erik Paulson. Coach Joel Castellon, the school's Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach, has trained since 2005 and mixes old-school jiu-jitsu, “focused on control, pressure, and efficiency,” with modern competition technique.

The gi program uses the uniform to teach friction and mechanical advantage in technical depth, and the no-gi side works on the speed, slipping and scrambling of modern submission grappling. Submission wrestling, also without the gi, covers takedowns, submissions and escapes. Kickboxing at SMMA is a hybrid of Chinese kickboxing, JKD, Kali, Muay Thai, Savate and STX, trained in partner drills on focus mitts and Thai pads and glove to glove. Kali brings in stick and blade defense through Escrima and Arnis weapon work, plus Panantukan, the empty-hand side of the Filipino arts.

No experience is needed, and the school calls its approach “Foundations First”: beginners learn techniques on pads and bags, sparring is optional for them, and live sparring is generally for advanced students who want to test their skills. Every BJJ class is open to all levels, built on fundamentals and specific drilling for live rounds. Juniors ages 7 to 15 train in a Brazilian jiu-jitsu program of their own, and the hour of a first class is something to arrange with the gym. A newcomer's first class is a free trial, done in comfortable clothes with a water bottle on hand.