The Phoenix Way

The Phoenix Way 🥋 Practical Self Defense
👊 40+ Years Experience
⛩️ Hanshi • 8th Degree Black Belt
👇 Free Training Below

Discover how ANYONE can train and enjoy mixed martial arts, boxing, self defense and fitness no matter your age, fitness level or experience level… Our program is structured for a complete Mixed Martial Arts experience. Covering all aspects of the martial arts game from the stand up, clinch, takedown to grappling. Our stand up foundation is deeply rooted in traditional Kyokushin martial arts, the takedowns in Judo and last the ground is Jiu-Jitsu based. Our facility was founded through the inspiration and dream to instruct young and old alike in a positive make it happen environment. We maintain a very high level of quality in our training and our commitment to you is to make you the best you can be.

09/11/2026

Step behind. Hook kick to the head. Then flow right into the spinning crossing kick. 🥋🔥

I like using the Cage Fitness bag as a physical baseline for this drill. It forces me to drive the knee UP before I release the kick.

The higher the knee, the higher the kick.

That bag sets the minimum. I’m not going underneath it. And if I want the kick higher, the knee has to get well above it.

Sometimes a simple obstacle gives you immediate feedback and forces better mechanics.

Train the knee higher. The kick will follow. 🐦‍🔥

09/09/2026

Full contact fighting taught me something years ago: you’re not going to get everything you want.

I look for openings. I think of them like windows. Sometimes the window is open and I can land the knee, hit the sweep or attack. Sometimes it closes before I get there.

That’s when you have to adapt and keep fighting.

If I go for the sweep and it isn’t there, I don’t force it. I reconnect, change the angle, find another opening and attack again. Knee, punch, elbow, sweep…whatever the situation gives me.

And understand this: in a real exchange, you’re going to give something up. The idea that you’re going to go through a hard round of fighting without getting hit is unrealistic. The goal is to protect yourself intelligently, control the exchange and recognize the opportunities when they appear.

Techniques don’t always work exactly the way we practice them. That’s why we pressure test. 🥋🔥

Train to see the opening. Train to adapt when it closes. Train to keep going.

09/07/2026

🥋 When a head kick comes in, this is one of our go to defenses. It’s simple, pressure tested, and it works.

But the block doesn’t have to end the exchange. If I can get control of the leg, I redirect it down and away and immediately attack. 💥

From there, I can kick the back of their leg, attack the body, or go back up to the head. I also keep my left hand on their shoulder to prevent them from turning back into me while I create the angle for my counter.

Block. Redirect. Control. Attack. 👊🏻

09/06/2026

Not every sparring session needs to be a war. 🥋🔥

When you slow the pace down and take away the fear of getting your head taken off, you create an opportunity to experiment.

Try the sweep you’ve been working on. Attempt a different entry. Work a new combination. Take a chance on a technique you might hesitate to use when you know one mistake could mean getting tagged hard.

Slower, controlled sparring gives you the freedom to take risks, make mistakes, adjust, and learn. Then, as the technique becomes more natural, you can begin testing it under more pressure.

You don’t develop new skills by only doing what you already know works.

Slow it down. Take risks. Build the skill. Then pressure test it.

09/06/2026

Can we PLEASE put this to rest? 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

The Phoenix Way is NOT a tournament-style Kyokushin dojo.

In traditional Kyokushin tournament rules, punches to the face are not permitted. Schools that primarily train for competition naturally focus their training around those rules.

We don’t.

At The Phoenix Way, we train for what I believe is applicable to combat. When our hands are properly protected with gloves, and preferably with a mouthguard, we absolutely punch to the face.

When we’re training bare knuckle, we don’t punch each other in the face. I really shouldn’t have to explain why.

We also grab. We clinch. We sweep. We throw. We use takedowns. We work submissions. We incorporate whatever I believe makes our students more complete martial artists.

Kyokushin is our foundation, but tournament rules do not define how we train.

We train beyond the rules. Period. 👊🏻🔥

09/04/2026

As I’ve gotten older in the martial arts, I’ve had to get smarter about how I spar with younger, stronger, more athletic people. One thing I’ve gotten much better at is sweeping.

Sweeps aren’t magic. Against a good fighter, you have to set them up. If you can create a reaction and get just a little weight off the foot you’re attacking, the takedown is there.

In this video, I throw the knee, get the reaction, and immediately attack the front leg with the sweep.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned I don’t always have to be faster or stronger. I just have to be smarter. 🥋🔥

09/04/2026

When throwing knees, I like to front load the lead leg first.

I shift my weight forward and lean into the position, taking weight off my back leg and freeing it up to strike.

Once I establish the clinch, I’m not just standing there lifting my knee. And I’m not trying to yank my opponent into me.

I grab the target and pull MYSELF into them as I drive the knee through. 💥

That combination is where the power comes from: weight on the lead leg, rear leg free, hips driving forward, and my entire body moving into the strike.

Don’t just lift the knee.

Drive yourself THROUGH the target. 🥋🔥

How do YOU generate power with your knees? Drop it in the comments. 👇 And if you train with someone who needs to work on their knees, send them this video.

Address

170 Patterson Avenue, STE 6
Shrewsbury, NJ
07702

Opening Hours

Monday 5pm - 9pm
Wednesday 5pm - 9pm
Thursday 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Friday 5pm - 9pm
Saturday 9:30am - 11:30am
Sunday 9:30am - 11:30am

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+17323838428

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