Teaching Life’s Lessons One Punch at a Time

• By admin
• 26 August, 2012
• Comments Off on Teaching Life’s Lessons One Punch at a Time

Not all great teachers teach in a classroom. LaDell Elliot teaches in an old-fashion gym, Elite Combat Systems, on Main Street in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He doesn’t teach reading, writing or arithmetic. He teaches Jeet Kune Do, Kali, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, grappling, Muay Thai Kickboxing and mixed martial arts.

“Martial arts has been my life since I was 12.”

Elliot, now 45, fell in love with martial arts when he was 12 years old after seeing the movie “Billy Jack.”

Elliot describes the movie with a smile on his face. He also laughs at the movie’s effects on himself as a kid. “I started kicking everything.”

Elliot’s mother enrolled him in Go Ju Ryu shortly after. His education hasn’t sopped since. He has received many belts and recognitions and is now qualified to teach 6 martial arts.

“My favorite art to teach is Jeet Kune Do.”

Elliot found Jeet Kune Do at age 16. His traditional training began three years later and hasn’t stopped.

Elliot teaches Jeet Kune Do on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The rest of his days are filled with teaching other martial arts and expanding his education.

“My best quality as a teacher is my ability to notice and correct body mechanics”

Elliot is constantly watching the way people move. He can watch a student and quickly evaluate where their strengths and weaknesses lie. His job is to find his students weaknesses and fix them in a way that will become part of their muscle memory.

“Each class my goal is to try and whittle away at one improper movement.”

Making each move smooth and powerful is a big part of martial arts. When a master is teaching his students how to move, he is teaching them to be like him. Movements must be precise and crisp to be effective in mixed martial arts.

“In a way they almost become like your kids because they resemble you. It’s like when your kid grows up and they look like you.”

“My favorite philosophy to teach is the purpose of martial arts”

Many people take martial arts to learn how to kick or hit and never pause to learn the reason why.

“People need to understand the purpose of the art. Every one, when they created a martial art, created it with a purpose in mind. It was their vision of what combat is.”

Elliot quoted Bruce Lee as he tried to expand on the idea.

“Before I studied the art, a punch was just like a punch, a kick just like a kick. After I studied the art, a punch is no longer a punch, a kick is no longer a kick. Now that I understand the art, a punch is just like a punch, a kick is just like a kick.”

“My favorite thing is to see the end result.”

Elliot enjoys making sure his students progress in a way that’s the best for them and their goals. Not every student is going to be a professional mixed martial arts fighter, but every student will improve and grow in confidence with slow training focused on controlled movement.

“ When you look at a student after 5 weeks or 10 year and remember where they were and can see where you took them.”

Elliot plans on growing his gym to include more students. To find out more info about Elite Combat Systems or Elliot visit his website.