CityView Magazine

Above | Staff Sgt. Tim Kennedy is a Special Forces soldier stationed at Fort Bragg and a rising star in mixed martial arts. said. “I know I’m better than the guys who have them.” Opponents better get ready. Kennedy is ready to pounce. At Elite Training Center, Hakim Isler gives mixed martial arts an entire new meaning. He teaches a street survival class at his downtown studio. Students start out in the classroom, learning practical methods to stay safe if they are attacked. The class gradually moves through three phases, eventually making their way to the actual streets for final practice. “We’re proactive,” Isler said. “If somebody has a gun, knife or bat, or is trying to choke you, what do you do? I try to train people for these things.” At a recent class at the Hay Street studio, students practiced escape holds for chokeholds and headlocks with elbows to the sternum, crotch and chin, leg sweeps and side slams. They threw punches and kicks at padded classmates. Isler showed them how to knock weapons to the side, injure the attacker and flee. Dauphine Sisk is one of Isler’s students. She says she often walks by herself for exercise; now she feels more confident exercising solo. Sisk says she likes the cardio benefits of the class, too. "It is really fun and a great workout.” Brian and Kalyn Dukes, husband and wife, attend the class together. He had studied martial arts several years ago and wanted to come back. Combining ancient forms of martial arts with modern situations intrigued him. “The street survival class is a great application for today’s world,” he said. Extreme sports may seem like a boy’s club, but twice a week at the Round-A- Bout skating rink, behind the Eutaw Shopping Center, it’s strictly ladies first. Guys watch out, Samoa Pain, Evl Grl, Leif Mia Lone and Shady Sadie are in the house. The Rogue Rollergirls – not rouge, thank you very much – Fayetteville’s roller derby team, is fast, tough and not afraid to fight. West Coast Ma Fia came back after breaking her leg in three places; she now skates with a steel rod in her leg. Leatherneck is a Marine Corps veteran. Hard Mod Mo is an Army staff sergeant. When they’re not skating, Leif Mia Lone and Crystal Chaos compete as CityViewNC.com | 55

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