The Alimond Show
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The Alimond Show
Brent Hess - From Martial Arts Legacy to Boxing Leagues and Community Impact
Curious about what it takes to run a successful martial arts gym and boxing league? Join us as we sit down with Brent Hess, the visionary behind MikiDO studio gym and boxing league in Bailey's Crossroads, to uncover the rich history and enduring legacy of a family business founded in 1982. Brent shares the inspiring journey of his father, a martial arts pioneer who blended various disciplines long before MMA was widely known. You'll hear about Brent’s challenges and triumphs as he took over the reins in 2009, maintaining the gym's core values while expanding its influence. Expect to be moved by heartfelt stories from past clients who have experienced life-changing transformations.
Ever wondered what goes into organizing a large-scale MMA event? Brent takes us behind the scenes, revealing the complexities and logistical hurdles of transitioning from a competitor to an event organizer. With a passion for martial arts that transcends the ring, Brent highlights the transformative power these sports have on young people, offering them much-needed structure and direction. He also shares poignant success stories, such as boxing’s therapeutic benefits for individuals with Parkinson’s disease, and his vision to support the senior community through specialized classes. This episode showcases martial arts as a powerful tool for personal growth and community building.
Building a boxing community in DC takes more than just passion—it requires engagement, creativity, and genuine connection. Brent discusses effective marketing strategies, from grassroots word-of-mouth to leveraged social media campaigns, and introduces the innovative Real Influence Podcast. This platform features interviews with fighters, coaches, and influential community figures, emphasizing authentic impact over superficial social media influence. Brent offers practical advice for newcomers to the sport, stressing the importance of hard work, dedication, and having a backup plan. Whether you’re an aspiring athlete or looking to tick martial arts off your bucket list, this conversation is packed with valuable insights and inspiration.
My name is Brent Hess Business is Myketo. I have a Myketo gym in Bailey's Crossroads area, kind of where Arlington, alexandria, falls Church meet up, and I also have a boxing league that I recently it's a little bit newer, but we're doing. We've got our next show coming up in Washington DC and I guess clientele would be all walks of life really, from kids, little kids we start at four years old all the way up to women we have women's only classes and we have, you know, obviously, adults, and then at this point now I'm working with different teams and different athletes and coaches all around the area getting them ready to compete on my event. So really really kind of all walks of life.
Speaker 2:How did you get into this?
Speaker 1:I was kind of born into it. My father started MyKeto in 1982.
Speaker 2:And describe what MyKeto is exactly so.
Speaker 1:MyKeto means my powerful way, my key power dough is way.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:So MyKeto means my powerful way and that's kind of what we instill in people. And so he started in 1982. He was doing MMA before MMA was the acronym that people know today right Like he was mixing boxing with kickboxing, with judo, with jujitsu. He was doing that before it became popular. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And for those that don't know what MMA is, describe what that is.
Speaker 1:MMA, mixed martial arts. So it is kind of a loose term nowadays because everybody can say that they do MMA. But it's kind of like when you kind of bring in all the at least with my father he was bringing all the best. He got his black belt in five different martial arts styles, black belt in five different martial arts styles, and kind of bringing the best techniques and most effective techniques together to make a mixture of the martial arts and that's kind of what MMA is supposed to be, okay, um so but now he was doing it long before anybody else.
Speaker 1:He was doing it when it was frowned upon right, because back in the in the day, right like you either did karate or you did judo or you did wrestling or you did boxing, but you didn't mix them. And if you did mix them it was kind of frowned upon right With the traditional martial artists, but he didn't care, he was doing it anyway. And look where it's at today, you know. I mean, you see, it's popular. The UFC has kind of brought a huge kind of spotlight onto MMA and made it popular as well, and certain kind of star figures with them. So, yeah, that's kind of where we're at at this point in time. I kind of took over and opened up my location in 2009.
Speaker 2:And just kind of had fun. So your dad had a location, had a business established.
Speaker 1:He had a couple, yeah, yeah okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that inspired you to kind of do your own.
Speaker 1:Kind of take over the business at that time, Like he did a lot of stuff and of stuff and made a lot of big. He was at the forefront, breaking a lot of ground in his time and competed. He was undefeated. He was one of the first kickboxers on ESPN.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow.
Speaker 1:Back in the kick of the 80s yeah, they called it the kick of the 80s and then he was undefeated stick fighting. He did Arnie's stick fighting. So he did a lot more than when I date it back to how old I am versus what he was doing at my age. It's incredible what he was doing.
Speaker 2:He was a visionary.
Speaker 1:Yeah, even though I consider myself to be like, hey, I'm doing this and this and this, but him and his time was doing a lot of awesome things too, and so you know, just the other day I was telling him about it and how I can respect that so much and I couldn't believe he was doing this at this age, because when you track it, you do the math. It's like you have to date it back to how old he was Right.
Speaker 1:And then how old he was right and then, and then how old he is now, obviously, and how old I am, so, um, but yeah, that's that's how I was kind of born into it. Everybody asked me when did you start?
Speaker 2:it was like when I came out of the hospital, probably like he was, like stretching my legs and like throwing punches in the womb.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know giving me little commands. Yeah, I don't know. But yeah, so I was kind of like not necessarily an option Like when you start like a sport when you're at a certain age you're like, oh, I like baseball, or you know, I like this.
Speaker 1:It's like it was like born into that as common Born into that and so I started competing in different competitions and fights when I was like four and five years old. They have like me on, like you know, the first, second, third trophy kind of pedestals and stuff like that. Like there's pictures of me and so, yeah, I was in it very young.
Speaker 2:Very young. What was it like?
Speaker 1:taking over the family business. It was unique. It was, you know, I'd like to say I've organized it a lot, you know, and kind of formalized certain things, but it was the platform was what it was at the time and now it's at another level and hopefully, you know, my future young ones can take it to another level. You know, that's kind of like the goal where you know, and just the people that my keto has had a part in helping and improving their lives. I mean, I get phone calls all the time like, hey, you know, the funniest is like people call and they're like, hey, is Mike around, my dad is he around, I'm like no, he hasn't been around for a while.
Speaker 2:Like who are you? You must know him from way back then.
Speaker 1:He's like man. Well, you tell him he helped me out so much and I appreciate him. He changed my life and you know. So it's really cool to kind of like full circle see things.
Speaker 2:And I guess one day I'll be getting those phone calls. Well, that's what I was about to ask you is what do you find so rewarding about what you do, or most rewarding?
Speaker 1:about what you do. Yeah, you don't always notice what's rewarding when you're doing it.
Speaker 1:I feel like I feel like it's after you do certain things and you get in those fulfilling calls of like hey, you've helped me out so much. I'm getting them. Now that I'm getting a little older, I'm getting these young guys that are like man. Thanks for having my back and thanks for being in my corner and thanks for keeping me doing the right things and thanks for you know, since day one, you know, and I'm like man, that's true. I have known you a long time, you know, and I have, I guess, affected a lot of lives in my young life too so far. So it's rewarding, it's rewarding to me and you know, kind of starting anew with this boxing league. I'm kind of and that's another area where my father was a pioneer was he was doing MMA shows before MMA and he was doing them in like high schools and like gymnastics recreation areas and things like that.
Speaker 1:And so now, like I'm starting it at a new but it's not something new like back then I used to compete and I always tell people now I'm like it was much easier to be the fighter and just to be the competitor. Now that I'm organizing the event, I got like so many more things to think about I got.
Speaker 2:It's like oh my goodness Like ticket sales.
Speaker 1:Ticket sales venue insurance, the medical team.
Speaker 2:It's like, oh my goodness, You're like I just want to get up there and show what I can do.
Speaker 1:I would like to just show up, make weight and then fight. But, when I was in those shoes I was like man, fighting is hard, but then you kind of see the other side, but I enjoy it. I think the main thing is obviously I have a passion for it. Because, if I didn't, you probably see just the way I'm talking about it Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Your whole face lights up and it's just like everything about it, from organizing it to talking to the coaches and the teams, everything about it, from organizing it to talking to the coaches and the teams. And you know, even now I'm doing interviews with coaches and teams. It's funny on camera, because now we've got the technology similar to this and and hearing their stories and hearing their, their influence, the influences that they've had and the influences that they're making with others, and hearing certain stories, and it's really powerful, you know? Uh, so I, I, I enjoy quite a few aspects of it. Um, there are some headaches here and there, but but I, but I, I've heard, I've heard um of so many, especially adolescents.
Speaker 2:You know kids, that you know male and female that maybe might be going through a hard time or just having a hard time finding direction in a particular sport when boxing and forgive me if I'm saying some of the terminology wrong, but boxing and martial arts and stuff has really helped them shape their life and given them direction, life and giving them direction. Do you have like a favorite success story that, um, you could be a personal one or maybe someone might?
Speaker 1:your dad mentored that, yeah, I mean, there's just so many, there's so many. And then like just the general story is like a very common theme and I don't necessarily want to name anybody by name, but like you had a kid who was didn't really have direction. Maybe he was getting, he or she was getting in trouble, you know, in school and kind of losing direction. Maybe they didn't have guidance, the proper guidance as they were growing up, and a a lot of times a good coach, martial arts, boxing, things like that will not only give them an outlet for their energy but will give them literally a path to like, hey, after school, this is where you're going to come.
Speaker 1:And this is what you're going to do, and then you're going to go home and you're going to come and this is what you're going to do, and then you're going to go home and you're going to eat healthy foods, and then you're going to go to sleep and then you're going to wake up the next day and you're going to do the same thing and you're going to stay consistent. And I think for a young kid that doesn't really have that and maybe has some, probably some influences, friends who are trying to get them to do every other different thing I think a little bit of guidance, a little bit of consistency, a little bit of just structure gives them a backbone and gives them something to grow upon you know, because a good foundation good foundation, yeah, so like there's a lot of those, there's a lot of those stories.
Speaker 1:And then, and then there's the weight loss stories. You know, there's the people who you know. I have had one gentleman in particular. When he started with us he was like 260, some pounds and then he lost like 100 pounds, ended up competing at like, I think, 147, you know, from 260, you know.
Speaker 2:Huge accomplishment.
Speaker 1:Made a huge drop in weight, both male and females. My father also worked with a lady who was blind and helped her a lot and helped her for a while yeah, and that was a kind of I haven't done that, but a powerful story that he had and they made the newspaper and everything like that. And he was working with a blind lady for quite some time and helping her.
Speaker 2:I've also heard it's really good for people with Parkinson's disease boxing. Have you heard that and what's your thoughts on on that?
Speaker 1:So, uh, a late friend of mine, uh, tim Lane, uh has this thing called um the stick stick boxing. Um, so he invented this product called uh, there are these like foam pads with like sticks, and he lives out in Las Vegas, a great friend of mine. He was awesome, awesome guy and and and he got those involved with the Parkinson's community out there and he was in a March, he was a world champion, kickboxer and stuff too.
Speaker 1:But just just them just using, not necessarily hitting something, but just moving certain things and they were clapping them together and they got into a rhythm with, like, an instructor leading the class. Um, but specifically to parkinson's, that that kind of like created that thought in my head he was very involved in that community and helping that community a lot. So, um, you know, boxing and kickboxer size classes, that kind of stuff too, not for competition but just more for motor skills and just kind of working on that.
Speaker 2:And keeping that high eye hand coordination Hand eye coordination Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so that's something.
Speaker 2:I want to you know, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So that's something I want to, you know. Another thing that I want to kind of get into a little bit more is the senior community around here, is in helping them and having senior specific classes, because I do think that's a. It's an important part and I enjoy. I enjoy speaking speaking with the seniors as well. I have one of our black belts, jonathan Schweinefuss. He started a business called Story of a Lifetime, and so he interviews older folks and hears their story of a lifetime which is another cool thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, kind of like legacy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah yeah, exactly, yeah, exactly. So he did one for my father and it turned out awesome and, and just to hear the stories and different, different things, it was really, really a cool thing. So a lot of, a lot of rewarding things, um, kind of in in. You know, I'm not sitting behind a desk typing on a computer for 12 hours a day you know like I don't seem like the person that could do that.
Speaker 2:You need to be out there. Yeah, I need to be.
Speaker 1:I need to be talking with people, you know, creating some conversation, some good energy, and absolutely I yeah.
Speaker 2:What are you guys doing for advertising and marketing these days? What's working for you? What's not working for you?
Speaker 1:We have a lot of word of mouth because we've been in the community for so long. If you talk to somebody who does martial arts, they probably know my keto if you bring it up. But yeah, as far as marketing different stuff social media, print, advertising you know some of the conventional things. Now I actually, with the boxing league, I started up, you know, not like professional like this, but like started up a mini, like interview slash podcast thing. So I, you know, I interview fighters, I interview coaches, it's called. It's called Real Influence Podcast.
Speaker 2:Okay, awesome. We love hearing other people's podcasts.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, so literally just started and I knew I was going to do interviews with fighters and coaches and I, but I didn't want to just call it Champions League interviews or Champions League boxing. You know, I wanted it to be something that, even after this show, I want to talk to influential people that and get their. The main thing is influence, you know, and I feel like nowadays it's kind of lost a little bit of its meaning. Anybody can call themselves an influencer just because they're selling, you know, chapsticks or handbags, handbags online right they're an influencer, but are they making a true influence in the community?
Speaker 1:Probably not. And the people I know a lot of people who are making those influences, and a lot of them don't even have social media.
Speaker 2:You know like they're, so you get the paradox there, because you're making real impacts on real people's lives, face-to-face, right, right.
Speaker 1:So that's the people I want to talk to, and so that's kind of why I named it the Real Influence Podcast.
Speaker 2:I love that.
Speaker 1:But we're still young and we're still starting and uh, I got, you know, a handful of interviews with some really cool coaches and athletes, uh and um and just kind of kind of starting there. But yeah, I mean, as far as the marketing goes, I think that could play a cool role. You know, because now with the, with the social media error and the technology, people are on on youtube and different stuff a lot. So the regular just handing out flyers that was the normal marketing maybe back in the days is kind of shifting a little bit and so we'll have to shift as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. What advice do you have for someone trying to get into boxing, martial arts and then MMA? I?
Speaker 1:always say it wrong.
Speaker 2:Such as I was sharing with you before my son's getting into it. So what advice?
Speaker 1:do you have?
Speaker 2:for someone who's kind of just like just come take a class see if you like it.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I get a lot of guys, young guys, coming in, similar probably to your son, who say that they want to train, they want to be the next UFC star.
Speaker 2:I think there's like a lot of celebrity status behind it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I want to do this and that, and I always usually tell them the same thing You've got to show up, you've got to work hard, you've got to keep your nose to the grindstone and just keep putting in the time and the hours and usually when you're ready, like I always tell my guys, I was like some coaches want to put their logo on your shirt and send you out there to fight to represent their gym. So their gym gets you know the shine. I'm almost the opposite. So their gym gets you know the shine. I'm almost the opposite. I want, like I don't want, to force somebody to compete because he's going to wear my logo.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:I want him to come to me and say Coach, what do you think? Like, am I showing you like what I need to be doing? Like, coach, I ran five miles.
Speaker 1:I've been running five miles every day for the past, this and this and, and then still I'm gonna be like trying to be like, hey, no, I think you got a you know, and a little work to do and because I, I want, I don't want anybody to get beat up, I don't want anybody to get hurt, especially my guys, and so I want them to win. You know, and that's something that my Ketos were known for. I mean, my dad had like 133 national titles with his competitors. Yeah, and different titles and title belts and things like that. We have them hanging up all around the gym and so, like I told the guys, just put in the hard work. It takes consistency, it takes more than a week, a month, maybe a year. You know, you got to put in the hard work and it's not easy, because if it was easy, then you know how the saying goes.
Speaker 1:Everybody would do it. Yeah, and you know. And also for the young guys too, I tell them, you know, work on your school and work on your career and have a backup plan, just in case you're not the next Conor McGregor.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know you got to have good advice. You got to have something that you enjoy, and not necessarily this or that, just something you enjoy and something that maybe you can flourish in, doesn't have to be fighting, and then hopefully the fighting goes well for you and you do well and maybe you turn pro and make money at some point one day and maybe not Right.
Speaker 2:But always have a plan B.
Speaker 1:You got to have a plan B and I got a lot of guys now actually a little bit older and it's almost like a bucket list thing for them.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Right, like they're at a certain age. They're not. They know, you know, I have one guy in particular. He has got, he's got a good career, you know he's, he's, but he's like man, I really want to compete, I want to do it like my first one my own, you know, whatever you know, before I turn this age, and so I'm working on getting him something, you know because he puts in a lot of hard work and things like that.
Speaker 1:But yeah, for the young guys who have all the time in the world, I say put in the time, put in the effort, put in the consistency, listen to your coaches. Good diet, good sleep, good you know.
Speaker 2:And keep up with your schoolwork. Keep up with your schoolwork.
Speaker 1:listen to mom and you'll be just fine yeah.
Speaker 2:Tell me about your event. You have coming up on the 13th.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so this is exciting. Our last event was actually last August. It's been almost a year. I can't believe it. We were supposed to do one in December in DC. Our last event in August was in Manassas. The one December 30th was supposed to be in DC. Due to some politics in DC, everything on our end was organized I don't want to get into the negative stuff but it just didn't happen. It fell through.
Speaker 1:So now, with different structure, with the DC officials, we got in, we got in, we're in DC officials. We got in. We got in, we're in DC and I finally, all that hard work and effort that I've been putting in since last October, kind of worked through and we're in. We're at this really neat venue called Hook Hall in DC. They have a couple of different types of venues. I was just on the phone with the owner today this morning and was talking about, you know, doing some advertising in his different different venues the one called kraken and then a couple other like places that do like kraken, does like axe throwing, and you know those kind of like bars and pubs and stuff, and this one is called hook hall.
Speaker 1:They do different venues and events and stuff and um, we're gonna set up a ring in there and we're gonna, we're gonna do a boxing event. He's excited, I'm excited, obviously, um july 13th, champions league boxing is gonna be in hukal in dc.
Speaker 1:It's 3400 georgia avenue northwest yeah so right there in the heart of the city and um we got a lot of teams and boxers and boxing is really popular in dc. You know the community of boxing is is is rich in dc and um and so we're excited we have over like 20 teams that are that are coming out and I've been talking to you day yeah, and, and we got some youth boxers, some female boxers, some you know obviously some spectators can come and watch.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, you can get tickets. Champions League Boxing dot com. We have our ticket site already up and and there is it's not a huge venue like. Our last venue was a little bit bigger, this one is a little cozier. So, as far as tickets, we'll have some VIPs, some general admission and then we'll have standing. So if you want a seat, I recommend everybody get their tickets fairly soon.
Speaker 1:Get your tickets now. But yeah, it's a little cozier, so we're looking forward to a good, a good turnout, a good night, a good, uh, powerful first show in dc I wish you a successful event. Yes, thank you maybe, maybe you can make it out, I'll have a special seat for you. Yeah, and maybe your son too, my son, I'm sure he would like to uh see it there's like be something great we could do together.
Speaker 1:There you go actually, yeah, yeah we're gonna and we're gonna have before and out're going to have like a before, a little like um I. I teamed up with one of my uh, good, good family friends. His name is Lee. He does um Latin events, big Latin, like a dance events. He's, he's, that's his thing, DCBX is his company, and so they're doing like a pre-party. You know, a little pre-party. He's got these things called silent headphones, where everybody I've heard of this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, everybody puts these headphones on.
Speaker 1:You got three channels. We'll have a DJ there and then during the fights this has never been done Everyone's going to get headphones and you get to. One channel is going to be like the impact in the ring the microphones just picking up the punches and the stuff. The second channel is going to be commentary, like the impact in the ring that microphones, just picking up the punches and the stuff. The second channel is gonna be commentary, so it's gonna be me and like some boxing experts, doing commentary.
Speaker 2:And then the third one's gonna be like a music.
Speaker 1:So it's pretty, it's pretty neat, and then after the show we're gonna have a battle of the djs inside the ring, like an after party kind of thing, yeah, so the whole day night should be pretty cool, yeah, pretty cool. I'm mostly in charge of the boxing event and making sure that runs smooth, and it's looking like a really, really action-packed fight card.
Speaker 2:Well, it sounds exciting.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And we wish you all the best with that, as we kind of wrap up here are there any last parting words you'd like to leave us with, or maybe a mantra? You live your life by.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, just yeah, I like my powerful way. You know which is our in my keto. You know my powerful way and everybody. I encourage everybody to kind of find their powerful way, and it's always different for everybody, you know, and different for everybody at different points of their life. So, um, that would be my mantra is is is find your powerful way. It doesn't have to be with us, it could be with whatever you are, wherever you are, um, but you know, find your powerful way, continue to strive for greatness, continue to, uh, better yourself and move upwards, cause that's the only, that's the only option you can't lay down. Yeah, Right.
Speaker 1:It's the only option is the future and upward, and upward. And um and everybody. Please follow us. Uheto Inc is our Instagram. Champions League Boxing is obviously at Champions League Boxing on Instagram and then ChampionsLeagueBoxingcom. If you want to pick up tickets, my Instagram is mbrenthess.
Speaker 2:Awesome.
Speaker 1:And, yeah, thank you, Donna, for having me today.
Speaker 2:Thank you for being here today. I really enjoyed the conversation. Yeah, I loved hearing your story. Thank you for being here today.