Kyla says: From the time I was young, I was always interested in participating in some kind of martial art.

When I was 17 years old, I practiced karate for about a year.  Although it was good exercise, it just wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. I wanted something with more physical contact but I wasn’t sure what martial art that would be. A few years later, I joined an aikido class in western PA.

It also wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. One day, the instructor showed the class an arm bar from the mount. I was fascinated with how
devastating such a subtle technique could be. He informed me that this technique was derived from
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

I discovered that a BJJ/submission grappling class was taking place at the same location but at different times. My first day, I did techniques for about an hour and then wrestled 5 of the guys in the class. Immediately, I fell in love with the sport.

About a year later, I entered a tournament in Jersey called Grappler’s Quest. I wrestled Shannon Logan in the finals. Afterwards, we became good friends and she told me that mixed wrestling existed. I was immediately intrigued.

After some internet research, I decided to try a session to see if I would enjoy it. Obviously, I very much did, and here I am! 🙂