I was born into a family of natural athletes. My father, Uncles,
and Grandfather all grew up wrestling and boxing and it was only natural that I
too would follow in their footsteps. When I was four years old, my dad signed
me up and I have been doing it ever since. I was a three time Jr. Olympic
Champion and a Golden Gloves Boxing State Champion. I was also involved in Tae
Kwon Do, Roman wrestling, baseball, and football. Although I enjoyed playing a
variety of sports, I always excelled at wrestling.
After a successful high school wrestling career including a
state championship, I was offered a scholarship to wrestle at Lindenwood University
in Missouri where I moved and studied Education. One of my teammates, on top of
being a collegiate wrestler, was training for an upcoming Mixed Martial Arts
Cage Fight. He needed a training partner to spar and practice with and I
offered to help him out. We started training together in Brazilian Jui Jitsu,
boxing, and wrestling. I never planned on fighting. It just happened. I took my
first MMA fight in Missouri and won. It
was an amazing feeling and knew that it was something that I wanted to continue
doing.
I moved back up to Big Rapids with a couple of fights under
my belt. I started training at various gyms around town. To be a fighter it
takes a lot of drive, desire, and discipline. Fighters have to work hard and
put in a huge amount of effort and countless hours of training. It was hard to
get in an adequate amount of training while holding down two jobs and trying to
have a normal life.
I lived right down the road from Club Liberty Kettlebell
Sport and was always interested to see what they were about. One day I went in
and decided to try it. Going in to the first workout I didn’t think that a
couple of Kettlebells were going to do much for my already well conditioned
body. I was way off. For only 30 minutes of exercise I was amazed at how worked
my body actually felt.
I continue to regularly incorporate Kettlebell training into
my other forms of training. I have seen an increase in my total body strength
and stamina in the cage. It is the best possible workout in the shortest amount
of time and incorporates all of the elements that are necessary to excel as an
MMA fighter.
Club Liberty Kettlebell Sport has made a huge difference in
my training and has helped me to become the top level athlete that I am today.
I would suggest Club Liberty to all athletes of all levels of ability as a part
of their training programs in order to boost performance and be the best that
they can be at their sport.
Chad Coon,
Big Rapids