Modern Day - Old School

Necessity is the mother of invention. The various martial arts systems around the world were invented because of peoples need to protect themselves from wild animals and each other. Today, having good well rounded martial arts skills is still a necessity especially given the popularity of MMA and the influence it has had on our culture. Millions of people are fans of the UFC and the like, and the general public is more likely to have terms like ‘Arm Bar and Kimura in their vocabulary. More and more people are joining gyms and taking classes, which is great if they are good people. However, if they aren’t then training makes a dangerous person more dangerous. Also theres the “armchair quarterback” effect to contend with these days which makes your average drunk in a bar that much more of a problem. Most of these people both the good and the bad rarely train long enough to fully understand what they are learning or reap the long term rewards of whichever style they are learning.

Due to the popularity of MMA as well as the the rise of the internet and the so called “Troll” phenomenon, traditional martial arts have declined and have an often deserved ill reputation. People doubt that they work. The fact of the matter is that traditional martial artists don’t understand HOW to make them work and they don’t train to make them work. Many schools are full of students with a rainbow of colored belts and sashes and NONE of them can actually defend themselves on the street nor do they have the proper mindset to survive an actual incident of violence. Many traditional schools are simply too stuck in the past and have not evolved for modern times. They stay in their comfort zone and keep their minds closed to innovation because their Ego can’t handle the blow that truth contains and instead of humbling themselves and learning something new they keep perpetuating the anachronism which has become their world. Many people today are turned off by this and it’s understandable. Think about it. If you are getting your ass kicked why would you want someone to teach you how to count in Korean? No, you wouldn’t. You want to learn how not to get your ass kicked!

Master Jeff Hughes is a lifelong student of the traditional martial arts and he has a deep commitment and love for them. He created Iron Mantis to help keep traditional martial arts relevant in today’s 21st century world. He could have easily kept on teaching the old way which he was quite successful at. He could have rested on his laurels having won numerous competitions in fighting as well as traditional empty hand and weapons forms. Instead he humbled himself and sought out the best teachers he could and put on a white belt for the first time in a long time. He intentionally put himself in difficult and disadvantaged positions both on and off the training hall floor. He saw a need for improvement and he sought it out. Very few established traditional martial artists would ever do such a thing. Their Ego’s and their persistence to cling to blind devotion of ancient ways and their lack of mental flexibility and humility would never allow it. After years of hard training Master Hughes earned two more black belts, one in Hawaiian Kempo and the other in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. At the same time he also became a certified olympic weightlifting coach and SPT athletic coach. After many years of learning new martial skills as well as scientific approaches to physical training, he took these lessons and applied them to traditional Chinese Kung Fu training methods and martial principles which he calls Iron Mantis Martial Arts. Though most well known for his skills in the 7 star praying mantis style of kung fu he is also very well versed in several styles of kung fu as well as Tai Chi and Qigong. In May of 2015 Master Hughes officially began teaching Iron Mantis with the public.

A student of Iron Mantis will learn striking, kicks, takedowns, takedown defense, submissions, wrestling, ground techniques, traditional weapons as well as TaiChi and Qigong for overall health and well being. Iron Mantis contains 10 work forms or kata which is an often misunderstood method of training but an essential one. We train traditional Shaolin Iron Body methods as well stance training to make your body hard yet supple. Iron Mantis students don’t need to cross train here and there to find whatever pieces of the puzzle they are missing because Iron Mantis has those pieces. Iron Mantis is a complete martial art.

In just under 4 years as of today Master Hughes’ Iron Mantis Martial arts has affiliate schools in not only around Texas (home of Iron Mantis) but In a few cities in California and New York as well as New Mexico and Portugal and counting.

Anyone, even if they’ve been studying and teaching martial arts for years can benefit from learning Master Hughes’ system. He has literally done the work for us. Now all we have to do is get after it!