For some time now grappling enthusiasts and keen MMA observers throughout Canada have likely grown familiar with the name Sholty Jiu-Jitsu and MMA, as members from the Prince George gym continue to rack up wins while competing at various tournaments and cards. More recently the club further enhanced its reputation, as Sholty team members like Adriano Bernardo and Clayton Sheen added King of the Cage Canadian championships to their resumes. For the team’s head instructor Murray Sholty, the successes of his fighters, clearly resonate strongly with the 36-year-old martial artist.

“Winning the KOTC Canadian titles has been a very rewarding experience for me personally,” said Sholty. “We have always had great success with grappling and I felt that it was just a matter of time when we would succeed in MMA.”

“What it has meant to the club is that we have on location real life examples of normal 9 to 5 working type people that can achieve their goals while still contributing constructively to the community,” Sholty added. “This serves as a beacon of light to new students; this shows them that they too can train and win while living a productive lifestyle.”

Sholty was born in Fort Fraser, BC, and from a young age the future instructor was involved in martial arts, acquiring his black belt in Tae Kwan Do in 1988 before embarking on studies in boxing and Judo (Sholty was awarded his black belt in Judo in 2000). Like many extensively involved in martial arts, Sholty concedes that his life was profoundly changed in 1993, after watching the first Ultimate Fighting Championship.

“I can say that my Martial Arts awakening happened on Nov 12, 1993 when witnessing the first UFC,” Sholty recalled. “The rise in popularity of Mixed Martial Arts awoke a lot of people to the true reality of using realistic Martial Arts techniques that could be used in a full contact environment, in competition or in a self-defence situation.”

“This awareness that my traditional Martial Arts techniques were lacking, drove me to search out what I had witnessed in the early UFC’s. First learning by self study through video, and then traveling to Southern California for hands on training. I started off training with Thomas Cruise and Paul Vunak of the Progressive Fighting Systems, Rickson Gracie’s Jiu Jitsu Academy (West Los Angeles & Pacific Palisades), and also the Beverly Hills Jiu Jitsu Club (specifically with Oleg Takatorov). Though I didn’t get to spend as much time as I would have liked, it exposed me to a very high level of training and allowed to me to expand both my personal competition techniques along with developing my teaching abilities.”

Sholty’s extensive and diverse training sent him down a path of competition, in both grappling tournaments as well as MMA.

“I’ve competed in Judo, Sambo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Submission Grappling,” Sholty recalled. “I was very fortunate to compete in the 1999 Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) World Submission Championships and later that year winning the World Open Sambo Championship. I’ve competed in numerous grappling events and have went up against the likes of Dennis Kang, Mark Aston (Eddie Bravo’s nemesis), Joel Gerson (former #1 Shooto contender), and Alexander “Sasha” Plavski ( 3rd Place winner - Abu Dhabi World Submission Championships – 1999) to name a few. I feel that this practical experience I gained through grappling competitions has been beneficial to our club’s overall development.”

“I did my first MMA competition around 1997 on a hardwood floor with carpet underlay as the mat in Dawson Creek, BC,” said Sholty, who noted that many of his first MMA experiences have not been added to official MMA record databases (although he has video footage of his accomplishments). “I defeated three opponents in that event along with defeating another three opponents in each of the next two events. I also was victorious in an event called the Western Canadian Challenge in 2000.”

“I’ve also had the privilege of fighting UFC fighter and title contender Dennis Hallman, former KOTC World Champion Ryan Diaz, former IFC Super Fight winner Frank Colcher and Max Marin. I was very fortunate to only ever get tapped out one time in competition by Dennis Hallman.”

After being an active competitor Sholty made the decision to begin instructing in 1998, and like his own grappling career, many of Sholty’s students have done very well.

“In terms of grappling competition highlights I would have to say that we have been very successful in every grappling event that we have entered, which is important to setting a winning tone,” said Sholty while discussing his team’s accomplishments. “”But what has made me the most proud is that we continually place athletes in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd podium position across all experience levels: beginner, intermediate and advance. The importance of this is that we always have athletes ready to step up to the next level; we don’t have to hope and wait.”

In the upcoming second part of this interview, Sholty will expand on his teaching philosophy, as well as, further discuss the careers of KOTC fighters like Sheen, Bernardo and others. Stay tuned.