Whether it’s through winning medals at grappling tournaments or adding King of the Cage Canadian titles to the team’s trophy case, more and more MMA fans are likely becoming familar with Prince George’s Sholty Jiu-Jitsu and MMA. Last week KOTC Canada posted the first in a two part series with the man behind the team, Murray Sholty, where the 36 year-old instructor discussed his own background in martial arts, as well as, the notoriety his team is increasingly receiving.  In this second part of the interview, Sholty elaborates on the philosophy he employs for teaching MMA, before discussing the careers of current KOTC Canadian Flyweight Champion Clayton Sheen and former Canadian heavyweight champ, Adriano Bernardo.

Prince George has for years now forged a reputation for producing highly skilled fighters, as well as, for being one of Western Canada’s MMA hotspots. This success in the sport has taken place, despite the fact that the Northern British Columbia community is located far from any major cities or renowned MMA centers, like Las Vegas or Montreal.

“The reason why we train the way we do is because of our geographic location, we are a long ways away from other bigger cities that might allow use to train with other MMA clubs, this has been instrumental in us developing self reliance,” said Sholty when asked about why his team is not affiliated with any internationally renowned Jiu-Jitsu Academy or team.  “We take accountability for learning both striking and grappling techniques and then applying them to real situations.”

It is Sholty’s ability to apply techniques to “real situations” that has drawn the praises of his students like Sheen, who in a recent article with KOTC, was quick to credit his instructor.

“This real application of techniques is a process that takes place though developing the attributes and skills of the athletes,” Sholty said. “Our process is simple: drill functional techniques against non-resisting partners, situational sparring, live sparring and then field testing. This process is done by isolating each phase of MMA combat using the following styles: Kickboxing, Boxing, Wrestling/Judo (Standing Grappling) and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (Ground Grappling). Then putting it all back together for MMA.”

“What is field testing? Well for us field testing is competing in the individual styles above with the emphasis on competitions in the grappling styles of Judo, Sambo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Submission Grappling,” Sholty elaborated. “This allows us to gauge our students’ response to competition environments and access their development.”

Two of the men who have clearly benefitted from Sholty’s instruction are the aforementioned Sheen and Bernardo, who the fight guru believes still have their best years in fighting ahead of them.

“The abilities of Clayton and Adriano are continuing to expand,” said Sholty about the notable KOTC competitors. “Their grappling exploits are well known and will always be one of their strong points. We are consistently trying to improve their striking techniques specific to kickboxing and boxing, also striking in the context of a MMA; this process is going extremely well.”

“I believe that if they keep on the proper training path that they are on they’ll have many more exciting victories in store. I believe that they have been positive representatives of Prince George, Northern BC, and British Columbia in the past and in the future will be positive representatives of Canada on the World MMA stage.”

The team’s roster of competitors doesn’t end with Sheen and Bernardo, however, and Sholty provided a list of fighters who fans should keep an eye out for.

“Presently Clayton Sheen and Adriano Bernardo are leading the way with their successes in KOTC. We have two distinct groups at different phases: 1) Title contenders: Darrin Schritt, Keith Gagnon and Hank Lukyn  and 2) Development stage: Tim Jeffreys, Kodie Bird, Jerry Daoust, Garrett Werstiuk, Mike Green, Brandon Budd and Daniel Martichuk.”

Sholty recently completed his Master of Business Administration degree at the University of Northern British Columbia, opening even more possibilities in terms of the Prince George trainer’s future goals.

“My immediate aspirations are threefold: 1) Enjoy time with family and friends 2) Prepare the next KOTC champion (Schritt, Gagnon or Lukyn) and 3) Look at new potential opportunities that a MBA can provide. I have a feeling that all three goals will be closely interconnected.”