MOUNT VERNON — If you believe in yourself and you committed and loyal, you can reach your goals.
That’s the message Trent McCown, a local Mixed Martial Arts fighter and instructor, teaches his students. McCown can be seen at the Mount Vernon YMCA Sports Center, training others to be stronger, both mentally and physically.
His classes are not just for kids. They are for anyone with the motivation to learn.
“There’s a lot of kids that come to that class — ages 12 to 14,” explained McCown, ”I also help out my age — adult males. It varies. I’ll teach anybody who wants to learn.”
Although he is not through with his own fighting career by a long shot, teaching and training others is the next logical step for McCown. It was a training stint with a well-known Muay Thai and martial arts teacher that may have inspired McCown to start passing on his knowledge.
“I went to do a month at Mark DeLegratti’s in Boston,” said McCown, who is part of LJJA (Lashley’s Jujitsu Academy). “All those guys there are world-class fighters, and he is a world-class trainer. I held up with them and I learned a lot of things. I felt like I left there a different kind of fighter. I felt like I could share this knowledge with people and help them if they want to do this. This is my dream. I want to do this the rest of my life. I just want to help people, who love the sport and want to learn much more.”
One of McCown’s dreams is to build up the Arthur Russ team, a group made up of area fighters, into national contenders.
“It would be nice to have a team of fighters here, all trained seriously,” said McCown. “They could spar and everything seriously, trying to up their game and get better for their next fight. Really, I have a lot of guys help me a lot, but eventually I’d like to build a nice team of fighters right here. That’s something I’ve always wanted.”
The classes train students in mixed martial arts and MMA conditioning and kick boxing. For those interested, the classes are Monday through Thursday at 6 p.m. at the YMCA Sports Center, with an optional class on Friday.
“Mixed martial arts conditioning really ups the cardiovascular system,” said McCown. “You’re training in the most extreme sport in the world. There’s a lot of circuits that go with that. With kick boxing, I teach a lot of technique. That’s what I believe in — technique and using it to your fullest. In Jujitsu, I teach a bunch of technique, moves and a bunch of one-on-one timing. It will really up somebody’s game.”
Kick boxing and Jujitsu are good for rounding out a fighter’s skills and sharpening their technique.
“Kick boxing is its own discipline,” said McCown. “People can take what they learn and compete in kick boxing if they like. Really, what I’m trying to teach and what I know is mixed martial arts. In my kickboxing classes, I might show you a couple of techniques that really are only good for mixed martial arts and people can learn from that. Jujitsu is mainly universal. Conditioning is pretty much getting in shape, feeling good about yourself and doing things that you couldn’t do before.”
