If you want to change the world, start with your community
Contributor/Writer: Peggy Sue Wood
It’s a good fight. In one corner, you have Free MMA Gyms, a small non-profit gym in Cathedral City, Calif., and they’re ready to swing, waiting for the announcer to finish the introductions and for the fight to begin. In the other corner, you have the intangible aftermath yet to be seen by COVID-19. The buzzer rings, the fight begins, and who do we see standing round after round as COVID takes its hits? The Free MMA Gyms.
Free MMA Gyms is a small gym located that offers free services to anyone over the age of 6. Founded by Jarred “Bear” Fiorda, a black belt martial artist and MMA fighter, and his mother, Michelle Fiorda, The Free MMA Gym services aim to provide a healthy and safe place for underprivileged youth, low-income adults and seniors located in the Coachella Valley to learn self-defense, get fit, get strong, and get more confidence.
The “Bear” grew up in Desert Hot Springs, Calif., with his widowed mother. From a young age, he understood that she struggled to pay for his martial arts classes and would often work two jobs to support the then-hobby. He was grateful but did not understand why she did so until years later, as he saw many of his friends drop out of the classes due to their parent’s inability to pay. He noticed, as did his mother long before him, that far too often, his friends from the same community ended up in drugs, gangs, or much worse after leaving the local program.
He noticed that those who kept up with their training often lived better, if not safer, lives within his community. They were confident and could defend themselves, and the experiences created bonds of friendship among the different martial art classes of youth. As a result, with the continued support of his mother, he’s now devoted himself as an adult to building a non-profit gym(s) to help his community—and, eventually, he hopes the world.
While there is still a lack of clear evidence of increased physical activity’s capacity to prevent crime and promote community cohesion, the community surrounding Free MMA Gyms is indeed feeling the impacts of Fiorda and the gym-volunteers efforts.
Every class, from Jujitsu and Taekwondo to mixed martial arts and self-defense, is free, and you won’t find signs or the volunteers working there pushing for donations. Their goal is to build up their community, and they feel like driving their members, who are generally from low-income households, to donate defeats the purpose of being free. Instead, you will find that Free MMA Gym provides classes to hundreds of students of all ages and backgrounds with the help of volunteer instructors that have completed or continue to compete in the mixed martial arts field.
The owners and founders, as well as volunteers, have put their blood, sweat, and tears into making Free MMA Gyms shine. The “Bear” pays for the bills when donations are not enough, as he fights live matches on Facebook live streams and in cage fights. The experience has sometimes left him injured, but for him, it is a labor of love for his community. In our interview, the “Bear” said he’d “go to hell and high water before I’d let COVID bring this gym down.”
It’s this fighting spirit that keeps the gym alive despite having to temporarily close due to COVID-19 and California’s lockdown. While some of us have been sitting at home, watching copious amounts of television and eating our way out of the “beach body,” the “Bear” and his team have been working hard, and their efforts have not gone unnoticed. You’ll find that Free MMA Gyms is gaining celebrity support and a growing online social media presence across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. There you can see free self-defense and martial arts video lessons hosted by the “Bear.”
(Video about Free MMA by founder Jarred Bear Fiorda on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR4aujHY/ )
The members of Free MMA Gyms are fighting the good fight for their community. They hope to bring more support to their cause through their social media outreach. You can check them out for yourself at http://Facebook.com/FreeMMAGyms or by looking them up @FreeMMAGyms on all social media platforms.
