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  • Mason Nixon is April’s Martial Arts Kid of the Month

    “Mason has gained so much confidence since he started with SBG!! All of the coaches have been so good with him!! We just talked about his progress last week and he said he knew this was something he was going to do for a long time.”

    These are the words from Lori Nixon, Mason’s mother. While Mason hasn’t been doing martial arts at Straight Blast Gym very long, he has taken to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu like a fish to water. Mason’s first visit to SBG Buford came at the very end of last December. Lori remembers the first time they met martial arts coach Sean Coleman:

    “When we initially met with Coach Sean, Mason had been in his very first fight, which was initiated by the other boy. Mason is a very sensitive kid and he did not like being involved in this whatsoever. He didn’t really know how to react, but he wanted to be able to not only defend himself but also be able to possibly defuse the situation.

    It is not an uncommon reason for kids to find their way to SBG Buford’s martial arts program. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has proven itself to be one of the most effective martial arts for practical self defense. Just about every fight you see between kids ends up as a wrestling match. Lori and Mason realized this and enrolled Mason in our kids martial arts program.

    Despite being new to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Mason competed in our in-house martial arts competition, the Gorilla Cup, earlier this year. At the end of the day, Mason won his division and took home a gold medal!

    “I think he has learned so much more from SBG and the coaches, but most importantly, he has made friends. He enjoys coming to class and continuing to learn.” -Lori Nixon

    Jim Sheppard

    is one of the co-owners of Straight Blast Gym Buford and Straight Blast Gym Atlanta. He has been training / coaching / competing in Muay Thai since 2013 and holds a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.