The only Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt in Plant City can be found in the unlikeliest of places: the front of the Huff Muffler and Automotive Repair building.
But, Sam Kimmel isn’t working on the cars. He founded his Brazilian jiu-jitsu school, Cross Guard Fitness, in a rented space in the front of the building, clearly visible when driving along Collins Street. He knows it’s an unusual location for a martial arts school. But, it’s what’s inside that really counts.
Kimmel’s BJJ school, which opened in March, has more than doubled its enrollment since its inception. With 10 kids and 20 adults in the program, the training area can become quite crowded on a good day. And, he’s handling all of this mostly by himself.
“I teach all of the classes,” Kimmel says. “We do classes from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., and then 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Some of the other students help me out, but I teach all of the classes myself.”
It’s a labor of love for Kimmel, who has been involved with the martial art for a decade.
Kimmel, a Plant City native, began training in jiu-jitsu in 2004, in Lakeland.
“I started in 2004, for weight loss,” he says. “I was, like, 315 pounds. I lost over 100 pounds, just trained it off. I love it now.”
It wasn’t long before he was introduced to the Brazilians’ markedly different style of the art.
“Brazilian is like submission wrestling, grappling, a lot of chokes and arm locks,” he says. “It’s a ‘weak man defeats the strong man’ kind of thing — it takes a minimal amount of force to apply the biggest amount of pressure.”
Kimmel trained while working in the contracting business with his brother, but left after the housing market slumped in 2008. It was then that he decided to pursue a career teaching martial arts and began teaching in Lakeland.
Three-and-one-half years after his instructors certified him to teach as a brown belt, Kimmel finally earned that elusive black belt.
“It’s really a big honor, that someone would give you a black belt,” he says. “It takes eight to 10 years to get a black belt in jiu-jitsu. It’s really a hard thing to get.”
He began to look for a space in Plant City where he could set up shop. At first, he ended up subleasing space in the Krav Maga school near Park Road and James L. Redman Parkway. That allowed him to build a client base, which transferred over to his current location on Collins Street.
“I’ve known Cameron, the owner of Huff Muffler, for quite some time, and he leased this place to us,” Kimmel says. “This is how it started.”
Jiu-jitsu is probably the most popular discipline in the MMA scene. Despite his tough-guy attitude, Kimmel says the art is so much more than that.
“BJJ is really for everybody,” he says. “The person who wants to learn self-defense, the person who wants to lose weight, the person who wants to get a little bit more limber, who’s looking for more flexibility, and the people who are looking to better their lives.”
Richard Cole, who has been training with Kimmel since the Lakeland days, agrees. Having been with Cross Guard since March, he and his daughter are true believers of Kimmel’s style.
“Sam is a very detail-oriented instructor,” Cole says. “Lot of knowledge. All-around great instructor. He’s real keen on all the small details, on everything.”
Five months into its existence, Kimmel is looking forward to taking Cross Guard to new heights by next March. And, getting ready to send out his first-ever advertisements, he wants to show people that BJJ can do for them what it did for him.
“Jiu-jitsu has changed my whole life,” he says.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
SEE FOR YOURSELF
Cross Guard Fitness, 402 S. Collins St., is enrolling kids and adults in its Brazilian jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, cardio training and yoga classes. Kids ages 4 to 13 can take classes for $85 per month per child, and adults age 14 and up have two options: $85 per month for two classes each week, or $100 per month for unlimited access. Cross Guard is currently offering a free week of training as a part of this promotion.
For more information, call (813) 704-1090 or visit PlantCityBJJ.com.