Greetings! And welcome to the ETC blog where you will find all manner of health, fitness and Evolve-related information. Feel free to put down your gym bag, grab a seat and make yourself comfortable. 

So what’s Evolve Training Center all about and what makes it so unique? I mean, it’s just another run of the mill martial arts gym, right? If you’ve perused our website or visited our gym, you already know that ETC is run by a team of highly trained and skilled fitness and martial arts experts dedicated to their members’ success and well being. You know with absolute certainty that you will receive quality and professional training and instruction at our facility. Let’s face it, those are the types of things any gym worth its salt would and should say about their team. And while it’s unassailably true, luckily for us, that really only tells part of the ETC story! 

Here’s the thing. I’ve trained at a lot of different gyms over the past two decades. Mostly following my lifelong friend Coach Mark around because I’m stubborn, and I don’t trust anyone else with my training. However, as time marched on and the banalities of daily life insisted on hogging all my time, my training declined from the 6 days a week of my halcyon days of youth to maybe once a week. At those other gyms, I would routinely disappear for weeks, if not months, at a time. There was something missing from all those other places that I, thankfully and finally, found at ETC.

For many of us, Evolve has become a second home. Not just because of the amount of time we spend here, but because of the people we’ve now dubbed as our family. I come to classes not just to get an awesome workout but also to commiserate with my fellow classmates.  For me, training has become every bit a social activity as it is a physical one. We work hard in class but we still find time to smile and laugh, to tease and encourage each other. And that’s one of my favorite things about ETC: the culture of fun and accountability and the community that the staff and coaches have built and fostered among the members. This is a place where members can feel like they’re part of a large, loud, incredible, family. We’re accountable not only to ourselves and our coaches, but to our fellow members as well. 

ETC is your friendly neighborhood gym, welcoming to everyone of any fitness and martial arts experience level. With a lot of kids classes available I often see whole families working out together. The kids always seem to be having a blast, judging by the high pitched squeals of delight that reverberate through the space during their classes. The adults also seem to be having fun, judging by all the wheezing and sweat-drenched clothing. The coaches are just the right blend of approachable and challenging, finding creative and engaging ways to get the best performance out of us without being obnoxious about it. Coach Mark can definitely count Jedi Mind Fu for convincing members to stick around for sparring among his many skills. 

And that’s part of what makes our coaches special: because they take the time and effort to get to know each member, they know how to tailor their approach and motivation tactics to each of us.

Being a member at ETC since the doors officially opened in 2011 has been a privilege. I can’t imagine training anywhere else (mostly because I can’t imagine anyone else putting up with all my idiosyncrasies), and I look forward to another 20 years (or more!) of training with this crew.