Eugene Jackson's MMA and Life Lessons on Brotherhood and Family

Eugene “The Wolf” Jackson is one of the original pioneers of MMA who was buried in the trenches of battle back when respect was the only win bonus.

At 15-9-1, the bulk of Jackson’s career fights took place pre-millennium before the sport hit mainstream and marketable fighters were enticed with lucrative sponsorship deals and widespread exposure.  Jackson’s rap sheet is checkered with prominent old school opponents like Wanderlei Silva, Jeremy Horn, Royce Alger, Ricardo Almeida, Sanae Kikuta, and Ronald Jhun; foes he faced in nostalgia-inducing promotions like SuperBrawl, IFC, IVC, and the ephemeral Bas Rutten Invitational.

His most noteworthy performances were in the UFC from 1999-2002, and in his scattered fights in recent years he attained the Strikeforce middleweight championship belt with a submission win over Jhun, which was a duplicate result of their first scrap in a 1998 SuperBrawl show.  Jackson would then relinquish the strap to Joe Riggs in his next and final career fight.

“The Wolf” hails from the rough and tumble streets of East Palo Alto, C.A., where your senses have to remain sharp and your guard has to stay up even when you’re not on the mats.  A resounding comment during an emotional time inspired Eugene Jackson to make a positive impact on the community he grew up in, and he decided to open up his own school called “Gladiators Training Facility” six months ago.

What separates Jackson’s gym from others is the entire premise under which it’s run:  all classes, all training, and all memberships are free of charge, and specifically targeted towards the city’s youth who have many more negative role models and outside influences than positive.  The scope of learning for the students goes far beyond the complete MMA curriculum and instruction from the boxing, Thai, wrestling, and BJJ specialists that Jackson has brought in.

The importance of family and the bonds of brotherhood that develop through respectful camaraderie and taking care of each other have become the hallmark of Gladiator Training Academy.  People from all ages, gender, nationalities, and backgrounds are welcome.  In the short half-year that the academy has been open they have quickly accumulated forty regular members from all walks of life.

The entire spirit of traditional martial arts comes alive in Jackson’s selfless efforts to give good kids a positive outlet for their time with the mental and physical strength and harmonious peace that accompanies being a student of the arts.  The theme at the very core of mixed martial arts is embodied by Jackson’s philosophy to be open to and accepting of all different backgrounds that show worth, only in this instance it’s applied to human beings instead of combat systems.

Some people train to shed a few pounds, others to compete recreationally, some for a career, and a select few train because martial arts has become their religion, stability, and balance in life.  The latter applies to Jackson, and now to all of his students.   Jackson’s team has become a close knit family of support and strength for each other, and he will often host “Sacrifice Weekends” where students will spend the entire weekend training, sleeping, eating, and hanging out at the gym.  Games are played, movies are watched.  It is not uncommon for the entire team to gather at one house after practice to share a meal together.

The icing on the cake is that Jackson has a few standout students who are proving to have the potential to make major waves in the sport.  A former all-star rugby player at East Palo Alto High named Fatia Vialala, a native of the Tongan Islands, is exhibiting a rare instinct for MMA.  Jackson revealed that his longtime friend and training partner Tim Lajcik hobbled around for a week after working with Vialala to improve his leg kicks.  Needless to say, he picked up the technique quickly and well, as he has with everything else.

The aspect of family became literal when Jackson’s two sons joined the gym after originally deciding on football as their athletic preference.  Proving the genes run in the family, his 16 year old son Casey tore through two grappling tournaments with a skill that defied his age and experience.

With only 4-5 months of training traditional BJJ and even less time with no-gi, Casey submitted every one of his opponents in the youth division, and then vaulted up to the men’s division and gave the adults the same treatment--except for his match in the finals, where a game competitor who holds a brown belt in Judo was able to beat him on points.  He did the exact same thing in his second tournament, and after soundly submitting his way all the way through his division and the first few matches of the adult, he was forced to withdraw due to an injury.

Nikko, Jackson’s 19 year old son, recently competed in his first amateur MMA fight and won by brutal knockout in less than 30 seconds (video below).

After taking a chance and expending countless hours and dollars to give kids and young men and women the chance he never had, for nothing in return, the addition of his two boys to his cohesive family of fighters was the icing on the cake for Jackson.

Does this sound like a cliché’ script for every feel-good martial arts movie you’ve ever seen?  It is.  The beauty is that it’s reality.

Jackson claims his efforts are non-profit—which is an outright lie.  Monetarily, perhaps; however the wealth of exemplary guidance, spirituality, and overall tremendous worth that comes from taking someone under your wing and treating them like family represents the rich reward that comes along with the brotherhood he’s created, which is something that money can’t buy.

-Dallas Winston