Ovince Saint Preux
“When I graduated from the University of Tennessee, I had a degree in Sociology but no job. I wanted to stay active, because I had seen so many of my previous team mates get out of shape when they stopped played football. So I started training martial arts to stay in shape while I looked for a job. I got a professional job and started my career, then the recession of 2007 hit and I, like many others, lost their jobs. I kept training while trying to find work, but it was hard. I remember Coach Eric and Coach Joey having to come pick me up for training sessions because I couldn’t afford gas or my car wouldn’t get me to training. I had like 6 roommates and was struggling to make ends meet. Coach Eric never asked me about paying, he knew my situation and he knew I was working hard in the gym. Even when I went pro and started making money, Coach Eric refused to take any of my purse money because he knew how badly I needed it to get caught up on bills and pay back loans. Coach Eric said, “When you have nothing, we won’t take anything. When you have a lot, we’ll take a little.”
I’m a big believer in Martial Arts; because it has taught me so much that I thought I knew playing sports my whole life: self-confidence, self-discipline, team spirit and loyalty. I know now it looks like it’s always come easy to me, but it really hasn’t. My parents emigrated from Haiti. My mom and dad still only speak Haitian Creole. My brothers and sisters and I grew up in a really poor neighborhood in Immokalee, FL. While sports scholarships were our way out of that life, it is through Martial Arts that I have been able to truly prosper – both financially and as a person. It was one of the proudest days of my life last year when I could buy my parents a new house in a nice neighborhood. I myself have been able to buy my own house with cash and save myself money without having to get a loan. I’ve also got a great retirement fund and when my MMA career is done I have so much more freedom to make sure my own family will be more taken care of than I was. Football brought me to Knoxville, but Martial Arts is what truly changed my life.
This is why I’m such a big believer in The Elysium Organization. I’m the proof that a poor kid, the kid of immigrants, can really make it big and radically change their life, the lives of their families and the lives of those around them.
– Ovince Saint Preux
Dre Miley
“I started doing martial arts at the age of 19. The impact of doing martial arts has inspired me to not only to better myself but to inspire others to show them that anything is possible if you set your mind to it. Through the six years of learning martial arts, I’ve learned to cope and adapt to being visually blind in my left eye and now I’m a professional MMA Athlete!
My self-confidence and esteem has been greatly impacted by my training. Martial Arts have positively influenced my family life by showing me the importance of family not just in the gym but outside the gym. Martial Arts have taught me to be a role model and better father for my son. This has strengthened the bond between my son and me through the love and passion I have for both him and the arts. The patience of raising and teaching my son has been an easier experience and I owe it all to martial arts. Without martial arts I have no idea where or what I would be doing. I am very happy that I chose martial arts and all the people I encountered on this journey.”
Shamir Peshewa-Jackson
“Martial Arts have provided me with a safe environment where I could grow and learn life skills. When I started training five ago I was not confident, in a terrible relationship, not in school, and had no life goals. Martial arts taught me self-discipline how to set goals. Now, I’ve graduated with my degree, own my own business, and am married to an amazing man who truly appreciates me. I am truly confident and happy.”
– Shamir Peshewa-Jackson
Olivia Parker
“The friendships I have gained and skills that I have learned in my three-year journey in martial arts have been amazing. I have lost more than 150 pounds (and I’m still losing!) and I have gone from being badly out of shape to fighting for an amateur MMA championship. I have seen my body and mind transformed. My training has led to a new confidence in myself and a new zest for life. My marriage is so much better because I am so much happier and I am finally able to play with my two boys without getting tired. I have gained a legion of very positive friends and teammates at KMAA. I have leaned on them many times throughout my journey. At times they have really held me together. It is through them that I really found myself. It is through them that I found the strength to try myself. It is through martial arts that I learned how to grow as a person because Martial Arts are far more than a sport; it is a way of life that has brought much happiness and contentment to my family and me.”
– Olivia Parker