Dundalk MMA Students Ready to Fight

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Most reasonable people will do anything they can to avoid a fight. Not so for Practical MMA teammates Chris Clark, Sean Kelly and Adam Rabuck.

On Saturday night at Stellar Fights in Harrington, DE, they will put their martial arts skills to the test in steel cage, amateur mixed-martial arts bouts. All three are Dundalk High grads.

At first glance, Practical MMA appears to be a typical rec council martial arts program. The classes, held twice a week from 6 to 7 p.m. at , feature students practicing kicks and punches as well as working on choreographed katas (karate movements).

However, the classes later in the evening are a completely different animal, featuring students dressed in more practical workout gear –tight fitting Under Armour shirts that allow for precise striking and grappling and loose fitting shorts that won't hinder a roundhouse kick.

The later classes start with the students working on their Mauy Thai striking combinations, with one partner holding pads as the other switches from punching to kicking to elbow strikes as quickly as possible. The action then quickly moves to grappling and Ju-Jitsu and winds up with MMA sparring.

Tom Clark, the founder of Practical Martial Arts Training Systems and its lead instructor, is one of the few people certified and authorized to teach the late Bruce Lee’s art of Jeet Kune Do. Clark has trained personally under three original students of Bruce Lee – Dan Inosanto, Larry Hartsell and Richard Bustillo.

“Bruce experimented with various other martial arts training methods and concepts such as boxing, judo, Japanese ju-jitsu, as well as Kung Fu,” said Clark. “Bruce was only interested in what worked in actual combative fighting. There are no sporting aspects within Jeet Kune Do training. The techniques, training methods and concepts are all geared to end the conflict or fight as quickly and efficiently as possible. It can be argued that Bruce was the original mixed martial arts fighter.”

Tom Clark will act as cornerman for his son, Chris, as well as Kelly and Raybuck at Stellar Fights. Chris has an amateur MMA record of 2-1-1, but Kelly and Raybuck will be entering the cage for the first time.

Chris Clark is an instructor in Jeet Kune Do and holds black belts in Goju-Ryu / Jissen-Ryu and Karate/ Jiu-Jitsu and has trained under Hartsell, as well as Carlson Gracie, Jr. He will be fighting Bruce Baker, 2-4, from Team ROC in North Carolina, in the 154-pound weight class.

Kelly, a 6-foot-5 athlete who played lacrosse and soccer at, will be fighting Jo Lilly, 0-1, of Twin Impact Martial Arts.

“I feel that Practical MMA has really prepared me to compete,” said Kelly. “When I first started training here I was terrible, I think I got tapped out in four seconds the first time I sparred. In the beginning, I felt awkward with my punches and threw my kicks off balance, but now I'm more confidant and I throw my strikes with strength, speed and balance.”

Kelly credits Chris Clark as being key in his development as a well- rounded fighter.

“Chris and I were friends in high school and he's a pretty easy-going guy,” said Kelly. “But when it comes to training, he is all business. There isn't a thing about fighting that he doesn't know. Whether it's in the stand-up game or the grappling game, he works hard to correct any technical errors we might have. There is a counter to every move, and Chris knows the counter to the counter.”

Rabuck, a commercial crabber out of Essex who also works as security at Baltimore's Power Plant Live, started his athletic career as a guard for the Dundalk High School football team before moving on to play for several semi-pro teams in the area. He finally gave up football to train in MMA. Rabuck will be fighting Ryan Long of Olympia Fight Club, who will also be in his first bout.

“I felt I had accomplished everything I could in football,” said Rabuck. “I needed a new challenge. Now mixed martial arts is my passion. MMA is a much more individual sport than football, if you lose you can't blame anyone but yourself."

Chris Clark is proud of the progress of his two students and feels that they will do well in their upcoming fights.

“The first time you fight, it's scary as hell,” said Chris Clark. “You go into the cage and it's just you, the other fighter and the referee. You hear the clink of the gate locking and its a whole different ball game. When Sean came in, he was really raw and basically had no ground game and now he is winning grappling tournaments. The same thing with Rabuck, he was basically a big, strong football player with no fight skills to speak of and now he is ready to test himself against another fighter.”

Practical MMA holds classes every Tuesday and Thursday at Norwood Elementary their website is www.practicalmma.com.

Children – Karate / Gi Jiu-Jitsu / Gung Fu / Self Defense Class (ages 5-13) 6 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Adults – Karate / Gi Jiu-Jitsu / Gung Fu / Self Defense Class (ages 14 to Adult) 7 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Adult MMA Class: 8 p.m. - 10 p.m.