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Phoenix Rising: The Elite Athleticism of Train. Fight. Win.

Sky Rudloe discovered the sport of MMA and joined what, at the time, was being called the “Tallahassee Fight Club.”

by Alissa Rudloe

Train.Fight.Win. was founded in January 2007 by Mike and L.A. Jennings who were inspired to design strength and conditioning workouts to improve their performance in grappling and kickboxing competitions. The Jennings began hosting workouts for their training partners and friends, both outdoors and at the Shaolin Kung Fu school on Tennessee Street, until people who saw the group working out approached them and asked to join. At that point, Mike and L.A. officially opened Train.Fight.Win. (TFW) as a formal gym and began providing training and competition preparation for fighters, runners, triathletes and anyone looking to get in shape. The motto of the gym was “Training with a Purpose,” and all members were encouraged to try some form of competition, whether it be a local 5k, a sprint triathlon, or a grappling tournament. In August of 2009, the Jennings moved to Denver, Colorado, where they have run Train.Fight. Win. MMA for the past seven years. Alissa Haberfeld Rudloe took over the gym in Tallahassee when the Jennings moved, and the gym refocused on high intensity fitness, changing the name to Train 2 Win Fitness.

Around the same time the Jennings founded TFW, Sky Rudloe discovered the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) and joined what at the time was being called the “Tallahassee Fight Club.” The Fight Club was an informal group of fighting sports enthusiasts who trained in small, underground spaces, in people’s homes, and garages. A wrestling coach would bring old mats and his expertise to whomever showed up for that training session. There would be one guy who knew some Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, another guy who knew judo, and another with a kickboxing background. They would all get together and even seek out an old buddy who had wrestled in high school to develop their skill set. This was well before the first season of the Ultimate Fighter reality show brought the sport into the public eye.

After borrowing space from several different martial arts schools, the Tallahassee Fight Club decided to get their own space. Tallahassee Mixed Martial Arts (TMMA) opened in an old warehouse on Capital Circle North West, next to the interstate, and when it did, Rudloe began teaching a conditioning class and discovered that he had a passion for coaching.

TMMA carried on much like the Fight Club, but it operated more like a club than a business. Whenever a new student walked in they saw sweaty guys, without shirts, savagely pounding on each other. Classes were inconsistent, especially as the school started to falter. People would arrive for their first class, only to find the doors locked, because someone had to work late or had just forgotten to show up. Much of this wasn’t the fault of the people at the school since the coaches were volunteers and the school was always a side project of the owners.

It wasn’t long before people started to split away and open their own clubs. Rudloe went to train at many of them and soon found himself teaching several MMA classes per week at two different schools.

By 2013, TMMA and Capital City Combat Club (C4) closed their doors, and Rudloe decided to take action. In order to galvanize the remaining student base at C4 and retain the coaching talent that would soon have no school in which to teach, Sky and Alissa Rudloe decided to expand the Train 2 Win fitness club into a new MMA school. They changed the name back to Train.Fight.Win., ordered new equipment and mats and signed a lease on a run-down older building on Gaines Street. Three days after the last preexisting school closed, Train.Fight.Win. Tallahassee opened its doors. Sky recalls, “after an exhausting three day clean-up of the facility, we managed to get down one little strip of mats and three punching bags. Most of the fitness equipment was in a pile, and the front desk was just some old boxes. To put it simply, it was a mess. We were open though, and everyone had a place to train.”

Since opening its doors, TFW Tallahassee owners Sky and Alissa have worked ceaselessly to create a welcoming environment for all of its members, both experienced fighters and new fitness clients. All of the income for the first three years went back into the facility. When a punching bag splits, it is replaced. If a boxing glove rips, it is thrown away. The equipment is clean and maintained. All of these things were necessary changes from the old schools, but just as importantly, Rudloe explains, “we had to fix the environment. Alissa and I had learned that not everyone walking in to check us out was a fighter, or wanted to be one. Most of the people are looking to try something new. They want to get in shape, but are tired and bored of the big box gyms or dislike the aggressive attitude that exists at so many boot camp type facilities. We both knew that the public’s image of us as street brawling thugs in a stinky dog pit of a gym was our greatest obstacle to overcome. We strove to ensure that each person coming in was made to feel welcome. Desk people greet new students, show them where to go, and introduce them to the coaches. During their first class, new students are placed with an assistant coach who will show them the basics before they are expected to keep up with the rest of the class. Our competition team strives for a state of professionalism in our training, not alpha male aggression.”

Since its inception in 2007, Train.Fight.Win. has gone through many transformations and changes, but it maintains a commitment to helping everyone achieve their goals. Alissa explains, “we have created a place for great athletes to sharpen their skills, yet we provide a place for anyone (ages 6 and up!), of any fitness level to come and get healthy in a fun and different environment. Most importantly we have fostered a social environment and many friendships and relationships started at our facility.” Sky adds that “students who came in simply looking to shed a few extra pounds, have found themselves with their arm raised or medals around their neck in a ring or at a finish line. TFW genuinely helps people, and we hope to keep doing so for a long time.”

Note from Sky and Alissa: We have so many people over the last four years who have helped build our gym to what it is today. Thank you to our families for always supporting us, Alissa’s family: her brothers Greg and Danny and her parents Joe and Maureen Haberfeld. Sky’s dad, Jack Rudloe, his brother, Cypress Rudloe, and especially Sky’s late mother, Anne Rudloe, who always encouraged Sky to do what he loved to do. We would like to thank our first martial arts coaches Harrison Pfeiffer, and Sifu Les Clements for instilling the values of training. Thank you to our mentors and to the founders of TFW,
Mike and L.A. Jennings, who have taught us how to work as a unit, and who have now built TFW into one of the best MMA gyms in Denver. Thank you to Lance Maxwell who gave TFW a water fountain (Maxwell Plumbing) and valuable business advice. Thank you to our coaches who have taken our values and their knowledge to pass on to members. So many to name but particularly those who have been with us since the beginning and in no particular order: Eric Johnson, Danny Haberfeld, James Wright, Alex Calienes, Franklin Price, Joe Miller, Josh Lindsey, Brett Watson, Ramon Kietzman, Ralph Valdez, Socrates Pierre, Suzanne Simpson, Gabe Sejas, and Christian Inga. Thank you to our amazing friends who support us day in and day out – you know who you are. Thank you to our members for supporting our business. Thank you to the late Josh Samman who taught us all what it means to be a fighter, RIP. Last but not least, thank you Tallahassee and we hope to be here for many more years to come!

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