TAKEDOWN.
CHOKE.
TAP.
REPEAT.
adrenaline shots for every body
Written & Photographed by Chloee Blair
Straight up - this shit can be intimidating.
Let’s say you’re a fairly “normal” person. Walk into that martial arts gym. There are dudes who look like fighters (they are fighters) sparring in the cage, some serious-looking girl with cornrows kicking the hell out of a bag, more guys air boxing to warm up, a mid-aged woman wrapping up a big dude in a choke - while smiling.
But that gym - Ancient City Martial Arts - is run by possibly the chillest Army veteran, now-retired longtime SWAT guy with the St. Johns Sheriff’s Department - Mike Plott.
I signed up at 38. I learned how to take down a guy the size of a wall at barely 110 pounds, take someone’s back and choke them ‘til they tapped, defend myself against guys twice my size.
I also got my ass handed to me.
It. Was. Fun.
I got all kinds of things out of it - body awareness, self-defense tactics that are now muscle memory, confidence, adrenaline every night.
Mike Plott, ACMA owner
Austin Ravan, instructor
Jiu jitsu was, by far, my favorite, but Plott’s gym offers a variety for both adults and kids - mixed martial arts, Muay Thai, jiu jitsu and hapkido/kajukenbo, which are street self-defense tactics arts.
Plott, who has been heavily involved in martial arts since he was a kid, recalls the first time he encountered jiu jitsu 17 years ago.
“I was like - what the hell is this?” He says, laughing. “Crap, I gotta learn another art.”
Plott, who’s black belts include a laundry list of arts (2nd degree in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, 5th degree in taekwondo, 2nd degree in Okinawa Karate and an 8th degree in kajukenbo), has been teaching martial arts for more than 25 years, running almost tandem to his years on the force.
Head coach for the gym’s MMA classes, Chris Puttick, now 33, remembers the first time he met Plott years ago, when Plott was teaching at North Florida Martial Arts.
“When they let me start going to the adult class, I was holding a body shield and they paired me up with Plott. I’d never felt somebody kick that hard and I was like - I want to learn how to do that,” Puttick recalls. “I looked up to him from that point.”
Chris Puttick, MMA head coach
“We have a lot of the same people from years ago,” Plott says, mentioning there is a father and son team who’ve been coming to ACMA for almost 10 years as they work on getting their black belts in hapkido together.
“People move, they get new jobs, they get families, so this takes a backseat. But then years later, they’re back here and I’m like - wow, you’ve grown,” Plott says, laughing.
Although he’s been at his loft warehouse spot off Old Dixie Highway for a decade, he said he’s looking to expand.
“We’re growing so fast. I need to find another building. Something with more parking, more square footage,” Plott says. “On a full day, it’s packed in here.”
They still manage to squeeze everyone in, using adjacent lots for parking, and have renovated the space so that Muay Thai and MMA are on one side of the building, while the other is fully decked out in padded mats for jiu jitsu and hapkido.
He says ACMA is really the culmination of an entire life spent in martial arts.
“It’s where it’s kind of flourished,” Plott says. “I put everything I’ve learned, all the years of martial arts and all these different styles I’ve taken. I’ve gotten rid of what doesn’t work, and combined what works.”
Check out Plott’s site to sign up (first class is free), or hit up his Insta for more info.
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