Last Updated on October 21, 2013.
Discipline Key To Teaching For Syosset Instructor
Teach someone to how to succeed at one thing and you teach them to succeed at anything! That’s the driving force behind Mixed Martial Arts Instructor Nick Gravina’s teaching philosophy. First and foremost he teaches his students the foundation of success. Secondary to that is the individual techniques of Self-Defense.
So what is the foundation of success. It’s a formula Gravina first learned himself as a student at Tiger Schulmann’s Karate in the 1980’s. While the techniques Gravina is teaching have improved over the last 30 years, the formula is still the same!
Karate Taught Him Self-Discipline
For Gravina, his start in traditional Kyokushin Karate taught him more than Self-Defense. It was the theme of focus, perseverance and a positive attitude he heard in every class that resonated. It resonated so much that he quickly found himself on the path to teaching himself.
He has been Head Instructor of Tiger Schulmann’s Mixed Martial Arts in Syosset for more than 20 years. During that time his incredible passion has been passed on to thousands of young students who have learned his secret to success. By showing them how focus and a “non-quitting spirit” lead to success at anything he has inspired a generation of local kids to push themselves to be great at everything they do.
His enthusiasm and skill at his chosen profession are so great that he has inspired more than a dozen of his students to go on to successfully teach Tiger Schulmann’s Mixed Martial Arts themselves.
Belt System Passed Down From Karate
In traditional Karate students had very defined goals to achieve a promotion to their next level. As schools have cropped up throughout the United States students are routinely passed to a new belt simply for showing up for class a number of times.
Sensei Gravina has never lost track of the importance of Achievement in building a students confidence. If he simply allows a student to proceed to a new belt without achieving something of value the belt has no meaning and instead of building a students confidence, can take confidence away!
Gravina interacts closely with each student to make sure they have clearly defined goals in each and every class. His rules do not vary and it makes for a sense of comfort for his students. At the same time those goals are challenging enough to push a student to their limits. By helping his students achieve things they might have thought impossible, he teaches that Self-Discipline will help them achieve anything.
Transition to MMA Doesn’t Leave Karate Spirit Behind
Over the last twenty years Gravina has not lost his own passion for training in the Martial Arts. Routinely traveling to Elmwood Park, New Jersey to train with the 70 other instructors throughout the Tiger Schulmann’s organization, Gravina has sharpened his own skills.
His constant training has helped him better serve his own students. By constantly improving his own technique and learning the most effective techniques of a Mixed Martial Art, Gravina is able to prepare his students more quickly to face any real world Self-Defense situation.
His training partners include some of the most successful Martial Artists in the world. He frequently trains with former World Champion Lyman Good and current and former UFC competitors like Louis Gaudinot and Nick Pace.
While honing his own skill at Mixed Martial Arts to a high level and passing it on to his students, Sensei Gravina has not left behind the roots of his Karate training. The Personal Values and Self-Discipline of Karate will always be at the heart of his teaching.
His mastery of this process is what has made him a staple of Martial Arts in Long Island for two decades and what keeps students coming back to his school for years!