​We hope that everyone has enjoyed a holiday season filled with happiness and great times!  As the dust settles on the commotion and we begin a new year, it’s a great time to recommit to our goals and make plans to breath new energy into our lives.  We’re going to start the year right with some nice additions to our schedule that we know you’ll like.
Beginning this month, for the first time ever, we'll be introducing daytime Thai Kickboxing classes.  These will be on Wednesdays and Fridays from 12:00 to 1:00 PM and will be perfect for folks who's schedules prevent them from attending evening classes, or just as an alternative time to attend.  Thai Boxing, or Muay Thai, is known as “the art of eight limbs” as it employs the hands, feet, elbows and knees.  Training in Muay Thai is incredible for overall fitness, strength and conditioning, cardio-vascular health, self-defense, and STRESS REDUCTION!  Getting started in this amazing art requires no prior experience or training, but only the desire to learn and work!
We'll be also be adding a Martial Arts Strength class on Monday evenings at 7:30 PM. This class will focus on developing functional strength using free-weights, kettle-bells, medicine balls, and body-weight exercises.  This class will be an amazing compliment to Martial Arts training, but also great for today’s busy lifestyles.  This class also requires no prior experience to get started.
The last addition to our 2018 schedule will be a class called "Haito" on Wednesday evenings at 7:30 PM. This will cover a wide variety of material including essential striking drills, escape techniques, important ground-fighting strategies, stretching/yoga, meditation, and more!  This is intended to compliment any of the training at ZenQuest, and requires no prior training to attend.  
We hope you’ll give these new classes a try, and enjoy them thoroughly.  So, make your New Years resolutions happen at ZenQuest, and we'll see you in class.  Happy New Year!
 

      Matt ‘Machine’ Bienia made a splash at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday, January 6th.  Matt fought Nathan Ghareeb of Manley Jiu-jitsu for the ‘Reality Fighting’ Lightweight Amateur Title.  The bout was a back-and-forth battle that went to 2 minutes and 11 seconds of round three, where Matt finished Nate with a slick arm-bar.  This was deemed as the "Fight of the Night" in the 100th event for one of New England’s biggest MMA promotions, and the crowd love every minute of it! 
     Rounds one and two are best described as a slug-fest, with Matt pushing the pace and aggressively moving forward.  This made it difficult for Nate to get settled and work his Muay Thai game, probably his biggest strength.  At times, Matt would put Nate on the cage and attempt takedowns.  Nate’s cage defense was solid though, and this would result in a stalemate, forcing the action back into the striking game.  Bienia slipped a few times during the fight (partly due to a new cage canvas), which probably didn’t help his cause with the judges.  At 44 seconds of the third round, Matt connected with an overhand right and Nate fell backwards to the mat.  Matt immediately took top position and began to work his jiu-jitsu game.  After looking for a choke from the front for a bit, Matt spun to Nate’s back.  Ghareeb was defending well, but Matt slid over his back to set up the “face-down” arm-bar.  Matt, intelligently turned Nate face up, but Nate continued to defend.  After some smart technical adjustments, Matt was able to get the tap and secure the win.  Nate and his team showed a lot of class afterwards with great sportsmanship, which can be rare sometimes in this sport.
      Matt worked especially hard during his fight camp,  which went through the holiday season.  Huge credit also goes to the fight team, who also showed up for training every week, including: Neil Von Flatern, Chris Brouse, Chris Bradley, Tilo Jackson, Chris Kupernik, Trace Kimple and Keith Sansoucy.  Also key to Matt’s success is his awesome wife and training partner Karyn, who helped Matt with everything from diet and nutrition to cornering the fight.  
      Congratulations to Matt and Team ZenQuest for this incredible performance!  Special thanks to the team sponsors for their support.  Keep an eye out for more amazing stuff from team ZenQuest in the new year.

ZenQuest held an ‘Advanced Concepts’ clinic for it’s senior Muay Thai students on Saturday, December 16th.  After some discussion on leadership and instruction, the participants practiced some advanced kicking and punching drills using faints, and mixing up target levels.   Lastly, the group spent some time doing some technical sparring with different partners.
At the conclusion of the clinic, five students were promoted including: Chris Bradley to 1 stripe blue prajiet (arm band), Matt Moreau to 2 stripe blue prajiet, Chris Jp Brouse and Chris Kupernik to 3 stripe blue prajiet, and Matt Bienia to brown prajiet.
Congratulations to those promoted, and to everyone on some great training!
 

Kru Mark DellaGrotte will be returning for another incredible Thai Kickboxing seminar on Saturday, February 10.  Considered one of the best Muay Thai coaches in the world, Kru Mark always provides a top-notch learning experience, and this will be no exception.  
DellaGrotte has trained and fought in Thailand directly under legendary fighter and Grandmaster Senanan Yodtong.  He has also coached numerous world class fighters in Kickboxing and mixed martial arts.  In some cases, he has turned people with weak striking skills into virtual ‘killers’ overnight with his “DellaGrotte Karate.”  He’ll bring the same effective coaching to this seminar.
The three-hour hands-on clinic will be from 12:00 to 3:00 PM.  Pre-registration cost will be $100 until Thursday, February 8, after which the cost will be $120. Local students may register at the front desk, and ‘out-of-towners’ will soon be able to register via PayPal or the ZenQuest website.  Space is limited for this so please reserve your spot ASAP. 

Occasionally, during the winter months, the weather will become intense enough to present a  serious travel risk for our students and instructors.  This can result from a single, severe weather event happening at the time of classes; or from an accumulation of events leading up to the time of classes.  Other indicators can be other major organizational closings and local travel advisories.  If it appears that travel will be too risky during class times, the school will close for that time.  Students can verify these closures by checking the school’s website or Facebook page, checking their e-mail, and by checking for a message on the ZenQuest phone at 413-637-0656.