Join us on Saturday April 2nd for our open house and official grand opening event. Meet your favorite Black House Team Nogueira fighters: Anderson Silva, Rodrigo Nogueira, Rogerio Nogueira and Junior Dos Santos. Also scheduled to attend are MMA fighters Mark Munoz, Dominick Cruz, Travis Browne, and pro boxers Aaron Garcia and Mercito Gesta.

Be sure to bring your camera and memorabilia to have signed because this MMA studded grand opening is guaranteed to be a knockout. Stick around to explore our facility, enjoy the music and food, and if you’re lucky you might be one of our free giveaway winners picked at every hour.

Details:

April 2nd 2011 – 12PM – 6PM

Black House Team Nogueira: 7550 Miramar Road Suite 330 San Diego, California 92126

Download the PDF Flyer

By: Jen Valencia

Kru Alex Palma put his students up to the ultimate challenge to prove their Muay Thai skill in a test for 1st khan yellow band ranking. A week long, grueling test culminated on February 17th where each student faced a fresh, highly skilled, opponent every two minutes for 5 rounds without rest.

Palma had these inspirational words to say, “All of the students that tested tonight, that fought your hearts out against special opponents that possessed more power, skill and confidence than you, and you students stood there, in the ring and faced each one…without rest and none of you backed down or succumbed to your instinctive fear of lying down and quitting. That is what is called ‘courage’. They say fatigue makes cowards of the bravest men and I am proud to say that I am surrounded by some very brave people. “

Congratulations to the following people who persevered through this challenge: Jerwyn Umali, Noly Tegonciang, Jeet Dhindsa, Julian Lizarraga, Albert Shepard, Abdullah Shehadeh, Michael Phelps, Alfredo Jimenez, Justin Platero, Marvin Magdariaga, and Dustin Everett. Laurence Madariaga was also granted his title of “Kru”, or Senior Instructor. Congratulations to Kru Alex who has helped cultivate such focused warriors in the BHTN Muay Thai program.

By: Jen Valencia

Black House Team Nogueira Gym was buzzing with excitement on January 28th as friends, family, and fight fans gathered to witness the first in-house Muay Thai Tournament and Exhibition organized by Black House’s Kru Alex Palma. Guest fighters came from gyms as far as Northern California and Los Angeles to enter the ring against BHTN’s Muay Thai students.

Black House all stars Tiffany VanSoest, Kristina Alvarez, and Marvin Magdariaga faced accomplished athletes from other gyms in action-packed exhibition matches. Another highlight of the evening was the announcement that Black House Team Nogueira would host a Grand Opening event in March to be attended by famed fighters Junior Dos Santos, Anderson Silva, and of course, Rodrigo and Rogerio Nogueira to name just a few. The successful night marked what is sure to be the first of many in-house tournaments at Black House Team Nogueira.

By: Jen Valencia

Erin runs a tight ship in the BHTN Strength & Conditioning Class

What do you get when you pair an inherently extraordinary athlete with one of the best training teams in the world of MMA? You get twenty seven year old native San Diegan, Erin “Dead Aim” Beach who is here to take the MMA world by storm, one opponent at a time. We were lucky enough to touch base with Erin before facing his next opponent to find out more about this MMA up and comer.

JEN: Erin, tell me about your background in boxing and your explosive entrance into the world of MMA.

ERIN: Back in 2005 I was working full time and started taking boxing classes locally. I’d always been a pretty athletic kid, so I picked up boxing pretty quickly. One day I was training and Brandon Vera approached me and invited me to his new gym. It just took off from there. I had an 11-1 amateur boxing record, and won my first two pro MMA fights [vs. David Reeder, and later, Joao Silva. You can read more about Erin’s impressive bio on the Black House Team Nogueira instructor page].

JEN: You don’t know much about your opponent for your upcoming fight at Soboba Casino, but are there any areas of strategy that you’re focusing on?

ERIN: Luckily from a strong boxing background I already have a good striking foundation, but I’ve been training with my Muay Thai Kru Alex Palma to take my kicks and knees to a new level. I’ve also been training more and more on the ground; I’ve been working on rounding out my game doing more and more wrestling and jiu jitsu, too.

JEN: How has your fight game evolved since you began teaching and training at Black House Team Nogueira?

ERIN: I have a lot of really good training partners here at Black House Team Nogueira, and when I’m teaching here, I can take those same drills and incorporate them in to my own training program. Also, through working with such an all star team I’m able to elevate my game.

JEN: You’ve been lucky enough to train with some of the finest sparring partners and coaches. If you had to pick a few favorites, who would they be?

ERIN: Definitely topping the list would be my Muay Thai coach, Alex Palma. I also have a long list of awesome sparring partners like Dominic Cruz, Adrian Melendez, and Phil Davis.

JEN: Tell me a little about the man behind the fighter.

ERIN: Well, when I’m not training, I spend most of my free time playing with dolls.

JEN: Really? That seems… a little out of character.

ERIN: Well, I have a 3 year old daughter and she’s really girly, so I spend a lot of time playing games she wants to play. And playing with my pit bull mix; taking my dog for walks or to the beach. But really, between training and teaching I don’t have a lot of free time, and when I do, it’s really spent with my daughter.

JEN: Favorite Pro Fighter (other than Anderson, Big and Little Nog, Junior Dos Santos and other Black House patriarchs, of course)?

ERIN: Chris Lytle

JEN: Favorite cheat food?

ERIN: Carne Asada Burrito

A native San Diegan, indeed. There you have it, fight fans. Black House Team Nogueira’s own Strength and Conditioning Instructor, Erin Beach will face an, as of yet, unnamed opponent at Gladiator Challenge, at Soboba Casino February 20, 2011.

Scott Hirano Photography

By Matt Nixon

Black House Team Nogueira’s own, Marvin Madariaga will face Carlos Caliso at Epic Fighting 4 this Friday night at the Four Points Sheraton in San Diego, CA. We interviewed Marvin heading into his fight to find out his thoughts on competing in his first amateur MMA event and his experience training at Black House Team Nogueira.

MATT: So Marvin, you are a relatively young fighter, what can you tell us about your background and how you got involved in mixed martial arts?

MARVIN: I originally started wrestling in high school. I did Judo and wrestling, and then eventually I moved out to San Diego for art school and my brother got me into Muay Thai. And then I pursued MMA as a sport. Eventually I built up my skills and I wanted to compete. So this is my first fight coming out, my first amateur fight.

MATT: What motivated you to train at Blackhouse Team Nogueira?

Scott Hirano Photography

MARVIN: Originally, my brother told me it was a good facility. His friend is Kru Alex Palma. And so it was easy for me to go to Mira Mesa because my brother lives up the street and I wanted to train in MMA. So I moved from the Boxing Club to here because they don’t really have MMA classes there. And they have really good Muay Thai here.

MATT: What new things have you learned since you started training here?

MARVIN: A lot of movement. I was a traditional muay thai fighter. I would move forward and just brawl with guys, pretty much. Here they work a lot of movement, angles, and alot of my wrestling developed from moving here. Even jiu-jitsu and learning to incorporate it with MMA.

MATT: How would you rate your coaches at Black House Team Nogueira & how have they impacted you as a fighter?

MARVIN: I have the best coaches here! My brother is ridiculously good at stand-up and Kru Alex is really good at movement. It’s teaching me different looks. You get different looks from different coaches. And you take a little bit from each coach. Coach Erin (Beach), our MMA coach, has alot of tricks up his sleeve. I have learned alot from each of these coaches they are all really good.

MATT: Would you recommend Black House Team Nogueira to others interested in training in MMA?

Scott Hirano Photography

MARVIN: Oh man, definitely. Black House is definitely a great place to train. You get good training, good stand-up, they have good cardio classes, it’s a complete package for anybody looking to be a fighter.

MATT: So Marvin, you just finished training today, how are you feeling heading into your first fight?

MARVIN: I’m just getting my head straight. I’m just getting in kill mode as I would call it. And just visualizing everything. I’m gonna hit this guy hard. He doesn’t really know much about me. I don’t have much fights, but I would say they think I’m the underdog because I don’t have much fights under my belt. There is no information about me, but we’ll see…him on the ground pretty much. Haha.

Marvin Madariaga Trains For Epic Fighting 4

MARVIN: Thanks to all my coaches. Kru Alex, my brother , Erin Beach, Adriano Camolese. They are all great coaches, they worked with me alot for this fight and I appreciate all the work they have put into me and they believe in me. I thank them, so much.

Thanks to Marvin for taking the time to answer all my questions, while headed into his big fight this Friday. Best of luck to Marvin on behalf of the entire Black House Team Nogueira team!

By Jen Valencia

Vincent was born into the boxing game. Son of former California state champion, and world ranked fighter & trainer Norman “Bumpy” Parra. Vince started boxing as an amateur when he was 13 years old and after a 3 year break to play high school sports (football & basketball), Vince began to compete again from ages 18-24 in tournaments across the US and Europe.

In 1999 after deciding not to enter 2000 Olympic qualifying tournaments, he chose instead to turn professional and debuted in November 1999 with a 1st round KO. Vince won 6 of his first 7 fights 3 by KO before injuries and management problems led to long breaks. After losing his last 3 fights in a row, Vince decided he wasn’t dedicated enough to keep fighting. With no regrets and great experience, most notably a 5 week training camp as World Champion Sugar Shane Mosley’s chief sparring partner in preparation for Mosley’s 2000 fight with Oscar De la Hoya, Vince made the change to trainer.

He assisted his father, Bumpy, with WBO 118 champion Cruz Carvajal. After working with Carvajal, Vince began to train various boxers along with currents -Mercito”No Mercy”Gesta 19-0 9KO (current WBO Youth Lightweight Champion). 2x Olympian and 2x National Champion and current pro Aaron Garcia 9-1 3KO.

Vincent welcomes men and women of all fitness levels to learn the art of pugilism. Classes meet Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 7:30pm.

By Jen Valencia

All out of great gift ideas after the holidays? The Black House Team Nogueira clothing and gear shop is open for business! Clinch brand fight shorts, Team Nogueira t-shirts, gis, and sweatshirts are great gifts for friends and family. Check out our huge stock of clothing and gear in the fight shop near the front desk.

Not sure about sizes? Gift certificates in any denomination are also available. Not sure what to get your wife or mom? How about a gift certificate for a one month membership to try out any of our classes! Inquire at the front desk to purchase clothing, gear, or to buy gift certificates!

Junior Dos Santos at Black House Team Nogueira

By Jen Valencia

Upcoming Season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter will be coached by former UFC Heavyweight champion, Brock Lesnar, and number one contender, Black House’s, Junior Dos Santos, announced Dana White on January 11, 2011.

Junior rose to #1 contender status after a long list of notable wins over Fabricio Werdum, Stefan Struve, Mirko Cro Cop, Gilbert Yvel, Gabriel Gonzaga, and Roy Nelson.

The location and date for the match-up between the two coaches will be announced in June and the fight surely won’t disappoint. Black House Team Nogueira Gym will undoubtedly be a hub of activity leading up to the fight.

Filming of TUF will begin later this month and the first episode of the season will air on Spike TV on March 30.

By Jen Valencia

Every year, millions of people make the New Year’s Resolution to be healthier, more fit, and to lose weight. How can Black House Team Nogueira help you stick to your New Year’s Resolution? Here are five tips to help you stay on track to a healthier you! First, getting support and encouragement from others is key to fitness success. At Black House Team Nogueira, our instructors build a positive team atmosphere to help everyone meet their fitness goals. A second tip to keep your fitness resolution is to do a variety of activities so you don’t lose interest.

We offer many types of classes from Muay Thai to jiu jitsu and cardio conditioning to keep things new and exciting. Third, enlist the help of knowledgeable professionals to optimize your performance. Just looking at our list of highly accomplished instructors and staff you can be assured you have the best team in your corner at Black House Team Nogueira. Fourth, give yourself concrete goals to track your progress. Remember, weight isn’t the only factor by which you can judge success.  Whether it’s a higher belt, more rounds, or a faster time, we can help you set up

smart and measureable goals. One last tip to stay on track to fitness success is stick with it! We offer a variety of classes at all times of the day to cater to life’s busy demands. Let Black House Team Nogueira assist you in sticking to your fitness resolutions.

By Jeet Dhindsa

First and foremost, we want to give a big “WELCOME BACK”  to Rodrigo who has returned from Colorado after a successful tune-up on his hip. On the night of his return, Black House Team Nogueira members paused mid-training and began applauding as he made his way through the gym’s front door on crutches. It was a magnetic moment that swept the entire gym and drew everyone towards him as he greeted them with a fist pound and big smile.

Afterwards, it was back to business as everyone resumed their training with Rodrigo looking on from the side, but then something unbelievable happened. Rodrigo pulled a pair of dumbbells from the rack and started doing shoulder presses! Most people take it easy after an operation, but not “Big Nog.” The man is determined to achieve his goal of fighting at UFC Brazil this August. Local MMA news site, San Diego MMA caught up with Rodrigo for an exclusive interview, which you can catch here.

Our blog and online media channels are live!

This is the fist of many blog posts to come, so stop by often and check us out on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to get the low down with the team and gym.

Our Latest Promo Video:

Checkout this awesome promo video and if gets you pumped to start the new year right then give us some love by dropping a comment or sharing it!

Thanks to FortyOneTwenty for an excellent job producing this video. We highly recommend them for your video production needs.