Fighting.net Quiet Mind, Dangerous Body, Compassionate Soul™

– Instructor Philip Surprenant took his first steps into Martial Art in 1979 at the age of twelve years old. This early introduction would pave the way to him having a passion for learning and later teaching “real life self defense.” To Philip this meant he must become proficient in all four ranges of hand to hand combat. Philip found, at the time, there are very few groups of people that share this philosophy of well rounded fighter. He eventually immersed himself in the teachings of the Legendary Bruce Lee and his Concepts of Jeet Kune Do.(JKD)  
Being molded by instructors such as  John Lelis, Kevin Sheldon, Dan Inosanto, Erik Paulson, Larry Hartsel, Paul Vunak, Ramon Rubia, Ajam Chai, Jean Jacques Machado, and Francis Fong shaped Philips abilities to an extremely high level of proficiency. These instructors influenced Philips combative style with arts such as: Filipino Martial Arts, Shoot Fighting. Muay Thai Kickboxing, Boxing, JKD Grappling, Wing Chun and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
This is however not the only path Philip took. In the 1990s Philip noticed a style of fighting in the UFC that was forcing fighters to become effective in all four ranges due to the emergence of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. These fighters were Mixing Martial Arts to be effective just as Bruce Lee had done years before, however, with a new Gracie twist thrown in the mix. This style training, with these modern day warriors, quickly became a love for Philip. With his mixed style Philip began teach MMA and grappling in early 2001. In 2003 and 2004 Philip was appointed head coach for Universal Grappling Academy’s MMA program under the brilliant tutelage of Instructor Dr. Tyson Johnson. In 2005 Philip joined with the Wander Braga Bjj, Submission Grappling & MMA Fight Team. Being personally trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by Professor Wander Braga himself has added a entirely different dimension to Philips abilities creating a truly Elite JKD Instructor with Ground Fighting skills that are second to none.  
For over a decade Progressive Fighting Systems has been the meadow where all paths have started, and all eventually return for Philip. Sifu Paul has encouraged Philip to Strike with the Pros and Grapple with the Elite adding purity and depth to Philips’ teaching.