Kickin' it: Martial arts instructor brings technique to Lynchburg

Local martial arts teacher Andy Henson got punched in the stomach by Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell at a restaurant in California.

It wasn’t a barroom brawl. Instead, the punch marked Henson’s initiation into The Pit, a mixed martial arts school and fight team in Arroyo Grande, Calif.

For four days in February, Henson was pushed to the limit during a training seminar with 10th degree black belt John Hackleman, who owns The Pit and coaches Liddell. In one exercise, Henson had to push a wheelbarrow filled with 220 pounds worth of barbells up and down a 100-yard hill.

“I walked about 10 or 15 yards and was like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t feel my arms anymore,’” he says.

In the end, Henson earned himself a place in The Pit “Ohana” (Hawaiian for family) and accolades from “The Iceman,” a fan favorite in the world of mixed martial arts known for his Mohawk and tattooed scalp. The lightweight champ took time out from his national book tour to make an appearance at the graduation ceremony.

Now 36-year-old Henson is bringing The Pit’s techniques and conditioning methods to Lynchburg. Henson’s certification with The Pit makes his program at the Jamerson YMCA the first affiliate school for The Pit on the East Coast.

At 6 feet 4’’ and 220 pounds, Henson walks with an aura of confidence. A third degree black belt in Shaolin Kempo, Henson has never had to use his martial arts skill to defend himself in his adult life.
“When you learn martial arts well, you end up with a calm and confident character,” he says. “Most people won’t mess with you.”

His love for martial arts began at age 10 when he enrolled in a Kung Fu class at the downtown YMCA. Since 2001, Henson has been teaching child and adult classes of his own at the Jamerson Y.

Henson teaches a Hawaiian-based Kempo system that blends aspects of Karate and Jiu-Jitsu from Japan and Kung Fu from China. The resulting style combines the striking art (punching and kicking) with the grappling art (throws, joint locks, chokes and ground work).

In recent years, mixed martial arts has surged in popularity. It began in 1993 with the first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which Henson calls the “big daddy of martial arts competitions.” Now fights air regularly on Spike TV.

Though the skills Henson teaches could be transferred to professional fighting, Henson’s classes are about fitness, discipline and self-defense.

Henson rattles off the five traits of a martial artist: effort, etiquette, character, sincerity and self-control. These are the qualities he tries to instill in his students. On a personal level, they are also the qualities that kept him out of trouble as a teenager and helped him avoid the pitfalls of the music industry, namely drug and alcohol abuse.

“Martial arts really helped me keep a straight head,” Henson says.

Next to martial arts, music is Henson’s second love.

By 11th grade, Henson was in a rock band. At 36, he’s still rocking. His most recent band — Crashing Down — is on a hiatus. The singer and guitarist is looking to regroup.

For 15 years, Henson worked at the Record Exchange (now Plan 9) and wrote a heavy metal column for the Music Monitor, interviewing many musicians including Kirk Hammett from Metallica. His guitar hero is George Lynch from Dokken, an ’80s hair metal band.

After an eight-month stint as an undercover security guard at the Madison Heights Wal-Mart, Henson took up teaching martial arts full time in 2006. He’s been doing it ever since.

For more info
-- Visit www.lynchburgkempo.com for more information on Henson’s martial arts classes.
-- For more on The Pit, visit www.thepit.tv.