701 United: Fitness, Faith, & MMA

who teach Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, and a variety of exercises for members. Workout sessions are done in groups in order to develop strong relationships in the neighborhood community and are followed by a 15 minute spiritual conversation and challenge. History

701 United started in the carport of Ivan Paz in the summer of 2012. Over a six month period, 4 individuals to a total of 25 became a part of the club. In December of that year, 12 youths made a public commitment to faith and 8 others in August. The spiritual maturity of half of these boys has been unbelievable. 701 United had its grand opening as a community gym on January 25, 2014 and has created a few jobs for committed youth. Goals,Vision, Mission

Our goal is to cultivate healthy lifestyles among youth and fight against obesity, drug use, and bullying in the 93701 community. Our vision is that a new generation of young leaders from the 93701 neighborhoods would seize their community, take ownership of it, and transform it. Our mission is to equip the teenage youth of the 93701 neighborhood with the discipline, responsibility, and respect needed to become both followers of Jesus Christ and community leaders by providing responsible fitness and martial arts training in conjunction with Christian discipleship. Why Martial Arts and Urban Youth?

701 United seeks to intercept and redefine the role of “violence facilitator” that gangs have in the neighborhood by creating a new image of honor and respect regarding physical combat. Criminal street gangs have shaped the perspective of inner-city culture on what conflict resolution should look like. Conflict is thus usually resolved through violence out of fear and is often unregulated and unfair: such as multiple people against one (“jumping”) or the use of weapons. With the current high demand and attraction to mixed martial arts, especially among urban youth, respected trainers at 701 United instill in students the value for regulated and fair competitive sparring (combat) through active lessons and bible studies. In fact, in April 2013, young members of 701 broke up several fights in the neighborhood because they understood them to be “cowardly” or “unfair.” Along with these 701 boys who stopped the fights, a small crowd of residents followed their claim, hence reshaping the rules of physical conflict. These parameters around physical conflict are not ultimate, however. The stance of 701 is that violence is never acceptable, but like Jesus being powerful yet turning the other cheek should be the norm. This idea of “fierceness in humility” is something that is so foreign to 701 youth, it will take some time for them to fully grasp. For now, parameters and boundaries around fighting seems to be working and reducing the violent patterns most of the program participants come from. What do the numbers ’701′ stand for? The name “701 United” is intentional. Inner-city youth understand the pride that comes with urban territory. In this case, we express our pride in our neighborhood. Many in this context express their good pride in distorted ways because there aren’t any facilitators of expression. Pride and love for neighborhood seem to be expressed through intimidation and destruction. 701 is exclusive to the 93701 area in order to capitalize on the value for “turf” and neighborhood pride, but is set up to challenge the youth to develop healthy forms of community by engaging a long process of physical and spiritual development in unity. The added community service projects are designed to develop a sense of ownership of the relationships and neighborhood.