Simmons punches a sports path toward protection

Mike Simmons of Cape Girardeau is confident that if it comes down to it, he can protect his family. Not that they can't stick up for themselves.

Simmons, 40, has been involved in martial arts for the past 22 years, and the rest of his family has been involved every step of the way.

"I went to a drive-in to watch a Chuck Norris film 22 years ago with a friend," he said, explaining the day he became interested in martial arts. "After that movie I thought it was pretty cool to be able to beat people up."

Although that's what got his attention, it isn't what drives him any longer.

"These days it's more about protecting myself and my family," he said.

The martial arts days started out tough for Simmons who was first instructed by an ex-military veteran who taught a difficult style of martial arts.

"His philosophy was that a bad guy wasn't going to pick you up and throw you down on a mat, so he taught us to fall on parking lots," Simmons said. "It made a lot of sense but it scared the bejesus out of you."

Simmons spends much of his time teaching now but strays from the same philosophy.

As of now, the program he runs is a volunteer program and has been since he started, but future plans may include beginning a commercial school to better reach children in the area.

"I really enjoy teaching kids. They're the ones who are really interested in this kind of stuff," Simmons said. "It's just like any other sport. As people get older they look at it for different reasons. Kids are just out there to have fun."

Simmons has also been involved with a full-contact self-protection program for women, which he says is useful because participants can actually see how much power they actually have instead of having to imagine.

"In a lot of those programs, the women learn but they don't get to go full-contact so they are left guessing whether or not their moves will work on a bad guy," he said. "Here, we load up with about 20 pounds of padding and let them go at us. This way they know it works because they have seen it work. It gives people confidence when they can see."

Simmons is excited about the lessons because not only does the sport provide for safety but it also teaches people of all ages a moral and ethical base to help protect themselves. He's confident in the program because his wife and three children have been involved from the get-go.

Lisa, his wife, has been involved with Mike since their engagement. Two of their children, Ryan and Laura, started the sport as young as age 2. The youngest in the family is 11 years old and was literally born into the sport because mom was practicing in the early stages of her pregnancy.

"Some kids learn how to throw a ball at a young age," Simmons said. "They learned how to throw sidekicks and punches.

"The kids have seen it all. They have seen me get beat up, they have seen Lisa beat me up, they have been exposed to all sorts of opportunities and view points of the sport."

But Simmons says it isn't all about the physical aspect.

"In every match you're testing each other to all sorts of limits, and when it's all said and done, you know that you have shared something very unique. It is a sort of camaraderie, a brotherhood that I haven't seen in any other sport."