Ventura County · Fillmore
Self-defense & MMA in Fillmore
Self-defense, boxing and MMA coaching in Fillmore and Piru. The nearest real coach, and he comes to you.
Fillmore and Piru are about as far from an MMA gym as you can get in the county. If your kid wants to learn to fight, or you want to learn to defend yourself, the nearest option has usually been a long drive and a class time you can't make.
Private sessions change that. Rex drives the 126 and you train in your own yard or a local park, with the same coach who trained UFC fighters.
Fillmore sits in the middle of the Santa Clara River valley, about thirty minutes up the 126 from Ventura. Piru is another ten minutes past that, and Bardsdale is just across the river on the south side. Whichever one you are in, the drive to anywhere with a real coach has always been the reason not to start. Now it is his drive, not yours.
Space is never the problem out here. Most houses have a yard, a long driveway or a barn, and the ranch properties have more room than anybody needs. The streets off Central Avenue are quiet enough that a garage session bothers nobody. Shiells Park has grass and shade when you would rather be outside, and a school or church hall works when the weather turns.
The wrestling in this valley is decent, and wrestlers make fast progress once somebody adds submissions and striking to what they already do. Parents book because a kid needs somewhere to put their energy that is not the river bottom. Adults book because they have wanted to learn this their whole life and there has never been anywhere within thirty minutes to go and do it.
Who Rex trains in Fillmore
Families who want kids' or teen sessions close to home, high-school wrestlers who want to add submissions and striking, and adults who have never had a gym nearby.
Why people in Fillmore don't start, and how Rex fixes it
What has been in the way
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The first real coaching out here
No app, no video, no guessing from a highlight reel. Rex watches every rep and fixes it on the spot. Beginners start at stance and breathing. Wrestlers start from the position sense they already own and build out from there.
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Thirty minutes up the 126
Fillmore, Piru and Bardsdale are all covered. Your yard, your garage, a barn, the grass at Shiells Park, or a hall with mat space when it rains. The distance is his problem now instead of yours.
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The coach who trained UFC fighters
Three black belts, coaching since 2008, a pro debut at 42, and six fighters who reached The Ultimate Fighter and the UFC, Tony Ferguson among them. That is who is pulling up outside your house.
Questions
Training in Fillmore
Do you really come out to Fillmore and Piru?
Yes. The whole point of mobile coaching is that distance stops being the reason you don't train. Tell Rex where you are when you message.
My kid wrestles at school. Does this help or confuse him?
It helps. A wrestler already has the hardest part: position, pressure and a motor. Rex adds the submissions and the striking that wrestling never covers, and he keeps the two separate enough that nothing gets muddled in season.
Can neighbors or cousins split a session with us?
Yes, and out here it is common. Two or three people who already spend time together works well, because three is still not a class and every rep still gets coached. Message Rex with how many and their ages and he will tell you how he would run it.
Rates are discussed personally with Coach Rex through Instagram direct message.
Start here
Talk to Rex
first.
Every plan is built around the person, so the first step is a conversation, not a checkout page. Tell Rex what you're after and he'll tell you exactly what he'd do with you and when.
- Reply the same day, usually within the hour
- No contract, no sign-up form, no sales pitch
- Gloves, pads and mats provided for your first session
- Beginners welcome. So are fighters.
- Rates are discussed one on one with Rex in your Instagram DMs
Or just call or text805-759-1133
Send one line. Rex takes it from there.
- “I want to learn to defend myself”
- “I want to get in fighting shape”
- “I want to compete”
- “I have a point Muay Thai or boxing match and need a corner”
- “My kid needs somewhere to put that energy”
- “Women-only sessions, please”
Prefer email? Rexyrnr@gmail.com