MMA Fan Magazine
Interview by Edwin Jeffries
This months interview focuses on BJJ black belt, Butch Hiles. He owns and operates a BJJ and MMA school in West Virginia that has been making a lot of waves for a number of years. He has also been active on the political side of things by keeping jiu-jitsu legal in West Virginia and by fighting for the legalization of MMA in West Virginia as well.
Butch, it’s great to catch up with you. Real quick, for the readers who don’t know, give us a quick break down of why jiu-jitsu was illegal in your state:
It’s a long story but it basically boils down to the state athletic commission over stepping their bounds and not understanding the sport or anything that they were talking about. They tried to bunch martial arts in with MMA, even though they have absolutely nothing to do with one another when you are looking at them separately and when they are performed separately…just as boxing has nothing to do with MMA when you put on a boxing event. In the end, I feel they got caught up trying to bully the wrong people. A lot of the stuff that was done and said just didn’t make sense, and I find it hard to believe that the people involved were that ignorant.
In the end, we went to court and they got blown out of the court room because it was clear that they were getting involved in something that they should not be involved with. The commission then tried to make it a safety issue because of the submission aspect, which was also laughable. So, we showed how judo uses the same moves as jiu-jitsu and is an Olympic sport with an impeccable safety record, especially compared to boxing. Like I said, it’s a bit more complicated than this but that’s the gist of it.
Well thank you for fighting for us all. I am sure everyone appreciates it. Let’s move on to other things, though, and tell us what you currently have going on. Your team recently had a big night in the fighting world. Please, tell our readers about it:
Yeah, we had fighters fighting in two different states and three different cities all on the same night. It was a bit stressful and something we didn’t really want to do because we hated splitting the team up, but it’s something we had to do because of the opportunities that were presented.
We ended up going 14-0 and had people competing in both MMA and boxing (professional and amateur).
Wow, 14-0 in one night! Most people don’t accomplish that in one year. Congrats!
Yeah, I didn’t know what would happen. Of course, I am very confident when it comes to our fighters but I hate leaving guys because you never know how they will react without you. Luckily, we have a strong coaching staff and our guys really believe in each and every person in the gym.
Tell us about some of your coaches
We just added a main boxing coach, CT King, which was desperately needed. He has a lot of experience in NY with big amateur and professional fights and tournaments. His resume speaks for it’s self but what he has also added is a great training program for everyone. Meaning, the average guy who just wants to workout as well as the guy who wants to compete. This is very important because most trainers can’t balance the two groups.
That’s very true, but you guys have been successful for a long time. How is it that you just added a boxing coach?
Well, before this time I was the boxing coach. I split my time all over the gym and it really wore me down. It wasn’t very practical for several reasons, and I also don’t really consider myself a boxing trainer. I consider myself a fight trainer, like my friend and coach, Leon Ramsey, puts it. I can teach anyone to win a fight. I make good strategies and see things out there that many people don’t see. In fact, we won several Golden Gloves fights, boxing fights, and kickboxing world titles, while I was the primary coach. However, I am not a pure boxing trainer. I don’t know the sport inside and out and I don’t know it nearly as well as I feel I know BJJ or MMA.
It still sounds like you could get the job done, if you needed to
I believe so and I continue to work with the guys when they have MMA fights coming up, but its great to have CT there teaching people the real techniques of boxing. I now have complete trust in him and this aspect of our gym, which means I can spend a lot more time on other things.
I also need to mention Leon Ramsey. He’s my original coach and is still my mentor in the fighting world. Without him, I would not be where I am at today. He trained me for my first real boxing fight and showed me how to properly train people. He will always be there for us. In fact, he’s responsible for bringing CT to our gym.
That’s great that you have so many people around you. It’s hard to find people you can trust
Exactly. When I opened my new gym I wasn’t sure I was even going to have a stand-up program. I decided to concentrate on BJJ and train and the occasional MMA fighter, but we had a guy come one board who offered to do it, and against my better judgement I let him do it because he was an acquaintance of mine.
It was a complete disaster from start to finish. I might have had thousands of people come through the door but absolutely none of them stayed. He would have people spar who just walked in off the street, and he didn’t know what he was doing inside or outside of the gym. Honestly, it was a complete embarrassment to me and the gym. I tried to let it run it’s course to save whatever friendship that I may have had with his guy but that was a bad move as well. Luckily, I made the right business decision for myself and the people in my gym and the guy is gone now.
Our boxing program went from 5-10 people to 50-100 people almost over night. This is not and exaggeration either. This is the truth. There are times you can’t find a place to workout in the whole gym. It’s obvious who, and what, the problem was and I am thankful that he’s went to another place, which is actually just down the road, and will soon ruin their boxing program as well…(laughing)
It seems like things like that happen often in gyms but it’s good to see you guys are back to moving in the right direction. Has the rest of your year been as good as the other night?
Actually it has. We are undefeated in MMA this year and all of our fights ended in the first round. Most via submission and one or two via strikes. Our professional boxers and amateur boxers are also undefeated and we won some toughman titles and other big things. The BJJ guys also have some very big wins over some tough guys and are doing very well.
That’s amazing! How long have you and your gym been doing this?
As an official gym, I’d say we have been around since 2001 or 2002 even though I did some things around 1997-98. We were originally called Advanced Boxing, Kickboxing, & Jiu-Jitsu or Advanced BKJ for short.
Why the name change?
It came about for several reasons. My BJJ coach, Marcello Monteiro, suggested this a long time ago. He thought it would be helpful for marketing purposes, securing seminars, and a host of other reasons. I resisted it for a long time but ultimately decided that last year was time.
Why last year?
I actually stopped training people for about a year or two. I got burned out and there was some internal gym drama that went too far, so I just walked away. I needed to reevaluate why I was doing things and how I was running my business. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do for awhile and even quit training. Luckily, out of the blue, my friend Lee asked me to help him train on the side and we began training together.
After training with Lee for awhile, I got the love back for BJJ and we started inviting more and more people to train with us. I continued to train this way for awhile and thought it would be best if I just concentrated on myself and getting my BJJ black belt. So, I just trained my butt off and didn’t concern myself with a gym or anything else.
Eventually, all of the people who were training with me started asking me to help them more and more so I started to instruct a class or two here and there just to help them out. Eventually, I was awarded my black belt and my goal was complete. That meant I had to search for a new goal and with Marcello’s advice I decided to open a new gym and set the goal to make it the best place to train in the entire area.
Obviously, I could have opened it with the same name but decided I was about something different this time. We were starting fresh and I had new goals and new outlooks. That, combined with what Marcello had told me earlier, made the new gym become, Butch Hiles Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & MMA, LLC.
Are you happier now?
Definitely. I think I got too wrapped up in the MMA world and forgot why I started a gym in the first place. My goal has always been to help as many people as I could. Unfortunately, I was limiting my gym to a place where only the strong could survive. There’s a time and place for that but it’s not in your every day activities, and that’s something I have switched. I also feel like I am a better leader in the gym. It’s OK to be one of the guys but your business also needs someone to make sure it’s taken care of because ultimately you’re the only one who will.
Tell us about your new gym
It’s about 10,000 square feet and three floors. We have BJJ, MMA, Judo, Muay Thai, Boxing, mountain athlete Crossfit, and more. It’s a state of the art facility and keeps getting better.
Obviously, you guys have some great things going on. What would you consider some of your biggest accomplishments as a gym and a coach?
There are three things that I am fairly proud of.
The biggest accomplishment for me is Bill Dexter winning the IKF National title. Basically, he came from nowhere and had no prior experience and he and I did that almost all by ourselves. I have tape of him literally not knowing how to throw good kicks or punches to knocking out everyone he sparred with. We were such a small group back then too, so we had to work with what we had and really make things happen. He and I sparred with each other because we had no other option and he was 127 and I was 220, but we made it happen.
Another thing I am proud of is that at one time our gym owned every MMA title in every weight class in KY. That was a fun time and I doubt many people come close to that.
Finally, we had Billy Ayash win the 185 King of the Cage title when King of the Cage was second biggest thing to the UFC. I proud of that because of the prestige that it brought but also because of all the drama and turmoil that surrounded that fight.
It was great to meet and talk to you and I wish you and your gym all the best in the future. Is there anything you would like to add or promote?
We will have Wanderlei Silva in for some training and a seminar January 10th, so if anyone wants to be part of that please contact me through my website
www.advancedbkj.com. Also, look for the new TV show coming out about WV Fighters at
www.WVFighter.com , The state championships will meet every September and you can find out more info at
www.theWVgames.com, and finally come check us out any time at
www.advancedbkj.com
