Transform Your Fitness, Mindset and Future with Alta
Most people want to transform their fitness, mindset, and future but don't know-how. That's where Alta comes in. Alta (formerly known as Wimp 2 Warrior) is a unique program that takes regular working-class people and transforms them into warriors. In 20-weeks, people go through an immersive training camp to learn everything they need to know to step into an MMA ring. That's right, after 20-weeks of training, moms, dads, bankers, dog-walkers, you name it - are transformed into fighters.
Alta partners with world-class MMA gyms to provide participants with incredible training from the best coaches in the world, in a local gym near you. This is a progressive program where participants train 5-days a week and each week builds on the skills they've already learned. Participants learn together, sweat together, hurt together (because physical and mental transformations are tough), and bond together. You become connected to a unique hodgepodge of individuals you may have never crossed paths with but because of the drive to be better, you have found each other in this program.
In the fall of 2021, Systems Training Center ran the first Alta program with 15 amazing warriors.
How Did It Work?
Here at Systems Training Center, we had planned on running the Alta program (formerly known as Wimp 2 Warrior) before the pandemic began. When we were asked to start it during the latter part of 2021, we almost declined. Even though the restrictions were easing up, we were still in the middle of a pandemic and how many people could we really get together to enter an MMA fight? I knew that it had been done successfully in Australia, where the program originated, as well as in England but could we do it in Los Angeles?
Los Angeles is a beast of its own, with the amount of traffic and competition from other events, sports, and a myriad of things that will make it hard to commit people to come train for 1.5 hours, at 6 am, 5 days a week, for 4.5 months! We decided to at least hold the tryouts to grasp what type of interest there was.
After 3 weeks of hosting tryouts, we had some people interested but would they last there was still a lot of concern with COVID. As we started the program, we had 15 people who had joined and I remember thinking to myself “how many of these guys and girls will actually end up fighting at the end, one? Two? Who will even last through the rigorous training schedule?”
Over the years, we’ve seen many fighters who train less intensely than that, and for 4.5 months? We were sure we would have a huge drop-out as time went on.
It was a group of nervous, many out of shape, individuals who showed up for the first day of training. Not exactly MMA-fighter caliber but they went at it with passion and drive which was remarkable to see.
Participant Results in the Program
Their stamina increased
Their athleticism improved
They were losing weight and gaining muscle and definition
Their technical skills, stand up (kickboxing) and on the ground (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) were improving
Their mental strength and fortitude were transforming
And this was just about halfway through the program! Improvements continued to grow and participants yielded results like compound interest.
Seeing the physical transformations are always very gratifying because we were there to see the beginning of the journey. And the mental growth and psychological transformation were truly awe-inspiring.
Even though it was hard work and early in the morning, they smiled more, they had more energy, and a ton of fun together! To train five days in a row isn’t too hard for one week, anyone can do it. But to grind it out, week after week is hard for anyone. It’s even harder if you haven’t worked out in many years, which many of them hadn’t. It’s hard because along with training your body physically, it takes discipline to get up at 5 am to go train at 6 am even when the body is hurting. To do so day in and day out, for almost five months is really difficult and that’s when your mental strength truly gets tested! But it is also where we thrive as humans, believe it or not.
Fight Night
What made the program extra special was that the fighters got to fight on a real, professional fight card, Celtic Gladiator, which is one of Southern California’s biggest promotions, at the Commerce Casino. The Alta warriors got to open the professional card and everyone was excited to see the participants finally get their chance to showcase their hard work and also to see how they handled the pressure.
Performance anxiety can kick in when holding a presentation in front of co-workers but stepping into a cage in front of thousands of screaming can easily turn the toughest person into a deer in headlights very fast. Therefore, you can never truly know how a person will act or perform in their first fight. Coaches often see great gym fighters who struggle with putting it together in real fights. Usually, you have one, two, or maybe three new fighters on a card. Never before in my life have I had 12 (!!) new guys all making their debut at once! I was both really excited as well as intrigued to see how they would all perform under pressure. Surprisingly these warriors handled the pressure with true professionalism and many of the fights were as exciting, if not more, as some of the professional fights!
Final Words from Marcus Kowal
Marcus Kowal, founder of Systems Training Center and one of the coaches in the program said this when asked about his experience with the program:
Towards the end of the series, I remember walking in one early morning to watch them train. I remember watching them go through some tough drills and thinking to myself “they’re really moving like MMA fighters!” and then to see them joke around with each other and the incredible group dynamics made me realize that this was something special. What had started off as an additional martial arts program to Systems Training Center had become so much more. It was truly a mind, body, and spiritual journey for the participants and a special experience for me as a coach.
I am incredibly proud I am of all fifteen people from different walks of life who didn’t only prove to themselves what they were capable of; they proved it to everyone else too, on the most intimidating stage: the cage.
All participants worked their asses off and ultimately, came out on the other side different people. Many lost a tremendous amount of weight but not only did they become much fitter and healthier: they became such better versions of themselves. They became athletes and to see the camaraderie and bonds that developed between them was incredible. The banter in the group chat often made me laugh and made the Alta training sessions become some of the most fun training sessions that we had going on. Even some of our fighters came in and trained with them!
The week before the fight I told them all that over the next week, they would have a lot of voices in their heads, telling them that they’re crazy for wanting to step into the cage; that they weren’t ready; that they weren’t good enough. I told them that It’s normal and all fighters have them and to just remember why they signed up for the program in the first place. I also told them that life is about making memories and 3/19/2022 would be a date that stayed with them for the rest of their lives and because of that date, everything else in life would seem a little easier, because it is, once you’ve stepped into a cage.
Lastly, I want to quote Casey, one of our participants, who summarized it beautifully: “We are all tougher than we think.”
At the end of the fights, I spoke with Rich Chou, VP of Alta, and we both agreed how special of a night it had been. Rich, who has been in the MMA industry for a really long time, pointed out that usually, MMA is pure business on the professional circuit: Fighters fight to get paid and to further their careers. In this case, our 12 individuals who stepped into the cage that night, did it purely to test themselves; for their own growth and journey. It is the purest form of martial arts and combat; to not fight for anything other than the test of self and that’s the biggest recommendation I can give anyone: continue to test yourself and thus, continue to grow and live!