MMA Faestro | Mixed Martial Arts

Learn from the Fight Maestros!

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“Our Team’s #1 goal is to provide all students and practitioners of the martial arts the opportunity to learn from the best fighters and martial artists in the world at an affordable price.”

Klint Klaas
Founder & CCO, MMAFaestro.com (a division of Sports Instructional Holdings, LLC)

In 2007, Sports Instructional began developing mmafaestro.com. The Mission: to provide the highest quality mixed martial arts training online from the best fighters and instructors from around the world.

Sports Instructional has inked deals with some of the most recognized and respected names in the sport to share their insights and techniques on film while amassing the greatest comprehensive web library of mixed martial arts instruction. This is not only a fan site, but also a site for becoming the best and we want to help you get there!

MMAFaestro.com was founded by Klint Klaas. Klint played professional baseball in the Houston Astros organization before a shoulder injury forced him to make a change. Having been involved in martial arts since childhood, he then went on to own and operate his own successful martial arts business in Minneapolis, MN. After the sale of that business, he began acquiring commercial real estate, which continues to this day. A seventh degree black-belt in Karate and a black-belt in Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu, Klint knows from his own experience how challenging it is to gain close-up access to instruction from some of the best in the world of martial arts. To receive his training in the art, he personally invested years of his life and tens of thousands of dollars in travel and course instruction to reach his desired level of excellence. In addition to his passion and duties as CCO (Chief Content Officer) of Sports Instructional, he is also a training partner and coach for some of the top fighters in mixed martial arts today. His vision to create a community of the highest quality MMA training available is now a reality.

Mark Waters
Executive VP of Business Development & Co-founder, Sports Instructional Holdings, LLC
Former Professional Fighter, Radio Personality, and Business Architect

Mark got started in martial arts later in life. After high school Mark started training in Thai boxing in 1991 at the Minnesota Kali Group. He trained there for a couple years and in 1994 he saw Royce Gracie stun and revolutionize the martial arts world. In late 1994, Mark started training in Judo at North Star Martial Arts, a local Judo club. He also participated in Judo at the University of Minnesota where he earned his B.S. in kinesiology and nutrition.

Tired of schools that only taught one discipline, Mark started seeking a martial arts school that offered MMA or a variety of martial arts. In 1996, Mark became a student and competitor at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy. He has been a member ever since and has fought many top names in the sport such as Olympic silver medalist and UFC veteran Matt Lindland and others. In that time Mark was able to train along side many fighters who are top ranked in the world today including former UFC champ Sean Sherk, former UFC champ Dave Menne, UFC heavy weight champ Brock Lesnar, and countless others.

In addition to Mark’s passion for martial arts, he found that the business world was just as exciting and challenging. During the time Mark was training and competing he was able to secure a spot as the Top Sales person at 3 different banks and mortgage companies. He also started a real estate construction company and built a large portfolio of investment properties. In 2005, Mark took a serious interest in entrepreneurial business endeavors and began investing in companies while being mentored by some great business minds. Mark has helped raise capital, structure strategic alliances and partnerships, as well as direct and grow several companies. In 2007, Mark began working for eTAGZ, Inc. as a Director of Strategic Partnerships in the MMA industry. Under the tutelage of Isaac Jacobson he realized how exciting and complex the world of business start-ups and entrepreneurial endeavors could be. In July of 2009, Mark came on board at Sports Instructional to help structure and grow the online vision laid out by Klint Klaas. With a goal of becoming the premier source of MMA instruction and education as well as helping define an identity for martial artist and fans world wide, Mark set out to develop the needed relationships and personnel to accomplish this task. The first step was to secure the key position of CEO in order to create structure and provide additional experience and leadership, which occurred in September 2009.

Dale Francis
Chairman & CEO, Sports Instructional Holdings, LLC

Dale has a successful track record in all facets of business management spanning nearly two decades.

Aside from his full-time duties at Sports Instructional, Dale is also Founder & CEO of Lead Dog Global Ventures. Lead Dog is a holding company which owns major or controlling interest in multiple companies in various industries including: Software Development, Animation, Television Shows, Music & Entertainment, Investment Real Estate & Development, Professional Sports Training, Social Networking, Patents & Product Development, and Business Consulting.

In 2007, Dale became a partner in Minneapolis, MN based Flurry Animation Studios, who has been awarded 5 Emmy’s to date. He’s also a Co-founder and Director of its sister company F-5 SIM, launched in 2008, which has created the first ever 3-D Interactive Playbook for all levels of football, soccer, hockey, basketball and multiple other sports. The Company also developed proprietary motion capture (MoCap) technology for instructional and educational use in the MMA industry and nearly all other sporting industries.

In addition to his traditional business interests, Dale has become a well-known spokesperson, infomercial host, and motivational/public speaker. His company, Lead Dog Logic, LLC, has served corporations, chambers of commerce, civic and private organizations, colleges and universities for nearly 20 years.

Isaac Jacobson

COO, Sports Instructional Holdings, LLC

Isaac has a seasoned track record of successful business development, managing business opportunities, assembling executive teams, syndicating venture capital, and working with angel investors.

He also has extensive experience guiding high tech companies through institutional investment negotiation and strategic partnerships, in all cases, taking executive level positions to increase value and deal traction. These high tech companies included: theDial, Digonex Technologies, MusicRebellion, Digital Kiosk Technologies, MediaPort, MediaForge and Humanizing Technologies.

Isaac has excelled at developing new technologies in the music and entertainment industry and brings a wealth of industry knowledge, relationships, and contacts to Sports Instructional.

Isaac is also the CEO of eTAGZ, which offers turnkey digital media to retailers allowing them to magnify their brand by making a direct connection with customers. eTAGZ attaches digital media to merchandise (U.S. Patent 6,298,332 B1) and provides customized content that engages specific shoppers on a personal level with useful information and entertainment. Attachment is defined as inclusion, enclosure, tethering and labeling. This technology allows companies who partner with eTAGZ to produce mobile websites that create increased consumer credibility and trackable results that cut through the clutter of traditional media featured in banners, signage, broadcast and print outlets. Among its hundreds of associations, eTAGZ currently has relationships with Warner Bros., Universal Studios, Big Fish Games, Harvard Health Publications, The Walt Disney Company, and NBC to provide product related content.

Rich Lake

VP of Marketing and IT, Co-Founder of Sports Instructional Holdings, LLC

Rich has over 20 years of sales and marketing experience in the entertainment and medical industries. His career experience in building teams, creating and executing sales and marketing strategies, negotiating and dealing with vendors from around the world have served him well in all of his business ventures.

Rich has brought new high-end technologies to market in the U.S. for Patterson Companies, the largest distributor of dental, medical/rehabilitative services and veterinary in North America. In 2007, Rich co-founded MediaPro Soup, LLC, a marketing communications company that helps clients communicate their brand message to their customers and employees by connecting them to the latest multi-media resources. MediaPro Soup targets the he health and wellness field and clients are primarily service providers and networks such as dentists, chiropractors and medical clinics.

Rich is a professional musician, songwriter, and VP of MJM Productions, a full service entertainment strategy company that helps companies and organizations extend their brand through the use of entertainment and technology. Clients include a who’s who of Fortune 1000 companies such as General Mills, Carlson Companies, Target Corporation, and many more. The company also develops fund raising events for charitable organizations such as: of Juvenile Diabetes, The Jeremiah Project, Big Brothers-Big Sisters, Susan G. Komen and many others.

Sports Instructional Holdings, LLC is proud of its strong partnerships and strategic alliances some of which include: ManaStorm Entertainment which provides filming and editing services for our instructional videos and interviews; proprietary motion capture technologies with F5-SIM (Sports In Motion); and 5-time Emmy Award winning animation production with Flurry Studios. More partnerships and alliances are being added as necessary in order to provide customers with a unique and exceptional training experience.

The company is also passionate about helping new instructors come into their own and grow as business people and mentors. MMAFaestro.com is currently interviewing a select group of mixed martial arts gurus and trainers from around the U.S. and the world to join the network and provide their expertise which will then benefit the entire community.

Growth and development in martial arts go beyond physical prowess or mental toughness. It also includes the development of character and becoming a better human being. MMAFaestro.com is whole heartedly committed to giving back to the world community and making the world a better place through the art. Every one of the instructors on this website designates their charity of choice and a percentage of the company's profits are donated to each one of those charities.

Welcome to the vision. Welcome to your site. Grow in Skill and Grow in Spirit. Live to Train and Train to Live.

Join now and become part of a community that is exclusively dedicated to grooming the future champions of mixed martial arts.