MMAFaestro.com'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, Sports Instructional Holdings, LLC
In 2007, Sports Instructional Holdings, LLC. began developing mmafaestro.com. The mission: to provide the highest quality mixed martial arts training on-line from the best fighters and instructors from around the world at an affordable cost.
Sports Instructional Holdings, LLC 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 a site for becoming the best and mmafaestro wants to help you get there.
The company is headed by its founder, Klint Klaas. Klint played professional baseball with the Houston Astros before a shoulder injury forced him to make a change. Being 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 he 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 CEO of Sports Instructional, Inc, 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 Vice President of Business Development Former Professional Fighter, Radio Personality, and Business Architect Mark got started in martial arts later in life. He had always loved the traditional martial arts as a child growing up but his parents didn’t understand what martial arts were about and never allowed him to enroll. After high school Mark started training in thai boxing in 1991 at the Minnesota Kali Group. He trained there for a couple of years an 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 while attending and earning 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 many other. 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. Where martial arts was a passion of Marks he had a family to support and 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 the entrepreneurial business endeavors and began investing in companies and being mentored by some great business minds. Mark has helped raise funds, structure strategic alliances and partnerships and direct and grow several companies. In 2007 Mark began working for etagz, INC as a director of strategic partnerships in the MMA arena. 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 Sports Instructional Holdings 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 while helping define an identity for martial artist and fans world wide, Mark set out to develop the needed relationships and personal to accomplish this task. 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 technologies with F5 and animation production services with Flurry Productions. 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.