Subliminal Advertising

[WaxOff]

I've been a martial artist since I was 6 years old and it's the basis for my Brothers giving me the name "Wax Off."

In the style of Shaolin Chuan'Fa (Also known as Shaolin Kempo) one of the "10 Laws" is the concept that "A circle defeats a line and a line defeats a circle." A linear attack/defense will always defeat a circular attack/defense and vice versa. When we draw it out to illustrate it to our students, it's the letter Phi.

I took this and ran with it, creating entire work outs centered around it. I called them "Phi-ting" sessions. Without thinking, I started advertising it as Phi Martial Arts, or as PhiMA.

About 4 years ago, a friend of mine was just starting to get into the MMA scene. He was training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai with his dad's best friend, but his dad wanted me to teach him my "Phi" style to get him to move around more in the ring and not stand there and take the hits like most Muay Thai fighters do. The idea was to improve his standup and give him an edge over the other cookie cutter fighters out there.

Because of our schedule conflicts, I only worked him a few times. Today, he's now the WEC Light Heavyweight Champion. I'm not claiming to have made enough of an influence to have anything to do with that, but just imagine what the reaction would be if people saw the letters PhiMA on his trunks or on the banner behind him before and after fights.

Rob