Check out what Combat Coach and Gym Owner Adam Gulla

 has to say about his experience →

Check out what Combat Coach and Gym Owner Adam Gulla

 has to say about his experience ↓

Adam Gulla

Krav Maga Combat Coach

"When I got introduced to CounterPunch a few years ago, I thought "what an amazing program! This needs to be everywhere!".


As a martial artist and a combat coach, I'm always looking at ways of empowering young boys to be more confident and resilient.


While yes, physical exercise in general provides many mental benefits, Merc's CounterPunch method takes the teaching of combat sport to the next level. It's an amazing tool that utilises combat sports in a very unique way to bridge the education gap that we currently have through our school system – to equip teenagers with the life skills necessary to improve their mental and emotional state at any time, any where, on command.


It's not only beneficial for empowering teens – I can see how this is a great way to differentiate my combat gym's services and I'm excited to be implementing her method into my business."

Combat Coaches Are The Best Teen Empowerers — Here's Why...


Teenagers go through a period of rapid transformation and identification as they transition into adulthood – and with that comes many emotional challenges.


They're flooded with new emotions they haven't felt before and don't know how to manage, and they're consistently trying to balance between the identity of being a dependent child versus an independent young adult.


The CounterPunch™ method teaches teenagers practical tools to both understand and effectively master the life skills needed to recognise, manage and express emotions such as stress, anxiety, anger and depression in a healthy manner – skills that if teenagers don't learn, can affect the quality of their lives later in adulthood.


The Problem With Traditional Forms Of Therapy And Counselling For Teens


The first thought that might come to mind is that this is the role of psychologists and counsellors, as they are specialists in this field.


The problem with this is 3-fold:

  1. It's often only when teenagers have gone through severe experiences for a prolonged period of time that they end up seeing a psychologist:
    • Many of these severe experiences can be managed and prevented beforehand with the right self-management tools.
    • Not all teenagers seek and/or receive therapy and are therefore left helpless.
  2. There is stigma associated with "having to see a therapist"
    • Teenagers are very self-conscious about how they appear, especially to their peers.
    • The last thing they want to associate with their newly forming identity as they grow up is someone who "needs help."
  3. Traditional forms of counselling and therapy are boring and do not work with teenagers:
    • Adults are content to sit face-to-face and use talk therapy.
    • Young people on the other hand, don't like this method. Talk therapy can often take the form of intermittent grunts and rushing out the door at the first opportunity.

That's where the CounterPunch™ method comes in to fill the gap.


Rather than only addressing the mental health side of things, or just the physical health side of things, CounterPunch looks at addressing the skill and knowledge gap in a truly wholistic manner in order to help teenagers develop into fully functioning adults that can reach their true potential in life (see images below).


In my many years working with young people, I have found that the need to feel empowered, significant and competent is the biggest factor driving teenagers' behaviour.


And the easiest way for teenagers to feel this sense of empowerment is on a physical level — something that combat coaches already help them with.


So if you love empowering teens and would like to expand your combat gym to the next level by integrating mental fitness into your programs, apply to become a CounterPunch facilitator.

Combat Coaches Are The Best Teen Empowerers — Here's Why...


Teenagers go through a period of rapid transformation and identification as they transition into adulthood – and with that comes many emotional challenges.


They're flooded with new emotions they haven't felt before and don't know how to manage, and they're consistently trying to balance between the identity of being a dependent child versus an independent young adult.


The CounterPunch™ method teaches teenagers practical tools to both understand and effectively master the life skills needed to recognise, manage and express emotions such as stress, anxiety, anger and depression in a healthy manner – skills that if teenagers don't learn, can affect the quality of their lives later in adulthood.


The Problem With Traditional Forms Of Therapy And Counselling For Teens


The first thought that might come to mind is that this is the role of psychologists and counsellors, as they are specialists in this field.


The problem with this is 3-fold:


1) It's often only when teenagers have gone through severe experiences for a prolonged period of time that they end up seeing a psychologist:

• Many of these severe experiences can be managed and prevented beforehand with the right self-management tools.

• Not all teenagers seek and/or receive therapy and are therefore left helpless.



2) There is stigma associated with "having to see a therapist"

• Teenagers are very self-conscious about how they appear, especially to their peers.

• The last thing they want to associate with their newly forming identity as they grow up is someone who "needs help."


3) Traditional forms of counselling and therapy are boring and do not work with teenagers:

• Adults are content to sit face-to-face and use talk therapy.

• Young people on the other hand, don't like this method. Talk therapy can often take the form of intermittent grunts and rushing out the door at the first opportunity.


That's where the CounterPunch™ method comes in to fill the gap.


Rather than only addressing the mental health side of things, or just the physical health side of things, CounterPunch looks at addressing the skill and knowledge gap in a truly wholistic manner in order to help teenagers develop into fully functioning adults that can reach their true potential in life (see images below).


In my many years working with young people, I have found that the need to feel empowered, significant and competent is the biggest factor driving teenagers' behaviour.


And the easiest way for teenagers to feel this sense of empowerment is on a physical level — something that combat coaches already help them with.


So if you love empowering teens and would like to expand your combat gym to the next level by integrating mental fitness into your programs, apply to become a CounterPunch facilitator.

Combat Gyms /

Combat Coaches

Strengths

  • Engage teenagers — they want to learn from you
  • Fulfil teens' need to feel empowered and in control

Challenges

  • Teen clients are hard to recruit and retain — they may have issues regulating their emotions (usually from experiences outside the gym) and are not serious students/athletes
  • Some parents can see combat sport as encouraging violence instead of a way of empowerment

Sit-Down

Talk Therapy

Strengths

  • Teaches valuable life skills that apply into adulthood
  • Skills are not normally taught in school

Challenges

  • Teenagers don't want to be there - not engaged
  • Usually a last resort for issues that could have been prevented much earlier

CounterPunch™

Program

Strengths

  • Combines the best of both worlds and expands to include practical, easy-to-understand life skill strategies for teens to develop
  • Can be used to expand your Combat Gym with serious teenage athletes and clients — the hardest market to recruit and retain for combat gyms.

Requirements

  • Must have access to a combat gym facility
  • Must love working with teens and empowering them with life skills that will unlock their full potential

Combat Gyms /

Combat Coaches

Strengths

  • Engage teenagers — they want to learn from you
  • Fulfil teens' need to feel empowered and in control

Challenges

  • Teen clients are hard to recruit and retain — they may have issues regulating their emotions (usually from experiences outside the gym) and are not serious students/athletes
  • Some parents can see combat sport as encouraging violence instead of a way of empowerment

Sit-Down

Talk Therapy

Strengths

  • Teaches valuable life skills that apply into adulthood
  • Skills are not normally taught in school

Challenges

  • Teenagers don't want to be there - not engaged
  • Usually a last resort for issues that could have been prevented much earlier

CounterPunch™

Program

Strengths

  • Combines the best of both worlds and expands to include practical, easy-to-understand life skill strategies for teens to develop
  • Can be used to expand your Combat Gym with serious teenage athletes and clients — the hardest market to recruit and retain for combat gyms.

Requirements

  • Must have access to a combat gym facility
  • Must love working with teens and empowering them with life skills that will unlock their full potential
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