On a normal rainy weeknight in Ketchikan after the Plaza mall shut its doors for the evening, a group of locals ranging in age from 12 to mid-20’s gathered upstairs on a wrestling mat.
Under the fluorescent lights of a former real estate office space, 25-year-old Colt Schneller was running through conditioning exercises with the group. He explained how to do a military push-up, which is similar to a regular push-up, but slower and harder.
“Part of this is about mental toughness,” he said to his students. “You’ve got to know that you can push through this stuff.”
Schneller is the owner of Salty Knuckle, a new boxing and mixed martial arts gym that opened earlier this summer. They offer a variety of combat sport classes, from wrestling to women’s self defense. As far as he’s aware, there’s no place in town like it. There are some adjacent classes offered at the rec center, and he sees Salty Knuckle as a complement to those.
Schneller moved to Ketchikan a few years ago and has wanted to open a gym since. Things slow down in the rainy winter months and some people start to get sedentary. He wants people to stay active, but he also wants to build a community around the contact sports he loves.
Schneller has a background as a personal trainer and started wrestling when he was around ten. Since then, he’s gotten into kickboxing, boxing, and mixed martial arts, or MMA. He said combat sports gave him a sense of direction as well as a place to channel pre-teen angst.
“When I had this direction, I had something that I wanted to be good at and to achieve,” he said. “It gave me a purpose and gave me energy to get up and do stuff. I want that to be what this can be for some people.”
He works alongside Isaac Rodriguez, the boxing coach. They occasionally teach in tandem and agree on the value of instilling confidence in their students.
“It’s hard to get punched and keep coming back, and to have your ego broken and keep coming back,” Rodriguez said. “When you get punched in the face and you come back after that, other things don’t seem as scary.”
And students keep coming back. John Holstrom’s 12-year-old son started taking classes this fall.
“It’s all he talks about,” Holstrom said. “He wanted to show up five days a week.”
But Holstrom didn’t want his son to get burnout, so now he sits in the lobby of the gym three or four days a week while his son takes classes. He started with MMA and is now getting into wrestling.
Holstrom said it’s nice to watch his child find a sport he’s excited about. Contact sports can be physically demanding, and he believes it’s a good way to build self-esteem for younger students, like his son. He said in the ‘80s, there were more open gyms like this for young men to find community and a physical outlet. That’s not around as much anymore.
Older students are seeing benefits, too. Carter Effenberger started as one of the first students at Salty Knuckle. He’s always been interested in MMA. And after meeting Schneller through a mutual friend and taking his first class, he’s hooked.
Effenberger said he’s there for both physical and mental self improvement. But it’s the people, like coaches Schneller and Rodriguez, who keep him coming back.
“It’s more than just fighting,” Effenberger said. “It’s more like making new brothers.”
It can get uncomfortable, he said, but that’s a good thing. Schneller acknowledges that, too. He wants beginners to know that at first, it is going to feel awkward. Those are just growing pains.
“That’s the fun part about living,” Schneller said. “Doing things that are uncomfortable and then becoming comfortable in those situations.”
Schneller said he’s okay with students having varying levels of dedication. He wants the gym to be for everyone in the community, whether they’re wanting to become a professional fighter or looking for a good workout. Eventually, he’d like to make the gym accessible 24-hours a day. For now, he’s working on expanding their class options and availability.
