By Jimmy Hancock
POCATELLO — Mark Cruse came to Pocatello from Hawaii three years ago after facing a crossroad — continue on the potentially destructive path he was walking, or find another, better road to travel.
“I miss Hawaii and I love my friends there, but sometimes you just have to move on,” he said. “The honest truth is, I wasn’t doing well in Hawaii. It’s not all paradise. I came over here with pretty much nothing going for me.”
But three years later, Cruse, 22, is doing well. So well, in fact that his parents and brother moved here this year.
One of the things that has aided him in his path to self-betterment is jujitsu.
Cruse says studying the ancient martial art of jujitsu is relatively commonplace in his native Hawaii, where many of his friends and family members frequently test their skills in competition.
But it wasn’t until Cruse moved to Pocatello that he eventually became serious about the martial art, later deciding to test his skills, as well. Today, Cruse holds a title belt, making him the Lucky 7 135-pound Pocatello Champion.
“I did some (jujitsu) in Hawaii,” he said. “I got serious here.”
Cruse found himself a good job in Pocatello working for Heinz, has bought a home and even earned his GED. But the better path hasn’t been without hiccups.
This past spring, a minor violation of the law landed him in Bannock County Jail. With no family yet here to help bail him out, Cruse sat there for the six weeks it took the misdemeanor court process to unfold.
Once he was out of jail, Cruse was faced with more obstacles; Heinz was unable to hold his job for him.
But true to his continuing growth since moving to Pocatello, Cruse has turned that into a positive. He works when he can doing various construction tasks, but next month he is slated to begin his higher education career at Idaho State University.
“I’m not sure what I am going to major in yet,” he said. “I am starting with some general courses.”
Cruse credits jujitsu, and his participation in mixed martial arts, with reducing the nonproductive distractions in his life.
“The MMA has really helped me out. It’s got me focused on training every night rather than just running around and partying,” he said. “I do well. It pretty much keeps me out of trouble.”
With some exposure to jujitsu in Hawaii, Cruse had some prior matches, but never delved into the martial art seriously. That changed in the summer of 2008, though, when he began studying at Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Pocatello.
Cruse, who was already participating in jujitsu tournaments, jumped at the chance to participate in a mixed martial arts competition.
Mixed martial arts is a fighting style that allows the usage of several different arts, including striking styles, such as boxing, and grappling styles, such as wrestling or jujitsu.
The grappling techniques are often referred to as the ground game, while the striking techniques, which include using the feet and knees, are frequently called the hands portion of the fighting style.
Cruse said it was combining these techniques that really attracted him to the sport.
“I just figured, I got ground game and I can throw up some hands, so why not challenge myself,” Cruse said. “I like doing jujitsu and I like boxing. The fact that I can put both of them together at the same time is a rush for me.”
He said the sport challenges more than just his physical prowess.
“It’s more mentally challenging to me than anything else,” Cruse said. “With jujitsu, it’s pretty much muscle memory. You don’t really think about it. When you get into a situation, you just flow with it by memory.”
Jujitsu is a grappling sport with a complex dialogue of moves and holds used ultimately to work your opponent into a submissive state. But with mixed martial arts, there is the addition of the striking techniques, something that adds to an already complex martial art.
“You have to learn to put all that together,” he said. “As you are fighting, you have to be thinking about all the things you can do and what your opponent might do.”
When Cruse was first approached about fighting in a mixed martial arts match, it was for an event organized by Lucky 7 Marketing and Promotions at the Bannock County Fairgrounds.
“I had gotten out of jail and I only had less than two weeks to train,” he said.
Cruse lost that first fight, but said he learned a lot, both about his skill level and about just what kind of training it takes to be good.
He added another trainer to his regimen, signing on with JABS MMA in Pocatello, an operation run by Jimmy Saighman and Brian Hicks out of the Youth Training Center at 621 S. First Ave. That’s where he’s been working on the “hands” part of his game and getting additional fitness and endurance training.
Since that first night this past spring, Cruse has fought four additional times, winning all four fights. His efforts culminated in a title fight two months ago and defense of that title on New Year’s Eve
Creating those opportunities was Lucky 7 Marketing & Promotions, based in Pocatello. It’s the brainchild of Kevin Foster, who moved to the Portneuf Valley in January of 2008 to work for KPIF-TV Channel 15 in Chubbuck as its marketing director.
It’s a project that began out of necessity.
“The federal government mandates there be at least two hours of local programming each week,” Foster said. “We didn’t do news, so I had to come up with something.”
He said he heard some mixed martial arts competitions were being held in Idaho Falls and figured a two-hour program on the topic could fill the local air-time requirement.
“So, I did my homework and went to see Paxton,” he said.
Today, Paxton Likness, along with Jeremy Ellis, are partners with Foster in Lucky 7, which started out by promoting the MMA Challenge series. Their first event was a little more than a year ago at the old Party Palace location in Westwood Mall.
In conjunction with the fights, KPIF-TV ran a weekly, reality-type show chronicling some of the fighters participating in the MMA Challenge events.
Neither Lucky 7 nor Foster are still associated with KPIF-TV, but Foster said he would entertain the prospect of putting together a similar television partnership with another regional station in the future.
For now, he and his partners are occupied with the events they coordinate, such as the New Year’s Eve Beat Down at the Red Lion Hotel in Pocatello on Dec. 31, where Cruse is slated to defend his belt.
Likness, who owns a used car dealership in Pocatello, was advertising with KPIF-TV in another program developed by Foster.
“He told me it would make me some money,” Likness said. “It hasn’t become a large profit deal, but we are enjoying it.”
In fact, Lucky 7 was doing pretty well until they attempted to promote an event in Nampa in October. Foster gave few details, but said politics in the Treasure Valley and an entrenched MMA promotion operation led to a moderate showing at the Nampa Center.
“The environment in Boise was toxic; very polluted and subversive,” Likness said. “We are going to remain in Eastern Idaho, maybe expand into Wyoming and Montana.”
The reality is, however, that the Treasure Valley experience was just a minor hitch in an otherwise successful endeavor. The regional draw for fighters to Lucky 7’s events continues to be strong.
“We have fighters coming in here from Utah, Twin Falls, Idaho Falls and Arco,” said Foster, naming a few. “I am talking with someone in Wyoming, as well.”
While promoting MMA events is something that Likness and Foster contend they will continue to do out of enjoyment, they are both frank about the desire for the project to be profitable.
“I can see a day when it could be doing very well,” Likness said.
Another local fighter who has found his way to the Lucky 7 events is Kerry Lattimer, who lives in Pocatello but grew up in Inkom and wrestled at Marsh Valley High School.
He started fighting this past March and has amassed a 5-2 record, losing his first two bouts before going on a string of five wins. Lattimer will be fighting on New Year’s Eve, seeking a belt in the 155-pound class.
His first fight, hosted in Pocatello in March, was as a last-minute fill in.
“My cousin called me two days before the fight and asked me if I wanted to try it,” he said. “I lost. You really have to be in shape.”
Lattimer, 24, is married and has a 2-year-old daughter. He is an ISU student who recently decided he wanted to study to be an anesthesiologist.
“My family has been really supportive,” he said. “My wife even comes out and watches it.”
While holding desires to complete his education, Lattimer is also considering an MMA career.
“I figured I would give myself 20 amateur fights and if I win the majority of them, I might try a pro fight,” he said. “I figure why not get paid for it.”
Cruse is also harboring thoughts of one day fighting professionally, although he hasn’t set any particular goal for making that decision.
“At first I did it as a hobby, something to stay in shape, but now I don’t know,” he said. “I am doing pretty good and people are telling me I am doing well. I am thinking, ‘Why not take a shot?’”
Tickets for Lucky 7 Marketing & Promotions’ New Year’s Eve Beat Down, hosted at the Red Lion Hotel in Pocatello, can be purchased at Pocatello Cycle Supply, 260 Yellowstone Ave., Pocatello.