‘The limits are endless’: New martial arts academy opening in Myrtle Beach

After years of training and fighting across the globe, a Myrtle Beach native is bringing a martial arts academy to the Grand Strand.

The Next Element Martial Arts Academy, at 3811 N. Kings Hwy., is set to open Nov. 10, owner Derrick Kennington said.

The academy will offer training in Muay Thai kickboxing, a combat sport from Thailand, and Brazilian jiujitsu, a combat sport focused on ground fighting. Kennington also will offer fitness kickboxing, boxing classes and self-defense lessons.

“We’re trying to bring the community together and be a family atmosphere where people learn to protect each other and protect themselves, protect their family, and just give back to the community ultimately,” Kennington said.

Kennington

Growing up in a Myrtle Beach mobile home park, Kennington’s interest started with his dad, who was a boxer. Throughout high school, Kennington was a three-sport athlete, and eventually joined the Air Force at 18.

In 2006, Kennington learned Brazilian jiujitsu, which was a turning point in his life, he said.

“I just wanted to do it, I wanted to try it, being in my early 20s trying to find something I wanted to do to fuel my aggression,” Kennington said. “I was out of shape, I was overweight by standards in the military, for sure. I started in 2006 and immediately got into shape, immediately lost 20 pounds.”

Eight months later, Kennington took part in his first fight.

But, as a senior airman, Kennington had to go up the chain of command to the general to be allowed to fight.

“I was very low on the totem pole, and here I was trying to go up the chain of the command to the general to allow us to fight, just because they didn’t want any damage to be done to us, ultimately,” Kennington said. “But the safety of it is it’s safer than ice-skating.”

Kennington served in the Air Force for 12 years. During that time, he trained with the Phoenix Ravens, security force personnel who protect AMC aircraft.

“If a plane lands, these Phoenix Ravens protect this aircraft, kind of like a U.S. Air Marshal, but they can’t take weapons off the aircraft due to customs, so they have to learn how to protect themselves unarmed,” Kennington said. “So they have to learn how to take away weapons, whether it’s a rifle, whether it’s a pistol, whether it’s a baton.”

About four years ago, he received his black belt in Brazilian jiujitsu from former Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Kurt Pellegrino. Kennington also is a certified USA Boxing instructor.

Once he moved back to South Carolina after being stationed in Alaska, Kennington started to fight in surrounding areas, and became one of the top welterweight and lightweight fighters in the state.

Kennington also appeared on Spike TV and MTV2. Kennington then started to fight around the world, competing in Italy in January.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t win and that just showed me I was done fighting,” he said. “Now, it’s my time to give back to the community and get back to coaching and stuff.”

The Next Element Martial Arts Academy

The goal of the academy is to bring together the community to teach self-defense and to give people an outlet, he said.

“So, trying to reach out to kids that come from broken homes — and there’s so many kids that do — that they need something in their life to kind of fuel their aggression or give them some sense of togetherness,” Kennington said. “A lot of kids, they don’t want to be a part of traditional sports, or they’re just turned off by traditional sports with the school.”

On opening day, donations will be accepted at the door to help flood victims in Horry County. Kennington said the academy also is working with Seacoast Vineyard Church to help victims.

Through the academy, people will have the chance to meet their goals, Kennington said, whether it be weight loss, competitions or learning self-defense.

Kennington is hoping to offer two self-defense classes a month.

Kids as young as 5 years old can participate in classes.

“Anybody can do jiujitsu,” he said. “So many people are like ‘oh, I’m too old,’ or ‘I’m broken,’ or whatever. I’ve trained autistic kids, kids with ADD, kids with ADHD, people that have no use of their legs that are wheelchair-bound. The limits are endless.”

This story was originally published October 30, 2018 at 12:09 PM.