Trying to add a payment method? You can do this on the 
QuickTake:
Jimmy Jennett opened Checkered Past MMA after martial arts helped him in his recovery from drug addiction. The gym recently moved into a bigger studio on Main Street.
After Jimmy Jennett won his first mixed martial arts fight in 2010 in Springfield, he took the microphone and shared that he was a recovering drug addict.
His goal: to keep kids from trying drugs like he did as a teenager.
That’s when Jennett got the idea for Checkered Past MMA.
Jennett started an outreach program in 2011, visiting schools and leading martial arts clinics during which he talked with students about staying away from drugs and alcohol. He also continued to fight, first as an amateur and later professionally, becoming a four-time heavyweight champion.
In 2019, he opened a small gym at 26th and Main streets in Springfield, where he and other instructors could teach various martial art disciplines to kids and adults while spreading a message of drug prevention.
Earlier this month, to serve more people, the gym moved into a bigger studio at 1414 Main St. Checkered Past MMA had its first evening of classes in the new space on Oct. 1.
“At the heart of it, I don’t want any of those kids out there to ever choose a drug,” Jennett, 48, said from his office while a class of kids practiced sparring in pairs on the mat. “There’s no need for them to try that stuff, because I know what happened to me.”
Jennett picked up martial arts after moving to Oregon in 2010. He wanted to be closer to his mother and to get away from a life of drugs. He had just gotten off parole in California.
“I was dying in California and just one step away from going back to prison or worse,” he said.
He started going to Narcotics Anonymous meetings and joined an MMA gym in Eugene. Jennett said the commitment and discipline needed to train kept him “on the straight and narrow” while he was in recovery from drug addiction.
‘This is everybody’s to share‘
Michael Dardis watched the kids spar as he prepared for a jiu-jitsu class that was next on the schedule.
“It’s my home away from home,” Dardis, 23, said of the gym. “The coaches push you in the right direction, not just in sport but in life.”
Dale Tilson was there to pick up his 12-year-old daughter, Olyvia Tilson, from class. He said the training teaches her discipline and how to protect herself.
“It’s probably the best place I’ve ever been as far as dojos go,” Dale Tilson said.
Jennett said the recent move doubled the gym’s size and provides more visibility for Checkered Past. Dozens of people in the gym’s community volunteered time and materials to help renovate the new space to make it ready for classes.
“I didn’t have this dream when I came to town. You know, to have a gym and do this,” said Jennett, who is also a construction worker during the day. “I was just fighting … For this to manifest, this is bigger than me. This is everybody’s to share.”
The gym has classes every weekday evening and Saturday mornings. There are specialized classes for “Little Ninjas,” kids ages 4 to 10, and classes for preteens. Other classes are for specific disciplines, including wrestling, muay thai, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing and mixed martial arts (which incorporates a variety of fighting techniques). Jennett is planning to add a kung fu class involving balancing, stretching and breath work.
Jennett said Checkered Past has a fight team that participates in competitions, but that most people who train at the gym do not sign up for fights.
“This is a place to get in shape, have fun, make some new friends and learn some real world self-defense skills,” he said. “And if you want to fight, we have a very legitimate fight team.”