For most students, walking through the hallway means heading to class or meeting friends before the bell rings.
But for former Normal West student, Abraham Joaquin, one walk to class led him to a poster for Normal West’s MMA club.
“I was just walking down the hallway, and I saw the poster,” Joaquin said. “I was like, ‘Why not?’ It was my senior year, and I thought I should just join.”
English teacher James Rumps leads the Normal West MMA Club. Rumps has been training in boxing and Muay Thai since the late 1990s.
He teaches students the same way he trains himself: with intensity, honesty, and mindset built on toughness and respect.
“We have 10 kids who show up regularly at MMA in the mornings. Here at Normal West, we have 1,600 kids, correct? So the kids are in MMA right now are, like, in the top 1% of the people who will take a risk here at school, right?” Rumps stated.
The club trains in a style called Muay Bouk, a bulldog-like form of Muay Thai, where fighters move forward, accept getting hit, and hit back faster and harder.
Rumps teaches students to stay mentally strong, even when tired or overwhelmed.
“That’s the one that I want us to do, and that’s the style of Muay Thai, where if you are my opponent and you hit me, you’re gonna know there’s a price to pay, because I’m going through you, right? I’m not gonna dance around,” Rumps said.
Rumps wants to instill the idea that your mindset can be a huge factor.
“I’m not gonna try and be pretty, it’s just we’re gonna thug it out and, like, that’s the mindset that wants to have. So, like, one of the mindsets is, like, make sure we keep our hands up,” Rumps added.
Joaquin learned this specific lesson during his first official fight in Chicago.
The gym was packed with more than 2,000 people, and the pressure was intense.
“I tried to stay calm,” Joaquin said. “I just had to be more focused on what I was actually doing and not just throwing and setting up combinations as well.”
His opponent was taller and more experienced, but Abraham adjusted and countered. He kept attacking the legs.
“I just grew confident enough and trusted my own self, and if I got hit, I got hit, but I was gonna hit them back,” Joaquin said.
But the club is about more than fighting. Students must keep their grades up and support each other.
Rumps has seen attendance improve, behavior change, and confidence grow.
One student even turned failing grades into A’s and C’s just to stay in the club.
Rumps is now 49, still sparring with fighters half his age.
He laughs about showing up to Christmas photos with a black eye, but he does it proudly.
“I’m 49, and my guess is there’s nobody else in this town who is 49 years old at that time in the morning who is exchanging blows with the 20-year-old kid and holding his own,” he added.
The MMA club continues to grow, and both the coach and students say it’s not about being the toughest. It’s about showing up, improving a little each day, and walking out stronger than you walked in.
