A fighting chance for kids

Welcome to Fight Club.

The first rule of Fight Club is: If your mom or dad loses their job, you can still come to Fight Club.

At least you can at South Coast Fight Club in Huntington Beach, where kids ages 6 to 13 of unemployed parents will be able to attend classes the entire month of June for free.

The decision to offer the promotion was a no-brainer for company founder Nick Rians, a lifelong entrepreneur who knows firsthand the value of a hand up.

“My parents couldn’t afford martial arts classes for me, either,” Rians said. So he got a paper route for $50 a month, and 100% of his earnings went toward classes and gear.

Rians, a Chicago native and former Marine who has run a personal fitness company at the South Coast Athletic Club for several years, badgered its owners for a long time about opening a kickboxing and Jiu Jitsu facility there, he said.

His fight club was formed five months ago in a converted racquetball court at the athletic club. Kids quickly became his biggest clients, so the school’s instructors focus on bowing and showing respect, Rians said.

It offers four sessions per week, Monday through Thursday, for kids in Muay Thai kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. At the youth levels, classes are focused on building self-confidence and imparting basic self-defense skills.

Adults also have the chance to take strength and conditioning classes, as well as mixed martial arts. No prior experience for kids or adults is necessary, and adult members have gone on to compete if they are interested in taking their training to the next level.

Members of the fight club also gain access to the 20,000-square-foot athletic facility, which has a full complement of equipment and perks.

Rians likes to help potential members as much as he can, and offers deals to parents who want to work out on the athletic club’s equipment while their kids train in martial arts, he said.

“We’re always trying to do whatever we can to help the kids in the community,” he said.

For more information on South Coast Fight Club, 15132 Bolsa Chica Road, call (714) 655-3757 or visit southcoastfightclub.com.

Reporter CANDICE BAKER can be reached at (714) 966-4631 or at candice.baker@latimes.com.