Bruno Bastos JJ Affiliate Announced for Houston, Tx!

Coach Mike Altman began training in Judo at the age of nine at his neighborhood community center, and by the time he was fourteen he was training at the Progressive Amateur Boxing Association. He started Karate and Tae Kwon Do training at the age of sixteen. When he turned nineteen a friend introduced him to Chinese Kung Fu Master Sifu Paul Chu, and that’s where he started to be an expert in martial arts. It was always his desire to become a championship fighter, and when Sifu Chu accepted him as a student, that is when he began training to compete as a fighter. After three months under his tutelage, he competed in his first full contact knock down at a Karate tournament. When Altman asked Sifu what belt he should sign up as, he responded, “Black Belt!” He told Altman, “you want to fight the top guy … if you beat the beginner guy it means nothing.” He had three fights that day and ended up winning the tournament. He fought several dozen times under Sigh Chu in every category from point fighting to tough man contests.

In 1995, the International Wushu Federation held it’s World Championships in Baltimore Maryland, the first time in history the event was held outside of Asia. The US team trials were held in Dallas, Texas in the spring of 1995, where he won his weight division. Unfortunately, he was only selected as an alternate for the team. The USAWKF, which is the US branch of the IWF, had both a regional and national competition circuit. He fought in the 1985 kg and 90 kg weight classes and won the USAWKF National Championships in 95’,96’,97’. In 1997, in Orlando, Florida he won the United World Championship Tournament. Jason Yee fought Cung Le on PPV as the headliner in that event.

In 1991, he moved to New Jersey to advance his fighting techniques and further his competition opportunities. He fought in the Lou Neglias Kickboxing Promotion in Brooklyn, New York. He trained at the South River Kickboxing Club, and in 1994 he won the Tri-State Chinese Martial Arts Championship. This is the tournament where he first met Jason Yee, who told him about San Shou. In 1998, Altman turned professional in the Strikeforce Kickboxing Championships. He won the ISKA National Championship Title at 85 kg, knocking out Art Palacios at 1:22 in the first round. In 1999, he was asked to represent the US vs. China in an intercontinental championship. The fights were held in Deng Feng China, home of the Shaolin Temple. He won at 85 kg and placed 3rd in open weight. In 2001, he was invited to fight in the King of Sanda World Championships in Shanghai China. Altman and two other students, KJ Noons and Timothy Shelton, as well as a former team mate Julio Tujilio fought the Chinese team. Altman lost a five round decision, and returned to China in 2003 to fight in Zengzhou on a Chinese national TV broadcast. He won with a 5th round knock-out.

By 2006, Altman had a combined record of 39W 9L 21KO’s. He was 2W 1L in MMA when he fought John Kirk in the Renegades Fighting Championships. He had control for most of the first round, but lost position and wound up on the bottom, eventually taking too much damage to continue. Twelve weeks later he fought Cung Le in his MMA debut in the very first Strikeforce MMA Championship. He lost that one by a KO at 4:22 in round one. He took one more short notice fight against TUF Veteran Elliot Marshal at the Ring of Fire MMA in Denver, Colorado, and was submitted in the first with an Americana. He ended up tapping out because of both the high altitude and lack of preparation. This was the last time Altman competed professionally. For Altman, it was an easy transition to training others in the specialties of fitness training, education, and fighting. He trained fighters such as KJ Noons, Lee King, Sarah Ponce, Max Chen, Fabricio Camoes, Rick Slaton, Andre Galvao and many others. He was the US team assistant coach for the 2007 World Wushu Championships held in Viet Nam. In 2008, he coached Sarah Ponce and Max Chen at the Olympic Games in Beijing China. In his very first experiences in martial arts, his mentors saw a natural talent and determination, he was teachable, and adapted well to the nuances and techniques of self-defense.

Today, Altman enjoys doing what he does best and opened the fitness and fighting training center “FuDogs” in Houston, Texas. The center promotes fitness, exercise programs, personal training, programs for children and more. He specializes in boxing and fighting providing coaching, techniques, and ongoing support to his many clients. With a vast number of bouts in international and national championships and powerful fighting techniques, Altman now uses his experience to help and inspire other fighters to gain the fitness and confidence required to compete. He works with other hopeful fighters helping them reach their highest-potential and championship pursuits.