Start with a conversation.
Your experience, goals and comfort level help shape the discussion. You do not need a fight background to ask about training.
OUR STORY / JOSEPH GARCIA, FOUNDER & COACH
ROOTED IN
EXPERIENCE.
BUILT AROUND YOU.
The craft of combat sports.
The care of personal coaching.
Poppin’ Pads brings a lifetime’s curiosity about movement into a personal, coach-led experience on Oahu. The starting point is a person—not a performance standard they have to meet to belong.
WHERE IT STARTED
THE TRAINING
SHAPED THE COACH.
THE PEOPLE
SHAPED THE PURPOSE.
Before Poppin’ Pads, there were years of learning, competing, coaching—and doing the everyday work that keeps a gym running.
Joseph’s introduction to boxing and Muay Thai began in Arizona, with family helping guide his training. What held his attention was the thinking inside the movement: reading distance, finding timing, responding, and making the next adjustment.
At Lions Den MMA Academy in Scottsdale, that interest grew through training, coaching clients, and competing in amateur MMA. Working the front desk and welcoming new members offered another kind of education: an unfamiliar gym can feel intimidating long before a workout begins.
Those experiences shape the way he is building Poppin’ Pads today. Technical instruction matters. So does listening, explaining, and helping someone feel comfortable enough to learn.
PAD WORK, EVOLVED
THE TARGET
MOVES.
SO DOES
THE THINKING.
A pad is more than something to hit. It can be a cue to move, find your balance, pay attention, and respond.
Poppin’ Pads develops that idea through an interactive moving-pad approach. Footwork, coordination, accuracy and controlled striking belong to the same experience. The coach and participant work together, making adjustments as the session unfolds.
The aim is purposeful movement with room to learn. That might mean slowing down to understand a reset, working on a more comfortable range, or adding a new challenge when the participant is ready.
WHAT ADAPTIVE MEANS HERE
COACH THE PERSON.
ADJUST THE SESSION.
Make room for adjustment.
Pace, target placement, movement range, instruction and rest can be adjusted. The format should support controlled participation, with room to pause or stop.
Build from your starting point.
Practice can begin with a simple movement and progress as understanding and control develop. A useful challenge is one you can approach with confidence and clear guidance.
A conversation about fit comes first.
If you need particular adaptations, discuss them with Joseph before booking so you can establish what the available session can support. Poppin’ Pads is fitness coaching, not medical care or rehabilitation.
A DIFFERENT WAY TO SHOW UP
CURIOUS IS
A GOOD START.
You can take the training seriously and still enjoy yourself.
The developing 3-Minute Reality Check is one invitation into that experience: moving pads, controlled work with a training dummy, and a kick finisher. It is a chance to explore how you move, not a test of whether you belong.
For Joseph, the longer-term goal is a community built through attentive coaching, shared effort and people wanting to come back. Poppin’ Pads starts with that commitment—one conversation, one session, one adjustment at a time.
Talk about your first session