By LAURA QUEZADA News Review Staff Writer– Tucked off of Ridgecrest Boulevard behind Federal Express is Ludus Magnus MMA, a gym focusing on mixed martial arts. Owner and Head Coach Sam Basco tells us that Ludus Magnus “translates to Great Academy. It’s the original name of the greatest Roman gladiator school in ancient Roman times. It was the biggest and best and located next to the Colosseum.” Basco frequently refers to his fighters as gladiators.
Basco is a Burroughs High School graduate. He opened his first gym in 1999 on Inyokern Road. “I also started what’s called the Combat Club; it was a school where I was training fighters. And this is something that I’ve been doing since my childhood. I’ve always had a team of combatants that I’ve been working on, and I opened up the Combat Club in about 2002 or 2003.” He worked with a partner for about seven years. “In 2020, I broke away from my partner and started Team Ludus Magnus.
Plaskett and Basco demonstrate a training exercise, Ludus Magnus MMA.
“My facility is, I believe, the most advanced training facility for martial artists in this town. We have everything from a strength and conditioning yard outside to our Therapy Room and Recovery Center because recovery and therapy are essential to training gladiators. We also have a boxing and kickboxing room, and lastly, we have the wrestling and grappling room.
“As a child, I always had a group of friends with whom I was training in martial arts. I started in the third grade and I have never stopped. I’ve had a lifelong passion for it. My family got me interested in it, and it was a normal thing for us, a very normal thing. And so whereas other children, they said, ‘Hey, you’re not allowed to wrestle, you’re not allowed to practice with each other,’ whereas my family encouraged it.”
This writer was not familiar with MMA. So she asked. “Mixed Martial Arts is simply a combat event where you can use any move from any style or martial art, and there are almost no rules. It is the most advanced form of hand-to-hand combat the world has ever seen.”
Basco threw a party called Summer Rock Fest on June 1 to introduce area residents to the gym and the founder of MMA, John Peretti. “He created the term ‘Mixed Martial Arts.’ He invented the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. And many people say, ‘Well, what does that mean?’ He invented the sport, which means he invented the gloves for the sport, the rounds, the rules, the weight classes, and everything we call Mixed Martial Arts today.”
There were vendors, a taco truck and a bounce house for the kids. Five bands played in the shade out of the wind in front of the gym. Black Heartstrings, Roses for Mary, John Ritchie, Token Idiot, and Seeing Ravens revealed their new sound – rockabilly, blues swing dance with Mash-Up Music covers. Inside were classes and demonstrations while outside, under a pop-up tent, folks could meet and get autographs from Peretti and one of the best, highest ranking MMA fighters from Ridgecrest, Craig “Grasshopper” Plaskett, Jr. Basco says of Plaskett, “Craig is a modern day Gladiator; he entertains the masses. He fights in a type of arena, and he’s professional.”
Plaskett grew up in Ridgecrest and was home-schooled. He was given the nickname “Grasshopper” by one of his coaches in North Hollywood. For those unfamiliar, Grasshopper was the nickname given to David Carridine in the 1970s TV show, “Kung Fu.”
He began martial arts training when he was 13 or 14 years old. His school schedule was so flexible that he could train four to five hours daily. He tells us, “I remember meeting Sam. I didn’t know anything about grappling and had never seen grappling. He would do 100 moves in 20 minutes. It was pretty cool.
“I was always interested in martial arts. I liked watching martial arts movies and stuff. I would go to the library when I was younger, get books, and practice the moves out of the books. I was fascinated by what the human body could do and how you could train yourself.”
Proper training is important; Plaskett has not suffered any injuries. “I’m pretty healthy,” he tells us. “I stretch a lot. My trainer was about stretching. You know, making sure I had my proper rest and all that. I didn’t push myself too hard during training – I just focused on technique, learning moves and techniques.”
His hard work has paid off. He has about 30 metals. His favorite metal is the “Sambo” metal. “I believe it was in 2009 in North Hollywood. It was my favorite one because I didn’t know much about it. I knew it was a Russian sport, and so I wanted to try it out. It was pretty much like judo, but you could grab the legs. I was facing some pretty good guys. There were some champion wrestlers. That’ll be my favorite competition.
“My favorite belt was for kickboxing because a guy came in from Senegal, and everybody was afraid to fight him. They didn’t want to fight him, so they asked me to fight. We were in different weight classes. We ended up fighting each other, and then we had a draw, so we had to do an overtime round to see who would be the final winner.”
Folks don’t achieve high goals without support. Plaskett says, “I have to thank Carla Plaskett for being supportive. I want to thank Sam, Raymond Garcia, and everybody who was a part of my journey. I’ve tried different martial arts and have been attempting to train with many other people. “
Although this writer isn’t interested in this type of training, she would like to watch these gladiators. Basco tells us, “Locally, there are no competitions, but they can come here and watch what’s called Open Sparring. For example, let’s say you wanted to see Craig move around and spar with another person. Members of the community can come by during class times just to observe, and a lot of people like to do that.”
Call Basco to set up a time. 760-382-2661 This is more convenient than going to Las Vegas or Los Angeles to watch a competition.
