Chris McNally – “This is where I train”

On a cold early morning in Charleston, South Carolina a successful amateur fighter is doing pull ups on a multi-colored swing set made for children. Chris McNally is sharpening his skills for his upcoming battle at  the Charleston Colosium. “This is where I train” McNally says exuberantly. McNally trains in his backyard, to the left he shows me his worn down tractor tire along with a rusty sledgehammer. McNally picks up the crumbling sledgehammer, “I have a tire and sledgehammer just like the other gyms out there.” Next he directs me to his daughters’ swing set, “My daughter doesn’t like it much when I use her swing.” McNally laughs, it’s clear he is blessed to train in his backyard rather  than a large facility away from his family.

McNally celebrates after a win

McNally then ecorts me to the garage. The room is covered in faded blue mats. “I went around asking folks if they could let me have some old mats they didn’t need.” McNally continues, “As you can see I converted my garage into a mat room.” McNally gazes proudly at his gym. As McNally is showing me all his training tools, it feels like I am walking through an elegant museum looking at priceless objects. “I got all his DVD’s!” McNally gingerly hands me a “Boxing for MMA” DVD by Anderson Silva. In the very back of McNally’s training facility he has a TV and DVD player set up so he can practice the techniques he learns from the instructional DVD’s. McNally point to an old taped up Thai bag in the corner of his garage. “I’m getting much better.”

It’s funny in 1995 fighters such as Evan Tanner and Jens Pulver were training just like this in their backyards. In 2010 you would expect everyone to be training at a specialized MMA gym. I asked McNally the obvious question “You never think your being put at a disadvantage, by training in your garage?” McNally responds somberly, “I ask that question to myself an awful lot.” “I am not naive, I am very realistic.” McNally continues “I have a lot of talented training partners, Divison 1 wrestlers, professional Muay Thai kickboxers, and world championship Ju-Jitsu training partners. I have high caliber training partners. I just don’t have enough of them.”

I asked McNally if he thought more people would train out of their garage in this economy. “I can definitely see it happening especially in this economy, because of the degree of difficulty getting a loan to start a business. With the limitations of people not being able to pay gym membership fees it makes it difficult to own a gym. I teach a lot of classes out of my garage. I don’t have to pay rent, so it is more economical for me to train out of my garage. People will want to train, but there might not be a facility in their area. So I do believe training out of your garage can become an increasing trend.”

I asked McNally about his management company, Sponsored Fan and the opportunities they have opened up for him since signing with them. McNally grins, “Sponsored Fan has helped me get a lot of exposure to very important people. There isn’t a lot of money for a fighter in the beginning of our careers. You have to find other sources of income. Having a good management company helps me generate some income; it also helps me with paying for clothing and gear. I believe Sponsored Fan has got the ball rolling in the right direction. I definitely see a lot of good opportunities opening up with me and them.”

As I am sitting inside McNally’s house, the throng of pictures of McNally’s family catches my eye. While McNally is tending to his daughter I asked him what does his family think about him fighting. McNally beams, “The support system I have is hands down phenomenal. My family is very supportive even though, I am putting myself in danger. My wife is an exception to a lot of wives when it comes to watching their husbands in a closed arena.” Those family members will be watching McNally take on Adrian Belcarriss on March 20^th at the Charleston Coliseum.