UAB instructor, Hoover resident taking part in The World Games

Matthew McKenzie had wanted to attend the Closing Ceremony of The World Games. The Hoover resident thought it would be amazing to see the various nations represented in Protective Stadium on Sunday night.

But McKenzie, a 38-year-old graduate studies instructor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, will have an even stronger feeling about the pomp and circumstance that will bring this 10-day athletic event to a close. 

Because he will have competed on that stage.

McKenzie took part in an exhibition of para division jiu-jitsu today at Bill Battle Coliseum on the campus of Birmingham-Southern College. 

McKenzie went .500 in his two matches. He won the first by an advantage point against a challenger from Costa Rica and lost the second on a foot-lock submission to a fighter from Brazil. 

That showing was rather impressive to students of the sport as he is a blue belt who faced a pair of black belts.

“I will feel honored to know that I was a part of World Games history, statewide and local history, and jiu-jitsu and para-jiu-jitsu history,” he said. “As we close (The World Games), I'll be able to take it all in that I was a part of all of that.”

The Hueytown native got a call from the Ju-Jitsu International Federation about him competing and he jumped at the chance.

“Since it's right here at home, how do you pass that up?” he asked. “You get a chance to compete in (your) sport, to showcase our sport on this new stage in my city, especially near where I've gone to school and where I now work.

“I’m blown away,” McKenzie continued. “Being a sport enthusiast and one that loves to compete, being provided an opportunity to compete in a sport I love with the best in the world, in my city, is still mind-blowing. I love Birmingham and hope to make Birmingham proud.”

The graduate school instructor suffered a stroke on a baseball field in his youth, leaving him with limited use of his left arm. That didn’t deter him from taking part in athletics as he wrestled at Hueytown High School and “played some tennis with what I call my 'strong arm,' my right arm.”

McKenzie became interested in running, competing in marathons, before he took up jiu-jitsu at Lion Heart Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Hoover. He fell in love with the sport. 

“With jiu-jitsu, I could take what skills I did have and apply it,” he said. “Jiu-jitsu is a form of martial arts where if you're smaller, or have a deficit, per se, there's always a way and there's always something you can do to defend yourself or to have a point an advantage and attack.”

Within six months, he entered a local tournament and earned a medal. He competed in a subsequent tournament and ultimately found the para-divisions of the martial art, which is designed for persons with neuromuscular limitations.

“I competed in New York, LA, Dallas and the Para-World Championships,” McKenzie said. “I got gold and silver medals in those.”

The Hoover resident teaches graduate-level counseling courses in the School of Education. He’s been able to apply some of what he teaches in his competitions.

“Being of one mind, like a steel-focused mind, having the ability to be relaxed in what is a very much a non-relaxing environment,” he said. “That comes into play in counseling. Also, acceptance – acceptance of the position I'm in during the fight. Acceptance that if I stay relaxed and I stay focused, I can change that. The ability to change stuff lies in having acceptance. This is a big part of that.”

McKenzie's his wife Mehgan, their 12-year-old son Braxton and other friends came to root him on as stepped onto The World Games stage. And while he was only this week invited to participate, he’s already bonded with other athletes.

“I spent a lot of time on WhatsApp, talking to competitors from different countries (like) Costa Rica, even talking to athletes from our country,” he said. “They're here and I can show them our city and be like a guide, an ambassador. That has been great. I've met people from the Israeli team. I've met some Brazil players in The Games. It's really cool to see people come to our city and to share that with them and give them suggestions on where to go.”