MKG Milwaukee
Blend. Play. Grow.
Blend. Play. Grow.
A small, focused training environment rooted in the Minnesota Kali Group’s blend of arts, methods, and philosophy. We carry forward the MKG aim of “creating more functional, more peaceful individuals for a more functional, more peaceful world,” while allowing each instructor’s background and personal insight to shape the training experience. Within the Lyceum Martial Arts Group, MKG Milwaukee stands as its own dedicated area of practice, while also serving as a pathway into the broader collection of arts and training methods offered throughout the Lyceum.
The Minnesota Kali Group, founded by Guro Rick Faye in 1982, is known for its thoughtful blend of Filipino Martial Arts, Jeet Kune Do Concepts, Muay Thai, and blended grappling. The MKG curriculum emphasizes functional movement, solid mechanics, cultural appreciation, and well-rounded attribute development, all delivered in an environment that values play, curiosity, and personal expression.
Here in Milwaukee, we carry those values forward in a more intimate format. Training is personal, thoughtful, and sustainable. The focus is less on accumulating techniques and more on developing attributes such as timing, structure, balance, sensitivity, and adaptability.
We train with the belief that martial arts are more than a collection of arts, they’re a framework for building resilience, awareness, and a clearer sense of self. Our goal is straightforward: to offer training that is practical, effective, and deeply informed by the systems and teaching methods passed down through MKG and it's community, while honoring the personal influences of each session leader.
Beginners and experienced practitioners alike are encouraged to engage in thoughtful practice, find their own expression, and pay attention to how the work shows up in the rest of their life. On and off the mat.
If this approach sounds like something you’ve been looking for, reach out and we’ll talk through where to begin.
MKG’s training model describes six phases of development. These phases aren’t a ranking system and they aren’t necessarily meant to be passed through in a straight line. They function more like guiding principles. A lens for understanding each of our individual path for growth.
Most practitioners occupy several phases at the same time depending on what they are working on. Progress isn’t linear; it’s lived.
This is where students build their base: striking fundamentals, defensive structure, conditioning, cultural awareness, and practical self-defense concepts. The goal is to move well, understand the “why” behind techniques, and build a strong platform for everything that follows.
Students begin learning to feel pressure, direction, structure, and intention, often before they can see it. Through drills like Chi Sao, hubud, push hands, and flow from weapon and empty-hand systems, practitioners learn to read an opponent’s movement through touch and timing.
Here, the arts begin to blend. Students combine the ranges, drills, and concepts from earlier phases into something more fluid. Timing, distance, rhythm, and flow become more natural, expressing Bruce Lee’s idea: “Use no way as way, having no limitation as limitation.”
With sustained practice, the body adapts. Mechanics sharpen, timing deepens, and the attributes specific to the arts begin to show in posture, movement, and reflex. This isn’t about learning new curriculum, it’s about the body transforming through years of consistent work.
Guided by the JKD philosophy behind MKG, students explore the paths that resonate most with their temperament, body, and curiosity. This phase is often shaped through personal study, conversations with instructors, and individual exploration.
The culmination of the method. Practitioners look for ways to strengthen their community, help others, and apply the arts for the benefit of the world around them. As MKG expresses it: “Creating more functional, more peaceful individuals for a more functional, more peaceful world.”
We adopt the Six Phases as a framework for growth, not as a hierarchy or belt ladder. They help us understand how people learn, what they need at different points in their training, and how to support individual development.
If you’re curious how training here might support your own growth, send a note and we’ll start a conversation.
Training highlights distance, pressure, timing, and the presence of both striking and grappling. Techniques should hold up under movement, not just in cooperative drills.
We emphasize concepts over fixed answers. Students learn to adjust, question, and problem-solve rather than memorize rigid patterns.
Physical skill, mental clarity, and responsible decision-making develop together. None of them live in isolation.
As students internalize fundamentals, they’re encouraged to explore how the arts fit their own movement, strengths, and interests.
Progress comes from consistent training, conversation, and reflection. We’re not concerned with flash, titles, or belt-chasing — only honest work over time.
If these principles resonate with you, get in touch and we’ll find a way to plug you in.The MKG Blend is informed by several core arts, each studied for its own merit, history, and culture, and then woven together into a functional whole.
The MKG Blend sits at the intersection of the arts below. It’s not a single style, but a training method that encourages curiosity, cross-pollination, and long-term development. We stress integration over isolation, and playful exploration over rigid dogma.
Kali builds coordination, timing, and spatial awareness through stick, blade, and improvised-weapon training, developing reflexes that transition seamlessly into empty-hand work. Panantukan (Filipino boxing) explores close-range striking, footwork, and creative problem-solving, blending Western boxing with the adaptability of Kali. Together they form a fluid, dynamic system rooted in both tradition and functional movement.
Bruce Lee’s philosophy of efficiency, directness, and personal expression shapes the way we train. JKD gives students permission to question, adapt, and build an honest game that fits their own body and context. In practice, this means exploring striking, trapping, and close-range transitions while developing timing, clarity, and freedom of movement. Rather than chasing rigid forms, JKD helps practitioners understand themselves, so they can respond simply and effectively to whatever shows up.
Muay Thai builds powerful, efficient striking through the use of punches, kicks, knees, and elbows. Training focuses on structure, rhythm, and relaxed power, learning to generate force while staying calm and balanced. It’s an accessible, high-energy practice that develops endurance, mobility, and clear decision-making under pressure.
Drawing from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Combat Submission Wrestling, Silat, and Tai Chi, our grappling emphasizes smooth transitions between standing, clinch, and ground. The focus is on timing, sensitivity, and structural awareness rather than brute strength. We use a conversational approach to grappling where pressure, connection, and adaptability guide the exchange.
We keep the structure clear so the practice can stay thoughtful.
We offer private lessons and small group sessions designed to fit into your life, not the other way around. While much of our approach is influenced by the MKG method—adaptive, attribute-focused, and guided by honest conversation—we also draw from the wider family of arts that live within the Lyceum. You can focus on a single area or move fluidly across disciplines; both approaches are valid.
Every session follows a rhythm: conversation → exploration → flow. We begin with dialogue, move into discovery through practice, and end in a free-flowing exchange where ideas from any of the arts we teach can come alive through movement.
Focused one-on-one training built around your goals, be it: striking, self-defense, movement quality, conditioning, or technical refinement.
Collaborative sessions for people who enjoy training together and helping shape each other’s progress, a long-standing part of the MKG cextended community.
Invite-only sessions for students ready to explore without formal instruction. These are partner-first, safety-first, curiosity-first environments.
We recommend training at least once a week, not as a requirement, but because steady practice is what builds attributes, timing, and clarity over time.
If you're unsure which direction fits you best,
message us and we’ll talk through it together.
Training uses a flexible, donation-based model with straightforward suggested rates:
These are suggestions. Training is yours, at your rate. This model helps keep MKG Milwaukee accessible while supporting consistent practice and the upkeep of training space and equipment.
If you have questions about cost or access, please
reach out. We’re happy to talk.
Each group in the collective has it's own flavor and focus. These aren't seperate places so much as our method of categoizing the things we do. You’re welcome and invited to move between them and explore what fits you best.