Jacob Beckmann: World Heavyweight Champion (spoilers!) | The Compost Bin | Forums

Holy hell that's awesome, even a bigger fan of Nate now.

There’s going to be a rumble in Portland Saturday as Jacob Beckmann enters the ring in a mixed martial arts competition against a retired UFC fighter.

It will be the first competition fight for Beckmann, a 19-year-old Newberg High School student who has Down syndrome. He began his MMA training at Walker’s Martial Arts Academy in Newberg four years ago.

“I didn’t know how it was going to go at first, because he’s the first person I’ve ever taught who’s had Down syndrome,” Coach Greg Walker said. “He got in here, I just treated him like everyone else. He’s got a really good work ethic.”

“You’ve got to work hard to be a sensei,” Beckmann said.

As their training continued Beckmann made progress, keeping his hands up and improving his punches and kicks. But all the while he would ask the same question — when would he get to fight in a competitive match? Seeing the photos on the wall at the gym showing Walker and his brother Kevin in various competitions, he awaited the day when it would be his turn.

A significant shift happened when Beckmann and his mother came in for his birthday in November and Walker had prepared a surprise: he staged a mini-championship belt competition, complete with a printed poster he had made.

“It showed his heart, to go over and above the call of duty and actually inspire someone,” Sherry Beckmann said. Her son saw the poster and that inspired him to wonder if he could do the real thing.

So, when the young fighter again asked two months ago when his turn in the ring would be coming, Walker thought it might just be time and told him they’d find him a fight.

They recorded and uploaded a challenge video online on Jan. 13. The response was impressive.

“All of a sudden the MMA community got involved,” Walker said. “They saw the video and everyone seems to like him a lot.”

Several hundred people shared the video across Facebook. Then, a challenger responded. Former UFC fighter Nathan Quarry accepted Beckmann’s call-out, setting an exhibition match for April 18 at the Roseland Theatre in Portland.

In a Facebook post about the event, Quarry wrote that the event can help raise awareness by “not only educating people that men and women like Jacob have dreams and goals but also their families have dreams, goals and unconditional love for them.

“I’m just a bit part in this play,” he continued. “Jacob’s mother is the real fighter right alongside Jacob. It’s the least I can do to give them a little support on their journey through life.”

As the fight approaches the Beckmanns have recently taken another big step — they registered a nonprofit advocacy organization called Create the Connection, based on the idea of fostering communication to help people with differences engage with the world around them.

It began when Beckmann was young and his mom would notice other kids swimming away from him at the pool. They came up with the idea of creating “empowerment cards” that would introduce Jacob to other kids at school, to dissipate the awkwardness they might be feeling by including some introductory information on the cards.

“They would explain a little bit about him, that he knows he’s different, the things he’s interested in,” Sherry Beckmann said. “It would change the whole dynamic.”

Working as a counselor with a background in psychology, she understands the reaction people feel when they are around people who are different, explaining that it’s actually a normal human reaction. With more exposure to those with differences, however, people can relax and that awkwardness can evaporate.

With Create the Connection, the Beckmanns have the eventual goal of expanding the empowerment card idea and creating them for people with other diagnoses and disabilities.

While that wider project gets underway, Walker is making similar educational efforts at his martial arts academy: he has recently allowed Beckmann to help out with teaching the academy’s younger students, holding the mitts while the students practice their moves. His mother said it enables him to give back to others while the children get an early start on meeting someone with differences.

As Beckmann continues preparing for the Roseland showdown, one theme stands out in particular for his mother.

“An amazing dynamic is the whole idea it just takes one person to believe in someone who has differences,” she said. “Greg took the chance.”

Beckmann and Quarry will face off Saturday at the Roseland Theatre in Portland. For more information, visit http://thefcff.com.

http://www.pamplinme.....n-the-ring

Pic from the fight last night