History of Fort Worth Combatives
Fort Worth Combatives was founded on the belief that practical self-defense, real retention, and structured training matter more than random techniques or ego-based drills. Our roots trace back to a combination of traditional and reality-driven training systems, including Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), Sambo, Russian Martial Arts, and context-based combatives. Over the years, we’ve helped thousands of adults, teens, and organizations in Fort Worth and North Texas develop confidence, skill, and readiness through hands-on practice and pressure-tested drills.
From the earliest days of hosting community self-defense seminars, organized grappling workshops, and trauma/medical readiness classes, Fort Worth Combatives has grown into a local hub for structured training that works when it matters most. Along the way, we built programs that became foundational to our identity, including Gracie Jiu-Jitsu® beginner curriculums, sport and combat Sambo, weapon-aware combatives, and life-saving trauma readiness training.
Fort Worth Combatives began in 2010 as Fort Worth Ninjutsu, originally offering American Ninjutsu to the Dallas–Fort Worth region. At that time, Robert Klenka was an assistant instructor at the Arlington American Ninjutsu school, where head instructor Yvonne Falgout advised him that he was ready to branch out and open his own academy in Fort Worth. That mentorship and lineage became the foundation of Fort Worth Combatives’ approach to structured, practical training.
Our first Fort Worth location operated inside MetroFlex Gym, where the academy grew over three formative years. During this same period, Robert cross-trained extensively, studying Russian Martial Art Systema at Big D Systema in Dallas under instructor Cash Nickerson and assistant coach Dimitri Guz, while also training AMOK! knife fighting and combatives with Steve Miles in Killeen, Texas. As the academy evolved, Fort Worth Ninjutsu became the Fort Worth branch of the Central Texas Combatives Training Group (CTCTG) During this phase, we added Systema and AMOK! training groups into select weeknight classes and hosted multiple community seminars in Ninjutsu, Systema, AMOK!, firearms fundamentals, and trauma response for the Fort Worth area.
In 2012, on the recommendation of Cash Nickerson, Robert Klenka attended the Systema Instructor Camp in Toronto, Canada, where he tested and certified as a Systema instructor under founder Vladimir Vasiliev. Upon returning to Texas, he formally added Russian Martial Art Systema to the academy’s program list, marking Fort Worth Combatives’ first major expansion beyond its original American Ninjutsu curriculum. As the school continued evolving into a broader self-defense and readiness training center, we expanded our offerings to include more NRA Firearm courses and Texas License to Carry Classes, supporting students who wanted both responsible ownership fundamentals and practical personal protection education. With the academy no longer centered around a single traditional system, the name was updated from Fort Worth Ninjutsu to Fort Worth Combatives, reflecting a new direction—one focused on adaptable combatives, community seminars, and structured skill development across multiple disciplines.
In 2013, Fort Worth Combatives transitioned out of MetroFlex Gym and into our first independent training space, known as “The Warehouse.” While the location offered room to grow, we quickly learned it struggled with extreme seasonal conditions, becoming difficult to heat in winter and cool in the Texas summer. fter about a year, we partnered with Texas Defense Academy (TDA)—a team we connected with through the MetroFlex community and shared training values.
At TDA, we co-taught weeknight classes in American Ninjutsu, Systema, and AMOK! Knife Fighting, giving students consistent access to both traditional groundwork and practical combatives systems. As the academy matured, our curriculum began shifting toward higher-percentage defensive fundamentals and more structured training themes, eventually leading to the gradual removal of American Ninjutsu from the rotation in favor of programs that better matched our long-term direction and student retention.
In 2015, Robert expanded his instructor credentials again, earning the Russian Cossack Systema Instructor certification under Andrey Karimov. This distinguished him as one of only a small number of certified Cossack Systema instructors in the United States, supporting Fort Worth Combatives’ mission to preserve lineage-based instruction while prioritizing practical, repeatable self-defense skill development for real students and real situations.
After parting ways with AMOK!, Fort Worth Combatives shifted again in 2013 when instructor Steve Miles evolved his years of military combatives and weapon-based training into a new system: ALIVE! Combatives and Gunfighting In 2017, Robert Klenka earned Group Leader status directly under Steve Miles, becoming one of the first ALIVE! leaders in Texas trained to teach the system’s signature approach: context, timing, pressure, and cooperative resistance drills over choreography.
Robert continued expanding his professional credentials beyond martial arts. In 2018, he earned his National and Texas State EMT-B certifications and licenses, along with ECSI (Emergency Care & Safety Institute) instructor credentials, and Stop the Bleed® instructor authorization, formally positioning the academy to teach both self-defense and life-saving trauma response. In 2019, Robert graduated the Texas COLE-accredited S.W.A.T. Medic school, registering Fort Worth Combatives as a Committee on TECC Educational Partner and official Educational Training Partner for tactical medical instruction in Texas. That same year, the academy became a registered Educational Partner of the Committee for Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (C-TECC), reinforcing our role in both civilian and tactical trauma education.
In 2020, Robert earned his Texas Level 4 Personal Protection Officer license (PPO)—the highest armed security certification in the state—allowing him to provide executive protection, medical standby teams, enabling him to deliver high-level security, medical details, and combatives instruction for corporations, defense contractors, real estate professionals, and critical infrastructure clients across Texas. Fort Worth Combatives’ evolution reflects a clear pattern: lineage-based instruction paired with real-world readiness credentials, built for students who want practical skill, structured learning, and confidence under pressure.
In 2021, Fort Worth Combatives became a Sambo Nation Affiliate, expanding our weeknight curriculum to include Sport and Combat Sambo , giving students access to a unified grappling and competition pathway rooted in Russian Sambo’s global competitive lineage. This partnership marked a major milestone in the academy’s continued growth into a multi-discipline combatives and combat sports training hub for the Fort Worth community.
In 2024, founder Robert Klenka passed the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu® Combatives Instructor Test, and Fort Worth Combatives officially became an independently owned and operated Certified Gracie Jiu-Jitsu® Training Center. Since then, we’ve delivered Gracie’s structured beginner curriculum through weeknight Gracie Jiu-Jitsu® and Combatives classes in Fort Worth, offering a clear, cooperative, and retention-focused path into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu self-defense training—taught with the same commitment to safety, structure, and real-world applicability that defined our evolution from the beginning.
From a single traditional program in 2010 to a multi-discipline academy trusted by students and organizations across North Texas, Fort Worth Combatives has continually evolved toward training that is structured, practical, and pressure-tested. Guided by mentorship, international instructor certification, competitive affiliation, and expanding real-world medical and personal protection credentials, the academy grew into a local and regional hub for self-defense, grappling, and life-saving preparedness training. Today, our history stands as proof of a clear mission: teach fundamentals first, drill them safely, and build confidence through repeatable success—on the mat, on the range, and in real-world readiness.
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