Columbia Falls gym offers MMA training for all ages

The only mixed martial arts gym in Columbia Falls is teaching people of all ages strength, discipline, and focus – and it’s growing at a pretty fast rate.

Formerly Whitefish Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu which opened in 2017, Glacier Grappling and MMA rebranded and came to Columbia Falls on First Avenue West in 2023. They teach all styles of martial arts, from Brazilian jiu-jitsu to kickboxing, wrestling, mixed martial arts, and boxing. 

Head coach Gage Morsette has been coaching alongside assistant coaches Seth Emery and Dave Browne since 2017. Morsette knows all the styles of MMA that they teach, and has a black belt in jiu-jitsu.

Morsette says it wasn’t simply curiosity that got him into MMA.

“I grew up with a pretty rough lifestyle–some family abuse stuff–watching my mom go through what she went through made me want to learn how to be a ‘protector’ ­— at a vulnerable state that’s probably what the heart of it was in the beginning. As I grew older, wanting to compete and go as far as I can competition wise — that kept me going. Now, why I’m still doing it, still competing, still doing all I’m doing helping these guys compete is because I have these young guys who have all these dreams and aspirations and I’m selling them a dream–it’s probably one of my main reasons to keep going.”

He teaches all ages from three on up.

Morsette says that coaching kids offers its own unique challenges.

“With kids, you can’t just be a firm coach, you can’t just be a soft coach, each individual has their own way their mind works and their personality responds. Also the most satisfying — I’ve seen some kids with crazy life circumstances work through that and become better people.”

Sometimes, parents will bring their kids in simply to learn about discipline, he said.

Coaching adults is different.

“Adults are a bit more head fast, they’re more set in their ways. It’s less about trying to impact them as a moral coach, and more about guiding the path to skill discovery.”

Morsette says adults are usually pretty easy to work with, though. 

“The oldest students I have right now are around 61 years old —so anyone can do it,” Morsette said.

He says his students have all done a really good job staying consistent and putting in the hard work. 

“I’ve got numerous jiu-jitsu competitors who have competed and ranked gold, double gold at local Montana tournaments — we’re just pretty competitive.” 

He attributed some of his own success to athletes CJ Morris, Royce Conklin, and his brother, Jordan Jetty.

“CJ’s helped me find passion in peer boxing a bit more, Royce has helped me find passion in wrestling, and my brother Jordan has helped me with wanting to stay consistent. All three of those guys are very talented and skilled and have the potential to go really far professionally.” 

While the gym started in Whitefish, Morsette says that 75-80% of their members were from Columbia Falls. So the move was pretty painless. However, he did get more foot traffic in Whitefish.  

Although it’s a small gym compared to some of the other gyms in the valley, Morsette believes they offer the lowest prices for the best product. The gym has a fixed rate of $100 per month. This gives you an unlimited membership to all active classes. They offer jiu-jitsu Monday-Friday at 6 p.m., kickboxing Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:30 p.m., and wrestling Tuesday and Thursday at 7 p.m.

Glacier Grappling and MMA has a sister gym in Eureka. Morsette says that eventually, he’d love to see some of his star students own their own gyms. 

He says it’s really easy to get into martial arts. Just join your local gym. 

“The hardest part is getting through the door.”

Morsette has a paraplegic student, Josh, who has been training and competing with them for years. He just earned his blue belt. Josh is living proof that anyone can join martial arts, for enjoyment or to teach yourself discipline, focus, confidence, and even honor, Morsette noted.