Three pairs meet at the mat. They face each other, donning boxing gloves, fluidly bobbing and weaving, agilely blocking their partners’ determined hooks and jabs.

Far from a remake of “Fight Club,” it’s the Tuesday night “Fight to Fit: Standing” class at the newly opened martial arts school, DC Combat Labs. 

The name conjures up vivid images of bloody knockouts between wannabe street fighters or some of the more painful “Karate Kid” outtakes.

But at DC Combat Labs, it’s about the student, the sport and the journey of growth and self-awareness. 

Their mantra is simple: You’re never done learning.

Once you reach a certain level, explained co-founder and passionate martial arts guru Christopher Torres, you might feel like you’re “there,” like you’ve learned all you can. Rather than admit frustration, Torres sees potential. 

“You’re an eternal student,” he said. 

Torres teaches the majority of classes offered at the studio, which range from kick boxing to “Fit to Fight” and even the occasional Zumba class.

“Training to me is infectious,” he admits. 

The one-room studio less than two blocks from the Van Ness-UDC Metro opened two weeks ago and offers classes at all fitness levels. The open space is designed to create a playful atmosphere, conducive to learning through active training and ready for rounds of sparring.   

While the studio welcomes everyone, from athletes to the novice kick boxer, not anyone walking in off the street can enter the studio and demand a fight. 

One of the studio’s co-founders described a recent attendee, anxiously ready to fight. A 19-year-old kid walked in the other day, eagerly asking to spar and excitedly boasting a background in Tae Kwon Do. 

Their response? 

“Absolutely not,” Michael Dobson, one of the studio’s three co-founders, said with a laugh. They want patrons to be prepared, acknowledging if they are knocked down and dragged out, they won’t be coming back.

A dual degree graduate from GW, Dobson is a lawyer focusing on international trade and export control by day and a martial arts athlete by night. 

Helping his fellow co-founders out with the legal paperwork and marketing, including writing the website content and outreach for advertising partnerships, Dobson works on balancing his time between his day job and sizeable hobby.

Growing up in Baltimore, Dobson wrestled in high school, which laid the foundation for his interest in Krav Maga, the form of self-defense used by the Israeli Defense Forces.

At GW, Dobson was active in the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, holding a position as the campus liaison for the chapter at a time when there were only two members at the campus. He credits the skills he garnered planning events for the fraternity for helping him market the new studio.

After graduating from GW with a degree in political science and sociology, Dobson then earned a law degree in 2009.

“I came back [to Krav Maga] when I was in law school because I needed some exercise, I needed to get the aggression out,” Dobson said. 

While blowing off some legal steam, Dobson met co-founder Torres, who was the chief instructor at Krav Maga DC. The two started training together, and eventually became business partners – a relationship built on respect and mutual love of the sport.

Dobson has been training with Torres, the 2011 World Kickboxing Association mixed martial arts champion, for the past three years and eventually paired with the third more detail-oriented partner, Kirstin Murphey.

“You have a lot of people who are just looking for something different. They are tired of going to the gym and just lifting, and they are looking for something a little more high impact or just a competitive edge,” Dobson said. 

Dobson describes the environment as friendly and laid-back, conducive to learning at any level.

“The kick boxing class is just you and the bag, but there is an aggression there that you are not going to find in cycling,” Dobson said. “And I think people are attracted to that. Especially people like me who are at a desk all day. You need some outlet.” 

While currently offering a week free for all new participants, an all-inclusive monthly membership can be purchased for $149, or a six-week boot camp program, twice a week, can be purchased for $180.

“You’re going to get your money’s worth if you came to work out,” Dobson said. 

In the future, the studio plans to offer discounts both for students and members of the military. 

Following his own mantra, Dobson regularly takes classes at DC Combat Labs.

“If you think you’re done, you just don’t know enough,” Dobson said.