Age no obstacle for Main Street Kickboxing instructor

At 47 years old, Mike Vanderlei isn’t getting any younger.
But Father Time hasn’t stopped the former Hollister resident from winning championships. On Sept. 27, Vanderlei won the welterweight (160-169.9 pounds) expert title in the North American Grappling Association’s Northern California Championships, the fifth different time he’s been crowned a champion in the event.
Possessing a brown belt in jiu jitsu, Vanderlei plans on winning a title at the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) World Championships within the next few years.
Last year he placed second, one of the few losses of his career. It’s a defeat that still irks him to this day.
“I trained my butt off for that fight,” said Vanderlei, who has been a trainer at Main Street Kickboxing since the facility opened up nine years ago. “I’m still pissed.”
Vanderlei, a San Jose resident who lived in Hollister from 2001-2010, grew up boxing with friends at Police Activities League (PAL) facilities. But the striker has become a submission artist and ground-and-pound fighter.
The 5-foot-8 Vanderlei competes in the 169-pound weight class expert division—the highest level—and like most accomplished fighters, he prides himself on his fitness and workout regimen.
Vanderlei wins most of his matches via submission.
“Getting guys to submit is my strength,” he said. “I like all submissions, but a lot of the finishes to my matches have been arm bars. I get my opponents to submit from everywhere.”
Vanderlei doesn’t need much motivation, but whenever he’s lacking a bit of inspiration for whatever reason, he looks to his mom, Alice, and knows anything is possible.
After all, Alice, 72, suffered a stroke a few months ago only to rebound with authority.
“After she had the stroke, the left side of her mouth was kind of limp whenever she talked, and her balance was off,” he said. “After work I would visit her and give her an insulin shot, but to see where she’s at now is like a miracle. She’s running and dancing around and throwing her foot up in the air higher than I can. To see what she can do at her age and to be able to come back from that, it just makes me wonder how much more I can do.”
Vanderlei praised his mom for raising six children all by herself. Vanderlei’s father, Richard, died when he was 16 and wasn’t much of a presence in his life.
“I never really had a father figure, but my mom was a strong presence in my life,” Vanderlei said. “It was tough on her working two jobs and being up late every night, but she got it done.”
Kelly praised Vanderlei for his toughness and ability to learn on the fly.
“He reached the brown belt level in a short time, when most guys take years to get to that level,” Kelly said. “We’ve got five of his belts hanging from the walls here, and in the last 2 ½ years he’s been moving through the ranks and really tearing it up.”
Kelly is the club’s Muy Thai/kickboxing/boxing coach, and Vanderlei is the grappling/ground fighting coach. Vanderlei, who actually grew up watching Kelly fight, didn’t have Mixed Martial Arts to compete in when he was growing up.
“When I was a kid, MMA didn’t exist,” Vanderlei said. “Once it came about, I thought it was pretty cool.”
In a typical tournament, Vanderlei has anywhere from one to 13 matches. Often times when he faces off against a strong opponent, the match comes down to superior mental toughness.
“It’s a lot like a chess match,” he said. “They know your moves, and you know their moves. You really have to be careful or you could get caught and it’s all over.”
Vanderlei couldn’t tell you his won-loss record, but said he could only recall losing three times since he started competitively fighting in 2008.