By Angela Blue

Many people enjoy dining out; he opened his own restaurant. Most look at Websites daily; he designs them. Some watch mixed martial arts fights on television; he participates. His name is Brad Smith, and though he has a wide variety of interests, he’s able to juggle them equally while being a humble family man.

When Brad and his wife, Jennifer opened The Winehouse on Colley Avenue in Ghent, they had just moved here from Portland, Oregon. They had never owned a restaurant and didn’t know a lot about wine, but their reasoning was simple: There weren’t any restaurants in Ghent that suited their tastes, so instead of waiting for one to open, they created their own.

The Winehouse opened in April 2005 on West Olney Road. The cozy and upscale restaurant served a menu of tapas and offered a wide variety of wines. When they moved to their present location on Colley Avenue, they began serving a full menu, and of course they’re still famous for their incredible wine selection.

One of the best things about the restaurants is that it supports small wineries.

“If it’s in a grocery store, typically you won’t see it in here,” Brad says.  “We like to support the little guy as much as possible because we’re one of them.”

Supporting small wineries is a large part of the restaurant’s philosophy, which included on the Website. The site also features articles about various wine regions, a guide to understanding wine labels and even recipes from The Winehouse’s kitchen. Brad designed it himself. He has a background in computer science, and before he became a restaurant owner, he worked at the Intel Corporation for 10 years. He is currently helping with the content and site development for Newcomernetwork.com, a Website created for people who are thinking of moving to a new city and want to get information on the history, climate, schools, healthcare facilities and points of interest in the area.

As if owning a restaurant and designing Websites weren’t enough, Brad has another interest that keeps him busy: He’s a fighter in mixed martial arts (MMA for short). The sport combines techniques from a variety of martial arts, including Jiu-jitsu and karate, but each MMA fighter has his own background and training. In Brad’s case, he brings to the ring experience in boxing, karate and Jiu-jitsu. He currently holds a blue belt in Gracie Jiu-jitsu and a brown belt in Tang Soo Do, a form of karate.
The rules for fighting in MMA competitions aren’t as strict as some combat sports. The most basic rules are: No eye gouging, biting, fishhooking or blows to the back of head, neck or spine, and no kicking someone when they’re on the ground. Pretty much everything else goes.

It may seem out of the ordinary for the owner of such a posh restaurant to be involved in a dangerous sport, but Brad began boxing and practicing martial arts in college. He became less involved after college, but started training in martial arts again at Norfolk Karate Academy in 2005. At that time, he had no intention of participating in fights; he simply wanted to focus on discipline, one of the things he enjoys about martial arts. When he had been training for a while, a guy at the academy fought in an MMA competition. This sparked Brad’s interest, and he decided to start participating in them.

So far, he’s only been in two fights. Earlier this year he ruptured disks in his back. The injury wasn’t related to fighting, but it prevented him from competing in CageFest 2008 and caused him to be couch ridden for months. Because he was out of commission for so long, Brad had to start from scratch to retrain.

“The body remembers, but it takes a lot of time to get back to where you were,” he says. He’s been training since his recovery, and he says that training is the hardest part because he has to maintain his diet and physical condition without letting his body break down. “The training is grueling; the fight is the fun part,” he said. All his training will come in handy for his next fight on June 6 at the Khedive Temple in Chesapeake.

Stepping into the ring can be intimidating.

“It’s pretty terrifying, actually,” says Brad. “You start to think, ‘Why am I here? What did I do this for?’”

Brad responds not by trying to intimidate his opponent with menacing faces, but by he trying to remain calm to conserve his energy.

“It’s an endurance sport more than anything; the one who’s able to retain most of his strength throughout the fight typically will win.”

While many wives would disapprove of such a hobby, Brad’s wife, Jennifer, is just the opposite.  She is an MMA fanatic. Before Brad’s first fight, she told him, “If you get knocked out in the first 15 seconds, don’t come home.” She gets nervous but knows that Brad wouldn’t do anything he wasn’t prepared for.

Their three kids also take an interest in Brad’s fighting, although he won’t allow them to watch him fight until they’re older.
“Seeing it on T.V., they recognize and understand the sport,” he says, “but in person it takes on a much different feeling. You can feel the punches—and hear them—and understand just how dangerous and really it is.”

Although MMA fighting can be dangerous, it is a sport that Brad believes the local community should support. It’s not a sport that you can just walk in and start slugging; everyone is extremely intelligent.” He says that it is one of the purest examples of sports today. “There’s no way to fake what you’re doing; there’s no way to be successful if you don’t train. You can’t say you’re something you’re not because it’s going to show in the ring.”

Brad is not looking to be a professional MMA fighter, but he does hope to teach martial arts in the future and continue to progress in his skills.
“This is my craft,” he says. “This is what I love. Some people golf, others fish; this is what I do. Everyone has their passion.”

For more information on the June 6 fight go to kingofthering.org.