BETHLEHEM, Pa. - On a busy stretch of Stefko Boulevard, at the site of an old lawnmower repair shop, you’re likely to miss the changes to the unassuming one-story brick structure a block north of famed candy maker Just Born.
Because it's bordered on the back end by the Marvine-Pembroke housing community, you’ll need to cut down Peters Street—an alley tucked between Stefko and Marvine Street—to find the freshly paved parking lot for a business on the move.
Welcome to 36E Fitness, which has transitioned from Bethlehem’s Main Street Commons to a brand new location.
Unlike a traditional gym, however, you’re as likely to learn life lessons here as you are the proper form for push-ups.
Inside, owner and trainer Evan Robinson also is looking to change lives by teaching the same training techniques and ground-based martial arts that helped him turn his life around.
To get to that point, just as visitors must navigate the streets of Bethlehem to get to 36E Fitness, Robinson had to rewind the story to how he ended up behind bars at a state correctional facility.
‘It let me see what’s real’
These days, Robinson is certified in both personal training and wellness coaching and is expanding his business to begin teaching self-defense jiu-jitsu and Brazilian jiu-jitsu fundamentals.
But 25 years ago, Robinson’s life had taken a markedly different turn. He was convicted of robbery and sentenced to up to 40 years in prison.
“So, this is the irony of my story,” Robison said. “My mother was in the military, and also in law enforcement. There was always a police car somewhere in my driveway, growing up.
"On my mother's side, everybody's a schoolteacher. On my dad's side, everybody worked all their life or joined the military or something. And then as I started growing up, I look back and I’m like, ‘Damn.’”
It was Dec. 6, 1997, when Robinson and two friends forced their way into an Easton-area home and threatened the occupants. It was not his first run-in with the law, but it was his last.
“I do say when I got locked up…reality hits in a mean way when you're inside," he said. "All the fun and games aren't fun and games anymore. And you have to grow up real fast.
“Fortunately, my growing-up period took place next to people not really considered the best of society. It was a good thing because it let me see what's real and what's not real.
“And don't get me wrong, this is prison, but I won’t say my prison stay was bad. What I'll say is that I think personality wise, a lot of older dudes automatically were like, ‘Oh my God. He reminds me of my son or my nephew,’ or whatever. So it was like, ‘Come here, man, sit down. Let’s talk for a minute.’”
It was that group of men that not only kept Robinson away from “thousands of bad elements” on the inside, but focused on a modern martial arts discipline that helped him stay out of trouble and succeed on the outside.
“Listen, I'm a firm believer in this," he said. "Inside, they always say, ‘Rehabilitation, rehabilitation rehabilitation.’ I don't…I honestly don't believe there's such a thing as rehabilitation.
“In the prison system, I think a person changes when they want to change. Period. And…that only happens to the person who just sits there and thinks, ‘I’ve had enough.’”
‘My body was there, I wasn’t’
On the inside, Robinson would get letters from his best friend and mixed martial arts veteran Joe Van Brackle that helped to keep his mind busy.
“Everybody works out in jail because of the environment," Robinson said. "You don’t want to be the weak link because that’s not a great environment, so working out just becomes routine. That was normal.
“But Joey would write me all the time talking about jiu-jitsu, what’s new in jiu-jitsu and his travels and, ‘I’m here training now. I’m training with this guy.’ And I’d be like, ‘Ah, I really missed this. I can’t wait to get back to it, I can’t wait to get back to it, I can’t wait to get back to it. So for me, my body was there, I wasn’t. I was living on the outside.”
By the time Robinson was paroled — after 15 years, four months and three days—the path he’d envisioned for himself quickly became reality.
There was freedom, training, and eventually his own gym.
But as Robinson progressed as a Brazilian jiu-jitsu student—getting his blue belt, then a purple—one thing was missing.
Van Brackle passed away in 2017 at the age of 43, and Robinson has dedicated his achievements to his best friend’s memory.
He’s also ready to carry his business forward.
'It changes the way you look at things'
Robinson will hold an open house at his new location from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 17.
There, he’ll get to showcase a gleaming new facility that will offer personal training sessions in a private setting.
But his biggest love of all remains jiu-jitsu.
“That’s my love,” Robinson said. “I fell in love with the self-defense aspects of jiu jitsu because, I mean, that’s what got me through prison. But it depends on the circumstances and how it goes down.
"Because with self-defense it’s a thousand things. What if this happened this way, you know? So as far as what jiu-jitsu teaches you, it teaches you efficiency, it teaches…the way to deal with a situation as efficiently and safely as possible.”
The classes are designed to give a sense of situational awareness, while allowing students to defend themselves against ‘attackers’ of all sizes.
Robinson said that focus leans toward women, and women empowerment. But it’s designed for everyone.
“I'm like, look, guys, I'm telling you from experience. It just changes the way you look at things.”
What: 36E Fitness
Where: 1450 Stefko Blvd, Bethlehem
What: 1-on-1 personal training and self-defense jiu-jitsu
For more information: https://www.36efitness.com/
