Discipline and respect are key components of mixed-martial arts (MMA).

Those attributes are inspiring community leaders in Carmacks and Faro to use the sport to combat bullying.

"It's not about going out and fighting without any reason; it's more about, it's a sport, it's very technical, you have to stay disciplined in it, and when you're in the ring, you respect the opposition…and after it's over, you help them up,” said Kenji Welch, recreation assistant in Carmacks.

"It's more of a community than what we see on TV of just going out and brawling.”

Nearly 40 youth – 10 from Faro – attended the MMA Against-Bullying clinic held at the Carmacks Recreation Centre on Saturday.

Yukon MP Ryan Leef – a retired MMA fighter – spearheaded the clinic, which also featured Avalanche MMA fighters Cliff Schultz, Miller Rogers, T.J. Woodman and Stefan Brynjolfsson, who are each undefeated in amateur MMA.

The day started with anti-bullying messages before a warm up and drills. The kids were split off into stations for boxing, muay thai, stand-up grappling and jiu-jitsu, moving from station to station after spending roughly 45 minutes at each.

Welch said the Recreation Department of Carmacks is focusing on providing more positive programming that will help youth become role models for the next generation.

"Hopefully it'll be established. We're going to attempt to try and get this going, at least once a month, or maybe bi-weekly, and hopefully to grow the sport from there,” Welch said, adding: "The main goal was to give the kids exposure to something new, and also to address the issue of bullying, which is pretty prevalent in this community, just like any other community with this age group.”

Leef and the fighters promoted the importance of positive relationships and teamwork.

At the beginning of the day, the kids were hesitant, said Leef, who is a former instructor of defensive tactics with the Yukon Government. By the end, each had received the message loud and clear.

"We got them engaged in cheering each other on in drills, and you could see, toward the end, a lot of the kids that were catching on or having an easier time with one technique over another – were getting involved in helping the younger kids, they were getting involved in teaching each other,” Leef said.

"It really translated well. We tried not to bog them down with a lot of theory; we gave them the practical application. And what we saw at the end of the day is they were applying the theoretical concepts we wanted to get across and the practical ones, they were applying there in the class.”

Getting the community leaders on board was also a major step, Leef added.

Schultz, coach and co-owner of Whitehorse-based Avalanche MMA, agreed.

"We're trying to get back into the community a little more often to do these types of things with the kids, put on more clinics for them so they can learn more about mixed-martial arts,” Schultz said.

"We want to do some advertising for anti-bullying (in Whitehorse) too.

"Faro's invited us out there as well to put on something for all of the kids, because they couldn't bring all of them. We want to be able to go out to all these places, Watson Lake, Dawson, Ross River.”