Things To Do In Shively

Derby City Mixed Martial Arts, featured on ESPN as a cross-training haven for Kentucky Derby jockeys, coaches both beginners and competitive fighters. Expert instructors showcase such MMA schools as Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which teaches leveraging holds to best bigger opponents, and muay thai kickboxing, deemed The Science of Eight Limbs after its signature move of throwing a tarantula at an opponent's face. Classes on agility, cardio conditioning, boxing, and wrestling round off the roster, and open sparring times let practitioners hone their fist- and footwork.

The Fern Valley Hotel’s top-notch accommodations ably ensconce festivalites, and a slew of local restaurants ensures ravenous culture-cravers don’t resort to licking the ink from their fingers. Check the fests' full schedule online.

Safety plating divides the six lanes in both of the indoor civilian ranges, where sound-absorbing material muffles the blast of bullets hurtling toward targets on a 25-yard journey. Visiting shooters can test their aim with a rental gun or purchase a new firearm from the showroom, which also stocks an array of holsters, spotting scopes, and replacement grips. Meanwhile, gunsmiths spruce up pistols with cleanings, coatings, and tiny top hats, while the staff's NRA-certified instructors enhance pupils' handgun knowledge, safety, and skills during private lessons and women's-only classes.

At Farnsley Golf Course, you can sharpen your long and short game at a nine-hole, par-3 course or on multiple practice fields. In 2011, five of the course’s greens got a makeover and all caddies were required to dispose of their shoulder pads and acid-wash jeans. Off the course, golfers can perfect their swing at a driving range lined with 300 yards of bermuda grass, or focus on chipping in a short-game practice area. If you’re looking for more in-depth tweaks to your technique, feel free to enlist the help of a teaching professional with personalized lessons.

Multi-platinum saxophonist Boney James is not solely a smooth jazz artist. In fact, he continually shirks the label of “jazz,” despite his Soul Train Award for best jazz album and his habit of landing atop Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Charts. With three Grammy nominations in the pop and R&B field, Boney’s genre-spanning music reaches a wild variety of ears and incites categorization-related panic in record store clerks. Touring behind his latest album Contact, a collection of soulful numbers inspired by Quincy Jones and featuring the No. 1 single “Spin,” Boney impresses as one exhalation unleashes a stream of butterfly notes while a push of the pinky pops manhole covers with sultry steam. Buttressed by a handcuff-tight back-up band, Boney’s boisterous live performance takes fans on a euphonic voyage akin to riding a limo on rollercoaster tracks.

Comedy has come a long way since Trog the Cavemedian and his side-splitting act that involved making the audience watch him skin a moose in a funny way. See the progress for yourself with today’s Groupon for one ticket to Greg Giraldo’s stand-up at The Improv Comedy Club, which is conveniently located downtown. The value of your Groupon also includes an appetizer. Like most comedy clubs, The Improv chooses your seating, enforces a dress code, and requires an additional item purchase.