THE RED CORNER
NEWS AND UPDATES FROM THE NORTH STAR ACADEMY OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
WEEK OF AUGUST 25th, 2025
Monday Mindset, Junior Samurai Stripe Challenge, and Facility FAQ Links all available at the bottom!
Happy Monday Team!
Writing this newsletter to you from the Windy City of Chicago! Little known fact: I was actually born here in the Lincoln Park neighborhood and only moved to the Philadelphia area during my high school years, so it’s always fun to come back and see how the “home town” has changed. But no matter how much the details vary, Chicago always does a lot of things right: great public works, great infrastructure, and the correct style of pizza (deep dish) 🙂
Having been on the East Coast for so long I’m always amused at how off putting general Midwest politeness can be. If someone randomly says hi to you in Philly you know you’re about to get scammed! But here it’s just a normal thing. I guess that’s why we’re so good at combat sports! We always have our guard up.
Anyway, I’ll be back on Tuesday for our youth Muay Thai class and beyond. Looking forward to getting right back to the mats with you all.
On to the important stuff.. as a big THANK YOU to everyone who helped with our big move last month, we’ve made some fun t-shirts for you guys! Make sure to grab your tee next time you are in. Additional tees can be purchased for $20 (also available to anyone, regardless of whether you were able to help). Our next big project is to try and convert our basement space into a heavy bag room so any funds we raise will go directly to outfitting that space properly. Let’s go!
We are debuting a new program here at the academy, our 4-Week Intro to Jiu Jitsu course!
We will build a foundation in the grappling arts from the ground up in a progressive manner, starting with mechanics and working forward into concepts, techniques, and live drills.
This is designed as a low impact, introductory course with an emphasis on mobility, strength, and flexibility training and a de-emphasis on fast paced, competitive drills.
The cost for non-member is $179 and it includes a gi. Family members can enjoy an exclusive 25% discount as well, making this a perfect opportunity for someone in your family to jump on the mats and try it out without any long term commitments.
This course is free for members and will meet every Tuesday at 7:30pm and Saturday at 11am from 9/2 – 9/27. Participants will need a BJJ gi in order to attend.
For more information, and to register, head to this link: Intro to Jiu Jitsu Course
Next, we have a Women’s Open Mat scheduled for Sunday, September 7th! We recommend planning on showing up to start Muay Thai at 10am, and move into BJJ around 11am. You can show up whenever for whatever, though! Students and friends of the academy are welcome
–Coach Jackson
You can find this week’s Monday Mindset HERE
You can find this week’s Junior Samurai Stripe Challenge HERE