THE RED CORNER

NEWS AND UPDATES FROM THE NORTH STAR ACADEMY OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

WEEK OF JANUARY 20th, 2025

 

Happy Monday Team!

First things first, we are open as normal today despite the holiday!  If we encounter any weather-related issues we’ll send out a separate e-mail/notification to make sure everyone is on board.

Now, some congratulations are in order.

Let’s take a moment to recognize the hard work of our Fit Jitsu student Cassius in earning his green and white belt!  Cassius is a monster on the mats and has an endless desire to take challenges on head first.  His progress has been inspiring!  Congratulations sir!

 

On Thursday we had a solid crew take on our Level 2 Shorts Test — happy to announce that everyone passed with flying colors.  A big thank you to the previous Level 2 graduates who came back to help out.  That was awesome!  Moving forward we will be building the Level 2 test into our regular training rhythm; it’s a great training session in its own right, but also just a lot of fun to mix it up a bit, train with some new people, and work together as a team.  Our next Level 2 test is tentatively scheduled for mid April.

 

On Saturday, we had two athletes step onto the mats at the United Arts In-House BJJ Tournament.  Judo coach Will Dampier scrapped through eight matches over the course of the day to finish second in his division as well as second in the absolute.  Will has not competed since approximately 2016 so double congrats to him!  He has really been putting the work in these past couple of months and it showed.

Dashaun Kimp debuted at blue belt with a 1st place finish his division over the course of 5 matches.  Dashaun pieced together some gritty wins and some tough transitions to get to the top of the podium.

Both athletes looked great technically (as well as aesthetically in their new team North Star Gis available at the pro shop for $129 <–shameless plug).  We have another friendly in-house competition coming up on February 15th at Main Line United so start preparing.  See a coach if you’d like to compete.

 

Lastly, make sure to mark your calendars for our “Snow Ball” at Attic Brewing Company THIS Friday, January 24th at 8pm.  Karaoke, good beer, good company.  What more do you need?  Dress code is “whatever” but dust off your tuxedo if you really want to make a statement.  Nobody’s stopping you!

 

Gonna be SUPER cold this week so make sure to plan accordingly!

 

–Coach Jackson

You can find this week’s Monday Mindset HERE

You can find this week’s Junior Samurai Stripe Challenge HERE