THE RED CORNER
NEWS AND UPDATES FROM THE NORTH STAR ACADEMY OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
WEEK OF MARCH 2nd, 2026
Monday Mindset, Junior Samurai Stripe Challenge, Membership Updates, and Facility FAQ Links all available at the bottom!
Happy Monday team!
Ah, the promise of Spring!
As someone who grew up in the legendary winters of Chicago, and then spent his college years in the legendary winters of Upstate New York, I’ve always considered myself “hale and hearty” when it comes to the cold. This winter, however, has been especially challenging and I’ve noticed it’s not just been me. With that said, some sunlight and warm weather will do us all good as we emerge from our hibernation and move forward into new endeavors.
Competitively speaking, not much to announce right now. We have some stuff coming up in April, but for the month of March we’re mostly centered on the upcoming BJJ workshop with Jonathan Thomas. We’ve invited Jon back after an incredibly productive workshop last April and I can’t stress enough how directly helpful and applicable his teaching has been.
If you would like to join us on Thursday, March 19th you can register here: Jon Thomas BJJ Seminar Registration
This is a gi workshop so a uniform is required! This is open to ALL students (and friends of the academy) so no specific experience is necessary. In fact, this would be a great lesson for the newest of the new.
In the absence of any important events coming up, I’ll take the rest of this newsletter to gently remind everyone of a few policies here:
- Proper equipment and apparel is required for all classes! We do not provide loaner gear except in the case of a student forgetting theirs at home.
- The easiest way to make friends here is through good hygiene 🙂 Trim your nails, wear deodorant, and maintain clean and safe gear.
- Stinky gear is unsafe. We have developed our olfactory system (that is, our sense of smell) over bazillions of years to detect threats. If it smells bad, it is bad. Keep your gear dry between uses, and wash your uniforms (gis, rashguards, etc) between uses. This is mandatory!
- No shoes on the mat, no bare feet off the mats (y’all have been doing great with this, much love and respect).
- It’s not a race. It’s not even a marathon. Martial arts is art. You don’t need to optimize it, you don’t need to commodify it, you don’t even need to be good at it. Enjoy it. Enjoy your health, enjoy the privilege of completing something physically challenging, and remember that the benefits of what we do extend well beyond the physical realm.
- Lastly, give yourself a pat on the back. If you’re taking time out of your day to work on yourself, to improve yourself, and to challenge yourself, that is amazing. We tend to showcase the competitive successes here (simply because the lights are brightest in the ring), but some of the greatest wins come from all of us on a day to day basis. Your hard work does not go unseen.
I can’t wait to open some windows, see some sunlight, and really dig in with all of you this week and beyond. See you on the mats!
–Coach Jackson
You can find this week’s Monday Mindset HERE
You can find this week’s Junior Samurai Stripe Challenge HERE