THE RED CORNER
NEWS AND UPDATES FROM THE NORTH STAR ACADEMY OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
WEEK OF APRIL 13th, 2026
Monday Mindset, Junior Samurai Stripe Challenge, Membership Updates, and Facility FAQ Links all available at the bottom!
Happy Monday Team!
Big week of transition for our grappling program. We had a solid showing this past Wednesday to say goodbye to longtime coach Valor Boyer as he embarks on his new venture, the opening of his own academy Valor Grappling Club. Valor has been a huge influence in our BJJ program here over the past few years and is leaving some big shoes to fill. This is definitely not a case of “Goodbye” but very much so a “See you soon!” type thing — North Star students have carte blanche to drop by and train with Valor at his new academy any time, and we’ll continue to find ways to collab and stay in touch on the mats.
One of the greatest assists you can make to a new school starting out is to give them a 5 star review on Google. If you had a “5-Star Experience” with coach Valor please visit this link and bless him with some help:
>>> Review Valor Grappling Club <<<
If you’ve had anything less than that, I’d ask you to send your feedback to Valor directly (I’ll give you his e-mail). Probably more valuable even than a 5 star review is just straight up, honest feedback.
If you can help with one or both of those things, I can confidently speak on Valor’s behalf and say that it would be greatly appreciated!
So what’s new on Wednesdays, then? Well, we’ll be launching our six week “North Star Wrestling Club” program on Wednesday nights at 7:30pm through Memorial Day Weekend. Wrestling is the “bad boy” of combat sports in that everyone wants to be good at it, but few want to get good at it, so here’s your chance to do both!
This progressive series will start at the basics and work through a series of wrestling skills that are optimized for MMA and submission grappling, and is open to all students (even if you have no grappling experience)! We will not delve into skills optimized for folkstyle (collegiate) or freestyle (Olympic) wrestling – just FYI!
However, I have to warn you: wrestling is tough on the skin of the knees and the feet. We strongly recommend kneepads at a minimum (not sleeves, pads) and wrestling shoes if you plan on taking it seriously. These two things are absolutely worth the investment and will save you a lot of stinging and regret down the line. However, neither are necessary.
Once our six week program is up we’ll get the temperature of the room and likely add a once-monthly wrestling only session to the schedule, with guest instructors when sensible/possible.
Our youth Jiu Jitsu program will transition into a true folkstyle wrestling program over the Summer as well, for ages 6-13. Stay posted for more info! Excited about this one!
Also, it’s FIGHT WEEK this week! Tickets are still available for Tim Green’s title elimination bout at Freedom Fighting Championships in Jamaica, Queens on the 18th. See Tim, or myself, for tickets.
For those who can’t make it, we’ll have a fight night watch party at the academy (BYOBF). Details TBA! I’ll send out a separate newsletter later this week.
For our full event calendar, see below:
- 4.15 WEDNESDAY – Launch of North Star Wrestling Club. Wednesday nogi will be wrestling for a few weeks, then taper off into a once monthly workshop)!
- 4.18 SATURDAY – Freedom Fighter Promotions feat. Tim Green.. Tickets are available in house, and we will also have a live WATCH PARTY at the gym. Details TBA, but plan on arriving around 7:30pm — we’ll have more info as we can get it!
- 4.30 – Jiu Jitsu Team Sparring Night @ 7pm. We will have a special schedule for Thursday, 4/30.
- 5.8 – 5.10 WEEKEND – ISKA National Tournament.
- 5.16 SATURDAY – Grapple at the Chapel: Fit Jitsu and Junior Samurai showcase and awards!
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