A School with a Story
It’s summer 2024
In 2024, we were caught in the middle of a nasty gym split. It ultimately left us without a black belt instructor.
Many of us lost friendships, prompting lots of discussions about how much gym culture and communication matters.
From Bad to Worse
A group of us stepped up and took over class instruction. We formed deep bonds with the students and each other. We started having fun and building our own culture, being careful to learn lessons from the past.
Although we didn’t own the school, we treated it like it was ours. Slowly but surely, classes started to grow. The future seemed bright.
But in early 2025, we were rocked by the news that our gym had been sold without any warning.
We were heartbroken. We scattered to different gyms around town, but we all kept in touch.
What If?
The idea for Beacon started around dinner tables and in group chats.
As we compared notes, we realized that jiu jitsu had, in many ways, regressed back to an environment where only the strong survive.
So many people were waiting in the wings to train, but didn’t feel safe in the tough guy gyms and competition focused schools.
The Plan
We opened our doors in April 2025 (yes, that recently). We’ve had a strong launch with our existing team and some new faces. We’re currently operating with a limited schedule out of a local karate school.
But we have a plan to grow into our own space over the next several months. We’re building our future academy on accessible training, a focused curriculum, and building a great culture of friends and training partners.
Although we’re in our earliest days, there’s an excitement on the mats as we build momentum. We’d love to share this with you.