Great Lakes Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

09/06/2026

08/17/2026

Hey Great Lakes team,

We have some big announcements and a schedule change for this weekend.

First, the Crim is this Saturday. Because of the race and the road closures, you won't actually be able to get to the building, so there will be no class Saturday morning. Instead, we will be out there early cheering on Megan and Nik, who are both running the 10 mile.

We will be posted near the Hammerberg exit and Powers High School. If anybody wants to join us, just reach out and we will let you know exactly where we are.

We also have some exciting changes happening at the gym. We are doing a lot of renovations to widen the space in the basement for our ever growing kickboxing class. The current locker rooms will be removed so we have a large workout area, and the locker rooms are going to be moved to the back rooms as they start getting cleaned out. This work takes a lot of time, effort, and money to complete, so please bear with us during this transition. If you have any questions or ideas about what you would like to see with the gym, please let us know when you see us.

Next, mark your calendars for the jiu-jitsu tournament in Frankenmuth on Saturday, November 7. This is a tournament we will all be going to together, so stay tuned for more details as we get closer.

Last one, and this is a big one. We are launching Great Lakes Athletics for kids ages 7 and up. It is a strength and athletic development class built around teaching kids how to move well. Proper lifting mechanics, functional movement, body control, and the education behind why each piece matters, so they actually understand what they are doing instead of just copying it.

Full details are coming soon. If you have a kid you think would be a good fit, tell us when you see us and we will make sure you hear first.

Let us know if you have any questions, and we hope to see some of you Saturday morning to cheer on Megan and Nik.

08/05/2026

A coach in our area needs help, and there’s a real way to show up for him.

Dan Cousineau, the head instructor at Dragon Martial Arts in Lapeer, is fighting cancer. His gym is putting on a seminar and the majority of the proceeds go straight to his treatment fund.

I’ve never met him. Doesn’t matter. He coaches down the road from us, he’s been putting people on the mats in this state, and right now he’s dealing with something nobody should have to deal with alone.

The seminar itself is worth going to on its own merit. Heath Pedigo is running it. If you follow the sport at all, you know the name and you know what Daisy Fresh has produced out of Mt. Vernon. Takedowns and passing, no gi, four hours.

That’s a serious room for $100 anywhere. The fact that the money goes where it goes makes it an easy call.

08/05/2026

There was a time when this would have 𝗴𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸.

Someone signs up.

Comes in once, maybe twice.

You can see it in them. The athleticism, the instinct, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵.

You start building the plan in your head for where they could be in two years.

Then they stop showing up.

No blow-up. No complaint.

They just fade.

And when you check in, it's the same handful of reasons.

Too busy. Bad timing. They'll be back when things settle down.

I used to take that personally.

I'd go back through it looking for the thing I said wrong, the class that was too hard, the moment I lost them.

Sometimes that's real. And when it is, that's on me to fix.

But most of the time, it isn't.

Most of the time it's just this: I wanted it for them 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀.

And you can't coach your way around that.

Here's what I've had to make peace with.

My job is to give you everything I've got while you're on my mats.

Real technique. Honest coaching. A room that pushes you and catches you.

That part is my responsibility and I take it seriously.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝗽 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀.

That's not me washing my hands of anybody.

I still care when someone disappears.

I'd still take every one of them back tomorrow, and I mean that.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲.

But I've stopped grading myself on other people's follow-through.

The ones who stay aren't the most talented.

Never have been.

They're the ones who come in on the day they don't feel like it, get tapped by someone smaller, and drive home already thinking about Thursday.

That's the whole thing.

That's 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.

If you're still showing up, you already know what I mean.

Random thoughts on a Wednesday afternoon.

See you on the mats,

Coach Adam

08/05/2026

Sometimes people don't skip jiu-jitsu because they're scared. They skip it because they can't find the time, especially with kids.

In comes our Wednesdays- five start times throughout the day with our kids classes running alongside adult classes at 5 & 6 pm.

So, the hour they train is the hour you train.

Sometimes you don't need more discipline. You need a time that fits.

14-day free trial. No contracts. DM us or visit glbjjflint.com.

08/04/2026

Look at 6:00 on Tuesday. Two adult no-gi classes running at the same time.

That's on purpose. One is the regular class. The other is for people who have never done this before.

Most gyms handle beginners by dropping them into the back of the main class and hoping they figure it out. It works for a certain kind of person. Everyone else quietly decides jiu-jitsu isn't for them and never comes back.

So we split it. Same material, same coaches, taught at a pace where you can actually ask what a guard is without holding up twelve people. When you're ready to move over, you move over. Nobody rushes it and nobody makes it weird.

If striking is more your speed, kickboxing runs at 5. Kids are on the mats at 5 too, so you can train while they train.
No-gi means shorts and a shirt. That's the whole dress code.

14-day free trial. No contracts. DM us or visit glbjjflint.com.

08/03/2026

Monday is the day the plan usually dies. Not because people quit, because the day fills up before they get to it.

So look at how many exits Monday actually has here. Before work at 6. A lunch hour at noon. Two full evening blocks.

The evening is where Monday earns its keep. At 5, Youth 2 and Youth 3 are on the mats the same hour as adult Combat Conditioning. At 6, adult gi runs alongside Youth 3 Kickboxing. The hour your kid trains is an hour you can train too, in the same building, instead of sitting in a folding chair watching.

Pick the one your Monday can actually survive.

14-day free trial. No contracts. DM us or visit glbjjflint.com.

08/02/2026

Izaiah worked all morning getting our mats back together. He was close to being done but needed a nap.

The next few weeks you will see some changes in the gym to open up even more mat space on our bottom mats that run our kickboxing and combat conditioning classes.

Eventually our workout area and locker rooms will also see an upgrade as well.

Our gym is just like our training- always working, changing, adapting, and growing. No easy short cuts here.

See you on the mats this week. Choose your training days today and stick to it.

08/02/2026

Learn to reword those pesky thoughts in your head so they work towards your goals, not away from them.

Do not let your mind stop you from starting, and definitely don't let your mind keep you from being consistent.

Today is the best day to figure out your schedule for the week that you are going to train.

Morning. Noon. Night. Put your training days in TODAY and then keep to your goals this week.

Enjoy your Sunday and let's get to work tomorrow!

07/31/2026

Saturday at Great Lakes.

9:00am No Gi Leg Lock Class
10:00am Open Mat

Taught, then tested. Beginners welcome.

2014 Zimmerman St, Flint. Free 14-day trial.