Dear Legion,
Peak summer is upon us, the country suddenly kind of cares about soccer, my fellow Europeans are learning to enjoy the USA, and the home of the free and the land of the brave is celebrating 250 years. 6 AM classes don't start in the dark, neither do the 7:30 PM ones, there's sun on the mats, but we aren't melting. Life is good.
In this edition of the Letters, I bring you part two of the Art of War concepts, which combine military history, strategy and useful grappling tips. We have a roll call for coach Paige, and a recap of a unique black belt promotion from the past month. We have matches of the month, another highlighted class, a coach's competition success and more!
However, we'll start with everyone's favorite: an advertisement. Read all the way to the end and we'll finish with the reverse, a personal gift that you can access immediately.
Once a Year
4th of July Sale
The biggest membership deal of the year
The 4th of July sale is upon us. It's the biggest one of the year, and one of just two. Overall we're not huge on discounts, except for military, LEOs, first responders and multiple family members. But we feel like these encourage commitment, while letting you get the best available membership price.
The 12-month option comes with a rashguard that not only looks good, but has a unique design that may or may not get us sued by Nike. So any proceeds from the sale will go into responding to the cease and desist letter.
A few things most don't know
You can upgrade from a monthly membership to the 4th of July deal.
You can use it to add time on top of an existing PIF membership.
You can get a payment pro-rated with an upgrade. For example, if you paid for a monthly membership a week ago, you can have 3 weeks removed from the cost of the PIF option.
This is the best adult membership price we offer, besides the lifetime membership.
P.S. We have no classes on Saturday, but we do have an open mat. Come get some rounds in, we will be here!
Main Column, Part 2/2
Art of War: Jiu-Jitsu Concepts
Three more principles from the battlefield, applied on the mats.
Principle IV
Fake the Fake
"Make a false move, not to pass it for a genuine one but to transform into one after the enemy has been convinced of its falsity."
The Wiles of War: 36 Military Strategies from Ancient China
What possesses someone to stay on the mats for decades? What keeps black belts coming back? They undergo surgeries, raise large families, and have a thousand reasons to do something more "normal" with their time. One factor must be that the better you get at jiu-jitsu, the more it becomes a game of strategy. You're so far removed from the primal fight for survival that you can play a grand game against a worthy opponent.
Instead of relying on simple deceptions, you begin to layer them. You know what your opponent expects. He knows that you know that he knows. Because of that, you can make the obvious move deceptive. He doesn't expect it, because he expects it.
This puts a lot of moves back on the table. Fundamentals are back in the game with a new twist once this layer of deception and trickery is added. There have even been black belt matches (in the gi) where the top player put the bottom player to sleep while stuck in his closed guard.
Principle V
Concentrate Your Force
One of the fundamental principles of combat is to find an important or weakened point on your opponent, then attack it with as much of your force as you can.
At the Battle of Gaugamela, Alexander the Great faced a vastly larger Persian army. He stretched his right flank and held back his left, drawing the Persians out and creating a gap in their line. Seizing the moment, he led a concentrated cavalry charge straight through the center toward Darius. This precise strike broke the Persian formation and led to a decisive victory.
We try to do the same thing in the context of grappling when we attack a heel hook, for example. We isolate a leg, secure it with two of ours, then we attach ourselves to it with the arms and use the core and hips to attack a few of the ligaments holding his leg together.
When going for a triangle choke, we use our legs and hips to attack the neck and an arm. When locked properly, that's a concentration of force that's hard to overcome. But this principle doesn't just apply to submissions. It can be used in all areas of grappling to win smaller battles and gain the upper hand.
Principle VI
Leave No Doubt
The great prizefighter Jack Dempsey was once asked: "When you are about to hit a man, do you aim for his chin or his nose?" "Neither," he replied. "I aim for the back of his head."
Seeing a grappler who displays incredible control skills but no submission skills can be pretty sad. While it's possible to appreciate the skill necessary to impose your will and even win matches that way, it feels like the essence of jiu-jitsu is missing.
During competitive rounds or matches we should strive to arrive at a point where the only thing left to do is to fully defeat your opponent, to make him give up. This necessitates developing proper submission mechanics, especially for the most statistically prevalent submissions like the rear naked choke or the arm triangle.
Not finishing the opponent, even if he's completely dominated, leaves the door open for a comeback, which can be sudden and highly damaging. All it takes is seconds to go from being dominated to being the winner. It's especially dangerous to let an opponent off the hook when you put his back against the (metaphorical) wall. In those moments, it's time to focus and progress, lock up the submission and secure the tap.
Call to Arms
(Literal) Roll Call to Help Paige
As you may know, Coach Paige is operating at the highest level of the sport at the moment and she has a couple of challenges coming up by the end of the summer that few will ever face.
She is competing at ONE FC in Bangkok this month against Helena Crevar, a phenom and one of the best female competitors at the moment. For once, Helena has a match where she is not an overwhelming favorite, because of Paige's prowess.
In September she is traveling to Krakow, Poland to compete at the ADCC World Championships, the Olympics of grappling.
Coach Sloan asked me to put out a call to arms for anyone who would be available to help Paige prepare for these challenges. Especially higher belts who are under 190 lbs would be a great addition to her training camp. She's training primarily during the 11 AM no-gi classes. If you fit the description, please come on through and get some training in with Paige under Sloan's guidance.
From the Vault
Matches of the Month
There haven't been many big professional events in June, so it's time to go into the vault and pull some exciting matches from the past.
No-Gi | ADCC 2019
Craig Jones vs. Leandro Lo
Many people reading this newsletter weren't doing jiu-jitsu in 2019, but they may know of Craig Jones, now one of the most recognizable names in the sport. He broke onto the scene with this match against the legend Leandro Lo, one of the most respected competitors especially in the gi, who has since tragically passed away, murdered by a police officer in a nightclub in Brazil.
Watch the Match →Gi | Legend vs. Legend
Roger Gracie vs. Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida
If you're chronically online, you may have noticed that this week the English king stepped on the mats in London at Roger Gracie's academy. We know this week is all about rebelling against the king, not admiring his actions, but Roger Gracie is one of those figures you should know. He was one of the most dominant athletes in the early 2010s, then retired for a little bit, but came back for one match against Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida, who had in that time taken over as the pound-for-pound number one in the gi. Here's what happened.
Watch the Match →Promotions
Black Belt Stripe Promotions
This past month we celebrated something special: not one, not two, but three
3rd Stripe
Jason Bunch
Keenan awarded Jason his third stripe, and beyond well earned. Jason is the GOAT of Legion members, full stop. The stats don't lie: 1,800+ total classes, including 1,006 AM classes, and he's on track to be the first person at Legion to break 2,000 classes. Beyond the numbers, Jason has been an incredible positive influence on the academy.
2nd Stripe
Morgan Walker
Six years at black belt, and Morgan continues to be one of the best sharers of jiu-jitsu we have. He shares it with his family: both daughters train in the kids program. He shares it in the parents' class, where he often helps teach. And he shares it with us black belts too, usually in the form of a nasty, sneaky kneebar or some brutal shoulder pressure.
1st Stripe
Oscar Magana
Oscar is already closing in on his second stripe, so this promotion was the most overdue out of the three. He trains almost exclusively in the no-gi classes, primarily in the mornings, and has also run several law enforcement workshops at Legion. As a Border Patrol instructor of combatives, he's passionate about getting law enforcement up to speed on the grappling skills they need on the job.
Congratulations to all three. Looking forward to many more of these.
Mark Your Calendar
Upcoming Event
July 11th
UFC McGregor vs. Holloway Watch Party & Matthew Rangel Tribute
A few months ago we lost one of our members, Matt Rangel, far too young. His family visited the academy, and we were honored to award him a well-deserved, though posthumous, blue belt.
Eric W. has been organizing a get-together in Matt's honor, and we've settled on the perfect way to do it: doors open, projector on, UFC 329 on the big screen. We'll get some rolls in, have some food (potluck style), and remember Matthew together.
Highlighted Classes
Two Classes Worth Trying This Month
Class 1
Women's Class (Mondays & Wednesdays, 6 PM)
Started mid-June: no-gi every Monday with Coach Paige at 6 PM, and gi every Wednesday with Coach Rafaela at 6 PM. The turnout has been quite impressive, and if you are one of our female members, make sure to give it a try!
Class 2
12 PM Lunch Class (Mon / Wed / Fri)
Taught by Coach Sunshine and Coach Eric. On Fridays it's definitely one of the smaller classes on the schedule, but that's what makes it great. If the time slot works for you, you can get tons of individual attention from two black belts, and some rounds instead of a sparring round. This is an all-levels class, so it's great if you finish the Beginner Course and your schedule works better for classes during the day than at night. Come give it a try in July.
On the Mats
Attendance Leaderboard, June 2026
🏆 Gold, 1st Place
Jimmy Wang
Silver, 2nd Place
Rebecca Mathis
Bronze, 3rd Place
Connor Cappelo
Pro Shop
New Gear
We have some new gear available at the academy. We spend most of our time focusing on the programs, so sometimes t-shirts and rashguards fall behind.
In the last month we launched a Grunge T-Shirt, which sold out in most sizes, so we're waiting on a restock. It should come soon. With it will come kids sizes. Believe it or not, we've never done kids t-shirts despite having so many kids training with us.
We have the Crimson No-Gi Set. Featuring a unique color that's somewhere between magenta, burgundy and purple, plus minimalistic gold accents with subtle armor scales on the sleeves.
The Team USA rashguards are the most recent addition, and they are Made in America (California, in fact).
Further down the line we have another new rashguard in the works, as well as hats.
The No-Gi Video Manual
Almost 5 hours of instruction, in the app
After the release of my book, I recorded a video course called the No-Gi Video Manual, which I've been selling on my website jiujitsumanual.com for a couple of years.
Now, with the improvements to the app and how easy it is to upload content, I've decided that it's time to share that course.
It's almost five hours long and it's absolutely perfect for anyone that's curious about jiu-jitsu without the gi, or has already been doing it and wants to form a better big picture. It also comes with mind maps, which can be very useful. Hopefully they encourage you to do some of our no-gi classes, including mine, which is every Saturday at 11 AM, one of the most slept-on classes on our schedule.
The course is being uploaded now and it may take a couple of days to complete, there are many gigabytes of it, but the first chapter is there!
That does it for another edition of the newsletter. I hope you enjoyed it!
P.S. Remember, no classes this Saturday, but we do have open mat!