Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Bergeron.
Hi Brandon, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I began training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) when I was in high school in hopes of becoming a UFC caliber MMA fighter. I spent a few years pursuing MMA, acquiring a pro record of 11 wins & 3 losses. After fighting for a while, I realized that even if I could make it on the UFC roster, that didn’t mean I’d be able to retire off of a career in MMA. So I quit fighting, and I enrolled in school to become a police officer. Despite leaving my MMA career behind, I was still in love with BJJ.
I continued to train BJJ & compete in BJJ competition around the country while getting my law enforcement degree. After years of schooling, I got my degree & I was hired as a police officer, briefly. I didn’t make it through the department’s on the job
training program; and after 5 months of being a cop, I was told that I wasn’t a good fit for the department. I resigned at their request.
I spent the next year working various jobs, still training BJJ, until I decided to take a chance at pursuing BJJ gym ownership & coaching as a career. For years, I had been brainstorming ways to turn my passion, BJJ, into my income. After years of struggling to support through MMA fighting, grappling events, and coaching gigs, I made an attempt at opening my own BJJ school.
Now, we are coming up on 10 years of being in business. We have learned a lot. We have tried a lot. Many things have worked. Many more things didn’t work so well. And I’m sure we will continue to learn & adapt as navigate the changing world moving forward.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been periods that were smoother and some that were rougher.
Early on, we were training in someone else’s Tae Kwon Do (TKD) School. We were allowed to use the mats 3 nights per week. I wanted to offer morning classes, but our host didn’t want us taking any more of the TKD school’s time blocks. So I ran morning classes out of a 2nd TKD school about 4 miles from our evening location. that made things a bit confusing for our students, but they were understanding of our growing pains.
After a year in business, we built up a large enough student base to afford to lease our own warehouse space. Then we could finally put all of our classes under the same roof.
I have had surgery at various times where I had to lean heavily on the awesome team of people we’d assembled. They covered classes and continued to run the school while I Recovered from some operations.
We had our entire school floor on Christmas eve one year, and it ruined all of our mats, lower drywall, flooring, and anything on the floor. We have to close for months while our building was restored. Luckily, we have an awesome wider affiliation throughout the MN metro area, and they accepted our students into their doors while our Academy was being rebuilt.
Then I seem to remember something about a worldwide pandemic or something? social distance, masks, etc.
A 6 foot social distance requirement certainly makes grappling difficult. We had to navigate our way through this just like everyone else. That was such a hard time for everyone.
I could go on & on about various stories & struggles we’ve been through along the way, but these have been some of the big ones.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
For years I was known as a skilled competitive grappler. I specialize in BJJ & submission grappling. But now as a school owner & coach, most of my focus lately has been on being a good coach & building skilled athletes. I want to help people maximize their progress & potential, so I’ve been learning about new ways of coaching.
Based on some of the latest research related to sport skill development, it’s best to build a practice that encourages students to attempt to solve problems on their own using their own ideas & creativity. In doing this, we help the students become more adaptive athletes who can solve problems on their own. And my role as a coach is to help guide them along the way. We help them along their way by encouraging their effort & creativity and by providing ideas & suggestions for them to try.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
This is such an open question, I don’t think I can answer it. I don’t think there is one lesson which I could call most important.
I guess my biggest piece of advice is to build yourself a life you don’t need a vacation from.
Pricing:
- 3 Free Classes
- Monthly Membership
- No Term Contracts – Cancel Anytime
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bjjacademymn.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/st.paul.bjj.academy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bjjsp
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@st.paulbjjacademy8636
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/st-paul-brazilian-jiu-jitsu-academy-saint-paul?osq=st.+paul+jiu+jitsu
