August 2, 2025 • 15 mins
Martial arts enthusiasts and aspiring entrepreneurs alike will find inspiration in my conversation with Gannon Lang, founder of Nexus American Jiu Jitsu in Fredericksburg. From humble beginnings as a soccer player seeking something new, Gannon's 11-year journey in Jiu Jitsu transformed into a thriving business with 200 members and over 300 five-star Google reviews in just two years.
Gannon dispels common misconceptions about Jiu Jitsu, particularly the confusion with MMA. At Nexus, there are no strikes – making it considerably safer than most people imagine. What began as a "Fight Club" atmosphere a decade ago has evolved into a welcoming community for practitioners of all ages, starting from just four years old. Parents will appreciate learning how Jiu Jitsu builds extraordinary confidence and mental toughness in children, preparing them for future success beyond the mat.
The conversation takes a fascinating turn when Gannon explains the distinction between Brazilian and American Jiu Jitsu – a hot topic in martial arts circles. Nexus embraces the more relaxed "American" approach, creating a culture reminiscent of surfing or skateboarding rather than rigid militaristic training. This philosophy extends to his ambitious vision: making Fredericksburg a worldwide destination for Jiu Jitsu enthusiasts. For entrepreneurs in any field, Gannon offers hard-won wisdom about building the right team and the critical mindset shift from practitioner to business owner. Follow Nexus American Jiu Jitsu on Instagram @Nexus_AJJ or visit NexusAJJ.com to learn more about this growing Fredericksburg success story.
Gannon Lang
Nexus American Jiu Jitsu
nexusajj.com
+1 540-870-0080
NexusAJJ@gmail.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
, the place where localbusinesses and neighbors come
together.
Here's your host, Dori Stewart.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome back to another episode of the
Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of
our favorite local brands.
I'm excited to introduce you tomy guest today.
His name is Gannon Lang, withNexus American Jiu Jitsu.
Gannon, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Good morning, Dory.
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Well, I'm excited to dive in and learn a little bit
more about you and your business.
So let's start there.
Share with the listeners alittle bit about your business
business.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
So let's start there.
Share with the listeners alittle bit about your business,
for sure.
So, like you said, my name isGannon from Nexus American Jiu
Jitsu.
I have been training Jiu Jitsuas of last month, about 11 years
now.
So Nexus is about two years old.
We have about 200 members, wehave a little bit over 300
five-star Google reviews and weare growing every day.
(01:06):
So we are right next toAmerican Family Fitness, right
off of exit 126.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Oh, amazing, Amazing.
Okay, so thank you for sharingthat.
Let me I'm curious how did youget into this?
Share with us a little bitabout your journey.
I'm curious.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
How did you get into this?
Share with us a little bitabout your journey, for sure.
So I went to Riverbend HighSchool.
I was born and raised inFredericksburg, virginia, saw
Hill for people who live aroundthat area.
So I started Jiu Jitsu when Iwas 17 years old I'm 28 now so I
(01:51):
was training soccer actually atthe time and I was just looking
for a different sport to getinto.
That was a little bit easierfor me.
I had to try very hard to beeven decent at soccer.
I played for FSCI Phoenix forpeople who may know them locally
so when I got into Jiu Jitsu itkind of took over my life.
So when I got into Jiu Jitsu itkind of took over my life.
I am kind of one of those peoplethat if I get interested in
something I really chase it 100%.
So everything else kind ofceased to exist.
(02:12):
I did not end up going, or Iactually went to UMW for about a
year.
I ended up dropping out of UMWbecause I kind of knew what I
wanted to do with my future.
Knew what I wanted to do withmy future.
So, yeah, Jiu Jitsu was justone of those martial arts and
sports for me that I couldreally put my all into and kind
(02:32):
of create a business around it.
So I've been teaching andtraining now for, I would say,
the last six or seven years.
It did take some time to kindof get people to trust me and
teaching them this martial art,but it's kind of becoming larger
and larger, especially over thelast couple of years, with the
UFC kind of adopting it and JoeRogan adopting it and all of
(02:54):
those good things.
So yeah, that's a littlebackground on how I got into it.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Amazing.
So you said that when you triedit, that it kind of consumed,
you took over your life.
So what was it?
Tell us a little bit about that.
What was it that had that muchappeal for you?
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Totally so.
I think number one would be thecommunity.
The community in Jiu Jiu Jitsuis very, very tight-knit.
We say it lovingly, but it's acult.
Definitely, if you meet someoneacross the world and they do
jiu jitsu as well, youautomatically have that
connection with them.
You can, you can break breadwith them.
Um, so the community isdefinitely a big piece for me.
(03:34):
Um, I was also, you know,coming up in soccer.
It's a team sport.
Jiu jitsu is, it has teamaspects, but it's not a team
sport, it's one-on-one.
So it was always just asituation of I wanted a sport
where everything was on me, Isucceed and fail on my own, so
that it had that aspect to it.
And also, jiu jitsu is so deepthere.
(03:55):
There are, you know, multipleways to train it.
You can kind of go towards thesport jiu jitsu route, the
self-defense route or the MMAroute.
I went more towards the sportJiu Jitsu route, so it just had
a very deep pool of techniquesthat I could explore.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Interesting, interesting.
I did not know there was such acommunity aspect to it, so
that's very interesting.
I love that.
So tell me, are there any mythsor misconceptions that you hear
often about your business?
Speaker 3 (04:36):
thing that people think.
When they think Jiu Jitsu isMMA, they think that we're
beating each other up.
They think that we're punching,kicking, kneeing, elbowing each
other.
There are no strikes whatsoever.
No strikes are thrown in inNexus American Jiu Jitsu at all.
Um, it is very safe.
It is very rare that you'reseeing um injuries.
It is one of those sports where, yes, it is a fighting sport,
uh, or a combat sport Rather.
You will get injuries over time, but I'm about 11 years in and
(04:59):
there are only a very smallhandful of injuries that I would
even mention.
So it is a lot more beginnerfriendly than people would think
.
We don't throw people to thewolves, even though that is a
common thing in the industrypreviously.
When I first started Jiu Jitsu10, 11 years ago, it was a fight
club.
It's exactly what people wouldthink, but nowadays it's more of
(05:19):
a business it actually does.
The community cares about newpeople getting into it in a
positive way rather than jumpingthem into the gang.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Interesting and so I'm curious what age do kids
typically like?
What age is it recommended kidsyou know kind of enter into it?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
That's a great question.
So out of our 200-ish people, Iwould say over 100 of them are
kids and I would say our kidsand teens program is where we
really shine in the area.
Our kids' classes see upwardsof 40 kids on the mats at times.
So I would say a great.
We accept four and older.
(06:04):
So we have a four tosix-year-old age group, we have
a seven to 12-year-old age groupand then we have the teens
class and then it goes into theadult class as well.
There are specific people shoutout to Braxis and Aries
Scarberry like they are two ofmy students that we do allow
them to train with the adults.
But that is because they canhandle that level of training.
(06:24):
They've been training for likebasically a decade and they're
they're teenage or one of them'sa teenager, one of them is a
little bit younger but some canhang in in those those classes
as well.
But to answer your question alittle bit more succinctly, four
years old is a great time toget your ball.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Interesting.
So talk to me a little bitabout the benefits of Jiu Jitsu.
So you know, there's thephysical aspect, you've touched
on the community.
But talk to us.
You know, maybe, maybe, ifparents are listening and and
they're thinking about enrollingtheir kids, what are some of
the benefits?
Speaker 3 (07:01):
I would say, uh, for kids specifically and parents,
like if I'm speaking to a parenttrying to get them to
understand the benefits of JiuJitsu, what I would tell them is
this is a sport unlike anyother that it is going to teach
them not only how to defendthemselves.
It will also teach them thatcommunity aspect, like we
already went over, and it willalso teach them a kind of mental
(07:22):
toughness that you don'texperience in other sports,
because a lot of other sportsare team based, so it doesn't
really get them to rely onthemselves as well.
So it really really pushes themto rely on themselves, have a
lot of confidence.
We see a lot of people thatstart at younger ages.
By the time that they're ateenager, they are so much more
(07:43):
confident than their peers.
They are more interested instarting their own business,
more interested in really reallyupgrading their life.
So I think it just sets yourkids up with a bit of mental
fortitude that you won't findwith other sports.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
That's a huge benefit .
You know, giving kids thatconfidence and independence,
yeah, I love that.
That's that's, that's a huge,huge benefit.
So thank you for sharing thatAbsolutely.
And so tell me, what shouldparents look for in finding a
gym, or maybe what sets your gymapart?
Speaker 3 (08:22):
For sure, and I think we can answer both of those,
because we are unique in thefact that we support cross
training.
So all of the people that trainwith us, if they would like to
go and taste test another gym,we invite that comparison.
So I think that when parentsare looking at their area even
if they're not in Fredericksburg, for example I would suggest
going to multiple schools, kindof getting a taste test.
(08:44):
If they're a good gym, theywill allow you to have a free
class, a free week, somethinglike that.
So that is pretty common in theindustry that their front end
offer is a free class or a freeweek.
I would definitely taste testyour local area.
Speak to the owner, see if theyhave multiple instructors.
It is a little bit unique.
(09:04):
Where we kind of set ourselvesapart is I do not teach all the
classes.
We have about 27 classes everysingle week between adults and
kids.
I teach two of them.
So I have about eightinstructors between actual
licensed instructors and thenassistant instructors as well.
So we try to make sure that wehave multiple people on the mats
(09:25):
for any situation that couldarise.
Like I said, we do have 40 kidson the mat at times, so it
becomes kind of a crowdingsituation or more of a hurting
situation, I guess you could say.
So what I would say if I were aparent looking for a place to
put my child into Jiu Jitsu?
I would speak to the instructor, I would definitely do the
(09:46):
taste test, take their freetrial and try to get a
conversation with the owner,because everything kind of
trickles down from the top.
If you don't have a strongleader in the owner position,
then everything else is going tobe very disorganized, very hard
for you to get informationquickly and things like that.
So try to find a Jiu Jitsu gymthat is run like a business, not
(10:07):
just someone who threw matsdown and is hoping and praying
that they're going to findmembers.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
That's really really good advice.
Thank you for that.
And so, speaking of business,what advice would you give an
entrepreneur who is thinkingabout you know, kind of doing
what you did and taking theirpassion and turning it into a
business?
Do you have any advice?
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Oh, I do yes.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
And.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
I learned this the hard way.
I am a very independent person.
I do things on my own and to afault, I moved out of my
parents' house when I was 17 andthey did nothing wrong
whatsoever and we have a greatrelationship.
So I just say that to say, if Iwere talking to a young
(10:57):
entrepreneur just gettingstarted in your early twenties
or late teens or whatever thecase may be, you are the total
of the people that are aroundyou.
So I hire quickly and I fireeven quicker.
I would say I think getting thecorrect team around you is what
is really going to put rocketfuel behind your rocket.
(11:20):
When I tried to do the small gympreviously to opening this
facility and just doing privatelessons, doing everything myself
I like, financially I didn'tgain as much.
Spiritually I didn't gain asmuch, and friendship wise I
didn't gain as much at all.
So I think that getting a goodgroup of people around you to do
(11:40):
the work for you in some sensesand also be kind of that puppet
master, so to speak, you haveto work on your business.
You can't be working in yourbusiness.
One of the things that I wouldsay if you're specifically going
to open a Jiu Jitsu gym.
Accept that you are not goingto train as much as you once did
.
You are now a business owner.
It is a completely differentrole.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Yeah, that's really good advice and I have talked to
so many entrepreneurs who arereally really good at what they
do and they go out and theystart a business and they don't
realize that they are now goingto be running a business and not
necessarily doing that thingthat they used to love doing day
to day.
So that's really great advice.
(12:23):
Thank you for that.
Thank you.
So is there anything that youwish the listeners knew about
your business?
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Yeah for sure.
So I think, something that Ididn't exactly talk about before
, which I I have a bad habit ofthis.
I really need to highlight thismore in these types of things.
So the real reason that Istarted Nexus American Jiu-Jitsu
and the real vision behind itwas I wanted Fredericksburg, my
hometown, to be a destinationfor Jiu-Jitsu people.
(12:53):
I wanted people to say insteadof, oh, I really want to go to
San Diego and train Jiu-Jitsu,oh, I really want to go to
Houston and train Jiu-Jitsu.
I want people to say that samething about Fredericksburg.
I don't see why not.
(13:13):
So the backstory behind that Igot invited back in 2020 to a
sponsored fighter's house from aworld champion named Keenan
Cornelius.
Notice, we are Nexus AmericanJiu Jitsu, not Nexus Brazilian
Jiu Jitsu, which is a very it isa hot topic in the jiu-jitsu
world.
So the whole difference betweenBrazilian and American
jiu-jitsu from our point of viewis the culture is much more
(13:34):
relaxed.
It is similar to a surfing,skateboarding culture rather
than a militaristic culture.
So if people are looking forsomething that is kind of high
and tight, we might not be theplace for you.
However, we do have rules andwe have regulations and things
like that, but what I waslooking for from my previous
gyms that I did not receive wasjust a little bit less of
(13:59):
structure, like I wanted to beable to paint on my own canvas
rather than my instructorpainting on my canvas for me.
So I think that was somethingthat I wanted to be able to
paint on my own canvas, ratherthan my instructor painting on
my canvas for me.
So I think that was somethingthat I wanted to share a little
bit more about.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Thank you for that Very interesting.
So if the listeners want tolearn more from you or visit you
, tell us how to find you.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Absolutely so.
The best place to find us wouldprobably be either on Instagram
or on our website, so at Nexusunderscore AJJ or Nexus AJJcom.
Both of those would be greatplaces where you can kind of see
a little bit more about whatwe're about and also get just
more general information.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Amazing Gannon, thank you so much for joining me on
the podcast today and sharingyour business with us.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for having me.
This was awesome.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg
Neighbors Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tofxbgneighborspodcastcom.
That's fxbgneighborspodcastcom,or call 540-534-4618.
This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
, the place where localbusinesses and neighbors come
together.
Here's your host, Dori Stewart.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome back to another episode of the
Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of
our favorite local brands.
I'm excited to introduce you tomy guest today.
His name is Gannon Lang, withNexus American Jiu Jitsu.
Gannon, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Good morning, Dory.
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Well, I'm excited to dive in and learn a little bit
more about you and your business.
So let's start there.
Share with the listeners alittle bit about your business
business.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
So let's start there.
Share with the listeners alittle bit about your business,
for sure.
So, like you said, my name isGannon from Nexus American Jiu
Jitsu.
I have been training Jiu Jitsuas of last month, about 11 years
now.
So Nexus is about two years old.
We have about 200 members, wehave a little bit over 300
five-star Google reviews and weare growing every day.
(01:06):
So we are right next toAmerican Family Fitness, right
off of exit 126.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Oh, amazing, Amazing.
Okay, so thank you for sharingthat.
Let me I'm curious how did youget into this?
Share with us a little bitabout your journey.
I'm curious.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
How did you get into this?
Share with us a little bitabout your journey, for sure.
So I went to Riverbend HighSchool.
I was born and raised inFredericksburg, virginia, saw
Hill for people who live aroundthat area.
So I started Jiu Jitsu when Iwas 17 years old I'm 28 now so I
(01:51):
was training soccer actually atthe time and I was just looking
for a different sport to getinto.
That was a little bit easierfor me.
I had to try very hard to beeven decent at soccer.
I played for FSCI Phoenix forpeople who may know them locally
so when I got into Jiu Jitsu itkind of took over my life.
So when I got into Jiu Jitsu itkind of took over my life.
I am kind of one of those peoplethat if I get interested in
something I really chase it 100%.
So everything else kind ofceased to exist.
(02:12):
I did not end up going, or Iactually went to UMW for about a
year.
I ended up dropping out of UMWbecause I kind of knew what I
wanted to do with my future.
Knew what I wanted to do withmy future.
So, yeah, Jiu Jitsu was justone of those martial arts and
sports for me that I couldreally put my all into and kind
(02:32):
of create a business around it.
So I've been teaching andtraining now for, I would say,
the last six or seven years.
It did take some time to kindof get people to trust me and
teaching them this martial art,but it's kind of becoming larger
and larger, especially over thelast couple of years, with the
UFC kind of adopting it and JoeRogan adopting it and all of
(02:54):
those good things.
So yeah, that's a littlebackground on how I got into it.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Amazing.
So you said that when you triedit, that it kind of consumed,
you took over your life.
So what was it?
Tell us a little bit about that.
What was it that had that muchappeal for you?
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Totally so.
I think number one would be thecommunity.
The community in Jiu Jiu Jitsuis very, very tight-knit.
We say it lovingly, but it's acult.
Definitely, if you meet someoneacross the world and they do
jiu jitsu as well, youautomatically have that
connection with them.
You can, you can break breadwith them.
Um, so the community isdefinitely a big piece for me.
(03:34):
Um, I was also, you know,coming up in soccer.
It's a team sport.
Jiu jitsu is, it has teamaspects, but it's not a team
sport, it's one-on-one.
So it was always just asituation of I wanted a sport
where everything was on me, Isucceed and fail on my own, so
that it had that aspect to it.
And also, jiu jitsu is so deepthere.
(03:55):
There are, you know, multipleways to train it.
You can kind of go towards thesport jiu jitsu route, the
self-defense route or the MMAroute.
I went more towards the sportJiu Jitsu route, so it just had
a very deep pool of techniquesthat I could explore.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Interesting, interesting.
I did not know there was such acommunity aspect to it, so
that's very interesting.
I love that.
So tell me, are there any mythsor misconceptions that you hear
often about your business?
Speaker 3 (04:36):
thing that people think.
When they think Jiu Jitsu isMMA, they think that we're
beating each other up.
They think that we're punching,kicking, kneeing, elbowing each
other.
There are no strikes whatsoever.
No strikes are thrown in inNexus American Jiu Jitsu at all.
Um, it is very safe.
It is very rare that you'reseeing um injuries.
It is one of those sports where, yes, it is a fighting sport,
uh, or a combat sport Rather.
You will get injuries over time, but I'm about 11 years in and
(04:59):
there are only a very smallhandful of injuries that I would
even mention.
So it is a lot more beginnerfriendly than people would think
.
We don't throw people to thewolves, even though that is a
common thing in the industrypreviously.
When I first started Jiu Jitsu10, 11 years ago, it was a fight
club.
It's exactly what people wouldthink, but nowadays it's more of
(05:19):
a business it actually does.
The community cares about newpeople getting into it in a
positive way rather than jumpingthem into the gang.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Interesting and so I'm curious what age do kids
typically like?
What age is it recommended kidsyou know kind of enter into it?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
That's a great question.
So out of our 200-ish people, Iwould say over 100 of them are
kids and I would say our kidsand teens program is where we
really shine in the area.
Our kids' classes see upwardsof 40 kids on the mats at times.
So I would say a great.
We accept four and older.
(06:04):
So we have a four tosix-year-old age group, we have
a seven to 12-year-old age groupand then we have the teens
class and then it goes into theadult class as well.
There are specific people shoutout to Braxis and Aries
Scarberry like they are two ofmy students that we do allow
them to train with the adults.
But that is because they canhandle that level of training.
(06:24):
They've been training for likebasically a decade and they're
they're teenage or one of them'sa teenager, one of them is a
little bit younger but some canhang in in those those classes
as well.
But to answer your question alittle bit more succinctly, four
years old is a great time toget your ball.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Interesting.
So talk to me a little bitabout the benefits of Jiu Jitsu.
So you know, there's thephysical aspect, you've touched
on the community.
But talk to us.
You know, maybe, maybe, ifparents are listening and and
they're thinking about enrollingtheir kids, what are some of
the benefits?
Speaker 3 (07:01):
I would say, uh, for kids specifically and parents,
like if I'm speaking to a parenttrying to get them to
understand the benefits of JiuJitsu, what I would tell them is
this is a sport unlike anyother that it is going to teach
them not only how to defendthemselves.
It will also teach them thatcommunity aspect, like we
already went over, and it willalso teach them a kind of mental
(07:22):
toughness that you don'texperience in other sports,
because a lot of other sportsare team based, so it doesn't
really get them to rely onthemselves as well.
So it really really pushes themto rely on themselves, have a
lot of confidence.
We see a lot of people thatstart at younger ages.
By the time that they're ateenager, they are so much more
(07:43):
confident than their peers.
They are more interested instarting their own business,
more interested in really reallyupgrading their life.
So I think it just sets yourkids up with a bit of mental
fortitude that you won't findwith other sports.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
That's a huge benefit .
You know, giving kids thatconfidence and independence,
yeah, I love that.
That's that's, that's a huge,huge benefit.
So thank you for sharing thatAbsolutely.
And so tell me, what shouldparents look for in finding a
gym, or maybe what sets your gymapart?
Speaker 3 (08:22):
For sure, and I think we can answer both of those,
because we are unique in thefact that we support cross
training.
So all of the people that trainwith us, if they would like to
go and taste test another gym,we invite that comparison.
So I think that when parentsare looking at their area even
if they're not in Fredericksburg, for example I would suggest
going to multiple schools, kindof getting a taste test.
(08:44):
If they're a good gym, theywill allow you to have a free
class, a free week, somethinglike that.
So that is pretty common in theindustry that their front end
offer is a free class or a freeweek.
I would definitely taste testyour local area.
Speak to the owner, see if theyhave multiple instructors.
It is a little bit unique.
(09:04):
Where we kind of set ourselvesapart is I do not teach all the
classes.
We have about 27 classes everysingle week between adults and
kids.
I teach two of them.
So I have about eightinstructors between actual
licensed instructors and thenassistant instructors as well.
So we try to make sure that wehave multiple people on the mats
(09:25):
for any situation that couldarise.
Like I said, we do have 40 kidson the mat at times, so it
becomes kind of a crowdingsituation or more of a hurting
situation, I guess you could say.
So what I would say if I were aparent looking for a place to
put my child into Jiu Jitsu?
I would speak to the instructor, I would definitely do the
(09:46):
taste test, take their freetrial and try to get a
conversation with the owner,because everything kind of
trickles down from the top.
If you don't have a strongleader in the owner position,
then everything else is going tobe very disorganized, very hard
for you to get informationquickly and things like that.
So try to find a Jiu Jitsu gymthat is run like a business, not
(10:07):
just someone who threw matsdown and is hoping and praying
that they're going to findmembers.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
That's really really good advice.
Thank you for that.
And so, speaking of business,what advice would you give an
entrepreneur who is thinkingabout you know, kind of doing
what you did and taking theirpassion and turning it into a
business?
Do you have any advice?
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Oh, I do yes.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
And.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
I learned this the hard way.
I am a very independent person.
I do things on my own and to afault, I moved out of my
parents' house when I was 17 andthey did nothing wrong
whatsoever and we have a greatrelationship.
So I just say that to say, if Iwere talking to a young
(10:57):
entrepreneur just gettingstarted in your early twenties
or late teens or whatever thecase may be, you are the total
of the people that are aroundyou.
So I hire quickly and I fireeven quicker.
I would say I think getting thecorrect team around you is what
is really going to put rocketfuel behind your rocket.
(11:20):
When I tried to do the small gympreviously to opening this
facility and just doing privatelessons, doing everything myself
I like, financially I didn'tgain as much.
Spiritually I didn't gain asmuch, and friendship wise I
didn't gain as much at all.
So I think that getting a goodgroup of people around you to do
(11:40):
the work for you in some sensesand also be kind of that puppet
master, so to speak, you haveto work on your business.
You can't be working in yourbusiness.
One of the things that I wouldsay if you're specifically going
to open a Jiu Jitsu gym.
Accept that you are not goingto train as much as you once did
.
You are now a business owner.
It is a completely differentrole.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Yeah, that's really good advice and I have talked to
so many entrepreneurs who arereally really good at what they
do and they go out and theystart a business and they don't
realize that they are now goingto be running a business and not
necessarily doing that thingthat they used to love doing day
to day.
So that's really great advice.
(12:23):
Thank you for that.
Thank you.
So is there anything that youwish the listeners knew about
your business?
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Yeah for sure.
So I think, something that Ididn't exactly talk about before
, which I I have a bad habit ofthis.
I really need to highlight thismore in these types of things.
So the real reason that Istarted Nexus American Jiu-Jitsu
and the real vision behind itwas I wanted Fredericksburg, my
hometown, to be a destinationfor Jiu-Jitsu people.
(12:53):
I wanted people to say insteadof, oh, I really want to go to
San Diego and train Jiu-Jitsu,oh, I really want to go to
Houston and train Jiu-Jitsu.
I want people to say that samething about Fredericksburg.
I don't see why not.
(13:13):
So the backstory behind that Igot invited back in 2020 to a
sponsored fighter's house from aworld champion named Keenan
Cornelius.
Notice, we are Nexus AmericanJiu Jitsu, not Nexus Brazilian
Jiu Jitsu, which is a very it isa hot topic in the jiu-jitsu
world.
So the whole difference betweenBrazilian and American
jiu-jitsu from our point of viewis the culture is much more
(13:34):
relaxed.
It is similar to a surfing,skateboarding culture rather
than a militaristic culture.
So if people are looking forsomething that is kind of high
and tight, we might not be theplace for you.
However, we do have rules andwe have regulations and things
like that, but what I waslooking for from my previous
gyms that I did not receive wasjust a little bit less of
(13:59):
structure, like I wanted to beable to paint on my own canvas
rather than my instructorpainting on my canvas for me.
So I think that was somethingthat I wanted to be able to
paint on my own canvas, ratherthan my instructor painting on
my canvas for me.
So I think that was somethingthat I wanted to share a little
bit more about.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Thank you for that Very interesting.
So if the listeners want tolearn more from you or visit you
, tell us how to find you.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Absolutely so.
The best place to find us wouldprobably be either on Instagram
or on our website, so at Nexusunderscore AJJ or Nexus AJJcom.
Both of those would be greatplaces where you can kind of see
a little bit more about whatwe're about and also get just
more general information.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Amazing Gannon, thank you so much for joining me on
the podcast today and sharingyour business with us.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for having me.
This was awesome.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg
Neighbors Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tofxbgneighborspodcastcom.
That's fxbgneighborspodcastcom,or call 540-534-4618.
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