Keenan has long been known for doing things differently, even with his jiu jitsu in the lapel guard days. More recently he’s been growing his school Legion American Jiu Jitsu (https://legionsandiego.com) over in San Diego.
In a recent series of videos, he has been speaking out on gym culture and specifically how to avoid cultish behavior. Cornelius specifically points out the culture that can be created in a gym if one instructor treats the academy like a kingdom. He specifically touches on the issue of the main instructor dating several women at the academy and creating drama in the school’s community. Watch the video to hear what he has to say:
It seems that with American Jiu Jitsu Keenan is trying to get away from some bad practices he has seen at other gyms, likely including the controversy at Lloyd Irvin’s school which shook BJJ almost a decade ago.
What are your thoughts? Should a jiu jitsu academy be like a family or more like a business like Keenan says?
