This past weekend, one of our newest athletes competed for the first time at Fuji BJJ’s Raleigh Fall Championship. As of today, 12-year-old Alex Corbin has only been training with us for 4 months and 16 days.

Halloween week can get busy with costumes, candy, and late nights. Here are five simple ways to keep your family active, confident, and connected—plus a special invitation from the Beacon team.

The quality of instruction is what separates a good gym from a great one. Here’s a quick look at the people who teach at Beacon MMA.

The start of the school year changes everyone’s schedule. Here’s how families at Beacon keep training consistent once classes, practices, and homework ramp up.

Chapel Hill summers are hot. For anyone who competes outdoors or simply wants to be ready for long, tough sessions, training in the heat has real benefits.

Our summer camps are designed to keep kids active, confident, and off screens while still giving them structure. Here’s what a typical day looks like.

Competing for the first time is exciting and nerve-wracking. Most of the anxiety comes from not knowing what to expect. Here’s what actually matters.

Spring is a good time to clean up technique that has gotten a little sloppy over the winter. Most bad habits aren’t dramatic—they’re small things that add up: posture, hand position, footwork, or how you finish a movement.

One of the best things about martial arts is that it works well for couples and families who want to do something active together. Instead of one person training while the other waits, you can both get better at the same time.

January is when a lot of people set big training goals and then get discouraged by mid-February. The difference between the people who stick with it and the ones who don’t usually comes down to how realistic the plan is from the start.

2025 was a landmark year for Beacon Mixed Martial Arts. We opened our doors in Chapel Hill in 2021 and spent the next few years growing steadily. This year we took the biggest steps yet.

The stretch from Thanksgiving through New Year’s is one of the hardest times to keep a training habit. Travel, parties, shorter days, and a packed calendar make it easy to fall off. The goal isn’t perfect attendance—it’s staying connected enough that January doesn’t feel like a full restart.

As parents in Chapel Hill, we all want our kids to enter high school with more than just good grades. We want them confident, resilient, and able to handle the social and physical challenges that come with those years. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai give kids a head start in ways that few other activities match.

This past Saturday, Beacon MMA made its mark both on the mats and in the fight against cancer at the Tap Cancer Out 2025 Raleigh BJJ Open. More than just a tournament, it’s a movement—one where Jiu-Jitsu athletes come together for a worthy cause, uniting our community to fund life-saving research and services for those most affected.

This past weekend, Beacon Mixed Martial Arts had an incredible showing at the WKA National Championships — and our Chapel Hill team made a statement on the national stage as Michael Terani joined Coach Kelsi as one of the WKA National Champions training on our mats.

This weekend, Gavin Hughes and Mike Terani step into the ring at the World Kickboxing Association (WKA) National Championships — one of the most important events in American Muay Thai.

If you’ve noticed them training outside all summer, it wasn’t just for show. The WKA tournament is held at an outdoor venue, so fighting in the heat is part of the challenge. By training under the Carolina sun, they’ve been preparing their minds and bodies for exactly what they’ll face in the ring.

As the school year kicks off, parents everywhere are helping their kids get back into routines—packing lunches, organizing carpools, and setting academic goals. But just as important as preparing for academics is preparing your child for the social and safety challenges they’ll face at school. This is where conversations at home—and training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)—can make all the difference.