We are now a four-time Best Fitness Center Winner in the Brainerd Lakes Area (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)
Meadow Christensen placed first in the invitation only Five Grappling National Championship and second this past spring in the Kid's Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championships, the largest martial arts tournament in the world for kids.
Black Arrow Martial Arts Academy students of Brainerd competed in the Greater Midwest Submission Hunt Championships, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament in Minneapolis, Dec. 13. Black Arrow Results:
Article by Brainerd Dispatch, December 18, 2015
On Saturday, April 25th, 2015 Team Black Arrow captured 35 Medals at the Minnesota Grappling Challenge Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Tournament held in Minneapolis.
Thaddeus Young 1st Place, Thomas Niggler 1st Place, Phillip Atkinson 1st Place, Walker McKee 1st Place, Meadow Christensen 1st Place, Shae Feltz 1st Place Adult and 1st Place Teens, Ashley Romero 1st Place, Kayla Hahn 1st Place, Dami Adebay 1st Place, Jesse Lind 1st Place, Indalecio Romero 1st Place Blue Blue Belt and 2nd Place Blue Belt Absolute, Bella McKinney 2nd Place, Kira Gordon 2nd Place, Lukas Lind 2nd Place, Thomas Diemer 2nd Place, Deidryk Hoge 2nd Place, Conner Weiss 2nd Place, Ashley Mate' 2nd Place, Ben Dwyer 2nd Place, Stephanie Sustercich 2nd Place, Jordan Thurstin 2nd Place, Mike Hardy 2nd Place, Aidan Muller 2nd Place, Devante Jelle 2nd Place, Lewis Marshall 2nd Place, Raegan Twardy 3rd Place, Tripp McKinney 3rd Place, Cole Feltz 3rd Place, Nicodemus Young 3rd Place, Chuck Halsted 3rd Place, Josh Erdmann 3rd Place, Abdi Mohamed 3rd Place, Mujay Alston 3rd Place
Team Black Arrow was awarded the "Grand Championship Team Cup" and awarded the "Most Technical Cup" for the most Gold Medals at the Minnesota Grappling Challenge hosted in Minneapolis on April 25, 2015.
Jesse Lind of Black Arrow Martial Arts in Brainerd secured a gold medal in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation Pan American Championships March 12 at Irvine, Calif.
The 38-year-old Lind submitted his first opponent with a snare choke and outpointed his other opponents to secure the gold. This is Lind's first international level jiu-jitsu tournament and his first Pan American Championship title.
The Pan American Championship is the largest Jiu-Jitsu tournament in the world.
Black Arrow Martial Arts, 217 Washington St., Brainerd, is the home of three national jiu-jitsu champions and three Pan American jiu-jitsu champions.
Article by Brainerd Dispatch, March 24, 2015
Coach Kyle Matuszak of Black Arrow Martial Arts in Brainerd won a bronze medal Sunday at the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation Chicago Championship.
Matuszak triangle choked his first opponent in 3 minutes, 55 seconds. The Chicago Championship is the largest Jiu-Jitsu tournament in the Midwest. Matuszak is also a Submission Hunt champion and a Fargo Open champion.
He teaches regularly at Black Arrow Martial Arts located at 217 Washington St. in Brainerd
Article by Brainerd Dispatch, March 31, 2015
Five competitors from Black Arrow Martial Arts in Brainerd qualified for the Five Grappling Championships Nov. 8 in Miami.
Four of them qualified by making it to the podium at The Five Grappling Illinois in Chicago on Oct. 18th. They were Aidan Muller, first place; Meadow Christensen, first; Josh Brown, second; and Kyle Matuszak, third. All competed in Miami except for Josh Brown who is expecting the birth of a son.
Meadow Christensen captured first places at the Five Grappling North American Invitational Grand Championships. Christensen is now North American Jiu-Jitsu Champion.
Christensen is the second Minnesotan in the Kid division to earn such a prestigious award and is the first Kid Female in Minnesota to win a North American Jiu-Jitsu championship.
Article by Brainerd Dispatch, November 16, 2014
The Minnesota Grappling Challenge was held at the Minneapolis Convention Center May 3rd.
Team Black Arrow secured the most medals at the 2014 Minnesota Grappling Challenge Championship. Team Black Arrow was also awarded the Technical Grand Championship Cup for "Most 1st Place Gold Medals".
It was time to start over. At least that’s what Jared Feierabend thought. The 1995 Brainerd High School graduate didn’t like the direction the image of mixed martial arts was going in the lakes area so he wanted to do something positive to change it."
Enter Black Arrow Martial Arts, a new training facility on Washington Street across from Northwest Pizza and Boardwalk Bread and Bagel. With the closing of Brock Larson’s Warrior Alliance, and the recent bad publicity of another MMA group, Feierabend wanted to set a new standard.
“We want to bring back the old adage that knowledge is power and we want to expose people to Brazilian jiujitsu and the fluidity of it,” said Feierabend. “Martial arts has always been about overcoming the brute and the aggressor. We want to bring back that element into the Brainerd area. We want to teach our students how to defend against the bully, not become the bully.”
Feierabend said his ultimate goal is to assist his students to reach their full potential, while encouraging them to achieve their individual goals. He said martial arts is a great way to improve self-confidence, discipline, coordination and to get in shape.
“Black Arrow specializes in developing complete martial artists through a professional, comprehensive martial arts system,” Feierabend said. “We offer training combining the technicality of jiujitsu, the explosiveness and timing of judo and the persistent mentality of mixed martial arts, all while holding true to the essential function of martial arts — self defense.”
Of all the tissue in the human body, Feierabend said he wants to work the brain of his students the most. He said with quick, proper thinking his students will be better prepared for whatever comes their way.
“When people come into our dojo it’s all about producing thinking and getting their frontal lobes activated to use their brain and get them downloading information and when the brute encounters them they are referencing what they learn and they can go,” Feierabend said. “Our students will seem quicker because their brain will work quicker. That was the whole concept behind starting this up. We wanted to offer MMA in a format that was clean, fun and productive for the students in the area.
“MMA has gotten a bad reputation in this area and there is no reason for that. In other cities that doesn’t happen. We wanted to bring back a nice, clean image and pay respect to the thousands of people who have put their lives into the arts and brought them to their current state.”
Black Arrow is open to ages 3 and older starting with Tiny Tigers, which is ages 3-7, and moving up through the ranks. Each age group has designated times, including the popular women’s kickboxing which has numerous time slots.
Feierabend, a Camarillo Black Belt who earned his distinction in 2006 and was inducted into a select team called Guerrilla Jiujitsu, placing him at the highest levels of jiujitsu instruction, will be the head instructor at Black Arrow with help from Jessica McShane with kids instruction, Lisa Fiebiger in women’s kickboxing and Larson in MMA training.
“We hope to overcome the bad reputation that MMA has gotten in this area, not necessarily by what we do, but by what we don’t do,” Feierabend said. “We’re big on using our ears, not our mouths until we fully understand the situation. We do not allow outbursts in the training room. There is no fighting or bullying tolerated at Black Arrow.
“Our students, our entire program, is about defending ourselves and protecting ourselves. We have a pollution-free environment here. We push for good moral attitude and develop a will to strive. There is no point where we stop and say we have arrived. The arts are always evolving and we want to stay on the cutting edge of that.
“We are light and fun, but we work hard.”
JEREMY MILLSOP, sports writer, may be reached at 855-5856 or jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jeremymillsop.
