Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Pascucci.
Kyle, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
After both my business partner and head instructor Artin Saginian and I suffered from previous sport injuries, we both were looking for a new way to help our bodies recover without using traditional medicines (prescription pain pills and surgical procedures).
We started training jiu-jitsu at different times in our lives but we both soon realized that through this art, we were noticing how beneficial it was for our bodies by strengthening our core, stability muscles, and overall proper body mechanics that slowly started to improve the injuries we had.
We wanted to share and help others understand how beneficial jiu-jitsu can be in people’s lives and help people live a positive and healthy lifestyle through teaching jiu-jitsu so we decided to open up our own academy and teach a slightly different approach. We like to think of it as a more of a “healing” type program I guess you could say.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
We are very happy and grateful to say that things have been going very well especially for a new business. Our classes run smoothly and we are happy to see that our mats are filled with both new and original members.
As with any new business, some of the obstacles that we run into is the recruiting process. Because jiu-jitsu is still somewhat not that popular of a traditional sport, it is always a challenge to find new members. We always felt that by offering a quality program with a high level of jiu-jitsu instruction, a nice, clean and sanitary academy and bringing on members that have the same attitude/goals we have, we would have a successful academy. So far, we have been able to achieve this and are committed to continuing on running our academy this way. We are truly grateful for the support we have of our members and the surrounding community.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the TOTAL JIU-JITSU Los Angeles story. Tell us more about the business.
We are a jiu-jitsu academy that offers high level instruction, but we also keep in mind that not every member has the same goals. Some members come to us to learn self-defense and building self-confidence, while others come for specific weight loss and fitness goals or just all around to live a healthier lifestyle by exercising and trying something new. They soon realize that the by training jiu-jitsu with us, you get it all.
I would say we are known for specializing in a “no-nonsense” type of instruction. We are proud to say that what we teach is fundamentally sound techniques for both the beginner and more advanced students. We definitely have a family-type atmosphere and really support each other.
We train in the traditional “Gi” and we also train in “No-Gi” equally which other academies in the area do not. Traditionally, most academies only teach one or the other.
Our goal is to create a friendly environment where everyone from all levels and skill-sets are welcome to train and achieve whatever goals they may have from competition, fitness goals, and/or self-defense.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t often use quotes, but as Bruce Lee said “You have to create your own luck. You have to be aware of the opportunities around you and take advantage of them”. We do try to create our own luck and we do this by staying positive and trying to do good things for people – whether it’s for ourselves or our friends and families. We try to make a positive impact, maybe that’s more karma rather than luck. As they say, good intent and good deeds contribute to good karma and future happiness and success.
Contact Info:
- Address: 4440 1/2 York Blvd
LA, CA. 90046 - Website: http://totaljiujitsuhq.com/
- Phone: 323-999-7888
- Email: info@totaljiujitsula.com
Image Credit:
Bruno O’Hara Photography
