How Coach Rich Beaupit Built a 32-Year Martial Arts Academy Around People, Not Numbers
Starring
Rich Beaupit is a martial artist with 44 years on the mats and 32 years running Straight Blast Gym Niagara. He started in Japanese Jiu-Jitsu and Karate, earning a second-degree black belt before throwing it away to start over, later affiliating with SBG and earning his BJJ black belt under founder Matt Thornton after 25 years. Rich created the SAFE (Street Smarts Are For Everyone) bully-proofing system, coaches through SBG’s P and I Methods with an 80/20 drilling-to-rolling ratio, and has shared a weekly gratitude post on social media for over five years.
About the Gym
Straight Blast Gym Niagara s a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing academy in St. Catharines, Ontario, that’s served the Niagara Region for over 30 years. Founded in 1994 and affiliated with Matt Thornton’s worldwide Straight Blast Gym International network, it shares the “One Tribe, One Vibe” ethos.
Programs cover adult and teen BJJ (gi and no-gi), three formats of kickboxing (kickboxing, low kick, K1), kids BJJ for Chimpanzees (6-9) and Junior Gorillas (10-12), plus the proprietary SAFE bully-proofing system baked into every class. The gym also runs “Jits with Hits” (BJJ with striking) and “Hits with Jits” (kickboxing with grappling awareness) weekly.
Rich caps membership at around 150 students so he can know everyone by name and handle every email and phone call himself. The youngest student is six; the oldest, Keith “The Iron Man,” has trained with Rich since 48 and still kickboxes twice a week at 74—now alongside a second generation of students whose parents once trained with Rich in local high schools.
📍 Address: St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada (Niagara Region)
Summary
Coach Rich Beaupit founded Straight Blast Gym Niagara in 1994 after literally throwing away his second-degree black belt to start over. He spent years under Burton Richardson before connecting with SBG founder Matt Thornton, running the gym as a white belt and earning every rank over 25 years until his black belt under Thornton.
The episode follows Alex through a kids’ Chimpanzees class where emotional regulation drills—hair-pull defenses with raised voices, crowd ambushes, the gauntlet—teach kids to manage fear first. Rich breaks down his SAFE bully-proofing system (Street Smarts Are For Everyone), honed over decades in schools, then puts Alex into a no-gi “Jits with Hits” class to feel SBG’s connection-based training.
On the walls are the systems that hold it all together: the P Method (Posture, Pressure, Possibilities), the I Method (Introduce, Isolate, Integrate), and a BJJ tree that keeps students chasing roots, not fruit. His 150-member cap, hands-on communication, and 74-year-old kickboxer Keith “The Iron Man” all reinforce one idea: bigger isn’t better when your mission is people.
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