How Lakea Vargas Trains the 99 Sheep at Combat Sports Academy
Starring
Lakea Vargas is a Hawaii-born, Florida-raised judoka and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with 20+ years on the mats and a USA Judo coaching certification. He earned his BJJ black belt and his judo black belt under Sensei Shinjiro Sasaki in Orlando. As a Senior World Team member for USA Judo, he competed at the 2017 World Judo Championships in Budapest as the youngest athlete on the US squad and most recently took silver at the 2024 US Open. He's known on the international circuit for an unorthodox hybrid style that brought sacrifice throws, X-guard, and De La Riva into IJF judo. At Combat Sports Academy he coaches the judo and jiu-jitsu programs, runs the competition team, and treats the 99 percent of his members who don't compete as the heart of the gym.
About the Gym
Combat Sports Academy is a multi-discipline martial arts gym in Orlando offering Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo, Muay Thai, MMA, boxing, wrestling, and strength and conditioning under one roof. The academy serves ages 4 to 65+ with no contracts, no mandatory uniforms, and a seven-day free trial. Coach Lakea Vargas anchors the judo and jiu-jitsu programs alongside black belts Jeremiah O'Neil and Lucca Portella, with WBC Muay Thai Champion Ben Lucas leading the striking side and Sensei Xavier Valencia running the kids program. The gym uses Gymdesk to track separate ranks per discipline, so a single member can hold a blue belt in BJJ and a yellow belt in judo at the same time.
📍 Address: 4570 S Kirkman Rd, Orlando, FL 32811
Summary
Alex returns to Orlando and steps onto the mat at Combat Sports Academy, where Coach Lakea Vargas teaches judo, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, MMA, and a brand-new boxing program. Lakea is a Hawaii-born double black belt who represented Team USA at the 2017 World Judo Championships and took silver at the 2024 US Open. The episode opens with Alex finishing a judo class, then widens into how Lakea found a "gray spot" in the IJF rulebook to win matches with X-guard and Berimbolos, how his coaching shifted from competition intensity to a sanctuary for 9-to-5 adults, and how the kids program—now led by Sensei Xavier Valencia—pulls whole families onto the mat together. The math he runs the gym by: "Competitors, it's only like two to 5%, maybe 1%. But then you have like the 99 sheep over here that just want to train and they just want to have fun."
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