Competitor Andrew Wiltse has announced Wiltse Brothers BJJ, a new academy opening in Kearney, Nebraska this August, built alongside his brother and Magnum MMA owner Justin Weaver after a personal rebuild that Wiltse says centered on his mental health.
Reviewed by BJJ Gyms · Updated 2026-07-30
Source: BJJ Eastern Europe, July 28, 2026.
Andrew Wiltse, a competitive black belt known on the grappling circuit, used a July 28 announcement to share both a personal update and a business one. He revealed he had spent the last three months living in Kearney, Nebraska, where he described working on his physical conditioning and, in his own words, putting himself back together mentally. That period of rebuilding is now turning into a new academy.
The gym, Wiltse Brothers BJJ, is set to open in Kearney this August. It pairs Andrew with his brother, known as Bird, and with Justin Weaver, who already owns the local Magnum MMA facility where Andrew had been coaching during his time in town. Rather than starting from nothing, the new academy folds into an existing gym community rather than competing against it.
Part of what makes this announcement notable is the reconciliation behind it. Andrew has said his brother encouraged him to move to Nebraska and build something together after a period where the two were not close. Family-run gyms carry their own risk, since business and personal relationships get tangled together, but they also tend to produce some of the most consistent coaching cultures in jiu-jitsu, precisely because the people running the room have history and trust with each other beyond the mats.
Andrew has also said that promoting his brother to black belt is a priority once the academy is running, based strictly on merit rather than family ties. That detail matters to anyone evaluating a new gym: a coach who is willing to hold even a family member to a real standard is usually the same coach who will hold every other student in the room to one too.
Wiltse's path, competitive success, a personal setback, then a rebuild centered partly on jiu-jitsu, is a familiar one in this sport, and it is a big part of why so many people walk into a gym for the first time looking for more than just a workout. Training partners and coaches who have been through their own hard stretches tend to build rooms that are more patient with beginners, not less.
If you are considering your own first class, a story like this is a good reason not to overthink the decision. You do not need a competitive background or a specific reason to start, and a gym built by people who have used jiu-jitsu to rebuild their own lives is often exactly the kind of environment that makes a first class feel welcoming rather than intimidating.
What this new academy signals for anyone tracking gym culture beyond the competition results.
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Competitive black belt Andrew Wiltse, alongside his brother Bird and Magnum MMA owner Justin Weaver, announced the new academy on July 28, 2026.
The academy is set to open in Kearney, Nebraska in August 2026, operating alongside the existing Magnum MMA facility.
He said he spent three months in Kearney rebuilding his life personally, including working on his mental health, before deciding to open the gym with his brother.
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