Guardian art fighters have competed successfully against other disciplines, like Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. But Lightning was careful to distinguish between them: The guardian art philosophy does not focus on martial concepts, such as strike first, strike hard, no mercy, that can be found in other disciplines, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA guardian is not trying to go to war with life. A guardian is trying to nurture life,\u201d Lightning said. \u201cIt\u2019s all about being a guardian for yourself, for your community, for your family. Part of our teaching is how to be a guardian to the Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nexus offers virtual and in-person training to kids, starting at age 3, and up to the adult level. A typical class features self-defense moves, climbing, acrobatics, striking, grappling and spirit running, which is comparable to modern-day parkour.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cool thing about it is it\u2019s really a diverse skill set that they\u2019re teaching,\u201d said Andrew Trujillo, whose three children train at Nexus. \u201cThat\u2019s why I like it. The kids aren\u2019t doing the same thing every time. It\u2019s evolving as they learn, as they grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
His kids are building their self-confidence, friendships, agility \u2013 and spending more time at home jumping around on the furniture, Trujillo said.<\/p>\n
The program is open to everyone. It\u2019s a way for people to share in Native American culture and North American ancestry, Lightning said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re going to practice like a Japanese art, you almost have to become Japanese in order to learn it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want people to honor their own ancestry. And that\u2019s a big part of our teachings.\u201d<\/p>\n The guardian art movement and philosophy is based on Native American lacrosse, played across North and South America and even in coastal Asia from time immemorial, Lightning said.<\/p>\n The game did not look anything like the lacrosse known today. Instead of a field, they played on a mountain. Teams would score points by hitting a ball on a totem pole at the top of the mountain.<\/p>\n It was also a full-contact game. Players needed to be skilled in stick fighting, tackling, wrestling, spirit running, kicking and punching in order to reach the totem pole.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is how communities used to settle disputes with each other. That\u2019s why you won\u2019t find a lot of communities having big battles and war in North America,\u201d Lightning said. \u201cThey would call it \u2018little brother of war.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Nexus Guardian Art began teaching 20 years ago, primarily in Canada or its headquarters in California.<\/p>\n During the past eight years, the training school held programs with the Navajo and Hopi tribes. Starting in 2018, they held programs, featuring language immersion, with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe.<\/p>\n Nexus considered opening a location in Ignacio, but progress froze when the COVID-19 pandemic began. It opened up with Bayfield Gymnastics and moved into its new location in January. Nexus opened doors to the public at the end of February, Lightning said.<\/p>\n Nexus also purchased a property near Forest Lakes to host summer camps in the Four Corners, part of the organization\u2019s nonprofit arm, called Guardian Saga.<\/p>\n Guardian Saga holds camps and training programs that attract Indigenous, rural and underprivileged youths from across North America.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about really investing out here. We think this place is just beautiful and magical,\u201d Lightning said.<\/p>\n