From Military Veteran to BJJ Coach

The Royal 22e Regiment

Before he ever stepped onto a Jiu-Jitsu mat, Professor Louis-Philippe served in the Royal 22e Régiment of the Canadian Armed Forces — the legendary "Van Doos," one of Canada's most storied infantry regiments. He enlisted in 2005, at an age when most people are still figuring out what they want to do with their lives.

The Van Doos aren't a desk job. They're a combat infantry regiment with a history stretching back to World War I. The training is designed to break you down and rebuild you — to test whether you can function under extreme stress, sleep deprivation, and physical exhaustion. Not everyone makes it through.

Afghanistan, 2007

In 2007, Louis-Philippe deployed to Afghanistan as part of Canada's combat mission. He was 22 years old.

A deployment to a combat zone changes you in ways that are difficult to explain to someone who hasn't been there. The constant state of alertness. The weight of responsibility for the people beside you. The experience of operating in an environment where the consequences of mistakes are permanent.

The military teaches you that discipline isn't about motivation. It's about showing up and performing when every part of you wants to stop. That lesson never leaves you.

Louis-Philippe served until 2009, completing four years of service that included one of the most demanding deployments in recent Canadian military history.

From Combat Sports to the Mats

After leaving the military, Louis-Philippe channeled his intensity into combat sports. He pursued MMA, compiling a record of 6-1 as an amateur and 1-1 as a professional. MMA gave him an outlet for the competitive drive and physical discipline that the military had sharpened, but it was Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu that became his true calling.

In 2010, he began training BJJ under Professor Bruno Fernandes. The connection was immediate. Where MMA was about fighting, Jiu-Jitsu was about problem-solving — an endless chess match played with your body, where intelligence mattered as much as athleticism.

Within less than a year, Louis-Philippe was already invited to teach. By 2015, he had earned his Black Belt under the Renzo Gracie lineage through Team OAMA.

What the Military Teaches You About Coaching

There's a reason many of the best martial arts coaches have military backgrounds. The skills transfer directly:

• Structured instruction — the military teaches you to break complex tasks into clear, sequential steps. Every class at Gracie Laval follows this principle: warm-up, technique demonstration, drilling, live sparring.
• Composure under pressure — when a student is panicking during their first sparring session, a coach who has operated under real pressure knows exactly how to calm them down and keep them focused.
• Standards without ego — in the military, standards exist to keep people alive. In BJJ, standards exist to ensure real skill development. Louis-Philippe holds his students to high standards because he respects them enough to demand their best.
• Leadership by example — the best military leaders don't ask their people to do anything they wouldn't do themselves. Louis-Philippe trains alongside his students, rolls with every belt level, and leads every class from the front.

Why Veterans Thrive in BJJ

If you're a veteran considering Jiu-Jitsu, here's what you should know: the transition is natural.

BJJ offers many of the things that veterans miss about military life:

• Structure and routine — regular training schedule, clear progression, defined goals
• Physical challenge — intense enough to satisfy the need for controlled aggression and fitness
• Brotherhood — the bond formed through shared physical struggle is real and lasting
• Purpose — a path of continuous improvement with no ceiling
• Stress management — the focused intensity of rolling leaves no room for anxiety or rumination

At Gracie Laval, you'll train under a coach who understands the veteran experience firsthand — someone who knows what it means to serve, what it means to transition, and what it means to find a new mission.

A New Mission

Louis-Philippe's military service gave him discipline, resilience, and a deep sense of duty. His Jiu-Jitsu journey gave him a way to channel those qualities into something that builds people up rather than breaks them down.

Today, as the founder of Gracie Laval, his mission is to develop the next generation of practitioners — teaching them not just techniques, but the values that the military and martial arts share: discipline, respect, humility, and courage.

Your first class is free. Come meet a coach who has been tested in ways that most people never will — and who uses that experience to bring out the best in every student who walks through the door.