Levi David Bass

Levi David Bass

Levi Bass began his martial arts journey at 14 years old. He started with Shotokan Karate training under 8th degree Master Karl Shearin and 6th degree Master Richard Liles. He earned his black belt at the age of 17 after competing in multiple tournaments and taking 1st place at the NC state championship. He was then awarded his second degree black belt at the age of 22 in North Carolina just before leaving for bootcamp for the US Navy. Levi knew he wanted to be in California for martial arts so he stayed at the top of his class to have first pick for orders and ensured that he was going to make it to California. It took Levi a couple years in California to find the right school, he tried everything from boxing to Ninjutsu. Eventually he met another Karate practitioner in the Navy that introduced him to P5 Academy and Guro Phillip Palmejar. Even though he was looking for a karate school, Levi did want to learn more about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as well. He took his first class at P5 academy in 2012. The moment Levi walked in the door he knew he was home.
Levi was eager to learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and study Jeet Kune Do under an official instructor for the first time, however, fate had a slightly different plan. Levi broke both his elbows 6 months into training and had an oversized implant put in his left arm. This caused a lot of pain for years and changed the focus of his training for a while. Since he could no longer train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or Jeet Kune Do effectively, Levi decided to turn to an art that he could still train and compete in despite his injuries. Therefore, Levi ventured into the world of Filipino Martial Arts and began learning Arnis and Kali. Levi started focusing on Fma and achieved a third degree black belt in Jendo Arnis in 2018 competing as often as he could along the way. Throughout the years he has been lucky enough to be able to travel to the Philippines with Guro Palmejar and train with our grandmasters in Jendo-Arnis and Kalis-Ilustrisimo as well as other styles including Balintawak Sugbu Eskrima. Instead of accepting his fate, Levi decided to find a way to fix the issues he was having with his arm which led him to get surgery in India in 2019 just 6 months before his first world tournament in Italy. Though he was not completely healed, he managed to grab a third place medal in kickboxing and was finally able to move forward with goals of competing at higher levels.

SEE WHAT OUR STUDENTS HAVE TO SAY

My son has been attending the kids class for about 3 months now. The instructor, Philip is great-- he is very warm and patient with the kiddos. We've visited a few different dojos, and this one is by far the most affordable, with a friendly atmosphere and a relaxed, attentive instructor. You really get a sense that you are a part of a community, and you can tell that Sensei truly cares about the progress of each of his students. The kids class has mixed ages; my son is 9, but there are little ones as young as 5 in the program. The activities he uses to teach work well for all the age groups, and he will match kids when sparring. Overall, it has been a great experience for my son. He has learned a lot while having fun in the process. The only bad thing is that now he thinks its funny to pin Mama... LOL--- so it looks like I might need to start taking classes too!
Alex S.San Diego, CA
I've trained under Sensei Phillip Palmejar since 2009 and I couldn't recommend his academy and his instruction more highly. Phillip is a highly gifted martial artist, kind person, and great teacher. I started as a complete beginner to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but other students have joined with previous experience. Phillip welcomes and accommodates many levels of experience and varying levels of commitment; I participate in 3 to 4 classes a week, while others train anywhere from 6 times a week to once a month. I like the fact that the environment of learning BJJ that Phillip encourages is friendly and not intimidating, but also is really respectful of the art. The academy is large, has clean beautiful mats, and is extremely accessible (close to the 5 and 163 in downtown SD). BJJ is super fun and P5 academy is a really welcoming place to begin training.
Lauren B.San Diego, CA
P5 Academy has the best transit access of all jiujitsu schools in San Diego. It is on both the blue and orange trolley lines as well as close to bus routes 2,3,7,11,30,50,120,150,215,235,901,923,992 as well as the special rush hour routes to and from downtown. Routes 5, 20, 170, 929 are just a few blocks further away. The facility is owner operated thus no going through some middleman or membership director with all kinds of conditions to join and train. There are 3 different rates based on whether you wish to train up to 2 days a week, 4 days a week, or on an unlimited basis. The membership costs are lower than most of the competition as well. Besides jiujitsu, JKD, MMA, Pankration, Filipino Martial Arts, and boxing are also offered. The facility has classes Saturday through Thursday (6 days a week). The classes are small and there is always a lot of personal attention, considerably more than you can get elsewhere. There are plentiful open mat times as well. The facility is clean, completely accessible, and you will find no egos. Phillip Palmejar (Black Belt under Roy Harris) as owner and instructor does an excellent job in giving you personal attention and answering all your martial arts related questions. The training environment is a place where everyone knows your name. Give P5 a try, I am glad that I did!
Pesach K.San Diego, CA
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Info@P5Academy.com

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(619) 302-5230

ADDRESS

1430 B Morena Blvd.
San Diego, CA