By ISAIAH FRIZZELL
If you’ve driven through downtown Hailey, no doubt the big red and blue sign for Anderson Performance Institute (API) has caught your attention. Lee Anderson rolled a life of martial arts and business into a state-of-the-art gym right here in the Wood River Valley complete with the biggest grappling mat in the state of Idaho, a full-size kickboxing ring, weights, machines and a cutting-edge recovery center with red-light therapy, saunas, cold plunges and massage. API is currently open for any level and age looking to train, get fit or recover.
Lee Anderson has been in the Valley since 1971. He played football and wrestled at Wood River High School and, in fact, has “wrestled since I was a baby,” as Anderson himself puts it. Around 1988, he started training jiu-jitsu with the world-renowned Gracie family, when they came to America. This was before the UFC, before 10th Planet, before all of it. Lee was getting the ultimate jiu-jitsu roll time with the folks who practically invented it.
His background in wrestling and kickboxing combined with the jiu-jitsu and he began to take on his final form. Lee began winning championships. He won the U.S. Open in jiu-jitsu, the Gladiators Challenge, King of the Cage, Super Fights, Extreme Fighting, Ultimate Cage Fighting, and the list goes on.
Even while he was training and winning fights, Lee had his mind set on opening the world of martial arts to the people. He opened his first jiu-jitsu academy in Woodside, Hailey, nearly 30 years ago. Their upcoming soft opening at API is also to celebrate their 30th-year anniversary.
Lee is excited for the upcoming grand opening but even this last Thursday, November 7, he and his champion fighter son, Storm Anderson, were training around 50 kids on their huge jiu-jitsu tatami/grappling mat. It was a site to behold along with genuinely excited parents on the ample seating space.
“If you are an athlete trying to train for an event, you don’t have to go anywhere else,” said Anderson. “Like, when I was training, I had to go to one place to do my boxing and kickboxing, another place to do my jiu-jitsu, another place to do my wrestling, another place to do my fitness, and then, you know, go to a masseuse for massage—we have all that in-house!”
Lee’s passion for the martial arts was on full display with the kids and his pedigree speaks for itself. “I just really want to let people know, hey, we’re here, we’ve got something for everybody of all ages—for men, women, kids, teens, like, really something for everybody.” And it is an amazing space that has to be seen. The kickboxing ring and giant bags are thrilling and bring a sense of awe and focused clarity to physical conditioning.
Keep your eyes on the Wood River Weekly for news of API’s big launch. If you’re into fitness at any level, API has it all—yoga, boxing, kickboxing, Thai boxing and jiu-jitsu, with punch cards for trying out the space and a membership process that can best be accessed via the institute’s website: https://apisportsclub.com/
