How Jiu Jitsu Transformed My Life

What is the sport of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu? 

To most untrained individuals combat between two individuals is a chaotic and wild affair with typically the bigger, stronger person winning. Most social media fights have a degree of randomness, chaos, and wild kinetic energy. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu operates as a cohesive system that takes away the randomness and greatly increases the chances of you winning. By applying certain principles and techniques, ones victory dramatically improves in an unarmed fight between two individuals. This explanation was derived from John Danaher, Black Belt under Renzo Gracie. Check out this video to learn more about the different principles and more in depth description of what Jiu Jitsu is. 

What are the two common Styles of training Jiu Jitsu?

• Traditional Gi With Kimono
• No Gi Without Kimono

How did I get started? 

My first day of training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was on December 27th of 2020. It has been one of my top 5 best decisions ever made due to the many benefits that poured over into other areas of my life. How did I first hear about it? Well, I’m a long time Jocko Podcast listener so it always intrigued me, he has many videos about how once you begin the path, “you really know the truth”. Also, when I lived in VA my neighbor Allen who was a Military Veteran was very active. He did Jiu Jitsu, Strength Training, and was always taking his kids to practice. He recommended I give grappling a try to lose weight, get mental clarity, and ultimately be able to protect myself in times of danger. That advice was given to me early in 2020, so it took several months before I actually signed up for a trial class. 

How Did I Pick an Academy To Train at? 

I grabbed my phone and I began searching “Brazilian Jiu Jitsu near me” on Google Maps. Many options were available and I decided to do analysis on the best gym without driving so far. My analysis consisted of research on the head professor, any youtube videos available, and reading the information provided on their website. I was living in Ashburn, VA when I was making this choice. The closest gym near me with a 5.0 out 5.0 stars was Team Passos Jiu Jitsu. Tony is the head professor who got his black belt from the legendary Ricardo De La Riva. Upon going on YouTube, I looked for the video with the most views which was “Andre Galvao: Jiu Jitsu Drilling Concepts”. I did a Google search and found that he was a world champion and had many achievements over the last decade which put him at the top of the Jiu Jitsu world. I was excited that I would go train at a gym with such an accomplished athlete, later I found out that the video was footage from a seminar he did. My hopes were still high as this was a gym affiliated with him. Upon signing up, the members of the gym were very friendly and welcoming. I ended up losing 19lbs my first 6 months there. At some point, I began training 4-5 times, that’s when I started to see real improvements. Notable professors at the gym were Tony, Megan, and Josh Pike. They kept providing me with great support and after 1 year & 2 months of training 5-6 times a week on February 16th, I earned my blue belt. When you’re a white belt all you care about is the belt and proving yourself, as you keep training you realize that community, technique, muscle memory, and health becomes more important. I would highly recommend training here for Gi athletes who want to become world champs as they have several such as Dylan Cordell & Olivia Schauer. 

The day I got my earned my Blue Belt from Professor Josh Pike (Former F2W Chamption)

When was the first time I cross-trained at another gym for more than a drop-in class? 

The first time I cross-trained consistently was in early September of 2021 at the American Top Team of Ashburn from word of mouth recommendation of a friend, Nathan Chau. He mentioned that John Brattelli was a great coach for No Gi Jiu Jitsu and was a boxing gold medalist. This was around the time I began wanting to expand my knowledge into No Gi, Wrestling, and other MMA concepts that would enhance my martial arts journey because I was hungry to become a better athlete. Additionally, they had a Nicky Rod seminar coming up which I was excited to attend. Who doesn’t want to train with the Black Belt Slayer when he’s in town? I called them and asked them if I could come train No Gi and they told me “Of course you can”. I showed up and everyone was kind, friendly, and very excited to be there. I trained there a couple times before and after the seminar to keep improving my No Gi fundamentals along with takedowns. The gym has since grown in size, reputation, championship titles, and John Brattelli is now ranked #1 in the No Gi Jiu Jitsu through IBJJF. Below are some pictures from my training there. I would highly recommend training here for No Gi, Wrestling, and MMA. 

What were my personal breakthroughs from starting Jiu Jitsu? 

During that first year of Jiu Jitsu I noticed that I started approaching my life with more discipline than I ever had before. This was because I realized that if I don’t put in the same amount of effort I’m putting on the mats towards my career, personal life, health, finances, and family I would only be making a larger wishlist with no results. Every good thing in life is earned. The positive things that had changed in my life by having a supportive girlfriend combined with training BJJ were: 

• No Tobacco Cravings & Stopped smoking Hookah
• Stopped drinking every weekend and now it was only to celebrate
• My relationship with God was better than ever
• Became an early riser
• Nutrition improved
• More present during work meetings, family gatherings, and my own life
• Started putting more effort at work which led to getting promoted
• My finances were improving due to bad habits being removed and me taking better accountability 
• Starting taking positive risks
• Mental clarity was through the roof & less burnout 
• My application to graduate school at Brown University was accepted
• I received 8 job offers & decided to take control over my career in Cybersecurity

When was the first time I took a break from training? 

A few months after the pictures above, I got accepted into my graduate program at Brown University and slowly I realized I couldn’t manage going to 2 gyms. I froze my membership at ATT, and I stopped training at Team Passos. The key lesson that I learned through training has been, “If you want to get better, you need to be on the mats, watching tape, and improving your body through exercise or recovery.” Primarily you need to show up and be on the mats, without that it’s only wishful thinking. I began assessing the areas in my life which still needed improvement and started focusing on them more. After 6 months of not training, I began to see that the majority of the positive items which I had worked so hard to improve were slowly slipping again and I was losing my mental edge. Around this time I was getting ready to move to NC, I knew that I had to find a new place to start training. 

Moving to a new state, but first let me find a new BJJ Academy! 

How did I find a gym to train at after my move? Luckily to my advantage, my fiancee’s sister, Pao Nino is also a blue belt who has been training longer than me and recommended me to train at a new gym in Leland, NC called Shield Jiu Jitsu. The owner is Johnny Martens, black belt under Lucas Lepri. When I showed up to this gym, I was a bit nervous since I had 6 months break of no training. Upon arrival, I’m warmly greeted by Johnny and everyone else who was there was very welcoming. Review and thoughts after first class, Shield BJJ exceeded my expectations in every regard. As a practitioner I was yearning to learn more about takedowns, No Gi, Gi, Wrestling, Leg Locks and hard rolls. All of that was found in this gym. All my gaps were exposed, my limited gas tank was put to the test, and I made new friends who treated me like family. During my time there I was able to train minimum 3 times a week, attend a Lucas Lepri seminar, and attend open mats whenever possible. Due to the training being so high level and filled with experienced competitors, I didn’t notice how much I had improved until I went to another gym. After training for 2 months at this location, I moved up to Raleigh. 4 days after the move, I found a new gym to do a trial class. Wow, all the techniques that I had learned at Shield, I was able to apply during the 5 rounds of rolling we did. I was able to hit new sweeps, guard passing, retain guard, and get to the back. My gas tank was also able to keep up with the pace against other blue belts. My experience with Jiu Jitsu has overall been amazing and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to transform their life. I highly recommend training at Shield BJJ in Leland, NC. 

If you’re a seasoned practitioner or are looking to start training below are some tips:

• Stay fresh with https://paowerandco.com grappling apparel 
• Sign up for the upcoming seminar on November 26th by world champion Giancarlo Bodini. For more info email [email protected]
• Hip, Ankle, and Wrist mobility exercises before and after training are crucial to improving
• Drink some coffee before your first class 😉 
• Leave the ego at the door
• Keep it fun, relaxed, and stay consistent