Origins: Jiu Jitsu

"The gentle art", that's right jiu jitsu translates into "the gentle art". How you get off calling something where you choke, break the bones/joints or submit your opponent gentle i'll never know. Either way I love jiu jitsu. Though now it is more well known for it's roots in Brazil due to the success of MMA which was invented and dominated by the Gracie family. Royce Gracie submitted opponent after opponent in the UFC while growing interest in jiu jitsu with each submission. Because of Royce's success people associate jiu jitsu with Brazil however Jiu Jitsu was originally invented and developed in Japan in the 1500's.

Used by Samurai's to combat armored enemies, enemies with no weapon or short range weapons. It was a mixture of different martial arts used for close combat situations. Jiu jitsu at it's beginnings was similar to Judo as it used more throws than the conventional jiu jitsu we see now. During peace time, jiu jitsu schools often challenged and competed with each other as they do now in tournaments like Grappler's quest and Naga. In 1914 Mitsuyo Maeda brought Jiu jitsu to Brazil and taught it to Carlos Gracie. It was then passed on to his brothers Oswaldo, Gastão Jr., George, and Hélio.

Helio then took it and ran with it. He altered the art to fit his body style as some of the techniques were difficult for him due to his small size. In 1951, Masahiko Kimura, a Judokan, after being invited to Brazil by Helio Gracie, defeated Helio in 13mins using a reverse ude-garami known now simply as a "Kimura lock". Helio named it such after the bout.

Grand Master Helio trancended the art and has some of the most storied victories and defeats in history. Helio fought and defeated judokans and professional wrestlers from around the world. Often times he was outweighed and outsized. He once lost a fight to exhaustion after competing with former student Valdemar Santana for almost 4 hours. The Gracie family is now synonymous with Jiu jitsu, producing champion after champion. Although it is romanticized now as being a Brazilian art, the beginnings of Jiu jitsu are strongly anchored in Japan's feudal age.

Paint a beautiful picture

I love what I do. I have to admit that when I fell in love with kickboxing, I didn't know it would get to this point and I am excited to see how far it goes in the future. I am stoked and grateful for all the opportunities i've been given and "earned". I remember teaching my first class and being told that I had to be more assertive.

A far cry from the high intensity top of my lungs Muay Thai instructor I am now. All of that is great, however the most important thing for me is teaching. I am blessed to be able to Love my job and that is more than I can say for most. It has been a long road and I just feel like I have this small wealth of knowledge and when you're down to listen and learn, i'm even more down to teach.

I've had the pleasure of training some pretty cool ass people for health and real time application. I feel as if you don't share your individual knowledge on a subject it has a negative effect on the growth of that subject. I suspect that the evolution of Martial arts depends entirely on the students it is taught to. Each person an individual extension of their particular art form with each having their own unique way of expression. we might learn the same kick but set it up and "throw it" completely different. I often compare fighting to painting a beautiful picture. Each technique is a stroke on the canvas. I love helping people learn to get to that moment when it all just flows together.

Thailand bans MMA...

Hey there H20 nation, i've been gone a while working on putting together and following through with my first Muay Thai camp. More on that later. So i'm 2 months away from my trip to Thailand so i'm researching like crazy. If you know me personally then you might know that I am constantly on the computer or my phone studying...everything. Anyway, I came across an article that talks about Thailands recent ban on MMA. The Thai government is citing that "MMA is too brutal" and "is not boxing". Now at first glance this might seem like the pot calling the kettle black, but let's look deeper. Some may look at Muay Thai(Thailand's national sport) as uber brutal. Elbows and knees and kicks garnishing more points in the fight than boxing strikes. However, this is not just a combat sport to the Thai people. This form of combat is rooted in tradition dating back over a thousand years. Compare that to MMA which may have some ties to other similar forms of combat like pankration and vale tudo but are from different countries and are also considered extremely brutal by some. Modern MMA dates all the way back to 1993. That's right it's about 19 years old, an infant compared to Muay Thai and even to baseball which is about 166 years old. I say that to contend that MMA is not a polished product.

The tradition involved in Muay Thai is based in superstition and history. When the Nak Muay(Thai fighters) come out to fight they do a dance/prayer to pay respects to their coaches, God, Buddha, and to protect themselves and their opponent from serious injury. The entrance of an MMA fighter usually involves the blasting of some rock or hip hop song themed around being a badass or kicking someone's ass. As entertaining as that might be for Americans it would be considered disrespectful in the Thai culture. The Thais are extremely respectful, especially when it comes to fighting. MMA fighters and fans for the most part not so much. Last but not least, the large majority of fighters are using a watered down version of what the Thais are so very proud of and are calling it by the same name. Until the MMA community really understands and respects what Muay Thai is to the people of Thailand it will be hard for them to accept MMA. The violent rhetoric that MMA fighters around the world may be used to isn't an integral part of Thai society. Also it doesn't help that some fighters go there learn the strikes and don't respect the culture. Regardless of how brutal both sports might be, MMA might be lacking in area...RESPECT.