fbpx
For Her Dad: An Interview with 3x Fundraiser Jessica Bal

For Her Dad: An Interview with 3x Fundraiser Jessica Bal

Jessical Bal is a white belt who trains at Macarra BJJ/Gracie Sports in Norwalk, CT. She first popped onto my radar when I was looking at some of our fundraising reports and noticed an anomaly—a competitor who was fundraising at two consecutive tournaments (CT and...

Seana Rossi – A True BJJ Angel

Earlier this year, I came across a Facebook page for Seana Rossi. A purple belt under Jorge Britto at Toronto BJJ, Seana was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the young age of 26. She didn’t let cancer stop her from living life, and in 2008, two years after being...

Exhaustion and Inspiration in Jiu Jitsu

Jiu-jitsu is not easy. I was a pretty regular gym rat prior to joining my first BJJ gym. I would lift and run at least four times a week, and ran half marathons and 5Ks. When I decided to join Ultimate MMA, I knew I’d be in for a challenge but I figured I was at...

The Story of Thiago “Roylerzinho” Santos

Today, as I was doing some research on cancer and its effect in the jiu-jitsu community, I came across the story of Thiago da Silva “Roylerzinho” Santos. I didn’t know Thiago, but after reading about him and watching videos of support made by his friends,...