Our interview with current IBJJF Black Belt World Champion, Mahamed Aly. Great conversation about Mahamed’s journey from a child in Brazil to the top of the podium and the mindset required to compete at the highest levels of Jiu Jitsu. Don’t miss our interesting discussions about fear management and giving back to your community, Jiu Jitsu’s impact larger than competition.
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Happy Veterans Day (observed). Today we had the pleasure of running our first open mat in support of veterans affairs, specifically suicide prevention, depression, and homelessness. About halfway through the event I found myself thinking about one of the beautiful things about this country, our support to our war fighters. We are free to disagree (and often do) about anything we want, health care, immigration, tax codes, Gi, No-Gi, ignoring 50% of the human body, but interestingly, we all agree on our support and commitment to our active duty service members and to our veterans.
In this keyboard warrior era where people feel like pressing “like” on a FB post equates to a meaningful contribution, today proved that there are still causes that motivate people to back up their words with deeds. Today’s effort collected a considerable amount of items, toiletries, coats and jackets that will go to MCVETS in Baltimore and help our veterans get back on their feet. For that I am thankful and truly appreciative of the Jiu Jitsu community. I also want to thank the people who do not train or could not attend but still sent in a donation. Your support will make a difference and it did not go unnoticed.
If stats are your thing, there was anywhere from 35-40 people on the mats, white belt to black belt with representation from at least 5 different academies from the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area. A special thank you goes out to Ground Control, Columbia for donating the gym space, and to Wegmans for providing the snacks and beverages. We also appreciate the attendance by two of Trapp BJJ’s Black Belts who came out to train and roll with the group.
My only regret from the event is that I did not have the opportunity to roll with everyone. I guess thats a good problem to have as opposed to only having a few people show up and repeatedly rolling with them mutiple times. I set a priority and made an extra effort to roll with those who visited from out of state / other academies and I’m already catching heat for “ducking”certain people. If we didn’t get to roll today I’ll see you next time on the mats.
Thanks again for the support and until next time, Keep Grinding
We’re happy to announce our first open mat event in honor of our nation’s veterans and active duty personnel. The event is free and open to all veterans and active duty personnel, regardless of affiliation or skill level. Non-military / Non-veterans are asked to bring a donation of toiletries, new/used coats, or to bring a veteran along to hang out with fellow veterans, shoot the shit, and tell war stories (more than likely greatly exaggerated).
All donations will go to Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training (MCVETS) of Baltimore MCVET.Org. Through education and training MCVET provides homeless veterans and other veterans in need comprehensive services that enable them to rejoin their communities as productive citizens. As their motto states, “It takes an entire community to help a veteran heal.”
Mark your calendar and spread the word.
Monday, 12 November (Veterans Day observed) from 11:00 – 1:00 @ Ground Control Columbia, 9130 Red Branch Road Suite S, Columbia Md 21045.
Free beverages and snacks to be donated by Wegmans.
If nothing else (besides donating your time to a great cause) what better way to work up an appetite before eating all of those free Veterans Day meals?
