Jiu-jitsu is about adaptation. We’ve all had to adapt to change in the past six months, and personally, I consider that a test of jiu-jitsu: Finding efficient, effective ways to do important things.  Everyone wants to get back to regular training. We hope that will happen sooner rather than later. Just like in jiu-jitsu, though, it’s important to have a best-case scenario plan … and then a check-down list with plans for every contingency. So that’s what we’re doing!  As you know, we’ve committed to getting back to regular indoor classes ONLY when Whatcom County hits Phase 3. (We’re currently Read more »

All history is political history. Anybody who tells you different is selling something. That applies to martial arts history, too: There are facts that are objective, but — especially when you’re dealing with events that happened years ago — truth is a negotiated matter. This isn’t to say we shouldn’t always try to get at the whole truth — we absolutely should! — but to explain why we’re so excited for Robert Drysdale’s “Closed Guard” film. Currently, there simply aren’t any indispensable one-stop resources for a credible history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Watching Drysdale take his historian’s approach to the project Read more »

Dear friends: First, and always most important, thank you. It’s been an enormous comfort (and often a relief!) to hear your gracious and generous reactions to the choices we’ve had to make to keep everyone safe and #flattenthecurve in Whatcom County. The newest reporting suggests that this might be a longer haul than any of us planned. Although we will be — literally — governed by the state’s decisions about when it is safe to open, we will also be guided by the best public health practices as we learn more about the novel coronavirus. As ever, we are utterly Read more »

Hi everyone, I have some news that I wish I didn’t have to deliver. After looking at the evidence and getting the best recommendations we can from health professionals, we’re going to temporarily cancel Bellingham BJJ classes after the Thursday night classes end. Currently, we’re planning to close Thursday night, March 12, and re-open on Monday, March 23, but that’s also subject to how the reality on the ground changes. We’re doing this to play our part in stopping the spread of coronavirus. We’re going to respect the Whatcom County declaration of emergency, abide by the Centers for Disease Control Read more »