Articles

Our academy is closed until May 1 at earliest, but here’s why and how you can keep engaged

Our academy is closed until May 1 at earliest, but here’s why and how you can keep engaged

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 »

Academy closed March 13-22

Academy closed March 13-22

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 »

How to Fail Correctly

How to Fail Correctly

One of toughest things to do — in life or in jiujitsu — is to fail properly. But wait! I hear you say: If we’re failing, aren’t we, by definition, doing it wrong? Not at all: Failure is a part of everything, and the way we react to failure determines everything. Jiujitsu is powerful because it is utterly unforgiving of the little myths our minds tend to create. During my first ever jiujitsu sparring session, I assumed my high school wrestling background would make me relatively safe from non-wrestlers’ takedowns. A few years later, I assumed I was safe from Read more »

My first class as a black belt

My first class as a black belt

Since I got my black belt last month, people have been very cool about asking me questions about the various firsts associated with this milestone. Today I want to tell you about my first class at black belt. The reason I want to tell you about this: people have been asking what I chose to show during my first-ever class at this rank. The answer. I didn’t teach anything. I took the class, and I took it from my good friend and partner David Porter, who has an extensive library of techniques at his disposal. What kind of wizardry did Read more »

New schedule, featuring 6 a.m. classes twice a week

New schedule, featuring 6 a.m. classes twice a week

We’re growing all the time, and always trying to optimize our schedule for student needs. Starting this morning, Jan. 13, we’re training from 6 a.m. until 7:30 a.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays … a class we’re calling Dawn Patrol. Today was amazing! Despite snow preventing several folks from attending, 25 people came to day one. Some had to leave early to get to work, which is fine — we do warmups and technique until 6:45 or 7, then spar until 7:30ish, so come when you can and leave when you need to. I’ve always loved teaching early morning classes. You Read more »

What Jiu-Jitsu Means To Me

What Jiu-Jitsu Means To Me

Prior to my black belt test, my instructor Seth Shamp asked me to write something that expressed what jiu-jitsu — the art itself, as well as the journey I’ve been on — means to me. This is what I wrote. At the end of the post, you can see a video of my black belt speech and listen to a podcast we did about the journey.— Jeff My life is jiu-jitsu, and jiu-jitsu is my life. I mean that both literally (I train and teach and learn jiu-jitsu constantly), but also metaphorically. For me, jiu-jitsu is a philosophy, a way Read more »

19 Memories of 2019

19 Memories of 2019

We can hardly believe 2019 has mere hours left on the clock. It’s been a whirlwind, from the lead-up to our opening on May 1 to the final classes on New Year’s Eve (still coming tonight). This is more than a jiu-jitsu academy to us. It’s our living room, a place where we get together with our chosen community to train, improve our lives, and have a blast. The great Marcelo Garcia once said that he’d never claim to be the best ever, but he would say that nobody loves jiu-jitsu more than he does. Nobody loves doing this more Read more »

The Great Scott Hartwich

The Great Scott Hartwich

I first met Scott Hartwich and Mary Burwell in 1993. I had messed up my first run at college, had to drop out, and needed a job. Scott hired me to work at their coffee cart, and I had no idea how at the time how much this — and they — would shape my life. We served a lot of great coffee, saw Scott and Mary launch the coffee roasting arm of their business (which was to become Hammerhead), and even did some construction work. After Scott and Mary got the contract to build the first coffee shop in Read more »

Bellingham BJJ wins the 3rd Annual Scepter Awards!

Bellingham BJJ wins the 3rd Annual Scepter Awards!

Exciting news: our downtown Bellingham Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy has won the third annual Scepter Awards for businesses making downtown a more fun, vibrant place to be! On Monday, we’ll officially receive the award — you’re welcome to join us on Dec. 9 at Makeworth Market to celebrate Downtown Bellingham and all of the amazing people and businesses that make it a great place to be. Betsy, Dave and Jeff will be on hand to accept the People’s Choice Award for Bellingham BJJ. We’ll update this with photos from the event, and if you’d like to come out, more information is Read more »

6 Months of Bliss: An Anniversary Post

6 Months of Bliss: An Anniversary Post

Warning: mad gratitude ahead. If you don’t like shout-outs, maybe go back to watching that BJJ technique video you were checking out. But it’s time for some love, because we held our first classes in downtown Bellingham 6 months ago today, on May 1, 2019. Since then, we’ve grown — as individual martial artists and as a community — beyond our wildest imaginings. We’ve trained with multiple world champions and legends of the art. We’ve reconnected with old friends and made a ton of new ones. We’ve become what we always hoped we had the potential to be. It’s been Read more »