I was gone for a minute, but now I'm back.
About a year and a half ago, I moved out to Colorado from New York with my girlfriend. Before this time, jiu jitsu was my life and I was a die hard 10P Ronin trying to build my game as best I could. I had limited training partners who would flake all the time so I was essentially putting my game together with scotch tape and popsicle sticks. MTS, DVDs, books, traveling to seminars, other gyms and competing in tournaments by myself was the order of the day. When we moved to Colorado we took a big risk. Neither of us had jobs lined up, we signed a lease on our apartment without ever seeing it (its awesome btw) we had no family out here and only a few distant friends. I had to make a few sacrifices in order to make this Colorado dream come true and unfortunately jiu jitsu had to be one of them. As hard as it was, I didn't join a gym out here in order to save some money and get on our feet. Once I finally had a steady job (construction) and income, I decided to pursue another dream of mine of being a career firefighter. Long story short, I just finished my probationary year as a volunteer and I absolutely crushed 2016, finishing top of my class at Academy, Hazmat and EMT as well as winning ROTY at my department. Now that this year is finally over, I can now come home to jiu jitsu. As of now, I will probably train at Trials MMA in Fort Collins, which is run by Ryan Schultz. Looks like a pretty sweet place. I'm hoping however that I will be relocated for my job here soon which would probably mean that I would be able to train at 10P Boulder with Drew and Fabi on my way home from work (really hoping this happens). Basically what I am trying to say is that I will never take jiu jitsu for granted. I thought about getting back on the mats everyday over that year and half and finally I can make it happen. I most certainly have lost a lot having been gone that long but I am looking forward to the journey. Shout to Chris Herzog and everyone at 10P Rochester and John and Zach and everyone at 10P Bethlehem. You guys may not remember me but I certainly remember all the hospitality and support that you guys have given me. Drew and Fabi, I look forward to being able to spend some time with you and your crew as I will still try and make it down to Boulder occasionally if I dont relocate for work. And to everyone else in the 10P family, keep killin it and never take a single day of training for granted. Much love and 10P4L.
