What drove you to do Jiu Jitsu...

[Kyle Spalla]

I haven't been training long, right before I could even really get started some asshole decided to T-Bone my friends car with us in it and injure my back and shoulder in the process. Nothing to serious, but just enough to keep me from signing up at Denny's full time and from going to the gym. From what little I know I can't help but take the necessary steps to come back from this injury, get off my ass and start rolling. I read all these stories and watch these videos and you people just inspire the shit out of me! Each person having their own unique reasons for why they train and live for Jiu Jitsu. My story was simple, I was bullied in school. I started taking Judo in high school to learn how to defend myself and it quickly became something I identified with. I think it hit me the hardest when I rented UFC 46 and saw B.J. Penn choke out Matt Hughes, who many thought at that point was unbeatable. I was immediately inspired, and though I have had to balance several things in my life I always told myself one day you will find your way back to it. I am no prodigy and sure as hell not an athlete but it's a sport that calls to me. I was just wondering when or how did some of you discover Jiu Jitsu was something you wanted to do and incorporate into your lives.

[chronic_jiujitsu]

I love all art. Music, painting, dance.. So naturally.. I was bound to love martial arts. Got into karate as a kid.. It was all right but seemed mostly impractical. (Even as a kid.. I knew learning to block straight karate punches in slow motion wasnt going to translate too practically into the real world). So I took up boxing, Then got into UFC and wanted to watch them from the start to finish.. Saw Royce.. Looked into Jiujitsu, and decided it seemed the most practical and logical. Then after training for a couple years.. I started wondering why we used the Gi, and how good open guard/wrist control would work in MMA or real life. Right about the time I started asking those questions.. I stumbled across 10th planet. And it was the exact definition of what i was looking for. Like I said, I love art. Self expression in any form. And this style seems to be as open minded as they come. So I liked the idea of being able to learn and get better at something.. While at the same time do it in a way that reflects my own personal strengths and weaknesses. Plus its just one of those things that I think helps your life in general. Because you can watch yourself get better.. while at the same time you are constantly forced to stay humble by the countless people who can smash you when you roll. And yeah.. thats pretty much it :P

[Brandon Woolsey]

I believe that things happen for a reason so my way to Jiu Jitsu was outta nowhere. I was looking for something that Tyler,my son, and I could do together. We lived in TX and the closest gym that had any kind of MMA was a little over 40 miles away. We went over on a Saturday and met the owner/instructor and it just so happened that he had just started training 10th Planet. He showed us a key lock and he talked about Eddie and 10th Planet a little. He showed us the books so after we left we went straight to the bookstore & got both Mastering books. I honestly had no idea who Eddie or 10th Planet was and we both read the books and from the day I opened that book my life has been changed for the better. The mindset has helped me more than I even know lol. I have had many ups & downs and I know that there will be many more on my journey.

[Mike Matthews]

Honestly the final push was my health & my daughters. I have always had a desire to train some type of martial art but my mom never had the money or time to take me anywhere growing up. Then after I got married & got a office job I put on about 50lbs of fat, lost at least 80% of my strength & overall was in pathetic shape. One day I was lookin at a pic of myself & asked myself if I would be able to protect my family if I ever had to or if my current health would hinder that. It was a very humbling experience to look in the mirror & realize I could not physically defend my family like I should be able to & it was b/c of my overall health/physical condition. I had gone from a strong worker out in fabrication shops to a draftsman behind a desk eating taco bell & typing on a computer 8-10hrs a day. My confidence took a dive after I admitted this fact to myself but it didnt throw me into depression or anything like that, it sparked a fire under my ass to get in a gym & not just lift weights to get in shape but finally to train in a martial art & learn how to defend myself & my family while getting myself into shape.

Through my course of training it has improved my physical health, mental health, has helped me in my marriage, relieved alot of my daily stresses I use to bottle up, improved my outlook on life & changed some of my opinions that I used to harbor. Overall jits/martial arts has changed my life for the better 100%.

[Kyle Spalla]

All these stories are powerful and 100% pure inspirational.

[David Rosado]

I've always enjoyed fighting. Not even because I was angry. I just enjoyed it. Probably because I grew up watching Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Van Damme, Segal, and all the other B action movies that came out during the 80's early 90's. Of all of them, my favorite was bloodsport and all the knock offs that copied the style vs style idea.

Then came UFC 1. The real version of bloodsport. And watching Royce Gracie do what he did changed everything for me. When I'd fight, I was slower than most kids so I'd have to grapple them. Most fights I had growing up ended with me in mount. And here is Royce using mount scientifically....but he could also fight off his back? My uncle was a wrestler and would bully me. I landed an armbar from guard and I was in love with BJJ from then on. This was the coolest martial art I've ever encountered. I still feel that way.

Sadly, it took me nearly 20 years to actually become a practitioner. When I wanted to train BJJ when I was a kid, there was no such thing. And I kind of just left it like that. My love for BJJ turned into a love for MMA until I saw a video of Eddie demonstrating the truck. My mind was blown. I had no idea BJJ had evolved so much! Then I started searching 10th planet stuff. Found out about 10th planet rochester and started browsing the forum and PM'ing coach Herzog. At that point my work schedule didn't let me join. Nah, truth is, it was inconvenient and I was still in excuse mode. I don't have a car. I'd have to wake up hours earlier. Winter's going to be tough. Blah blah excuses. Then last year, I wasted a whole summer drinking bacardi 151, eating trash, and getting fat. For the first time in my life I was unhappy with how I felt. And I stopped making excuses and started going to JJ.

Life's been great since then. It's had an amazing impact on my whole life. Seriously. It's helped me be a better man.

[DavidHamp]

My path wasn't as inspirational. I had been boxing for about 2 years and had friends fighting in MMA and would train with them and did what i thought was bjj lol oh man so sad at the things we used to do back in 2006 after awhile i had been convinced to take a fight on about an hours notice sadly i lost but my first fight was against an 7-2 guy that his only 2 losses are now 2 decent pro fighters after that i was drove to get in there again my following 3 fights were also all lost did very good at the stand up game only to be taken down and submitted every time so i reevaluated what i needed to learn and found my way to Brett Sbardella and Spyder Submissions at which time were will known in Central and Northern Michigan as a very good ground school with a very tough MMA team. After about 2 years with these guys i pretty much lost all interest in MMA and fell in love with Jiu Jitsu and had a friend tell me about Eddie Bravo and the 10th planet system i went out and bought a book and got the dvds and just loved it. Showed the stuff to Brett and he borrowed the book and then shortly after the team started training 10th planet now Brett is a blue belt and working hard towards his purple and i'm hoping to get a blue belt soon i love to compete an train just always seems to center me. Pretty much my goals in life now are my son my career and make it as high as i can in my path of martial arts.

[Kurzy]

I grew up in Peterborough and dabbled in a lot of different martial arts. I did Karate at 2 schools, TKD at at least 2 schools, Judo at one school, and tried some other stuff here and there as well.

I took Combat TKD seriously and trained with 10th Planet coach Stewart Landry. Stew and I have known each other for about 20 or more years now and we are about as close as probably Eddie and Joe. We trained for years in TKD together and got our black belts together. Right around that time there was a bunch of totally political bullshit going on with our club and our TKD affiliation, all based on greed and federation fees and blah blah blah.

Stewart made the transition into combat Jiu Jitsu while I lost interest in TKD and tried Bujinkan, but realized that it was fantasy baloney and basically quit. Stewart harrassed me for years to come out and train with him in BJJ, and my only level of familiarity with it was that it Royce Gracie laying on the ground, clutching a man and not moving much for a long time.

I wasn't interested at all.

So for about 10 to 13 years I engaged in sitting on my ass, chain smoking, drinking, and wakeboarding, playing music, and other non-martial arts related stuff. Then my wife reminded me one night while I was cross-eyed drunk that I am going to be 40 years old soon, and that I haven't done any exercise at all for about 10-15 years. (ish) I was offended that she didn't respect my invincible health and my infallible black belt (Which I know is just the beginning, but I could have been a 3rd dan by the time I quit, long story), and the fact that I had a street rep. lol.

Anyways, I tried going back to TKD and discovered it had become a "Profit before quality" outfit, and looked at Hapkido and decided I wasn't into that either. I was still stuck on striking arts, and not interested in BJJ at all, but I knew I had to get some exercise. Stew invited me again. (He NEVER stopped inviting me: Thank you Stew!)

I asked him: "Are your warmups good? ...because I am not interested in grappling at all, so I would primarily be joining just for the warmups and exercise"
"Oh, I think they're pretty good" he replied.... LOL.

I couldn't fucking walk for a week and a half after the first class. I got tapped out by a 12 or 13 year old that night as well, after having the mats wiped clean with me constantly by all the other guys over 18 years old. It was an embarrasing ego-check that made me realize that just because I had wicked kicking game in the past, it didn't mean shit.

I was gassing out after 45 seconds of rolling, and getting tapped pretty much every 10 to 15 seconds. I had no idea what to defend against or what to watch out for. All I knew is every single person in that class could dominate me, and that made me re-evaluate my level of confidence. I was an experienced street fighter as a youth, but those days are behind me. I hate the idea of street fighting now, and I'm a family man, but I was deluding myself with my past and experience, and until I went to 10th planet PTBO, I thought I was still just as tough and just as capable as I was 15 years ago. lol. Even after chain smoking and heavy weekend drinking.

As cheesy as this sounds, I have a family to protect, and that first night at 10P showed me that I just might not have teh required skills anymore.

Anyways, my ego has always been something I can manage with humility, and I knew right then that 10thBJJ is the absolute best and most effective form of defense for ground game that can be found anywhere. After only a few classes, my attitude changed from being there "just for the warm up" into being a technique-hungry beast. I am addicted now. I don't think I can stop. Now the warm ups are a tool I use to push myself as hard as I can for toning up and building strength, and I jog to class every class (And quit smoking almost 7 weeks ago) but the REPS are what I look forward to most.

I'm still getting my ass kicked during sparring, but I'm OK with that.

[Kurzy]

And I stopped making excuses and started going to JJ.

Life's been great since then. It's had an amazing impact on my whole life. Seriously. It's helped me be a better man.

That's it. I can relate. I am not the first person to say this, for sure, but BJJ saved my life.

(I can say this with certainty because I just about dropped on the mats at the club when my heart went into fibrillation on me, twice, prompting me to quit smoking finally. It was scary as hell. Stewart was there and can attest to the the freaky nature of the fibrillation. I honestly thought I was going to drop rigth there.)

It's a third chance at life for me.

[Andy Lopez]

the love of the game