The Mat, The Mentor, and The Icy Hot: My Jiu-Jitsu Origin Story

In 2018, I kind of turned into a fitness junkie. I didn’t really care about health and fitness too much. I just wanted abs. Why? I don’t really remember too much. Maybe I just watched too many music videos that summer or something. After a year of hitting the weights and practically turning skinless chicken breasts into a food group, 2019 was my victory lap — I finally saw those abs in the mirror. Those puppies were popping, and man, it felt awesome.

But there was thing called newbie gains. I don’t want to do too much mansplaining here, but this basically means that the fitter you get, the tougher it is to improve or even maintain your progress. So, if you’ve just managed to carve out some abs, like I just did, those abs of steel could easily morph into abs of dough with just one detour through Krispy Kreme.

So I was faced with a choice — ditching donuts or my chiseled torso — I made a decision…

On my way out of a Dunkin’ Donuts, I was licking my fingers and thought to myself: ‘Welp, I guess I made my choice, but what else can I do to keep in moderate shape.’ I also liked working toward a goal, I can reach.

I looked up and saw a Mixed Martial Arts gym across the street. I thought to myself maybe I can just do that instead. My next goal could breaking bricks or…