I (Josh) started jiu-jitsu because I wanted to feel more confident in myself — and to be able to defend myself if I ever needed to.

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I was too nervous to try it alone, so I brought my partner Rose with me. We had been watching Gracie self-defense videos together and figured it was worth trying a real class.

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What surprised me was how fun it was. I quickly fell in love with the training. I started going to every class I could — sometimes 2 or 3 times a day — and in my spare time, I was drilling, studying, and watching instructionals non-stop.

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I improved fast. Not because I was strong, athletic, or explosive — I’m none of those things — but because I put in the work and focused on what actually helped me grow.

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Before i knew it, I became a coach at my old gym. But over time, I found that the classes didn’t really add value anymore. I was only going to test the things I’d been drilling on my own. I’d sit through the 45 minutes of technique, but was really only there for the 10 minutes of sparring at end, because that’s where I could apply what I’d learned.

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Eventually, I stopped going to the class portion entirely. I would drill, do specific training, and show up just for sparring — where I could really test what I’d been working on..

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And it worked. I was consistently winning comps, not by overpowering anyone, but by using the techniques I’d studied and pressure-tested on my own. I was often submitting people in under a minute — against stronger, more experienced opponents — because I understood the positions better and had trained them with purpose.

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All of that made me realize something important: there had to be a better way to train — and to teach.