Jiu-jitsu is for everyone, but not everyone is for jiu-jitsu.
For practitioners, Brazilian jiu-jitsu can become a way of life and a road for personal development. It is a tough road which requires hard work, dedication and humility.
“You have to walk out here [on the mats] and be able to take a small person tapping you out consistently for a while and go home and be okay with that,” said Andrew Thistle, owner of Powell River Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (PRBJJ). “A lot of guys aren’t.”
Thistle has been running the club for the past three and a half years and he works full-time at Magpie’s Dinner, his parents’ restaurant in Townsite. He has been practicing jiu-jitsu for seven years.
Like many, Thistle became interested in jiu-jitsu after watching Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) matches. Thistle was living in North Vancouver in 2005 when he saw a profile of Kalib Starnes, a Canadian mixed martial arts fighter who trained in Surrey, BC. He decided to go down to the school and check it out. He has been hooked ever since.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a martial art, combat sport and a self-defence system which focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting.
Jiu-jitsu came to international prominence in the martial arts community in the early 1990s, when Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert Royce Gracie won the first, second and fourth UFC tournaments, which at the time involved single elimination martial arts rounds.
Gracie, who is small in stature, often fought against much larger opponents who were practicing other styles, including boxing, shoot-fighting, Muay Thai, karate, wrestling, judo and tae kwon do.
It has since become a staple art for many mixed martial arts fighters and is largely credited for bringing widespread attention to the importance of ground fighting.
“Jiu-jitsu really grabbed me because it’s literally like a chess match,” said Thistle. “You can be big and strong and athletic or you can be completely un-athletic and not strong and still do all right as long as you learn the concepts.”
Success in jiu-jitsu is more about technique and less about physique so it puts competitors on a more equal level, though at tournaments competitors are grouped by skill level and weight.
“It’s not about how strong you are and forcing your strength on your opponent,” he said. “It’s about catching them in a slip. It’s like chess in the way you’re looking for your opponent to make a mistake you can capitalize on.”
Thistle has his purple belt. Beginners start with their white belt and after two years of practice, depending on how fast they learn the basics, move up to the blue belt. Thistle moved to Powell River as a blue belt.
Thistle has a do-it-yourself spirit, so when he couldn’t find a club in Powell River he decided to buy some mats and start his own. “Jiu-jitsu enables me to do something I really like and get a workout. It’s high intensity. I’m learning and working the stresses of life out,” he said.
The club developed quickly and moved to club member Simon Mithmuangneua’s garage and then to its current space at Powell River Town Centre Mall when it partnered up with Powell River Judo Club.
The club has 15 members who range in age from 17 to 42 and a core group of 10 members. Five members have their blue belts.
Part of the sport’s appeal is that it can be tailored to fit the needs of a variety of people. Some club members learn jiu-jitsu for self-defence, some for a regular workout and some for competition.
“It’s a sport that allows you to spar at full intensity and be relatively safe,” said Thistle. “With boxing, you’re going to get hit and you can’t control how hard you’re going to get hit.”
Jiu-jitsu permits a wide variety of techniques to take the fight to the ground after taking a grip. While other combat sports, such as judo and wrestling, almost always use a takedown to bring an opponent to the ground, in jiu-jitsu one option is to “pull guard.” This entails obtaining some grip on the opponent and then bringing the fight or match onto the mat by sitting straight down or by jumping and wrapping legs around the opponent.
Once the opponent is on the ground, a number of manoeuvres and counter-manoeuvres are used to manipulate the opponent into a suitable position for the application of a submission technique like an arm bar or choke hold.
“In wrestling you’re looking for the pin, in judo you’re looking for the perfect throw, in jiu-jitsu you’re trying to force your opponent to submit by using leverage against them,” said Thistle.
Last year Thistle teamed up with North Vancouver Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy to bring black belt instructors to Powell River for training seminars. Marc Marins, who has been practicing jiu-jitsu for 17 years, travels up to visit the club every few months to teach new techniques and give club members goals to achieve. Club fees are used to pay for Marins’ transportation and cover the costs of running the club.
Thistle is seeing the hard work and determination pay off for his club. On February 16 six members travelled to Richmond to compete in the Copa Katana tournament, one of the larger events in Vancouver jiu-jitsu with more than 200 participants. All six returned with medals.
“I think we proved a lot to the jiu-jitsu community,” said Danny Carto, a member of PRBJJ. “Our club is getting known.”
For Carto jiu-jitsu is an outlet for his stress and a way to not only keep in shape but also satisfy his need to compete.
Competitions give members a chance to see clear progress. Nathan Eyerley, 27, who has his blue belt, has his sights set on winning top prize in his weight and belt class. He won bronze in his class at Copa Katana. Keith Martin won a gold medal in his weight class in white belt and his brother Graeme won a bronze medal in blue belt. Thistle won a bronze medal in his class.
Thistle plans to keep training to get his black belt and turn his love for teaching jiu-jitsu into a full-time career. He plans to offer classes for children in the future and classes for people with different goals.
For more information about the club, readers can visit the studio on Monday or Wednesday nights at 6:30 pm or on Saturday mornings at 10:30 am. Thistle can be contacted at 604.414.4027.
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