Jordan Military during troop maneuvers

Here is some exciting news. “Papa” John Gorman has been honored with an invitation by King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein of Jordan to visit his country!

The official invite came on behalf of the kings military. There, Papa John is planning to discuss the Modern Army Combatives Program with the Jordanian military.

The goal of Modern Combatives is to build real combative ability by teaching realistic training methods and growing self sustaining indigenous Combatives programs within units and organizations. It is focused on hand to hand combat, and Jiu Jitsu is a fundemental part of the system. It was developed by Matt Larsen, a member of the USAJJ Black Belt Council.

Papa John is also going to invite members of the Jordanian military to come to Fort Benning in Georgia to train. Fort Benning is the home of the United States Army Combatives School, started in 2002.

The school offers four levels of instructor certification, and it would allow Jordanian soldiers to learn here in the States, then return home and pass on the instruction. Also, instructors from the USACS could travel to Jordan, allowing for a mutually beneficial cross cultural training exchange.

And possibly even more exciting, Papa John is going assist in founding Jiu Jitsu Jordan, which will be yet another national organization under the Jiu Jitsu Internationale banner. Every country that joins our Jiu Jitsu organization brings us one step closer to our dreams of participating in the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

So good luck Papa John and have a safe trip!

Luis Carreno and Team Legacy In Bogota, Colombia

Part of USA Jiu Jitsu’s mission is to support the Jiu Jitsu community. We recently talked about the children at risk in the favelas in Brazil. Today we want to ask for your help with needy children in Colombia.

The election of Alvaro Uribe in 2002 has drastically reduced the number of guerrillas and armed conflict in Colombia. But while the situation in Colombia has improved significantly for the better in the last decade , it is still not completely safe for these children. Colombia is still home to a large number of child combatants. Children are also often forced to live as refugees abroad or are displaced within their own country, and many take to the streets as a means of survival.

While the past was a time of sadness and violence in Colombia, the government and citizens are trying to bring about a much brighter future. One man who is trying to make a difference is Luis Carreno. Luis is a USA Jiu Jitsu certified Purple Belt for Team Legacy under Christiano Bertolucci, and he is a certified Level 1 instructor. He has started the Fundacion Arte Suave/Gentle Art Foundation to help and educate the youth in Colombia in ethics and morals that would help shape their character through martial arts. The Foundation will target a community of blind kids and teenagers in Bucaramanga. The program starts today.

Luis is asking for your help, your donations or your time. They need jiu-jitsu uniforms (GIs), your time helping teach or some donations that would help the instructors keep the program running. This program is 100% FREE for these kids, and it will stay that way. The kids have one only requirement to be able to participate and that is to stay in school.

So please, if you can, help Luis make a difference in a kid’s life in Colombia. This is a great chance to give back to the Jiu Jitsu community. You can find more information about the children in Colombia here, and also make sure to look at Luis Carreno’s site. If you can help, you can email Luis directly.

Picture of Rio de Janeiro's Favela

Between December of 1987 and November of 2001, 3,937 residents of Rio de Janeiro under the age of 18 died a violent death. That is over eight times the number of minors who died in the West Bank (between Jordan and Israel) in the same time period. Being a child is hard enough without fearing for your life from gangs and drug lords. The only option for most of these children is to join with the drug lords and become a soldado, which only perpetuates the circle of violence. This is the life of several children in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, the slums.

However, USA Jiu Jitsu is trying to help change things for these unfortunate children.

Working in tandem with the BOPE, a special task force of the Rio police force that is feared by criminals and highly respected by everyone else, USAJJ is providing assistance trying to get kids into Jiu Jitsu, not drugs.

Gilson Fernandez, 3rd Degree Black Belt

“Papa” John Gorman has partnered with Gilson Fernandez who is a member of USAJJ and Jiu Jitsu International. Mr. Fernandez is not only a Jiu Jitsu trainer and BOPE special agent, but is also a 3rd degree Black Belt and trains Jiu Jitsu referees.

The mission of the program is to encourage children to set positive goals and then reward the students when they are reached. The goals that are set include things like learning English and going to school. The children are taught Jiu Jitsu in the same training center as the BOPE, which is one of the safest places in Rio de Janeiro.

USAJJ has been helping to provide gis and equipment. Papa John feels this is a chance to give back to the nation that founded our sport. They really do need our help, and we are proud to support the BOPE cause.

If you have a gi that is too small, or you just want to help, please contact us.

Papa John with Gilson Fernandez and the Favela Kids at BOPE

Papa John has made a deal with a manufacturer of gi’s to provide them at $25 each for these kids, so any kind of donation you make can contribute to keeping a fellow Jiu Jitsu practitioner off the streets and in school.

Maybe with the help of USA JJ, today’s favelas children will be tomorrow’s Jiu Jitsu Olympians!

You can read more about the terrible conditions in the favelas here