I didn’t set out to write a full site for lots of people to use. I actually set out to find a way to organize the public content that is being created for Brazilian Jiujitsu by the great minds that are creating it. I found myself getting stuck in positions a lot and wondering exactly how I got into them or where I could go from there. I tried a few of the subscription services on and off over the years and always found that they were very focused on a specific position or a specific method of jiujitsu.
I am, and always have been, a big fan of digging into people’s passions. I love finding out what makes them get up in the morning and work their asses off every day. I was fortunate to train at Marcelo Garcia’s academy in NYC. There I got to train with incredibly talented people every time I set foot in the door. One of the people I met there was Bernardo Faria. Not only did I learn a lot of Jiujitsu from him, but I gained energy from his excitement about the art and sport of jiujitsu. And if we’re being honest, I also lost a lot of energy when he had knee on belly or side control…
When I saw how much work Bernardo was putting into his passion after I left MGA (Marcelo Garcia Academy), and I saw how frustrated I was getting with not improving, and I was seeing all these other people creating great content, I realized I needed to do something but couldn’t figure out what. After being spurred by an idea from the BJJ Globetrotter Christian Graugart himself, I realized that I spend much of my professional life organizing data. I also realized that I could easily apply this to my personal life. Fast forward past a bunch of coding, and Need BJJ Help was born.
I built it as a way to organize all the amazing content that people were putting out on Instagram, Youtube, and everywhere else on the internet. I also haven’t seen other sites that organize public content in a way that is conducive to the way I think and learn. I’m also well aware that it’s really only built for me (at the moment). But if other people enjoy using it, all the better.
I’ve been very fortunate to be inspired by a lot of martial artists over the years. Martial arts has given me friends, experiences, travels, and a laundry list of other things that I never could have imagined without it and the people it’s brought into my life. This is a way for me to give back to the community that’s given me so much.
