Introduction

Welcome to Jiujitsu Seminarian! Thank you for taking a moment to visit the site. I created this platform to share insights from my ongoing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) training and reflections from my seminary journey, which I'm starting tomorrow, September 1, 2025. As a seminarian, I will work to complete a Masters of Divinity and prepare to become a pastor within the Lutheran church. While I attend seminary classes, I will continue my jiu-jitsu and other physical training, focusing on strength, flexibility, mobility, cardiovascular health, and overall wellness. I believe that these paths can intersect and that the values of martial arts can compliment the spiritual values of Compassion, Humility, and Justice.

I've been drawn to the martial arts since I was a child and have been training in some form on and off since I was in high school. I first started with Matsumura Kenpo Karate at a neighborhood dojo in Seattle and loved it. This was also the time of martial arts action movie stars such as Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Segal, and Jeff Speakman, and a reemergence of the popularity of martial arts in the movies. I watched these bigger-than-life action heroes in awe as a teenager and couldn't wait for their next movie.

My karate had technique drills, kata, and sparring. Sparring, however, was limited to basically point-fighting. One strike, or combination landed, you scored a point, and basically you reset to start and again until someone had enough points. The “fight” was over - think the original "Karate Kid" movie. Before the days the internet, my marital arts exposure was limited to books, movies, VHS training tapes, and frequently stopping my indoor Saturday chores to sneak in some to Kung-Fu theater. I had really never seen karate in a fight against other trained fighter except on in movies and television, but I would soon receive a wake up call.

In 1993, I, along with the rest of the world witnessed the reality of the effectiveness of the traditional martial arts against trained fighters with the first Ultimate Fighting Competition (UFC). I watched the VHS copy of the event in my college dorm room with great anticipation. The event featured fighters from a variety of fighting disciplines to include boxing, kickboxing, karate, tae kwon do, wresting, and others, fighting full-contact with few rules, in a caged octagon. As the fights began, we watched one of the more unassuming fighters, Royce Gracie, wearing a traditional gi, bring his opponent to the ground, and submit him despite his opponent's sometimes overwhelming size and strength advantages. Even the announcers were taken aback. Now, it turns out, Royce and his family had been doing this sort of event for some time, inviting other martial artists to challenges at the local level to showcase and test their jiu-jitsu, but the first UFC really brought Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and the Gracie family to the world.

I was initially devastated that I had spent so much time studying karate, and now it looked like that time had spent in vain and everything I was taught was wrong. There weren't any Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu schools at the time nearby, so I tried a judo and traditional Japanese jiu-jitsu but found myself trending back to what I knew and was comfortable with, which were stand-up arts like kickboxing, tae kwon do, and some boxing. Also, as a tall person, I definitely had an aversion to being thrown to the ground and fighting on the ground. I would soon join the U.S. Army, and later federal law enforcement, and drop my pursuit of jiu-jitsu. Meanwhile, I watched as the the art continued build momentum in the United States.

During the last two years of my law enforcement career, however, I finally decided to try jiu-jitsu. I wanted to return to the discipline of training in the martial arts, but also wanted something totally new and to be part of a team outside my work. I found a gym close to my home, showed up for the free trial, and have been training ever since. It's been about two and a half years, and it's definitely been a challenge, but I love being in the dojo with my fellow students and going through the hardship together. Jiu-jitsu schools are places that bring people together from all walks of life, to train and help each other. The shared hardship creates a camaraderie that mirrors my time in law enforcement and the military.

On September 1st, I will begin prolog -- orientation week at seminary. This new chapter in my life will test my determination, discipline, and values. I'm looking forward to being part of a new team, shared hardships, and continued personal and spiritual growth.

"God will not protect us from anything. The promise is he will sustain us, unexplainably, through everything."- John Finley (Former Trappist Monk)