Tuesday, September 27, 2011

“An Awesome Opening Night!”



On September 26, I had the pleasure of attending the ECU mothership’s Grand Re-Opening at our new location on Central Avenue in White Plains, New York. JoJo and various team members worked tirelessly to ensure that JoJo could find a facility that would fit the growing ECU family within a week.

Even with the outstanding new facility, opening night enthusiasm strained our new facility’s limits – but there are plans already in place for the future.

I was extremely happy to see the largest crowd I’ve ever seen at an ECU training session, and I can’t wait to see how many people the new ECU brings into the family.

Moving can sometimes be hard for everyone involved, but this time it seems like JoJo and everyone else at ECU have traded an apartment for a home.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

“An Exciting Time!”

With the original ECU location straining under its rapid growth, JoJo has had his eye out for a larger space. After considering several options, JoJo found an excellent new facility that will fit the new ECU.

From a student’s perspective, the new facility promises more room to train, easy access from virtually anywhere in Westchester County, and great parking. Of course, the instruction and training will remain as great as always.

While I’ve played only a small role in helping to facilitate the move, I was happy to help. I was even happier to see JoJo’s enthusiasm. He’s dove into this project head-first, and has accomplished in a week what would take most people a month.

According to JoJo, “I'm driven to finish The New ECU in Record Time!

I can’t wait to post about our first night at the new ECU!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

“An ‘Accidental’ Instructor”




ECU Fundamentals Instructor Eric Guido chose BJJ by accident. Following his graduation from St. John’s University, Eric decided he wanted to get into shape. He found a boxing program at a gym in White Plains, NY.

One day, when he came for his typical workout, he found out that the gym had been taken over by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Legend Sean Alvarez. Sean eventually convinced Eric to "TRY" a class. Eric couldn't move the next day. He was sore in places he never knew existed. Sean told Eric, "I understand, BJJ isn’t for everyone..." and Eric promptly paid up-front for a year knowing full well that it was FOR HIM.

Since then, Eric has made a steady rise through the ranks. JoJo quickly recognized that Eric’s analytical mind and dedication to BJJ, made him an excellent choice as an Assistant Instructor at ECU.

Eric’s goals as an instructor are:

· To pass on the valuable lessons that have been passed on to me that help everyone on and off the mat;

· Do my best to pass on our style of Jiu-Jitsu, always thinking WWJJD (What would Jojo do) while encouraging people to find their own style at the same time;

· To always continue learning as much as I can, trying out new techniques, new positions, while always maintaining the "never stop learning" attitude;

· There should never be a move that you say "Is not for me," because of your size, strength or physical limitations; and

· Always keep an open mind and train hard.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

“Mr. B-Kim”

The rapid growth of ECU has required that Jo-Jo find assistant instructors to meet the demand for more and more classes. I thought it would be a good idea to introduce you to a few of them.

Brian Kim is definitely one of ECU’s prodigies. Barely three years ago, Brian realized that simply training at the gym was boring, and he needed a better challenge – now he’s an ECU Purple Belt and one of Jo-Jo’s Assistant Instructors.

As a former wrestler, Brian decided that grappling might be fun. He found Jo-Jo. Training under Jo-Jo, Brian quickly became an elite competitor.

Brian’s rapid rise includes numerous competition titles, and his current roles as Head Children’s Instructor, and Tuesday/Wednesday Day Instructor at ECU, give Brian plenty to think about.

Brian handles everything “Expertly”. Jo-Jo definitely made the right decision when he named Brian one of his assistant instructors.