Hello Everyone,

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself, to this growing community of fellow grapplers, and I promise to be as brief as I can (this is a lie).

My name is Dmytro, and I have begun my grappling journey in 2002, at the Kombat Arts Training Academy, following years of doing Teak Won Do. From my recollection, it was the largest mix-martial arts gym in Ontario, if not Canada, at the time. And, unlike most peoples' reason for joining, mine was not based on self-defense, getting fit, or UFC. Instead, it was actually due to a suggestion from a Judoka, Michal Popiel, who was a family friend. He noted that, in his view, BJJ is a grappling style that is underappreciated and will supersede Judo in time, and that I should invest my time in it as soon as possible, an advice that I am glad to have followed up on.

When I eventually joined Kombat Arts, I was surprised to see that among the members, I was one of the few teenagers there. Most others were adults, in their swim shorts with an optional t-shirt, which confused me, given that we were far away from any beach. The school was heavily focused on wrestling, MMA and No-GI Grappling, with some dabble in traditional martial arts. Let’s just say my first day was very impactful on making an impression, a statement that is valid both figuratively and literally, in my case. From the very first day, I felt a need to come back because I could not believe what happened. I was submitted, thrown, and rag-dolled, without doing anything of my own. I was shocked, because it looked and felt like abuse, but for some reason it felt good. Maybe it was brain damage or a concussed mind, perhaps we can call it stupidity, or.... yeah stupidity will do. Regardless of the outcome, I was captivated and wanted to get better, like my peers, which prompted me to come back every time, and cross-train in both MMA and BJJ. The training was ruthless and grueling for a teenager, but I was determined to get better. There was an unsaid no-quitting attitude and progress was based on survival. After some time I decided to focus purely on BJJ, as it was more forgiving on the body. While there, I was fortunate to be trained under Mark Bocek, who was a black belt under Joao Roque, for about 3 years. He was an amazing practitioner and instructor, I was very fortunate. Unfortunately, in time, he had his own prerogatives and he made the decision to focus on his MMA career. This was also around the time that I stopped training in order to focus on my schooling, a hiatus that lasted about 4 - 5 years. In hindsight, the start of my journey was very fruitful, but I could not stop thinking about training at all.

Following my "break" to do schooling, I found myself with extra body armor that needed to be shed, and a lung capacity of a fish out of water. This was my signal to return back to my formal self. This time was different. There were more schools that focused on BJJ and the black belts were more plentiful. For the first time, I actually could try out different gyms and have a choice. After my search, I ended up starting my BJJ GI career at Open Mat Training Academy, under Elliot Bayev, who is a black belt under Shawn Williams. This was my first experience at pure competition BJJ school (it had other programs as well). Also, the training methodologies were very refined, and there was structure to the lessons, which I understood to be quite a rarity, even by today's standards. While there I grew a lot thanks to my peers and coaches, which was followed by a surprise promotion to blue belt, by Elliot himself.

After my time with Elliot, at Open Mat Training Academy, I had to leave and travel to British Colombia, due to my wife’s academic career. Once I arrived, it did not take me long to find training, given that BJJ schools were as plentiful as in Toronto. I initially trained at Infighting, under Ritchie Yip, and some days at the Pacific Top Team, in a nearby city of Burnaby. It was a very welcoming and competitive environment, but sadly I had to leave due to a multitude of old and new injuries that could not allow me to grow in that type of setting, in the long-term. As an alternative, I had to find a different environment that was slower paced, but equally technical. Fortunately I did, and it was at North Vancouver Gracie Academy, under Marc Marins. This school perfectly fit my learning style and also allowed me heal and remain injury free. Despite a lot of negativity that exists on the internet, on the Gracie Academy training methodologies, I had to disagree on most of the critiques, since Marc did not use a cookie-cutter approach of an affiliate program, and instead use the freedom to provide us both with a competitive environment, while also catering to people who were only interested in self-defense. It was the best of both worlds, which excluded no one. In the end, I found myself devoting close to 5 years at this school, where I had also the honor to receive my purple and brown belt. While there, I had made momentous strides as a practitioner and as a person, which is an experience I will be forever grateful for.

And now, my journey is at a strangle place, as I am sure it is for everyone, for different reasons. For me personally, I am a “Ronin”, one without an academy and an instructor. I had left shortly after my promotion to find my own path, which I felt was not going where I wanted it to, in terms of developing my grappling style. Oddly, it came with a unique opportunity, and it was to become a coach to a select few students who also wanted something different, and decided to join me, which brings me to the present. As of today, I have been a coach to 5 people, for about 1.5 years. During this time, I began learning teaching methodologies so that I could be an effective coach to my students, while also teaching them to beat me, so that I could evolve as well. This formula has put my development on steroids (figure of speech), and I am constantly making huge strides on a monthly basis, which was not something I was able to observe in the past, despite training consistently.

Well there you have it. You now know my story, of who I was as a grappler and where I am now. I do want to thank you for taking the time to read this essay, as I am sure there are so many others to go through on this site, which I promise to help with in order to ease the burden. Moving forward, I am looking forward to get to know as much of you as I can, not only as grapplers but also as individuals. I do not know whether it be on this forum, or the Globetrotter Camps, which I plan to attend in Estonia, in 2021, but I do know that I am here to stay, since nothing beats being part of a global, like-minded community.

Thank you all.