Black belts visit Mississippi for jiujitsu seminar

It’s often referred to as “the gentle art.” Professor Octavio Couto of Dallas calls it “the most dynamic form of meditation.”

Black belts from across the country, including a student of Couto’s, came to a Ridgeland studio this weekend to impart their knowledge and experience about the self-defense technique of Brazilian jiujitsu.

Thirty students spent Friday and Saturday at Anthony Mitchell Jiu Jitsu Studio improving their skills and listening to the experts’ advice. Jiujitsu is a grappling sport similar to wrestling based on the idea that a smaller, weaker person can defend himself against a larger, more powerful opponent using certain techniques.

Alan Shebaro, a third-degree black belt and retired Green Beret who owns Tier 1 Training Facility in McKinney, Texas, shared his story of why he doesn’t allow his students to “pull guard,” or a move that involves a grappler using his or her legs to pull down the opponent on top of him.

Shebaro said at his gym, if a student pulls guard, it’s 100 burpees. But he has a valid reason.

During a deployment in Iraq, he found himself in a one-on-one struggle with a target. He was weighed down with equipment on his back, and he had the man pinned down under him. Suddenly, Shebaro heard shots fired in the next room and turned his head to check on his partner. In that moment, everything changed.

“All I could think of is, if I had fallen back, I would’ve been like a turtle on its back,” Shebaro explained to the huddle of rapt students around him. “All he needed to do was reach a finger into one of the pins I had on my chest rack for any of the flash bangs – if he had pulled one pin, my head would’ve been gone … That moment felt like an eternity, and it changed the way I trained, the way I taught, everything.”

Shebaro and four other black belts – James Foster, Bryant Pangelinan, Tim Blackstone and Robert DeFranco – took turns teaching sessions at the two-day seminar. They hailed from as far away as Washington, California and Minnesota.

Jim Fiore, a purple belt, came from D’Iberville to attend the seminar.

“When you’re hearing third-, second-degree black belts talk and they have the same frustrations that I have currently as a purple belt, it gives me belief and hope I can keep this journey going,” Fiore said. “Just the passing of that jiujitsu knowledge – that’s going to be everlasting.”

Anthony Mitchell of Madison, who opened his studio on Lake Harbour in October of last year, is a black belt who has trained jiujitsu for nine years. He said the jiujitsu community in the metro area isn't huge, but those who are involved are committed.

“It’s infectious,” he said. “You don’t use horsepower, you use finesse moves.”

It’s that quality that makes the sport so inclusive.

“You can be athletic, not athletic,” he said. “We have members popping up, our numbers are growing every month. It’s for kids, adults, women, everyone.”

The seminar also gave Shebaro and Mitchell a chance to share about a cause they stand behind. Both are representatives of the nonprofit Mission 22, which seeks to raise awareness about veteran suicide and offers resources to those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Shebaro said he experienced personally how jiujitsu can help vets cope when they come home.

“When you’re being armbarred, being choked, you’re not thinking about your problems, your bills, your girlfriend or your boyfriend … The only thing you’re focusing on is that. So for that time frame you’re actually rolling, it overwhelms your mind with the things you have to do on the mat so you tend to let those other things go,” he explained.

When he was home, his time on the mat was “one of the few times I wasn’t stressed out, I wasn’t thinking about anything else but that, and that’s what I’ve really found incredible about the sport itself. It really is the most dynamic form of meditation there is.”

Shebaro also formed his own charity, the We Defy Foundation, which grew out of his experience training a veteran who lost both legs and his right hand when an IED exploded under him while he was on patrol.

Shebaro met Joey Bozik when he came into his gym hoping to get his daughter signed up for classes. They started talking and realized they had both been stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Shebaro learned Bozik had done martial arts in the past.

“I gave him an option, I said if you feel ready and want to work with me I’ll work with you. After 17 years of doing this, I had no idea where to start,” Shebaro explained.

He put together eight pages of techniques to start off, six of which he had to eventually throw out.

“There’s a difference in the leverage, difference in the movement, you have to understand the amputation where the muscle is layered over titanium rods. He only had 70 percent use of his left hand and 55 percent use of his right arm,” he said.

But they kept working together and the triple amputee competed in the Houston Open in 2014. Although he ended up losing by points at the single elimination tournament, Shebaro said he gave Bozik his absolute all.

“He is my hero,” Shebaro said. “Working with him has changed the way I train.”

Mitchell said his goal is to have black belt seminars at the studio annually to raise money for organizations like Mission 22 and the We Defy Foundation, which is still in its infancy.

Contact Kate Royals at (601) 360-4619 or kroyals@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @KRRoyals on Twitter. 

For more information about Mission 22, visit www.mission22.com.

For more information about the We Defy Foundation, visit www.wedefyfoundation.org.