JIU JITSU GOES ON

During the lockdown we were deprived of the most important, perhaps the most essential part of jiu jitsu; that of the partner. Jiu jitsu is about technique, leverage and timing, things that you can hardly practice on your own. In jiu jitsu “your partner/opponent is your teacher and your ego is your worst enemy”.

But just like life, jiu jitsu too, will go on. When the lockdown was imposed I decided that I would offer my knowledge through daily online instructional videos in an effort to provide some visual stimulation to all my students and other practitioners who wanted to continue their training through solo drills. Although for the first couple of days the initial reaction was lukewarm, as I too felt awkward, in the following days and weeks it picked up pace revealing an innate need for everyone out there to get back to some sort of normalcy; for me it became a somewhat daily meditative exercise that helped me go through a truly difficult period, not just for me but also for the rest of the world. So, thank you.

This video is for you. Thank you for keeping me company, thank you for believing, thank you for keeping the spirit alive.

In 2021 life goes on; so does jiu-jitsu.

Andreas Achniotis Perales
Palestra Jiu Jitsu head coach