William Vandry's blog

The Gift of giving over the Holidays, and selfless nature of a Martial artist, my thanks and gratitude to all of my Vandry BJJ students!!

It’s already December! Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all of the Vandry BJJ Association students in Texas, Arizona and Afghanistan!
Congratulations to our students that have achieved important roles in our community regarding their Jiu-jitsu knowledge, stance, responsibility and achievements.

"The Gracie challenge started with my father Carlos Gracie in the early 1920's. When my father first started teaching Jiu-Jitsu, people questioned his ability as a fighter because he was small and not very muscular. There were fighters from other styles, such as Greco-Roman wrestlers, who looked much more powerful. My father fought with these other stylists to prove the superiority of his style of Jiu-Jitsu. He was so successful as a fighter that he began to have trouble finding opponents; no one wanted to lose. That's where the challenge came in. Eventually, my father put an advertisement in a newspaper that went something like this: "If you want to get your face beaten and well-smashed, and if you want broken arms, look for me at this address." ...an open challenge to all fighters and tough guys to test our system of fighting.”

Hmmm. This is a mighty touchy subject. Everyone knows about them, everyone hears about them, and we live in a society of sports where they are rampant, and many people take them.

Last year, I wrote an article called ‘Treat yourself like a racehorse’. The intent of my article last year was to give information from medical doctors and medical journals that show how they discuss your health and especially as an athlete. I had no idea that that article last year would end up on websites all over the world. It had such a positive impact, that I began thinking of other ideas or follow ups, and I kept finding so much new research, I am following up with another one.