Move for Freedom

This past Saturday a charity event was held at different Brazilian Jiu-jitsu gyms around the lower mainland. On-Guard, Alliance Surrey and one other(which I cannot remember) were raising money for Ally Global. This organization, based out of Vancouver, helps support the survivors of human trafficking by providing safe homes, education and job training. They work with partners in Laos, Cambodia and Nepal to make a difference in the lives of women and children affected by human trafficking. I have linked to their site below. There are still events being hosted that you can donate to. If you are able to donate pocket money I hope you do so.

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Now, I had only heard about this event going on a week before. While going to eat with some friends, who are also Brazilian Jiu-jitsu practitioners, we started talking about our training. The natural course of the conversation came to this event. I had not seen a lot on social media or on other platforms about this going on. So I believed that participating and trying to spread more awareness about Ally Global's events would help bring in some more donations. With only less than a week there was not a lot of time to promote it. Even now, I believe I could have done a better job at this. The short amount of time could have been put to better use. Yet, I tried to do my best to share it with as many people around me as possible.

The week went by quickly enough. I had put out a video on my Youtube channel to raise awareness among my subscribers. A few social media posts and announcing that I would be streaming the event I was participating in. My partner was kind enough to join me by managing the stream while I participated in the event. She took quite a large load off of my mind. If I had been trying to participate and also run the stream it would've been a disaster. Luckily, there was not much to learn.

The event that was being held at the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu gyms was called "Jits for Freedom." It looked to be three different gyms participating. My friends had joined Alliance Surrey and were going to be there so it made sense just to join them. The participants were encouraged to do as many rounds of 10 minutes as possible. While we were slated to start at 11 AM(10 AM start time was a typo), we ended up going until about 1 PM.

How many of them were able to do all two hours without resting is unknown to me. I only remember trying not to sit out for any of the rounds. It was not about outlasting anyone else. I only tried to keep my word that I would do twelve rounds during the event. This was quite a difficult thing for me to do. The most I had normally done was rolling for an hour and thirty minutes. Now adding on another thirty minutes with people I had not formally trained with before was playing in the back of my mind. The unknown of it all was just the worst part of it. As the rounds passed and I just focused on continuing to roll. There was not a lot of time to think of any other thing. The taps, the sweat, the pain, all of it was pulled into the background. There were not too many moments where I had felt joy through it. My mind focused on only continuing. What little respite I had between the rounds was looking for another person to continue rolling. At the hour and thirty-minute mark, I had gone to my partner and ask her how long was left. I don't remember what I was thinking then. Throbbing pain and hazy cloud over my consciousness saw to that. All that I could do was keep going. After it was all over I sat to rest. A headache from dehydration, strained muscles along the entirety of my body, hands wrinkled and trembling from the adrenaline. I wondered if I was able to do it. I can say that putting my body through that was not very healthy. But it is a small price to pay.

If you would like to check out what had happened I have put the stream is down below. Some moments there is no sound to make sure conversations could be kept private. I can't say I have watched it myself. It is going to be difficult for me.