NEW BEGINNINGS

Albino Rhino Moves On

The nature of life is change. It’s the one constant throughout existence. Everything changes. I had one in August 2009 when I wandered into a new dojo named Omni Martial Arts that had just opened in my area. I was the first adult student to sign up.

View from the street.

Sadly, at that point (2009), I hadn’t trained anywhere for two years and was out of shape. Plus, I’d never studied Brazilian Jiujitsu and had always wanted to learn that art form. I had a black belt in another martial arts form, but I’d always heard that BJJ was unique and special as a fighting system.

It was and is to this day. It’s also very challenging. I got the utter crap kicked out of me nearly every day for a few years (and choked unconscious multiple times). BJJ tests you physically, mentally, and spiritually. But if you persevere, it pays off.

I somehow managed to survive and thrive…

My nickname at the dojo

I stayed there for fifteen years. I began teaching there in 2015 after receiving my purple belt in BJJ and continued teaching part-time while pursuing my writing career. My second son was born a year after I began training there. My first feature films were shot while I was rolling, sweating, and bleeding on those mats.

It was a very successful school. The dojo’s owner, Sensei Julio, sold the school in 2018, right after I earned my brown belt. My kids loved the gym and trained there six days a week, so I stayed on, too, teaching part-time. I didn’t want it to close; it was beloved by them and, honestly, by me. So we stayed and the dojo was renamed Modern Martial Arts Astoria by its new owner.

I went full-time as the primary instructor there in 2019 and stayed on until Saturday, January 4, 2025, when the doors were closed for good as the current owner could no longer keep it in operation. The pandemic crippled our business, unfortunately.

I am at a loss for words. I will miss the students and their families and cannot express my gratitude for being able to be part of this community for so long.

Demonstrating a kimura

My sons basically grew up there. I watched children grow to become adults at this dojo, and the gym has a profound sense of existence that I will carry with me forever.

The adult crew

I’m sure I’ll write more about this in greater depth at some point. But for now, I can only express my gratitude for finding this martial arts school and Sensei Julio. I was at a point where I thought I’d done most everything, and yet, looking back, I see I’d only just begun. It was a new beginning of a whole new chapter in my martial arts life.

a few of my young assassins

I forget who once told me this, but there are no endings, only new beginnings. And this is an excellent example of such—the school, the students, the parents, the neighbors, and the community—they’ll always be part of my life because what created us never truly disappears. It stays with us.

I’ve had a lot of new beginnings in life… leaving Iowa, moving to New York City, and becoming a father… all valuable and vital in specific ways (especially the dad part), and I know that walking into Omni Martial Arts was a significant new beginning for me on a personal level. And I recognize I’ve arrived at another.

A signed shirt from my students.

I told my students that this wasn’t the end but another new beginning. For all of us.

It’s been my privilege and honor to learn from Sensei Julio and all the instructors who spent time there, and it's even more of an honor to teach the fine people who joined us over the years.

Sensei Julio with my sons, around 2016 or so…

I told the class (my last one) that I didn’t believe I deserved the brown belt I received when I got it, and I felt the same about the black belt Professor Julio gave me last year. I said, I’m amazed people keep showing up to hear my thoughts on BJJ and that I don’t know that I deserved their attention.

Sensei Julio with my sons, January 4, 2025

But I worked hard to be worthy of all of the above, and still strive to be worthy.

Every day.

With my sons, age 6 and 3, when they began training.

I have much to say about BJJ, martial arts, teaching, and practicing, but I have been unable to articulate how I feel about those things properly in the past few weeks.

With my sons just a couple of weeks ago, ages 17 and 14.

Soon, I hope. In the meantime, I’ll go back to being a student and keep up the hard work of being worthy of the belt I wear, the friends I’ve made, and all these wonderful people who believed in me as much as I believed in them.

Professors Donovan Hodge, Julio Rivera, and Joshua Todd James

Thank you, everyone, for… everything.