Semi Finalist Winner

ELEI CHALLITA

My never quit moment came three years ago when I was still in college. I was rolling with a much heavier rookie before class to give him some pointers when I slipped and dislocated my shoulder completely. I had to spend that night in the hospital.

During the two subsequent months I missed the two local tournaments my coach had signed me up for. Recovery was painful, but the worst moment came when the doctor told me my shoulder suffered from a congenital weakness, would probably never recover completely, and that I would have to quit competitions, if not martial arts practice altogether. You can imagine just what effect that announcement had on me. To be honest most of my family was glad that I would have to quit, as they disapproved of a 'brutal’ sport.

My grandfather supported me then. Though his own health was badly failing and he had always abhorred all forms of violence, he told me not to let the doctor's opinion stop me from trying. He told me how proud he was of what I had achieved in that respect, going from a scrawny asthmatic kid to an accomplished fighter in a few years. With his confidence in me I decided to keep fighting. ... READ >

Semi Finalist Winner

ANDY LUSHMAN

My name is Andy Lushman and I first started training BJJ two years ago when I moved from Canada to Switzerland. My story tells of my discovery of BJJ and the difficulties I encountered while training abroad. Below you will find my story which, in my opinion, is full of never quit moments...

I first began training in BJJ a little over two years ago while I was teaching in the Swiss Alps. As cool as that sounds, the Swiss Alps are a great place to ski, hike, and eat obscene amounts of cheese fondue but it sucks for BJJ. Actually, the amount of cheese and chocolate I ate probably had a negative effective on my BJJ at the time. My first experience was where I blew off a ski trip with my girlfriend (now wife) to go with a friend to a BJJ seminar in the valley of Vaud. From that day I became hooked! Unfortunately, I came to find out that the nearest place to train was in Lausannt which was a little over an hour away from my little mountain village. If you have never driven in Switzerland, let me tell you, driving an hour through the Alps in the winter, narrowly missing trucks and sliding towards cliffs, drains your adrenaline before you even start training! Did I quit before I even started? NO WAY! I had the BJJ bug and I was going to do what had to be... READ >