Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club rolls into another semester

By Conrad Dahm dahmconr@grinnell.edu

If you were to look inside the dance studio in the Russell K. Osborne Pool and Natatorium on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday night, you would see a club hard at work training. The members of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu club can be found practicing their techniques, learning new takedowns and building a tight-knit community.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) is a grappling-based martial art practiced around the world. “The nice thing about jiu-jitsu is we don’t practice striking. It’s a grappling art,” said Professor Leo Rodriguez, physics, one of the club’s coaches. This grappling makes BJJ different from sports like boxing where more striking is involved, as it focuses more on grabbing and controlling an opponent’s body.

Rodriguez started the club back in 2011 and has been coaching ever since. “I’ve been training Jiu Jitsu [for] half my life, over 20 years now,” said Rodriguez. At the time he started the club, there was no existing club or academy for BJJ in Grinnell. This lack of a club or academy inspired Rodriguez to establish the class.

“I started to run this class so I could keep training, and progressing and then teach what I know to other beginners here,” Rodriguez said.

Sergio Martelo Estevez `23, club president, joined the club during his first year at Grinnell after previously having an interest in martial arts growing up. He learned about the club and lessons while taking a class with Profes- sor Peter-Michael Osera, computer science, the other coach for BJJ at Grinnell. “He mentioned it, so that piqued my interest,” said Estevez.

Estevez is proud of what the club has developed into since his first year, and he enjoys the sense of community it provides. “We have a really tight-knit group,” Estevez said.

The club has two main goals according to Rodriguez. “I think what’s important to us here is safety and camaraderie,” he said. “One of the reasons we built a strong community is because I emphasize that everybody should be responsible for your training partner,” said Rodriguez.

Rodriguez said that the club is meant to bring BJJ to the Grinnell community and provide a safe and accepting place for people to learn and practice the sport.

Safety precautions are taught as part of the class to ensure that each participant understands how Jiu Jitsu works and how to ensure their training partners’ safety, so even complete novices can join. According to both Rodriguez and Estevez, people from all skill sets attend, ranging from beginners to Black Belts in jiu jitsu.

“Very few people came here with experience beforehand, and we all fall in love with it,” said Estevez.

The club starts with the fundamentals, which involve basic safety techniques and simple moves. Each participant will build the foundation to eventually learn more complex moves. The club has optional rolling, which entails putting everything together and doing the moves safely with a partner in a sparring format.

Rodriguez also emphasized that BJJ at Grinnell is accepting of all people from all backgrounds. “The group is very diverse, and it includes people from the faculty, staff, students and people from the community. We have people around the neighboring areas come,” Rodriguez said.

The club meets Mondays and Fridays from 6:30 to 8 p.m. and Wednesdays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and is open to all skill levels and backgrounds.

“I think it was just kind of like a new team, a new vibe,” said Chopra. “Just a really fresh start.” spot since 2006 after defeating Beloit College 4-2 in a penalty shootout in the Midwest Conference tournament championship.

With their first Midwest Conference game ending in a 4-2 win against Illinois College, and all but one of their subsequent conference games also ending in victory (the only exception being a 0-0 tie against Knox College), the team found their rhythm.

Though their NCAA Division III run was cut short by a 2-5 loss to Wartburg College on Nov. 12, the team more than surpassed their own expectations.

“Conference championship was our goal,” said Chopra. “We didn’t even think that was attainable.”

KristenKoester

Head women’s soccer coach

“Everybody felt that any game could be our game for the taking,” said Koester.

Indeed, the team continued to win. They even managed to secure their first NCAA tournament

Following the season, Koester was named Midwest Conference Women’s Soccer Coach of the Year, and Chopra, Elinor Arneson `23, Jane March `24, Maddie Beltramo `25 and Keiko Smith `25 were named to College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team, with March also was named to the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division III All-Region Team, specifically the Region IX second team at a defender spot. As far as next season’s expectations, head coach Kirsten Koester simply said: “Repeat.”

Cross Country keeps pace with another award-winning season

By Marcy Cassidy-Mapp

The Grinnell College cross country teams earned several academic honors from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) following a strong performance last season.

Team coaches can submit nominations after each season. To be eligible, student-athletes must have a minimum 3.3 GPA through the end of the fall semester; they also must have either placed top 35 overall within their respective National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III regional championship or in the top 50% at the NCAA Division III national championships.

Head women’s cross country coach Sarah Burnell `14 handles Grinnell College’s nominations with assistance from the registrar’s office in assessing students’s GPA reports.

“I feel pretty strongly about them doing well both in the classroom and in running. So usually, when one is going really well, the other one is going well, too,” said Burnell. “We just like being really mindful about both pieces of the experience.”

Midwest Conference Newcomer of the Year Keely Miyamoto `26 was named one of Grinnell College’s NCAA Division III Cross Country All-Academic Athletes following their performance at the regional championship, after placing 41st overall.

“It was really exciting to read about it, and it also speaks to how supportive everyone on the team is. I was really grateful,” Miyamoto said. “It’s so cool to be a part of a group of people that are all so dedicated, and that all work hard and that are all super smart.”

The cross country team also continued its decade-long streak by earning another USTFCCCA All-Academic Honor, an award reserved for teams with a cumulative GPA of 3.1 or higher. Both the men’s and women’s squads exceeded that threshold with a 3.64 and 3.71 respectively.

“The academic drive of Grinnell students is a big reason why I wanted to come back and work at Grinnell. It aligns very much with my own experience as an alum here,” Burnell said. “You can be both good at athletics, good with your body and good with your mind and I think that creates a really special person.”