Hero Academy Jiu Jitsu & Retreats

😂 Elf duties have officially begun…

Apparently I have two facial expressions:

1. Looking like I’m about to armbar Santa.
2. Looking like I just smelled bad eggnog.

So I let AI work a little Christmas magic. It fixed my crooked smile, made me look like a happy elf, and somehow even convinced me to enjoy taking selfies. 🤖🎄

Jokes aside, we’re kicking off our Hero Kids Christmas Campaign and we’re looking for sponsors to help make Christmas unforgettable for the kids in our program.

Every donation helps provide gifts, food, games, and a Christmas celebration these kids will remember for years.

🎁 If you’d like to sponsor a child or support the Christmas party, please visit:
herobjj.com/christmas

Let’s make some Christmas magic together. ❤️🎅🎄 CostaRica ChristmasMagic

Feels amazing to be a guest for once. Huge thanks to Alex, Bethany and Dan for the invite. Looking forward to a week in the redwoods paradise of Grapplers Retreat

Sappy post. I was ‘busy’ today. We had kids class at 9am followed by a retreat session with 40 people on the mats immediately after. Everyone had questions and needed a minute of my time, it’s ok, I love my job. I’m sick, hopped up on DayQuil to make it through these few hours of my day so I can go home and get some rest before flying out at 5am tomorrow. Martha said one of the parents wanted to speak with me, I didn’t want to. I know there is a language barrier with my terrible Spanish and I shy away from s**t like this. She insisted, said it was important, so between classes I walked over and said hello. The conversation affected me pretty deeply all day today (might just be the cold meds). It was just 2 mins of my day to pull me away from the chaos. He just wanted to say thanks. Thanks for the program that his two kids are part of. He beamed with joy and told me that he had done martial arts growing up and how much it meant to him to see his kids and what it does for them. I could tell his pride as I saw him taking pics during class. Pure heartfelt gratitude. I don’t get as much time with the kids as I used to, I’m ’busy’. The time I spent coaching and watching them go through the program was my reward, the reason I did all this. Life changes, things get ‘busy’. That 2 minutes of my day is not something I’ll soon forget, if someone gives you flowers, take them. I guess the opposite holds true as well, say thanks and let people know what they mean to you, you never know the effect a quick few words can do for someone.

We couldn’t do it without great partners. Huge thanks to LMNT for keeping our campers hydrated in the Costa Rican heat, and Johnny Slicks for making sure everyone leaves the mats clean and smelling great. 🤙💪

These are products we actually use every day, and we’re grateful to have them supporting the Hero family.

TrainHardRecoverWell CostaRicaBJJ