Gracie Allegiance Ahuriri

Painful day yesterday finding out about the passing of my mentor, coach, and friend. Woke up this morning half hoping for there to have been a mistake or for it to have been a terrible dream, but the bro has truly passed.

Damo changed the trajectory of my life the day I walked into his gym in Stortford Lodge. The culture he formed on his mats made me realize, even at that young age, that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

He completely supported that realization of mine, even though I’d not mentioned it out loud to him until I was in my 20s (I was too nervous to talk to the guy when I was young because I’d never met a BJJ black belt before, he made up for the silence on my part with the speed he could speak at 😂, I really liked that about Damo).

When I did ask him how do I go about starting a gym and teaching, he instantly told me he would give me mats and that I should start right away in my garage. Not only was Damo the kind of guy to give you the shirt off his back, but he literally gave me the mats he rolled on, without hesitation.

I’m truly grateful to have had Damo in my life through my early teenage years into adulthood, I would not be who I am or doing what I am without having met him. One of a kind.

Thank you Lenka, Tyler and all you boys for allowing us all to share time with Damo over the years. You guys were that which he was always the most proud of, and after meeting you all, I definitely see why.

OSS Damo 👊🏼

Gracie Allegiance Ahuriri wouldn’t have been a thing without the support and guidance of Damian Smith.

Gone way too soon, but his impact on the martial arts community will live on.

Rest well bro.

Awesome day on the mats yesterday, well done everyone 🙂

Another awesome term on the mats in the kids classes! Well done everyone 🙂.

To those that couldn’t make grading this week, just bring your belts next time you’re in class and we’ll add your next stripe.

Massive thank you as always to the parents and caregivers for putting in the effort to get the kids ready for training and for bringing them to the gym, none of this happens without your guys effort.

Classes continue through the holidays during regular times, so we’ll see you all next week.

If you’d like to get your kids involved, give us a message for more information.

Stoked to grade young Charlie to blue belt tonight!

Charlie started in our 11-14yr old youth class and then moved into the adults class later on.

I always have a lot of respect for these young guys moving from the youth class to the adults class, it’s a big step up. Charlie well and truly took ownership of that challenge and is now one of the trickier sparring partners on the mat and definitely worthy of blue belt.

Well done my friend, you’ll make a fine black belt one day 👊🏼.

Blue belt for last night!

This guy’s Jiu Jitsu gets trickier every time you roll him and could’ve easily been given a blue belt a long time ago.

Not only has his Jiu Jitsu gotten super slick, but he’s also the kind of training partner any gym would be stoked to have on their mats. He’s always asking good questions, knows how to regulate his output for different training partners, and has all the qualities that make someone both an ideal training partner and a solid practitioner.

Well done again Thomas 👊🏼