05/26/2026
It was a great weekend for the gym.
We closed Saturday for my belt promotion at . I take a lot of pride in maintaining good relationships with the local gyms and martial arts community. awarded me my black belt, and I’m honored to be one of his students.
We had a great turnout from Integrity. Honestly, I was touched by how many people came out just to watch me get a piece of tape put on my belt 😂
Special thanks to Christopher Schultz and Kayed Riz for coordinating getting my gym keys back to Integrity afterward. Kayed may have picked me last on the mat, but he’s definitely picking me first in life — and honestly that’s probably more important.
But something bigger happened that I didn’t expect.
I watched perform against everybody there, and I realized in that moment he needed to be promoted.
Normally I try to promote people around their family because training is a team effort and families sacrifice too. This time felt different. I talked to Dub, he had a belt available, and we promoted Ielfri on the spot.
Ielfri represents Integrity perfectly on and off the mat. He’s a family man, a man of character, an excellent teammate, and he has become a very good teacher. He inspires me. I wanted him to get recognition in front of the wider community, and the moment just felt right.
Welcome Integrity’s first Brown Belt — Ielfri 🟫
I was proud of all our guys on the mat. We were basically the last team training there — not counting R.J. Littlefield ., who somehow is always the last human being to leave every gym ever 😂
Thank you to everyone who came out. It meant a lot.
Good to see everybody like always.
