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Jesse Bailon
Owner
When I was 8 years old, I brought home a flyer through my elementary school promoting a free "Kardio Kickboxing" class from Urban Jungle Self Defense. My mom had joint pain and thought by taking the class she could lose weight and get stronger.
Fast forward five years, and my mom had become friends with the owners of Urban Jungle and babysat for their family. I went along to help and play games with the kids, who would always ask me to come to Jiu-Jitsu classes at Urban Jungle. I always answered, “yeah….sure…one day.” I was lying to them because I didn’t understand what Jiu-Jitsu was and couldn’t picture myself yelling “hi-yah” and breaking boards. At that time, I was thirteen and weighed 150 pounds and had never done any sports in my life. I was beginning to be bullied in school, both verbally and physically.
In the summer of 2005, Michelle, one of the owners of Urban Jungle, asked me to help her with a summer camp for kids, playing games and doing arts and crafts. She offered to pay me with free Jiu-Jitsu classes, but I again declined. In 2006, I again helped with camps, but this time took her up on her offer to train and walked into my first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class in August of 2006. It was the day that changed my life.
That first lesson involved picking up my partner with my feet and turning them in mid air to land in an arm bar. Arm bars involve applying pressure to the elbow joint, and could potentially break the arm if applied at full force. I was ecstatic in that moment that I, a fifteen year old, overweight kid, was able to pick up a full grown man and flip them in mid-air. During that first class, Tony, the head instructor and owner at Urban Jungle, had us roll (live sparring) with one another and my partner was much smaller than I was – about 85 pounds lighter. I thought I would steamroll this much smaller man. Within two minutes, he had tapped me out about four times using a guillotine, which is a choke that applies pressure across the front of the throat. After my fourth time tapping to the same move, my partner told me, “ you should probably stop diving at me, that’s why I keep catching you.” I went home
after class with my ego crushed, but still happy to have found a martial art where a significantly smaller person could easily beat me. I imagined what I could do to someone else once I had the same amount of knowledge.
After two years of training, I was awarded my blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and was hired to work at Urban Jungle. I worked under the owner’s brother, Victor. Rolling with Victor once, I had him trapped under me and he had difficulty escaping. Afterward, he asked me how much I weighed. At the time, I had been eating whatever I wanted, not caring what damage I might have been doing to my body. I got on the scale and saw the number read 215 pounds. Victor told me I was good at Jiu-Jitsu and moved well for my size, but that I should consider how much faster and better my Jiu-Jitsu would be if I watched what I ate and took better care of my body. I went home that night feeling emotional, because my own manager – someone I looked up to – had essentially told me I was fat. I thought about it the whole night and realized that he was right, and I did need to clean up my diet. I wanted to embrace not just martial arts, but the lifestyle that supports them.
In February 2016, I found myself a brown belt with a bachelor’s degree in business, and only a few months away from reaching the ten year mark on the mats. I asked Tony about testing for my black belt that year and he told me to train toward that goal. For nine months, I sharpened and cleaned up the details of my self-defense skills, dedicated myself to living the Gracie diet and learned the detailed history of the art of Jiu-Jitsu.
In December of 2016, I tested in front of over thirty Royce Gracie black belts from around the country. After a grueling day of demonstrating skills, answering questions, and representing the art, I received my black belt. After the belt ceremony, several of the black belts congratulated me, telling me I was the best of those who tested that year. One of the black belts I had never met before told me, “if there were more people like you in the world, the world would be a better place. Your parents and instructors should be very proud of the person you have become.”
In the end, it is about the person I have become through this journey. Martial arts, both Jiu-Jitsu, and the striking arts I have learned along the way, have changed me and have changed my path in life. I’ve learned to stand up for myself without being confrontational, to think before acting, but also to react instinctively through my training. I have learned to be persistent and patient, in the pursuit of my goals, while representing the art of Jiu-Jitsu and those who have taught me, and those who have trained along side me. Though I had never thought to become a teacher, I have found through teaching classes at Urban Jungle, a new focus for my love of martial arts, and a broader purpose in my life.
My new goal is to share Jiu-Jitsu with a wider community, the same way Tony and Michelle did, and to impact others as they impacted me. One community at a time, one student at a time.
Fast forward five years, and my mom had become friends with the owners of Urban Jungle and babysat for their family. I went along to help and play games with the kids, who would always ask me to come to Jiu-Jitsu classes at Urban Jungle. I always answered, “yeah….sure…one day.” I was lying to them because I didn’t understand what Jiu-Jitsu was and couldn’t picture myself yelling “hi-yah” and breaking boards. At that time, I was thirteen and weighed 150 pounds and had never done any sports in my life. I was beginning to be bullied in school, both verbally and physically.
In the summer of 2005, Michelle, one of the owners of Urban Jungle, asked me to help her with a summer camp for kids, playing games and doing arts and crafts. She offered to pay me with free Jiu-Jitsu classes, but I again declined. In 2006, I again helped with camps, but this time took her up on her offer to train and walked into my first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class in August of 2006. It was the day that changed my life.
That first lesson involved picking up my partner with my feet and turning them in mid air to land in an arm bar. Arm bars involve applying pressure to the elbow joint, and could potentially break the arm if applied at full force. I was ecstatic in that moment that I, a fifteen year old, overweight kid, was able to pick up a full grown man and flip them in mid-air. During that first class, Tony, the head instructor and owner at Urban Jungle, had us roll (live sparring) with one another and my partner was much smaller than I was – about 85 pounds lighter. I thought I would steamroll this much smaller man. Within two minutes, he had tapped me out about four times using a guillotine, which is a choke that applies pressure across the front of the throat. After my fourth time tapping to the same move, my partner told me, “ you should probably stop diving at me, that’s why I keep catching you.” I went home
after class with my ego crushed, but still happy to have found a martial art where a significantly smaller person could easily beat me. I imagined what I could do to someone else once I had the same amount of knowledge.
After two years of training, I was awarded my blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and was hired to work at Urban Jungle. I worked under the owner’s brother, Victor. Rolling with Victor once, I had him trapped under me and he had difficulty escaping. Afterward, he asked me how much I weighed. At the time, I had been eating whatever I wanted, not caring what damage I might have been doing to my body. I got on the scale and saw the number read 215 pounds. Victor told me I was good at Jiu-Jitsu and moved well for my size, but that I should consider how much faster and better my Jiu-Jitsu would be if I watched what I ate and took better care of my body. I went home that night feeling emotional, because my own manager – someone I looked up to – had essentially told me I was fat. I thought about it the whole night and realized that he was right, and I did need to clean up my diet. I wanted to embrace not just martial arts, but the lifestyle that supports them.
In February 2016, I found myself a brown belt with a bachelor’s degree in business, and only a few months away from reaching the ten year mark on the mats. I asked Tony about testing for my black belt that year and he told me to train toward that goal. For nine months, I sharpened and cleaned up the details of my self-defense skills, dedicated myself to living the Gracie diet and learned the detailed history of the art of Jiu-Jitsu.
In December of 2016, I tested in front of over thirty Royce Gracie black belts from around the country. After a grueling day of demonstrating skills, answering questions, and representing the art, I received my black belt. After the belt ceremony, several of the black belts congratulated me, telling me I was the best of those who tested that year. One of the black belts I had never met before told me, “if there were more people like you in the world, the world would be a better place. Your parents and instructors should be very proud of the person you have become.”
In the end, it is about the person I have become through this journey. Martial arts, both Jiu-Jitsu, and the striking arts I have learned along the way, have changed me and have changed my path in life. I’ve learned to stand up for myself without being confrontational, to think before acting, but also to react instinctively through my training. I have learned to be persistent and patient, in the pursuit of my goals, while representing the art of Jiu-Jitsu and those who have taught me, and those who have trained along side me. Though I had never thought to become a teacher, I have found through teaching classes at Urban Jungle, a new focus for my love of martial arts, and a broader purpose in my life.
My new goal is to share Jiu-Jitsu with a wider community, the same way Tony and Michelle did, and to impact others as they impacted me. One community at a time, one student at a time.