Tag Archives: folsom

Community Service: Making & Giving Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches

As we enter this season of giving, many of us search for ways to engage actively in giving. How can we truly participate in this process? We can donate food and toys, we can give money to charitable organizations; there are so many choices! As altruistic and generous as the act of donating is, as a parent I look for ways that my family can work together to share what we have with others in a meaningful way. I want to put the food or toys in the hands of those that need them. But how can a family with young children do this? How can a jiu jitsu school with over 100 students ranging from age 4 to 60+ do this?
One way is to host a PBJ event: a simple and easy way to engage your family and community in an act of giving that puts food in the hands of those who need it most!
Step One: Gather your people! Advertise! Shout it from the rooftops! Tell your students and friends to tell THEIR people! All are welcome and the more hands on deck, the better.
Step Two: Gather the goods! Your basic requests are bread, peanut butter, and jelly. Bread is the limiting factor so it’s best to ask people to bring at LEAST two loaves of bread each, along with a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jelly. Some items to consider: plastic knives, plastic sandwich bags, and paper bags to put sandwiches in. You can request these from participants, you can ask for donations from local stores or companies (grocery stores are great for these types of donations!), or you can provide them yourself.
Step Three: Market, market, market! Social media, local community boards, coffee shops…get the word out! Because this kind of event has no age limit, encourage families to come. Tell them to bring their friends. Local Girl/Boy Scout troops may need a service project and this is perfect!
Step Four: Sling sammys! Set up tables or just lay tablecloths on your floor space. You’ll want each sandwich to go into a plastic bag and then 6-7 sandwiches to go into a brown paper bag. Offer wet wipes so people can wipe peanut butter and jelly off their hands. At about half way through the allotted time, encourage people not to open new jars of peanut butter and jelly until the open jars are empty. Unopened jars can be donated to local food banks, but opened jars need to go home with participants or tossed.
Step Five: Distribute! Go to a local area with a large homeless community. Often, this is near shelters, soup kitchens or other resources. Pack the brown bags full of sandwiches into bigger bags and encourage your participants to walk around and offer sandwiches to anyone who might want some. People may approach you and ask what you have. Offer a smile, dignity, and respect. They are appreciated just as much as food.
Step Six: Regroup! Ask your participants what they thought. How did they feel? Did they notice anything in particular? How would they do it differently next time? You may have heard people asking for certain items as they received the sandwiches…maybe you can do a drive to collect those items next time?
A PB&J event is a unique way to get into the community and give people a way to get to bed with food in their belly and wake up to food for breakfast. You will not walk away from it unaffected by the people you’ve served and it will offer you a jumping off point to talk to participants of all ages about gratitude, perspective, and mutual respect. Participating in this kind of event should leave everyone with a sense of pride in their ability to serve those who need it most, but also questioning how they can help more.

Black Belt Promotion in El Dorado Hills: Sean Gonsolin

Here are some words from Sean after his promotion to black belt. “I was first introduced to BJJ in 2008 by a blue belt neighbor who showed me some BJJ in exchange for me helping him with his boxing. I ended up starting about a year later in late 2009, and started competing 3 months later. I met Allicia when I was a white belt. And we tried to be each other’s training buddy and motivator. The main reason i train Jiu-jitsu is for the self defense application; particularly with regards to controlling and understanding movement and body mechanics. My ultimate goal with BJJ is always longevity, to train for life.”

Black belts in attendance were (from left to right) Eliot Kelly, Julio Veliz, Marcus Boness, Sean Gonsolin, Marcos Torregrosa, Borston Marc, Jerel Tengan.

 

Jiu Jitsu is more than learning technique it’s discovering what works for you

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is an interesting blend of learning and training. Students can go online and login to a training website to study movements and techniques. Students can also watch jiujitsu on flograppling, youtube and instagram to learn from their favorite athletes or coaches.

The most important element of bridging the gap from learning a variety of techniques and drilling them methodically to successfully executing them in practice or competition exists in self awareness.

Self awareness for your own personal style of jiujitsu. This comes from multiple places.

  1. Personality
  2. Body type
  3. Athletic ability
  4. Mobility / flexibility

There are universal concepts in jiu-jitsu that exist as a result of human mechanics and physics, but there also exists efficient movements that make a difference in how you are able to move efficiently. While your initial pursuit of jiujitsu might exist in learning the fundamental concepts and the basic understanding of different positions and movements, there will eventually be a need to practice what works best for your body.

At EDH Jiu Jitsu we have a weekly question and answer class that allows students to better understand those unique positions under some guidance from an instructor. While discovering what works for you is an individual development, it is very helpful to have a coach or training partner to ask and think about specific positions. The Q&A class allows the students to ask those questions and from there drill them. In the drilling process more questions may arise and it’s acceptable to ask more questions based on the feedback you receive from your drilling.

Ultimately, what jiu-jitsu is striving for is a higher, enlightened level of awareness. An awareness of the dangers of specific positions and what prevents their execution. An awareness of where your strengths are and how you can bring the “game” back to that position to better control the match. An awareness of the style of jiujitsu you play and the need to embrace that style when you are rolling or in competition.

Therefore, strive for awareness. Take the time to ask questions on the mat. Something to keep in mind when taking steps to better awarenss is the THREE R’s. Something we emphasize at El Dorado Hills Jiu Jitsu.

  • Reflect
  • Review
  • Refine

Reflect on your previous performances and ask questions. Review the adjustments with a training parter or a coach. Refine the adjustments while you are rolling and drilling. This process loops back to the beginning as you refine your technique you should be reflecting on the movements and thinking about the strengths and weakness of the position.

Make Progress

Eliot Kelly

 

BJJ Tour: US Open Results from El dorado Hills Jiu Jitsu Competitors

The 21st US Open took place at the Cow Palace in San Francisco this weekend. El Dorado Hills Jiu Jitsu had multiple competitors from kids to adults, white belts to brown belts in action on the mats. The tournament was a great event to measure everyones progress from the beginning of the year and set some new markers going into 2018. The US Open, along with the BJJ Tour, is a great and professional tournament organization that has been dedicated to improving and enhancing jiujitsu viewership and competition from the beginning of jiujitsu in the United States.

Kids Jiu Jitsu Competitor Results

  • Slater – Godl
  • Ian – Bronze
  • Mateo – Silver
  • Mia – Bronze

Adult Jiu Jitsu Competitor Results

  • Dave – Competitor
  • Mark – Competitor
  • Coach Kunk – Gold
  • Aaron – Silver
  • Jarrod – Gold
  • Ryan – Competitor

Thanksgiving Week Kids Camp in El Dorado Hills Jiu Jitsu

EDH Jiu Jitsu will be offering a kids camp for kids age 5-15 this Thanksgiving week on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Our seasonal camp is a fun half day camp with an emphasis on learning and having fun through different activities like chess, jiu-jitsu and origami.

What will I do at kids camp?

Campers will be doing many things during the week. Each camp day is a little different from the other, but our activities include games like dodgeball, snakes in the grass, freeze tag, fireball, and other games. Jiu-Jitsu is also taught with an emphasis on self defense and anti bullying which is a little different from our typical Brazilian Jiu Jitsu lessons taught in the evening classes.

In addition to the physical activities we have with games and kids jiu-jitsu we also have time to sit down and play quietly. We’ve incorporated “no stress chess” for the younger children to learn and play chess, while teaching and allowing the older students to play chess. Other arts and crafts have been incorporated into camp with Japanese origami, Japanese calligraphy being the main activities. The students enjoy making their own ink on the ink stones and practicing different kanji characters with a brush.

Our seasonal camps also feature story telling and speeches or presentations by the campers. The story telling is a great time to talk about a seasonal activity, bullying, the environment, community service, kindness, and more.

  • Games
  • Jiu-Jitsu with an emphasis on anti-bullying
  • Jiu-Jitsu with an emphasis on self defense
  • Chess
  • Origami
  • Japanese Calligraphy
  • Letter writing
  • Speech / Presentations
  • Story telling

What do I need to bring?

Water and jacket. There is no specific attire required, but come ready to move and have fun! In most of our camps we provide a healthy snack so please let us know if your child has any allergies that we need to be aware of. Typically, our snacks are an apple, peach, persimmon, (season fruits) and cheese stick, cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, etc.

When does EDH BJJ host a camp?

Camps are held during the season breaks of the year, all year round during the season breaks in the fall, winter, spring, and summer. Please check back during your school breaks if you miss our camp this season!

 

EDH Jiu-Jitsu & Self Defense

Michel Miyashita Seminar in El Dorado Hills

Michel Miyashita, will be teaching a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Seminar in El Dorado Hills, CA on August 12th 2017.

9:00-10:00AM (age8-12) $20

10:00-NOON (age 13+) $45

Noon ~ OPEN MAT

The seminar will cover some of his best technical positions. Michel recently finished with a Silver medal at the San Jose IBJJF Open and will be competing in the Master World Championships in Las Vegas in several weeks. Join us for what is going to be a fun and learning event in El Dorado Hills.

Wrestling in El Dorado Hills at Sunday Funday

We will be hosting SUNDAY ~ FUNDAY with Coach Ryan Loder of Apex Wrestling. Apex Wrestling has the mission statement to build better people through wrestling. This is a great opportunity to learn from an division one NCAA All-American wrestler. Here are a few more details about coach Ryan:

– NCAA D1 All-American
– USA Wrestling Freestyle All-American
– CA USA Wrestling development coach
– MBA University of Northern Iowa

While Ryan comes from one of the prestigious wrestling universities under the leadership of coach Doug Schwab, he comes from a local high school, Granite Bay HS. He began Sunday Funday with a few specific goals in mind. Sunday Funday is an opportunity for wrestling to get on the mat and have fun while getting some guided instruction. The goal of Funday is to provide a healthy learning environment where wrestlers can come together to ask questions and make improvements to their specific style.

SUNDAY ~ FUNDAY details:

-> 3:00pm-5:00pm
-> All Clubs & Schools welcome
-> Drop ins: $20
-> EDH Members: $10

 

Thanksgiving Week Kids Camp in El Dorado Hills

battle

El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & Self Defense is hosting  a Kids camp during Thanksgiving week. The kids camp will include several different activities for kids ages 7 and up. NO JIU JITSU EXPERIENCE NECESSARY! 

What will the kids do: 

  1. CHESS: Chess is jiujitsu for the mind. Through chess coaches will be talking to the kids about following rules, knowing limitations, decisions having consequences, and other life skills that can be shared and learned through the fun activity of chess. Don’t know how to play? No problem, we will teach you!
  2. JIU-JITSU for ANTI BULLYING:  Bullying is always going to be an issues kids need to learn and think about. The more tools they have to deal with verbal, psychological, and physical altercations the better they will be. We will be covering each topic and going over how to diffuse and defend difficult altercations.
  3. JAPANESE GAMES: Campers will be exposed to Japanese language and culture lessons to invoke a curiosity for different cultures and languages. They won’t leave the camp fluent in another language, but hopefully they will become more curious about different cultures and have an interest in learning another language in the future.
  4. THANKFULNESS ACTIVITIES: Campers will be asked to think about what they are thankful for. Thankfulness and gratitude is a character trait we look to reinforce from the time during this camp.
  5. GAMES & PLAY: Campers will be playing a game of some type if they are not taking a snack break or participating in one of the activities. The games will vary from dodgeball, gymnastics, and more. (plan on giving them time to nap after camp)

Call for questions or register online!

EDH Kids Camp
916.595.4064