Plenty of questions, few answers regarding WBS goaltending situation

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Shursave Superbowl winner chosen

<p>I&#8217;ve been training at Atomic Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Berwick for almost four years and it&#8217;s been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.</p><p>Jiu-jitsu is the martial art of grappling and performing submissions. It is NOT karate, which means there is no striking.</p><p>So far I&#8217;ve achieved the ranking of a second degree blue belt, which is not bad &#8212; I&#8217;m just about halfway to achieving my purple belt, which is really good.</p><p>Child belt rankings are white, grey, yellow, orange, green and then, at the age of 16, they&#8217;re qualified for blue belts. From there, it goes blue, purple, brown, black, coral (red and black) and then red belt.</p><p>Prior to starting jiu-jitsu at the young age of 21, I was a black belt in Shotokan Karate. I trained in karate from the ages of 10 to 17 when I quit to join the high school football team and then attend college.</p><p>During my Shotokan days, I achieved junior black belt at the age of 13 and received my senior black belt at 14, for which I was not supposed to be qualified until I was 18.</p><p>I met Atomic Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy owner Mark Collier several years after leaving Shotokan through a mutual friend, and he persuaded me to sign up for the grappling sport.</p><p>With my martial arts days behind me, I politely declined Mark&#8217;s offers &#8212; nonstop for about a good two hours, I might add.</p><p>To get him to stop asking me to join, I agreed to take just one class and four years later, Mark can&#8217;t get rid of me.</p><p>While training jiu-jitsu, I&#8217;ve learned a lot of different things such as the importance of being humble and keeping an open mind.</p><p>I&#8217;m still constantly learning and that process will never end. But now, being a little more skilled, it&#8217;s more fun to learn new things because it sticks easier.</p><p>I&#8217;ve learned from Mark, but I&#8217;ve also met and learned from world class Mixed Martial Arts fighters such as Swoyersville&#8217;s own Jimy Hettes, Ashlee Evans-Smith, Ben Saunders, Brian Ebersole, Claudia Gadelha, Matt &#8220;the Hammer&#8221; Hammil and every week we train with former UFC fighter turned professional wrestler Matt Riddle.</p><p>I&#8217;ve also trained on multiple occasions with Kroyler Gracie, grandson of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu founder Helio Gracie.</p><p>I&#8217;ve got bruises on my arms, legs and neck and, on several occasions, I&#8217;ve even gotten black eyes at competitions.</p><p>But they&#8217;re worth it.</p><p>What is my ultimate goal in jiu-jitsu? Why do I train four to five times a week and come away with bruises and sore muscles?</p><p>The answer is simple &#8212; it&#8217;s fun.</p><p>I&#8217;m not looking to become the next UFC competitor and step into the octagon with the likes of Connor McGregor; I&#8217;m just looking to have fun with good people and &#8220;choke my friends,&#8221; as Mark says before we train.</p><p>I keep small goals in mind such as landing a certain submission when we live roll, or spar as some call it, or perhaps go an entire month without one of the higher ranked students submitting me.</p><p>The biggest goal is black belt, but it&#8217;s way too soon to start thinking about that. My long-term goal for now is achieving my purple belt, which I&#8217;m hoping to do within the next two years. I&#8217;m not looking any further than purple belt for now, but once I achieve that, my long term goal will switch to brown belt, and so on.</p><p>Will I ever see the day where I get my black belt? I&#8217;m not sure. It takes at least 10 years of consistent training to achieve such status, and I&#8217;m only on year four.</p><p>One thing for certain is no matter where my jiu-jitsu journey takes me, I&#8217;m enjoying the ride one way or another all the way to the end.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Fisher </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Jimmy.jpg</photo0><caption0>Fisher </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Beyond-Byline-Jiu-Jitsu.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jimmy Fisher has been training jiu-jitsu for almost four years and is a second degree blue belt. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Beyond-Byline-Jiu-Jitsu.jpg</photo1><caption1>Jimmy Fisher has been training jiu-jitsu for almost four years and is a second degree blue belt. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jimmy Fisher</p><p>jfisher@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Beyond the Byline: Reporter by day, jiu-jitsu practitioner by night