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Michael Woudenberg's avatar

Just to add, Yoga isn't stretching. Yoga is a philosophy which incorporates stretches in order to balance the body and recenter toward the philosophy.

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Austin Liniewski's avatar

Yoga is huge in the MMA/BJJ community. Awesome piece! Glad to see someone out here tapping into the intricacies that come with BJJ and MMA as a whole! Touché👏🏼

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Andrew Smith's avatar

Thanks, Austin! I've been in the game for almost 30 years now, and that's just hard to believe. I've learned a great deal about these arts, and BJJ in particular remains central to my life, or at least revolving around a central nexus.

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Kristi Koeter's avatar

Very cool post. You’re kind of marrying your two worlds while also bringing in a new element to your biz.

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Kaiha Bertollini's avatar

Yes! Everyone come to yoga. For just a little more on top of your membership you can go to as many or as little classes as you want. Tia is amazing, and can’t rave about her guidance enough. Maybe, you’re thinking yoga is just stretching- but it’s so much more and will work out muscles you didn’t even know existed and it will take your BJJ movements to a whole new level. So if you’re free in the mornings or afternoons, I highly recommend reserving a spot for class. It’s perfect for us 6am’ers (idk how to spell that) drill/spar, and then yoga after to lengthen and strengthen. I’m obviously a fan. 🤪🥰

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Andrew Smith's avatar

Kaiha, I'm so glad you weighed in here! Practicing with someone who has dedicated a quarter of a century (or more) to an art is a completely different experience than what most folks imagine, and I couldn't be happier to have a yoga practitioner with so much experience with us.

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Kaiha Bertollini's avatar

She is truly amazing. I’ve been practicing yoga on and off for about 6 years now and she activating smaller muscles that I didn’t even know I was bypassing- it’s challenging and not easy, but I love it so much. AND I’m able to escape more holds during Sunday open mat because it helps me have mobility against my heavier/stronger opponents. This partnership really goes hand in hand and I hope to see more people attend.

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Andrew Smith's avatar

That's really great to hear!

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Daniel Nest's avatar

Sounds like a match made in heaven!

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Evan Essig's avatar

Seeing the gym store front and this story of resilience into new opportunities warms my heart.

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Andrew Smith's avatar

Evan, you got to see us somewhere between infancy and adolescence! Those toddler days were tough, but we kept going and we kept growing somehow. I'm really glad you could be a part of that exciting time.

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Evan Essig's avatar

Revolution BJJ in a lot of ways was my real start in jiu-jjtsu. I am so fond of those early days of your academy (and affiliation) and always glad to see the maturity of your organization. I draw confidence in being a part of the beginning/infancy of something so wholeheartedly great.

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Oct 8, 2023
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Andrew Smith's avatar

Thanks, Ben - I hadn't thought about dual-purposing a piece outside of Substack. Do you have some experience with this?

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