James Foster (left) with Classy Grappler and student Tyy Withrow. Photo: Personal archive

One might have thought that video games and Jiu-Jitsu don’t mix well– that they would rival for one’s attention. But employees at Bungie, a video game developer, have found that Jiu-Jitsu can help them offset their time spent with working on video games.

On Sept. 8 James Foster of GMA Foster BJJ in Seattle, WA was invited to share his love of Jiu-Jitsu at the release party for the company’s newest product, Destiny.

We wondered about how this shared love of Jiu-Jitsu began at such a company and how the open mat was included at the party so we asked James:

GRACIEMAG: Can you describe the relationship between Bungie and Jiu-Jitsu?

JAMES FOSTER: Bungie provides many physical training options to help their employees escape the sedentary lifestyle of sitting in front of a computer countless hours a day. These activities include fencing, kickboxing, rock climbing on the in house rock wall, and Jiu-Jitsu among others. The president of the company, Harold Ryan, trained in grappling and pankration many years ago and is an avid mixed martial arts fan. The company hosts a different local BJJ black belt every couple of weeks to teach a class in their matted training room.

What event did you take part in and how did an open mat get scheduled?

Myself and my good friend Classy Grappler (famous for his online feud with Kit Dale) were invited to the Destiny launch party by our friend Luis Villegas who is a blue belt and an Engineering Lead at Bungie. We both had taught a mini seminar there around this time last year while the game was reaching the end stages of its five year creation process. Classy flew all the way from Texas to attend and Luis wanted to make sure we all got an opportunity to train, so an open mat was scheduled for the employees to take a break from all the excitement of the day.

Were you able to spread the art to more people in the process?

After we completed the open mat we were walking through the building in our gis while they were doing tours for all of the Bungie/Destiny fans (there were thousands of people lined up outside, many who camped out the night before). One gentleman looked at both of us with his eyes wide and said “Whoa, they even roll here too, that’s awesome!?!?!”, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu truly is everywhere We also ran into some employees who didn’t know the company offered a BJJ program and were very excited to start training there!

During the party I met several individuals who either trained in the past or were looking to start training. It was awesome to celebrate the launch of the game with the creators and share our mutual love of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with others at the same time. They spent the past 5 years of their lives creating a truly one of a kind experience, I’m just honored to have shared a small part of that!

Follow more of James Foster Jiu-Jitsu journeys at http://www.fbjjonline.com/

Akins is the third American to receive a black belt from Rickson Gracie and has fifteen years of training under the legend to attribute to his experience. He was also a head instructor for Rickson Gracie for four years.

Don’t miss this long-time teacher and practitioner of the gentle art.

The seminar will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the cost is $100 is you pre-order.

Foster BJJ is located at 8256 S 1192nd St. Kent, WA 98032.

To register your spot, go to www.kyspromotions.com/seminar 

Check out more of GMA Foster BJJ at www.fbjjonline.com

A fellow Jiu-Jitsu comrade is currently battling a rare form of cancer. In order to offset the costs for such a journey, James Foster of GMA Foster BJJ has scheduled a charity seminar that gathers the top black belts in the northwest.

This seminar will be held on Feb. 22 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Foster BJJ located at 8256 South 192nd Street, Kent, Washington 98032.

Foster says, “Friends, please join us in helping to raise funds to support our BJJ brother Karl Walters Jr. and his family by participating in this one of a kind event featuring multiple World class Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belts! Karl is valiantly battling a rare form of cancer and his BJJ family has his back and is ready to face this opponent with him.”

Black belts who will teach at the seminar:

James “300” Foster
Nathan Adamson
Rodrigo Lopes
Arthur Ruff
Brian J. Johnson
Andrew Solheim
Bobi Dimitrijevic
Doug Levinson
Todd Eckhardt
Rick Geist
Michelle Wagner
Trevin Raak
Cindy Hales
Fabiano Scherner
With more to come.

You can register for the seminar as well as donate to the cause by visiting here: http://igg.me/at/careforkarl/x/6135067

It is important to know that while there is a set goal for donations, they can be accepted past that amount so as Foster promotes, let us exceed the goal.

GMA member James Foster of Foster BJJ in Kent, WA will be at GMA Triton Fight Center on Saturday, Feb. 8 for a seminar. Set for 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., the active competitor black belt will be teaching his competition-tested techniques.

Triton Fight Center is located at: 2205 N Willow Ave. Broken Arrow, OK 74012.

The cost is $65 per person. To reserve your spot, call 918-252-4653

Check out his moves:

Learn more about James Foster and his GMA Foster BJJ academy in Kent, WA at www.fbjjonline.com

GMA member James Foster, from Kent, WA, had to close his academy for the day because of the snow.

But that was no excuse for his students to take a break from training.

Foster prepared a Youtube class by selecting 14 videos of drills and positions.

Take a look and enjoy the snow day class.

Click here for the class.

The leader of Foster BJJ teaches in Kent, Washington.

But you don’t need to be there to learn from him.

Here is a video of him teaching an escape from the side control.

For more info, go to fosterbjj.com

GMA member James Foster hosted a seminar last October 29th, at his Foster BJJ academy, in Kent, WA.

He welcomed black belt Givanildo Santana, for a class and some graduations.

Foster was one of the graduated.

He received the 2nd degree to his black belt from Giva.

Congratulations to James!

For more info, go to fosterbjj.com