GMA Gilroy BJJ will be hosting an event to support Jerremy Montes Jr. who is currently battling leukemia. The now 19-year-old was diagnosed at the end of 2012. Despite months of remission, he was diagnosed once again and is now fighting for his life.

As part of the efforts to help his family with medical costs to aid Jeremy in the fight, the academy will host an open mat plus a mini seminar.

There will be a raffle with prizes. The suggested donation is $25 per person but offer what you can.

The event will run from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Gilroy BJJ is located at 7560 Monterey Street #206, Gilroy, 95020.

You can also donate at http://www.gofundme.com/JerTapsLeukemia

The 120 females of the 2nd Bay Area Inspire All-Female Open Mat. Photo: Erin Herle

On Saturday, March 1 the 2nd Inspire Bay Area All-Female Open Mat brought an outstanding number of females together. The leader of such a powerful movement is brown belt Kristina Barlaan of GMA Institute of Martial Arts.

Since returning to her hometown in the Bay Area, she has strengthened the community in a saturated area of women in Jiu-Jitsu with two open mat events so far. The first Inspire was held in September and the capacity was reached at 100. The second event, less than six months later, brought regulars and new faces alike to a cap of 120 participants.

One of the drills had each person jump guard on their partner. Photo: Erin Herle

The Inspire open mats work as a catalyst for females to gain new grounds both as a community and individuals. The hours spent together create lasting bonds and a network for advice, experience and news. Structure for the events include an inspiring speech from Kristina, who teaches, competes and lends a helping hand wherever, a warm-up, techniques to practice, a raffle of many prizes and time to roll with one another.

Women traveled from all ends of Northern California as well as Southern California and Texas. The youngest participant was 13 and the oldest was 68 and 62 academies were represented.

A sneaky choke set-up was taught by Kristina Barlaan with the help of black belt Stephanie Moon. Photo: Erin Herle

To start, each participant was encouraged to pair up with someone they don’t know and the higher ranks sought out the lesser experienced. Kristina situated the group with drills: jumping guard, toreando to knee-on-belly, kimura set-ups, and an ab workout that resembles a synchronized swimming routine. For technique, Kristina showed various ways to set up a choke from closed guard with the help of local black belt Stephanie Moon.

The raffle had prizes from various companies looking to support females in the Jiu-Jitsu community. Photo: Erin Herle

The raffle offered prizes from gis to DVDs to journals to clothing and supplements. Multiple companies and brands gave support to the event and patches were given to all. Black belt Lana Stefanac took over the duties of name drawing and stuck around for the girls to pick her brain during the time set for rolling. The open mat set rounds for all the belts to train with one another and the training lasted for well over an hour.

By the end of the day new friendships were established and the community of females expanded its network.

You can check out photos of the event in a full gallery here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/graciemag/sets/72157642175025124/

Catch the next event by following Inspire on facebook: www.facebook.com/InspireBJJ

The sign at the front of GMA Institute of Martial Arts says it all. Photo: Erin Herle

The first edition of Inspire All Female Open Mats in the Bay Area gave Jiu-Jitsu women an opportunity to come together and build bonds within the community. Kristina Barlaan brought the event back home with her to Northern California where she now trains at GMA Institute of Martial Arts in San Jose, CA and put together more than just a training session. In her own words, “Inspire is about uplifting others by just simply being who we are.”

Caio Terra was not present on Saturday, September 14 and neither were the other black belt instructors, Samir Chantre and Osvaldo Queixinho. As the sign on the door read, “Ladies on the mat; No men allowed.”

The women flooded into the large academy for the start time at 1 p.m. and changed into their gis which sported patches from different academies and various colors of belts. Four black belts were present along with white belts, yellow, green and orange belts, plenty of blues and purple and browns. One woman borrowed a gi and had her very first Jiu-Jitsu experience which she loved as evident by the huge smile on her face throughout the afternoon.

100 females on the mat. Photo: Erin Herle

The warm-up started off the event and then partners were chosen for drills and technique. Everyone was encouraged to choose a partner from a different academy and different belt level. Kristina explained what she likes to use as the “adopt-a-white-belt” program that helps both new and experienced to learn and grow together. Lana Stefanac took over to teach two variations of her favorite choke from closed guard and the training took a break for a speech.

While the open mat allows for females to train together, the “Inspire” portion of the name comes from Kristina’s own personal story. The speech she gave was a story that she hadn’t shared with many people but felt that needed to be heard as a lesson to always be who you are. From a toxic relationship to personal tragedy, her touching testimony gave insight into a tough and driven female who learned to be confident, independent and strong. Jiu-Jitsu gave her the opportunity, much like many of those on the mat listening to her open up, to become all of those things and more.

Enough supportive companies meant prizes for all to choose from. Photo: Erin Herle

Give-aways and prizes were plenty and each who attended received a gift of their choice among the shirts, supplements, lip balms, stickers, patches, DVDs, bags, hoodies and more splayed out on the mat. A fundraiser for the Susan G Komen 3-day in Arizona raised $200 for the Girls Gone Miles group.

An hour of rolling ensued before the day was over. Kristina’s parents held down the fort in front of the academy for handmade, fresh Brazilian pastries called pastel that were for sale. By the end of the day there were connections made, friendships created, techniques learned and plenty of future plans for more female Jiu-Jitsu get-togethers.

The message of the day was well-received. Vonique Stricklen said, “Thank you Kristina Barlaan for the amazing event you put on today. I definitely felt the Jiu-Jitsu vibe today it shook me.”

To learn about the next Inspire event, like the facebook page and stay informed!

Check out the photos below:

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