Episode # 37 - Fortitude On The Mats: A Window Into Self-Defense, Confidence, and Jiu Jitsu

Holli LaMarque of Fortitude Defense shares a clear path for people who don’t see themselves as fighters to become hard targets: stand tall, make eye contact, use your voice, and have a plan if kindness fails.

We unpack her Embolden–Equip–Empower framework and why each stage matters. Embolden builds courage and presence so you stop advertising vulnerability. Equip layers in high-percentage techniques that hold up under pressure wrist releases, wall escapes, palm and knee strikes, positional control. Empower teaches you to take charge when escape isn’t possible: mount, side control, back takes, and chokes that work for smaller bodies. We compare sport jiu-jitsu to street realities, highlighting what transfers (timing, breathing, composure, leverage) and what to simplify (no fancy flying arm bars in a gas station).

Holli tackles tough myths head-on: you do not need to “get fit first,” and a single workshop won’t make you safe. She redesigned Fortitude around a Lifer model one investment for Levels 1–3 with unlimited refreshers so skills and mindset get real reps. We talk kids’ self-defense, spotting grooming and domestic violence red flags, and why trauma-aware coaching matters. You’ll hear practical drills to raise your presence eye contact, confident greetings, posture and why ground skills are a must for women and smaller folks. Holli also shares her own game (mount pressure, guillotines, Ezekiel Chokes, triangles) and how competing and cross-training sharpen her teaching.

If you care about personal safety, confidence under pressure, and the blend of mindset plus mechanics, this conversation gives you a roadmap. Follow Fortitude Defense on Instagram, check classes at fortitudedefense.com, and connect with us on the Caffeinated Jiu-Jitsu Instagram. If this helped, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs a confident plan.

Visit https://fortitudedefense.com/

Connect on Instagram @fortitude_defense

Chapters

• 0:00 Cold Start And Guest Intro
• 2:50 Holly’s Path To Fortitude Defense
• 7:40 Building A Bridge Beyond One-Off Classes
• 12:30 Teaching Adults, Kids, And Life Skills
• 17:40 Embolden, Equip, Empower Framework
• 23:00 Sport Jiu-Jitsu Versus Real-World Self-Defense
• 29:30 Ground Game, Mindset, And Women’s Safety
• 34:30 Myths, Triggers, And Safe Learning Spaces
• 39:40 Situational Awareness And Hard Targets
• 46:00 Confidence Reps: Voice, Posture, And Practice
• 51:30 Cross-Training: How BJJ Sharpens Self-Defense
• 56:40 Community, Frequency, And Program Design
• 1:02:00 The Lifer Model And Ongoing Training

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:15

The Brazilian Judy as we explore the journey. We don't and the joy of the floor from the light belt. We all brought it ready.

SPEAKER_02: 1:01

Super excited for this episode and to be sitting with our first guest in 2026. Today's topics are gonna be a fun one. It is gonna be all about self-defense, jiu-jitsu, and some probably life discussion. I am joined today by Holly Lamarck. She is the owner and instructor at Fortitude Defense. And Holly's work sits sort of at the intersection of jujitsu and self-defense and confidence building, especially for people who don't see themselves as fighters. And I'm one of those people as well. So, Holly, welcome to Caffeinated Jiu-Jitsu.

SPEAKER_01: 1:45

Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_02: 1:47

Yeah, so we are sitting here in the Brazilton library, and we're cold.

SPEAKER_03: 1:52

It's freezing.

SPEAKER_02: 1:53

It is really cold. You won't be able to see this, but Holly is rocking two jackets. I'm considering putting on gloves. And uh what? Is it like 20 outside? Maybe?

SPEAKER_01: 2:04

Oh, it feels like it, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 2:05

Yeah, it's cold. It is. It is uh winter has arrived in Georgia. We had 80-something degree Christmas, and now here we are.

SPEAKER_01: 2:13

Yeah, like a wall.

SPEAKER_02: 2:15

Yeah, yeah. And Holly and I actually uh had a chance to train this week. Holly, Holly beat the crap out of me. She was, I think it was like three rear-necked chokes, and oh my god, it was terrible. Uh no, Holly and I train at Ironwolf together now. Uh we met a few weeks ago. Well, actually, probably a couple months ago.

SPEAKER_01: 2:34

Yeah, I think so for the first time.

SPEAKER_02: 2:35

Yeah, and I'm excited uh to learn about uh Fortitude J Fortitude Defense.

SPEAKER_01: 2:42

I want to say jujitsu. It has some of that in there too.

SPEAKER_02: 2:44

But yeah, fortitude defense and your story. And yeah, just uh very excited to have you here.

SPEAKER_01: 2:50

So excited to be here. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02: 2:52

So let's jump into it. Let's talk a little bit uh well first let's start out and learn uh more about kind of the the story and the mission of fortitude defense. If uh you want to share kind of what first drew you to self-defense and and of course jujitsu, and something something tells me there's a really cool story here.

SPEAKER_01: 3:13

Well, uh if we back way up, I think it started with just God placed on my heart the um just deep passion for people that are hurting and um abused, and I was just I always was drawn to them and I wanted to protect them. And I was he also built me to just have an aggressive personality as well. And I thought I was gonna go into maybe social work or um be a teacher. I actually got my degree in education so that I could be a teacher so that I could be someone that those kids see and uh look out for them on a daily basis. And but I think that was just all part of God working into building actually what I teach now. I never became a school teacher. I'm a mom of four kids. I do substitute teach, but that passion for for people and that care for people that are sometimes overlooked. Um, I still have and it's it just grows. And um I think I didn't know it was a possibility. I didn't know it was a thing. I never was like, I'm gonna grow up and teach people how to defend themselves because I I it comes naturally to me. Um what I didn't know until I started teaching is that it actually doesn't come naturally to a lot of people. But I was in the process of getting my black belt in American karate, and they did have a portion of self-defense in that where I used to train. And I loved that part of it. I learned, you know, sparring and everything like that, but man, when we were doing the practical self-defense, I couldn't wait for that part of every training session. And then I just I it just hit me in, I think it was April 2021, maybe I think that I wanted to teach other people this. And I I realized that other ladies needed this, but but they aren't all drawn to martial arts. And so it's it was either like no training or maybe like the one-time free one that sometimes the police department puts out, which is, I mean, it's better than nothing, but it's either this one-time thing that then there's no follow-up or follow-through, or there's full-fledged martial arts training. And so I realized that I could I could build that bridge and be something that was in the middle that could um truly, like we're gonna talk about later, embolden, equip, and empower ladies to to learn that they can protect themselves. And so it just kind of continued to grow from there. And I I built the curriculum and and tweaked it and tried it out on everybody that would let me because I'm not gonna teach something that doesn't work. And uh yeah, it just continues to go from there.

SPEAKER_02: 5:59

Yeah, yeah. I knew there was a story there and uh, you know, uh a few things. So um black belt and karate, how long, how long did you train karate from when you were young? No, I started as an adult.

SPEAKER_01: 6:10

I didn't even know you could I wanted to, I always wanted to do that, but once I became an adult, I just figured I didn't know there were adult classes. Right. Um, and then it opened up and I was like, dude, I'm in. Like I want to learn. And then um then I I uh I left that uh place that I was at and I found Ironwolf. Um I was actually looking for a place to teach fortitude out of, and I don't remember even exactly how I got connected, but I I tried their uh ladies' class in jujitsu, and man, after the first lesson, Emily there, she was like, You need something more than the ladies' class, you need you need to try this out. And it was actually, I think Buddy Week or something that week, and I started to train um in jujitsu too. And I yeah, it's started out uh in adulthood. The desire for it was before, but I wasn't like a you know kid martial artist black belt. It was all started as an adult.

SPEAKER_02: 7:04

So you uh you said you have a teaching degree, and that's interesting. Uh, do you find that having you know education and teaching and stuff helps you as an instructor?

SPEAKER_01: 7:13

Yes, I think so. I think just the preparing of of lessons and teaching kids, and really teaching adults is a lot like teaching kids.

SPEAKER_03: 7:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 7:22

I think people maybe are scared to teach other adults because they just automatically assume that those other adults are judging or normal or something like that. But they're just they're just kids. And they're and you you can use a lot of the same um teaching techniques and and just you just welcome them in and see them as people who are needing that confidence and needing to learn this valuable skill. And so yeah, some of some of my teaching degree did help in in being able to teach adults as well.

SPEAKER_02: 7:52

And one thing I've uh I I know we have other questions here in the the this section, but um there's just so much good good stuff that that they're sharing. I've heard uh you ever heard someone talk about swimming, right, as a life-saving skill. And I think that self-defense is something that uh we should start thinking about even at a young age, right? Because I think so many, I mean, I don't know how prevalent bullying is still in school. I think it's still probably uh maybe not the physical bullying. I think that we see a lot of the cyberbullying and less of the physical stuff. But look at self-defense, or at least for my opinion, as a critical life skill, you know, and and you don't have to be this this super athletic and you know perfect moving well-loiled machine, is what I'm trying to get at. Uh, we all need to know how to defend ourselves.

SPEAKER_01: 8:52

Absolutely. And you mentioned the kids. It's I've actually just started a uh we've had one of them and I'm having another one coming up at the end of this month, but I'm having seasonal um kids' uh self-defense as well incorporated into fortitude because of when I learn and study and just find all the statistics and just people in my own life, so much happens as a child. And the statistics say, which I think this is even a lower number than what actually is, um not even talking about bowling, but talking about like um grooming and inappropriate touch from peers or from adults. Uh 68% never of kids who are um abused in that way never tell anyone. And if they do, it's after adulthood. And these, I mean, I could go deep into a bunch of that, and I know that's not exactly what we're talking about today, but there is there's so much more to that. Um so yes, teaching self-defense to kids as well as adults. Um, but yeah, yeah, it's really important. It is, it is a lot more online. There's there's bullying, but then there's also uh a lot of manipulation. Now we've got AI, the deep fakes, and things like that, and there's just a whole bunch that can go on. It's not the white van isolated. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02: 10:12

It's it's the online predators, right? So it's so much that's the thing. It's it's almost like the physical, it's almost like we need to have some kind of mental self-defense, right? Like how to keep ourselves uh safe in the cyber world. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01: 10:26

Um and as far as bullying, I mean, I teach my kids all the time. It's like if someone is bullying you, most likely they are insecure about something about themselves, and maybe they see something in you that they wish they had. So I mean, it I I kind of feel for the bully as well, as weird as that sounds. But we just, you know, kill them with kindness, but also be ready to throw hands if you need to.

SPEAKER_02: 10:49

So yeah, yeah, perfect. Uh I one of my favorite quotes is from um I have a lot of favorite quotes, but uh General Mad Dog Madison, um, Marine General, he said, let me see if I can get this right. He said, uh, be nice, be kind, be humble, but have a plan to kill everybody in the room.

SPEAKER_03: 11:11

Right?

SPEAKER_02: 11:12

And I and and I have always loved that. Yeah. And I just feel like uh it says kind of so much to how we need to mentally prepare to take care of ourselves and self-defense and things.

SPEAKER_01: 11:23

You so much is mental.

SPEAKER_02: 11:25

Yeah, yeah, 100%. So you mentioned earlier kind of where you hinted at your pillars for fortitude, defense, and uh that's emboldened, equipped, and empower, right? Yeah, let's uh talk a little bit about that. What what led you to these specific kind of pillars and and what do they mean?

SPEAKER_01: 11:44

So I was as I was formulating like what do I want to call this self-defense thing that I'm teaching, and uh how do I describe it? And I was thinking of like a logo and a slogan and all this kind of stuff. And I actually had four pillars. I don't remember the fourth one, honestly, but it did start with E. And it was my oldest son who was looking over them and he said, Mom, that sounds weird with four. You just need three. You should take one of those out. So I did, don't know which one I took out, I don't remember what it was. But uh again, it was one of those little smiles from God that like it worked out really well because I was using it just as kind of like a slogan. Um, but then it turned into the names of the levels that I teach, level one, level two, and level three. And I have the definitions written down right here. And it goes with, it just flawlessly goes with what I teach and how it builds because we start with emboldened. That's the definition is give someone the courage or confidence to do something or to behave in a certain way. So when we bring people in, brand new people that some have some experience, some have natural common sense, some have no confidence, and they're just like scared to even walk in the door. We're emboldening them, we're bringing them in, we're welcoming them in and saying, like, you can do this. You should have the courage to be able to do this. And even something as it sounds little, but it's not little, as eye contact and using your voice are just huge in self-defense. And then we go on to equip. Level two, we amp it up a little bit about what how what I teach. And the definition of equip is supply with the necessary items for a particular purpose. So then I'm giving you and equipping you with the physical, you know, we started out with, you know, like we talked about mental and eye contact and voice and things like that. And then we we also incorporate physical and how to physically um respond in a way that can protect yourself. And then we go into empower level three. Give someone the authority or power to do something. Level three is more like now it's you're the dominant factor in the fight. Maybe we have to hold someone down in mounter side control or things like that. Maybe we have to throw on a runica choke or a guillotine. Like you are now, you're not trying to just release and flee. For some reason, there's not an option to do that. That's a great option at first, but what if you can't? Like, what if you have to face it and be like, all right, let's go? Then it's like, let's just now you are dominating. You're in authority right now. Um, so it's just neat how it kind of flowed with uh the levels that I teach.

SPEAKER_02: 14:20

So it's kind of yeah, I I I I love them. I think they're perfect and and and spot on. Um, maybe that's some of that teacher like lesson planning thought process. You know, uh fortitude is an interesting term. What what does that mean to you? Like kind of why did you choose that word over I I don't know, Holly striking you know, something like Sergeant Slaughter's whatever. But um, yeah, why that?

SPEAKER_01: 14:46

I I I love things with purpose. I love things with a deeper meaning. And I wanted whatever I named this thing that I was building then to have a specific meaning. And so I was just looking up different words and different things that that meant what I wanted to convey. And and the definition of fortitude is strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage. And that's really what we're it's it's strength of mind. Like it's it's not just all physical. And like you said, we don't have to be this fit person. I think um sometimes that's a misconception of people think that you have to be in shape. Sure, that's gonna make it easier, right? But man, it's strength of mind that gets you through that. Like we know from jujitsu, if you have that mindset of like, ah, you know, I'm I'm tired or I'm gonna, I don't get this technique right now, or I'm I'm, you know, I didn't get that tap that I wanted, whatever.

SPEAKER_03: 15:40

Right.

SPEAKER_01: 15:41

We can't have the ego or anything like that with it. Um, it's so much much of a mental game.

SPEAKER_02: 15:48

Yeah, so you you mentioned jujitsu, uh, and and that's a perfect segue into kind of our next section. Uh, and that's around you know, self-defense versus or compared to what you and I both know as and kind of what we practice at Ironwolf, you know, the sports jujitsu, right? And um what I would love to you know hear or or are your are your thoughts on you know real-world self-defense, like somebody's attacking you at the gas station or in a dark parking lot at night compared to you know what we do uh on the mats in in sport jujitsu. So yeah, shed some light on that.

SPEAKER_01: 16:31

Okay. So I think that learning sports jujitsu can very much help in self-defense, just like learning another martial arts, like standing, sparring, um, strikes, knee strikes, takedowns. Well, we do takedowns in jujitsu as well, but um, you know, learning how to properly punch or elbow strike, you know, move your body in a way to get out of the way. So I think sport jujitsu is awesome and fun, but I also think that melting together a variety of martial arts will help in, does help in real-world self-defense. So, like say I'm at a dark alley gas station and somebody's coming up behind me. I'm not gonna be like, oh, flying arm bar.

SPEAKER_03: 17:18

Right.

SPEAKER_01: 17:18

We're not gonna go into that. Let me sit down. No. Um, but there are so many aspects of jujitsu that help in self-defense. For instance, I do um blade training. I really enjoy that. And uh, you know, just the everything that is incorporated in that. And you do have to be aggressive and able to just throw down some punches in their face. But also, it is helpful to be able to uh, you know, either hold them in mount or uh, you know, behind the back and and we're on the ground and we're just compressing their body with our legs and arms as we are um disarming them or at least manipulating that arm that has the knife and hopefully getting it out.

SPEAKER_03: 18:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 18:05

I always say, like, I I I love and uh my blade trainer actually told me this, and I'm like, yeah, I totally agree. The best um best defense uh to a knife is having your own knife against them. But but that's just made me think of of that and and how jujitsu helps with that. Um and uh, you know, if I've I've actually seen so many videos of people who are holding someone down in a real like street fight and waiting for the police to come. Because yeah, there are times when we have to kill someone. Like that that's just that would have to be the option. But then there are also times where it's like we're there's no reason to kill this person, but we do have to subdue them. Um, and sometimes that can be done. Well, a lot of times I've seen it done, um, using jujitsu techniques, waiting for the cops to come, you know. Yeah. So it is super useful. Um, and then we also get to have sport jujitsu, which is a blast. Yeah. So it helps. It it's a very important thing. Yeah, so there's a balance, right? There is a balance. But as as a female teaching that self-defense, like all of the ground techniques, I think are so, so valuable. I I kind of want to say even more so than yes, striking is absolutely a great. But as a female or as a smaller person, just because of what would happen, um whether it's a fight and you end up on the ground or something much darker and you end up on the ground, like you need to know that like you can get out of there and you don't want to go into freak out mode when someone's on top of you, uh crushing you. Like I can get so so much of that mental um mentality. Like it's I of I can do this, the the strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger and bear pain or adversity with courage. Like doing sport jujitsu gives you the courage and the Mindset of like it rewires your brain to be like, I can get out of this. And you're learning it in a safe space. So that if, God forbid, something does happen in a not safe space, your brain goes back to that and says, We've done this before, we can do it again.

SPEAKER_02: 20:16

Yeah, I love that. And I I mean, I I think it's safe to say that majority of attacks, especially on women, are do end up on the ground. Yep. Right. Because of, you know, more than likely what the attractive uh attacker is trying to accomplish there, unfortunately. And uh being able to choke them unconscious from a closed guard position uh without them even knowing what's going on. I I it's invaluable. I think that I think all kids should should train jujitsu. Uh I have uh five kids. One of them uh he's an adult, he trains every now and then. The rest of them are a little interested, but they're doing other sports. But you know, especially if you have, and this isn't a a a male-female thing, but especially if you have daughters and young daughters, and because I mean it's it they they have everyone needs to be ready and prepared, but everything does usually end up on the ground. And uh so I I weigh about 190 pounds. Um and and even my like if if I were to strike somebody like oh gosh, who was that that big tall guy there uh yesterday in the blue shirt that looked like a tree? No, not Jackson. It was uh Trevor. The one that was just big, like I mean, I could strike him all day and it's not gonna really do anything but hurt my hand. I mean, he's just a monster, right? And but if I get him on the ground and I can sneak some type of choke on him, okay. Yeah, yeah. That's um I I I think that's a great way. And and that's why I think all MMA and these prize fighters in the UFC know some form, I would say at least blue belt level jujitsu, right? Yeah, yeah. Um when we think about uh you talked about some misconceptions, or we talked about like the physicality of you know self-defense training and and how people don't need to be afraid of that. But what are some other things like misconceptions that people may have? And uh do they ever come in expecting maybe uh something different than what they experience? Does that make sense? I think that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01: 22:26

I think one misconception, and I did a little uh video about it uh recently, was the comment I get a lot is, man, I would love to take your class, but I just need to get in shape first. And I'm like, okay. It doesn't matter. To survive, I need to get in shape. Yeah, it'll help you, but why not um also learn what to do, especially if you don't feel like you're in shape. I and I reiterate, I was like, I don't teach fitness. Like I just started, I'm not incredibly flexible. I just started going to the gym two years ago. So I'm not this fit person. I'm small built, and I think people just think that means fit. Like I'm, I mean, I am fit now more than I used to be because of my training. But that should not be a prerequisite to take this class. It's designed, like these classes are designed to reach the beginner and even and develop the the one that does know some things or has experience in martial art. It's it that's what I love about it. It really does reach them all. So yeah, a misconception would be, oh, I've gotta, I've gotta be fit to take the class. No, you don't. Like you should probably really take the classes, especially if you're not, if you don't feel confident enough to do that. Because um I mean, it just gives you, it gives you uh the the confidence, the wherewithal, the and not just like confidence and empowerment. I d I don't I kind of I know it it's one of my pillars, but I don't like the overuse of empower. Like women should be empowered, yay, that's great. But I think it's just overuse, but in the right context, it's good. And uh for yeah, I think I think what I've also seen is that when people finish the class, they didn't realize how capable they were. I don't think they, you know, they come in not knowing what's gonna happen. Um they don't know if they're gonna get hurt, you know, it's all this like a little bit of unknown, like what am I gonna hear? What am I gonna do? And then you've got the the ladies with maybe a past, and it's like, okay, you know, is this gonna trigger anything? And I say that at the beginning, I'm like, first of all, you might feel silly doing some of these techniques, and that's okay to feel silly. If you don't feel silly or stupid, you're probably doing it wrong. Like, we all look silly learning something new, and that's beautiful, it's part of the process. And then also, if something is triggering you right now, like feel free to step off the mat. Go take a breath outside, get a drink of water, and then come back. We welcome you back. We're we never make a big deal about it. And I've had ladies that are like, you know, they start crying over something, and that is okay. And they they they take a breath, they come back in, and it's and it's just because of not that it was uh some intense, crazy, scary thing that we were learning, but it was because they were taken advantage of in the past and it possibly brought up those things. But what's cool is that I do have a lot of students that have had things happen in the past, and they're some of the fiercest ones that just eat up the what they're learning, because I think sometimes it also gives them closure of like I'm not helpless and I'm not worthless. Um so I think that's just a really neat thing that I've been able to see as well. So yeah, thinking that they have to be skilled at all or or thinking that I don't know, it might be scary. Or thinking, or thinking another thing that if I was on the outside, um, I think I would wonder if it's worth my time. Like, I'm okay, am I just gonna learn like put your hands up and say stop and don't wear a ponytail? I don't know. Like uh uh so I wouldn't want something that is a waste of my money or a waste of my time and didn't leave me learning anything. So I looked at everything from that outside perspective of okay, how would I feel? How would someone that's that's worried feel? And then um then kind of just communicate that's like you don't have to be worried.

SPEAKER_02: 26:35

Right, right. No, that's great. Uh one thing I I I wonder about as well is um I I think part of self-defense or again, my opinion is uh being able to have really good situational awareness. Huge, yeah. So do you do anything or or talk to your students uh about situational awareness, the importance or any techniques?

SPEAKER_01: 27:00

Yeah, that's actually what we start out the class with because um it might not seem like an exciting answer, especially for someone like me that's like, just I want to learn how to fight. I want to, you know, take it. Um but man, uh situational awareness is huge. And that's something I learned when I became a teacher of self-defense is that not everybody has natural street smarts. Some people have it, some people have to learn it. And um, just being getting your head up out of the phone, or just just being alert, like paying attention to the people walking by. When you are walking through a parking lot, oh, who's who are you parking by? Who's sitting in the car, who's conveniently walking in with you, on the same aisle with you, walking out with you, because that stuff does happen, especially females, like it just happens a lot, followed in cars, that kinds of things. So you've got to be situationally aware. And one thing that um uh I first start the class with is a really silly game. If if I can tell that the group of ladies, maybe some of them just need some more uh just an icebreaker, a silly icebreaker. I'm like, we have to go around the room, we have to find someone that you don't know, make eye contact with them, and just say your name in your favorite color. It seems really silly, but you'd be surprised at how many people are like, okay, keep the eye contact, speak with a loud voice, you know, or at least a confident voice. And I was like, I don't care if it's not your favorite color, say it in a way that we believe it. Um, but then I also talk about that there was a study done many years ago, and it's fascinating. These um two researchers, psychologists, they they took video cameras and they set them up on the intersection in New York City for a couple days in a row, for a couple of hours during the busiest time of day. And all they did was um record people walking. That was it. Then they took that video footage and then showed it to prisoners that were incarcerated for violent attacks and said, pick your victims. And each of these prisoners all picked the same exact victims. And it was uh based on how the person was walking, if their gait was too uh shallow or if their confidence wasn't high, if their, you know, their chest wasn't up, their chin weren't wasn't up, their eyes weren't up. Um things like that make you such an easy target. And having situational awareness will naturally bring your eyes up, it'll bring your chest out, it will make you want to look people in the eye. And that's um that's another thing we talk about too, is that especially as women, we think, oh, if I don't, if if that person's creeping me out or if I just have a weird feeling, or maybe he's following me, if I look down and I ignore him, he'll go away. Um, and that's so not true. Making eye contact, being the one to establish the eye contact first, um, and even greeting. Like I I like greeting people if I don't know them, even if they seem like a threat, I'll just be like, hey, how are you? And it's not in a super welcoming way, but it's not, you know, it's not like I know you have bad intentions. You know, um, I don't go into it being like glaring at everyone that I walk through the parking lot and see. Um, but hey, if they were a great person, then maybe you just made their day a little brighter, and that's awesome. If they had bad intentions and they were thinking about maybe seeing you as a potential target, looking them in the eye and being very assertive and like, hey, how are you? How's it going? And then just walking past the just little things like that will uh make you less of a soft target. Like you you want to be a hard target, you want to be someone that they double check and be like, maybe not, maybe not her.

SPEAKER_02: 30:44

Yeah. I I think that's a fascinating study, and that's the fact that they chose the same ones.

SPEAKER_01: 30:49

Yeah, the theory.

SPEAKER_02: 30:50

These were like probably hardened criminals, like serial killers, like the crazy part of society. I um so you talk a lot about eye contact and and uh kind of assertiveness and confidence, right? That's what we're talking about. When when you think about teaching someone confidence, because I know people with a lot of confidence, more confidence than probably they should have. Uh are there any, you know, specific techniques other than the eye contact and and things like that uh that that maybe you teach? Um or is it really around you know building their confidence up through the physical techniques and the importance of what you talked about with the the situational uh awareness?

SPEAKER_01: 31:36

Yeah, I think it uh not quite like a technique. Like I think something that can display confidence is a firm handshake, even from a female. Like simple things like that, and how you walk and how you present yourself and when you walk into the room, don't do it shyly.

SPEAKER_02: 31:51

Like where did you belong there? Right? Where BJ fanatics, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 31:56

But uh uh yeah, it it starts out as that, but then also when we learn those, the techniques that I teach, whether it's breaking out of a really strong grip or you're penned up against the wall and getting out of that, just the physical and and knee strikes in the proper way and palm strikes um that use the strong part of your your hand. The bony part. Right. Um but once they learn those techniques, it gives them more confidence of like, oh, dude, I didn't know I was that strong. Like I didn't know that I could do that.

SPEAKER_03: 32:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 32:33

And man, you have uh some ladies that'll come in and they're like, okay, I'll try this. Am I doing this right? And they just nail the pad. And I'm like, oh my word.

SPEAKER_02: 32:42

You're good.

SPEAKER_01: 32:42

You did this, awesome. And then that just builds on that. And so yeah, it's it's um, other than I mean, we do if I see a group that I think needs practice with, I as silly as it sounds, with walking, we will, we will uh I I do another kind of activity as an icebreaker. I don't do it at every class, but if I see that the class is big enough or that I I think it just needs to be done, we'll uh we'll basically do that New York City experiment uh where they uh I they all face the wall and I just tap one or two people on the back and I say, like, you are the ones that are supposed to be not confident. And then I split the the group up and then people just walk around. And then the other little group of people that I've selected to from the side, um, and they are like the you know, the bad guys, the attackers. They're trying, they have to find the easy victim and the easy target. Oh so it's just kind of a a way for them to practice walking confidently and um and doing that. And then man, uh that's some of the feedback that I get after classes too. I know I keep talking about eye contact. We teach amazing techniques as well, and like uh just concepts and um and how to like physically defend yourself. Most a lot of the classes are about that. But since uh, you know, the mindset is what we were talking about initially, that's it's just so important to see and to see how the how the women respond to that. And even after they've taken the classes, they're like, guess what? I was making eye contact with everybody that I passed going into the grocery store today.

SPEAKER_02: 34:18

I was meme mugging people.

SPEAKER_01: 34:19

Like, what? Yeah, some of them were like, I just glared at everyone.

SPEAKER_00: 34:22

Yeah, just stared at them into their soul.

SPEAKER_01: 34:25

Uh but yeah, that's a neat thing that you know I didn't going into this beginning, I didn't realize people were so uh shy to to make eye content. I just talked to people.

SPEAKER_02: 34:37

Have them give uh give them uh make them give them your their war cry. Like right.

SPEAKER_01: 34:43

I like yeah, yeah, throw people off.

SPEAKER_02: 34:45

So you you you talked about uh it's it's cool to see how they they progress. And I want to talk a little bit about, you know, um so in jujitsu it takes a long time to get good. Yeah. And good is loosely defined, usually based on the person, right? Yeah. Um, uh I think some days I'm good at jujitsu, but Gordon Ryan's definitely really good at jujitsu, right? So um you know what what changes do you see uh in someone that has, you know, where they're at maybe their two-week mark to their, you know, three, four, five, six month mark, like what what are some of the things that you see develop first and what maybe come a little later in the process?

SPEAKER_01: 35:32

So something I see that with the people who have come to multiple classes, and I I actually teach it just once a month, um uh, but they actually get more eager to learn like the really fun stuff, like uh takedowns and and just um you know, more knife defense and offense, and they become just more hungry to learn more things. And it's it's neat. And they want to, they come with questions and they're like, okay, remember this one? All right, I tried this at home, and and what if this happens? And then so we I love questions like that and the experiments and like, okay, let's just try it. Let's see what happens. So they come with more questions, um, continued confidence and then more aggressiveness of you know, they seem to have a lot of fun with it. Like they're they come in like bright-eyed and and excited to learn more. So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 36:24

Yeah, that's uh do you find well it's really cool to be able to see that I think anybody who is an instructor or teacher, whether they're teaching in a class, a self-defense, uh I have started uh kind of helping Caleb out a little bit with the the kids' class because at some point I'd like to you know teach jujitsu. Yeah. Do you do you see um for you personally, you know, uh improvement in your jujitsu kind of uh bleeding over into self-defense and self-defense bleeding over into jujitsu? Do those two kind of correlate for you personally?

SPEAKER_01: 36:59

I think personally training jujitsu has immensely helped me as a teacher and then also like as the self-defense instructor because it gives me so many more paths to an attack that I want to show or a defense that I want to show or whatever. It's it's helped me learn like so many more varieties of like, say, I have somebody in my clothes guard. Like you can do so much in the clothes guard. We can do Kamora, we can do guillotine, and then also something I teach is like you can choke someone out with their own hoodie or their own t-shirt while they're in your clothes guard. So uh yeah, I see it it bleed over back and forth, um, really just developing in me personally, my skill level, because I want to be the best I can be so that I can be a well-rounded teacher. Um, so yeah, I think, I think I wouldn't say, I don't know if you know teaching self-defense definitely opens my mind up when I'm doing jujitsu because it's like, oh, this would this would actually be good in this situation. Say if somebody's on top of you uh choking, maybe we can do an arm bar, um, just experimenting with different things and having that mindset of it sometimes. Um, but then yes, uh training in jiu-jitsu has helped me more than I think any other martial art I've been involved with, for sure, um, with teaching self-defense.

SPEAKER_02: 38:28

Yeah. I uh again, back to what we were talking about earlier. It's obvious, you know, benefits in in jiu-jitsu and combining it with the you know, the striking and the other self-defense uh aspects. I want to shift now. Um so you you talked a little bit earlier about you know the importance of you know women uh and self-defense. Do you first question do you uh only at Fortitude Defense teach women now, or do you have men joining? Like what's the what's I guess the focus, right?

SPEAKER_01: 38:58

The focus is women, but also now incorporating children. I don't teach the children as often. Now children is boys and girls, ages seven to thirteen, because so much happens to boys also. Um, and I just I want to teach them. I have gone to youth groups as well and taught like teenage boys, um, but for primarily like if uh in my opinion, um I'm statistically, the male is usually the offender. It doesn't always happen. There are female offenders, and we know that. But just since they are predominantly the offender, and also most males, if they are interested in learning something like that, they are more likely than women um to just go find, you know, Muay Thai or jujitsu or and be invested in that martial art um completely. So, yes, my priority is women, even though I know fully that men can be the victims and the survivors as well. Yeah. But that usually starts in childhood. So that's why I'm I I want to focus on boys with that age group of specifically seven thirty seven to thirteen, because not that you can't teach someone younger than that, but just because of what happens at what ages, uh that's an age that a lot happens. And even older, like middle school boys, too, you know, 14 to 17. Um there's a lot that happens there. But if we can get them to know the red flags and the warning signs ahead of time when they're younger, that's that's crucial.

SPEAKER_02: 40:31

That's perfect. I um I I I couldn't agree more. It's it's I I'm so passionate about kids and uh when when it comes to self-defense and jujitsu because so I grew up in a horrible you know uh family environment. There was abuse, there was alcohol, it was it, everything. It was crazy. It was amazing I even survived my childhood. But it would be awesome to have had some type of you know martial art or some type of self-defense that kind of met me where I was at at the time.

SPEAKER_01: 41:01

You know, that makes me think of my daughter. She is actually just turned eight. Oh wow. But yeah, I have an eight-year-old too.

SPEAKER_02: 41:07

No, he's nine now. Christian's nine.

SPEAKER_01: 41:10

But uh I she love she's not in uh official jujitsu class, but I like she loves learning what I learn. And um I teach her at home. And since she's, you know, small built and a female, um, I've taught her some things. And uh there was, there's a been a couple times where like, you know, a uh somebody just being a little bit too aggressive, um, just uh specifically this one instance happened where um they just kept grabbing her shoulders and just like pushing and hitting and stuff. And it was at a summer camp that a day camp that she was going to and she was like, man, this happened. So I was like, okay, first of all, tell them to stop. And uh second of all, tell an adult there, because you can't just punch somebody just because they messed with you one time. I mean, sometimes you can.

SPEAKER_02: 41:58

But in that violence is sometimes the answer. Oh, for example. I mean, violence is definitely sometimes the answer. I like, look, it's sometimes the answer.

SPEAKER_01: 42:05

It's definitely sometimes the answer. But I was like, take these steps first, tell them to stop, tell an adult. If they keep going, tell them to stop again and then hands, like this is what we do. And so uh I went over, I practiced with her about just like grabbing his wrists firmly, yanking them off her shoulders and looking him in the eye while still holding his wrists and saying, I said, stop, leave me alone. And then I taught her a takedown as well if it needed to go in with that. And then she did, and he stopped messing with her. So the next day she went in, did it, he stopped. And um, and then uh something recently happened. Uh, and she was like, I was gonna take him down on a mount, but I decided not to. I was like, Yes. Yes, I was so proud. Oh, yeah, I was so proud. I have a with my kids, and some people might not agree with this, but uh I have an agreement with my kids where you should never be the instigator of a fight, you should never be the bully, you should never join in on any of that, whether it's verbal or physical. But if someone is messing with a friend of yours or even not a friend, if if you see some kind of injustice going on, I want you to be the one to step in. And if you need to get hands-on, like get do get hands-on. Like, um, and then if someone's, you know, won't leave you alone, don't just be a doormat. Yeah, you can try to separate first, but if you need to physically get them off you, um, and you do, I'm fine with you using the physical self-defense that I've taught you. And if you do, and if you followed the proper pro my proper protocol of what is allowed, the code. You, yeah, you might be sent home from school and that's okay. And we will go get ice cream. That's what I reward them. Yeah. So there's yeah, they haven't been sent home from school, but they have had uh there's been a couple times with my youngest and then my third. I've uh, you know, three boys and a girl, and they've both gotten ice creams at least at one time. So but they have to, you know, they can it has to follow those steps. So it's gonna it's kind of fun.

SPEAKER_02: 44:05

It reminds me, I was sitting here thinking about Dexter. You ever watched Dexter? Probably No, I didn't. I mean, I didn't have a serial killer that only kills bad guys, and his father's father gave him a code. Yeah, it's kind of morbid, but still not the same, but I mean it's yeah, I don't know. Um so one of the things I've always loved about uh jujitsu is the community and you know family. Oh, it is, it's crazy. Yeah, it was so unexpected. I didn't realize that.

SPEAKER_01: 44:33

Yes.

SPEAKER_02: 44:34

Um I mean it's it's one of the major things that keeps me on the mat. Um just good people. Yeah. So how important when it comes to teaching self-defense and and creating um, you know, these these safe environments, how important is community in in this type of work? Right?

SPEAKER_01: 44:51

You know, I I since it's not like you know, we don't see these people multiple times a week or even once or twice once a week or whatever, um we it we don't have that much of a community yet, but it is something that I want to build. I want to build to where they get to know each other and they get to um come back and and and uh look forward to training with each other. So we aren't there yet, so I don't really have the data on that. Um I'm I'm you know still new-ish and still learning what works and what doesn't and everything. So we I think yes, it could be important, um, but just because of how it's only taught once a month, you just don't get that opportunity.

SPEAKER_02: 45:39

So yeah. Yeah. So right now you're doing once a month uh classes are um do do you see a a a good amount of new people coming to the classes, or is it kind of the same people progressing? Like what's what's that looking like?

SPEAKER_01: 45:55

So the past couple years have been kind of experiment years for me in how to grow and how to do this all. I knew I wanted to teach it and I I I know what I want it to look like, but getting there is just a process to be vul vulnerable and honest. Like, um, and so lots of new faces, but I think the mistake that I made is uh offering the option to just take one class, or you can do the Lifer package, and that was all three levels, and then you just continue to come and learn and learn. I I wish I wouldn't have offered that as an option because talking about misconceptions, a lot of times people think, oh, I took one class. Now I'm great. Like, no, that's just giving you a false sense of security. So I've changed that this year, and it's just and it is only you purchase the lifer package, I just call it the lifer package because it gets you levels one through three, but then it gets you to be able to continue to come back as much as you want. It's literally one payment and then unlimited access. Because I I was like, how do I get this into their hands and also convey the importance of continued practice? Because, you know, I've I've heard some people say, Oh, yeah, I took one in class uh a class one time in college. It's like, and you think you're that was like 94, 94, like, well, all right. That's great. So um uh I've I've taught over 200 ladies.

SPEAKER_03: 47:25

Wow.

SPEAKER_01: 47:25

Um, however, I I think that's just something that, you know, when you're new to something, you learn and you learn your mistakes and you learn from your mistakes. And I've learned that um I was giving them the opportunity to have a false sense of security, I guess. I was very upfront with it in the classes. Like I like we, I always have a male um Uki, but for those of you who don't know what that means, basically the bad guy who's out, he's a good guy. And just because I want them to face possibly uneasiness and uncomfortableness, but in a safe environment with a safe person, because quite frankly, we're built differently. I am not as strong as a man. And there's just even when they don't try to be strong, they're gonna be strong. So um, you know, I I don't at all in the classes, there's no uh, you know, oh, you did this class. Now you're gonna be able to take on any man at any time because you spent two hours with me. No, it's it's a process. And I think that's something that I really want to communicate now is it's like, I want you to come back and continue practicing. And I I want you to just continue doing, yeah, you'll just kind of um for those that have taken all three levels and they come back. Sometimes I'll say, okay, hey, we're gonna, we're gonna do knife defense today. Sometimes like, hey, we're gonna do throws today. And sometimes it's like, hey, I'm gonna let you run the show a little bit, and which one of these do you want more practice on? And what, you know, we'll work on the things that you have questions about, or um just what if they grab you like this, or what if uh, you know, just trying out new things. So I think that's a a good thing as well. Um, but yeah, I think just giving the opportunity and the uh I mean, yeah, they can they could purchase the Lifer package and just be like, oh, I'm taking one to be gone. But since they had that investment of I purchased all three levels, I'm gonna just continue to take them and retake them and relearn and learn new things. Um that's what we're starting with this year. And so it's and it also helps streamline because I think from an outsider's perspective, it might have looked a little confusing too. It's like you can take level one or level two or level three or life or package. It's just like, you know what? Here's one cost and it gets you for life. There we go. Like easy. It's not like you have to pay monthly or anything. So yeah, I just I don't ever want that false sense of security. And even me personally, I train multiple times a week. I am a hundred and fifteen-pound female, and I train with so many different body types. And even with all that training, um, I think it's good to experiment with like uh for instance, when when I was with uh training with my blade trainer, um he we were talking about uh de-escalation and when you should draw your knife and things like that. And even with all of my training, I knew that he was going to attack. I knew it was coming. So it's not like a surprise. Um, but man, in an instant he was in front of me, and then we were on the ground, and I all I saw was his black t-shirt in my face. Like it's it's so fast, and that's with with training. So um and but because of my training, I knew when to draw the blade. I was able to compose myself and be totally fine on the ground. And and because of jujitsu, yeah, I wasn't worried and and I don't know, just just knowing that just having that bridge of yeah, maybe you aren't able to go full headfirst into martial arts, but I would love to be able to teach you continuously and build your skill level and build your confidence and learn new things and and just incorporate all of that.

SPEAKER_02: 51:09

Yeah, yeah. And and like, you know, uh as you said before, build that broader community.

SPEAKER_01: 51:13

And sometimes I do find ladies where they're like, oh my word, they they they they do fall in love with the jujitsu portion of the self-defense that I teach. And so it's great that we have such an awesome community at Ironwolf. And I'm like, hey, you've got to go check them out. And they're like, I yeah, I'm I'll be there. Yeah, I want to, I wanna go, I wanna go visit, I want to see what this is all about. So it's a it's a cool segue that I get to pass on my students to, you know, to where I get to train. And then we've also had it vice versa. There's been students um that are are from Ironwolf that also want to take the self-defense classes, and and they are some of my students as well. So it's kind of neat that you know we can pass different people on to each other.

SPEAKER_02: 51:55

Yeah, yeah, yeah, 100%. You know, uh before we get into kind of uh a couple closing questions, I do have a couple more. What and this is kind of broader life questions. Um what has jujitsu taught you, and specifically jujitsu, about your yourself? Um, because you've had all these other things that you've been exposed to. Um I mean, you're not novice in in martial arts, you have a lot of experience, but when we think about jujitsu specifically, uh what are some of the lessons it's taught you?

SPEAKER_01: 52:29

I think um continued composure, um learning how to breathe, stamina, pushing through something that's uncomfortable, even just with just life, it's it's made me physically stronger and able to do just you know everyday things easier too. Um but yeah, uh and also knowing that failure isn't failure, it's more opportunities to learn and and looking at things in a completely different way, of like you don't see it as you know, say I we're working on a specific technique and I'm just you know not getting it, um, but going away just with the eagerness to learn it better next time, and that that doesn't mean I'm a failure or worthless or anything like that or just stupid or whatever. But and I think going back to also the community that we have, I love that about Iron Will For it's just there's not a judgment of like you know, oh, this person's better or this person's worse. It's all there, everybody wants to help, like genuinely wants to help others grow. And so it it makes me proud to be part of that community to you know, um, I'm a a bluebelt now, so I feel like I'm, you know, newish, but also been there for a while, and and so I'm kind of in that middle ground of that now I it's it's given me the confidence to um and now knowledge of more more jujitsu techniques and things like that to I occasionally get to help the new ones that are coming in and um help them learn what to do. So yeah, I think um yeah, a few different things, not not only just with jujitsu, but with life and um and uh yeah, uh just knowing how to get out of really tough, very physically hard spots. Yeah. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 54:32

Rock in a hard place all the time. Oh yeah. I mean, I think the breathing's uh breathing is huge. What's what I'm still working on too. Um a few fun questions, and I didn't put this into uh kind of our our our prep work. So some of this will put you on the spot. Um what uh what what what's your favorite uh are you are you a bottom game player in jujitsu, top game? Is there a favorite guard? What's your favorite submission? Talk a little bit about your game in jujitsu.

SPEAKER_01: 55:05

Oh yeah, okay. I love uh I love um even though I'm a small person and maybe I shouldn't love being uh on top and mount, um, but I enjoy that because I can throw in so many, like I love the uh the um uh throat punch, Ezekiel, um uh head and arm choke. Those are a lot of fun. Ezekiel's mind. Um but guillotine, I'm really, really falling in love with guillotine because I can do that from I've the 100% sweep is a really uh fun one that I'm playing around with, and that leads me into different things. Um, and that kind of starts out with sort of a guillotine motion where you're going over the head and then under their armpit, and then and it throws people off because they've they're on top, and then suddenly I'm making this massive man like roll over and they can't, they can't even stop it. So yeah, I like guillotines. I love rear Nikki chokes. If I do, I'm I need to improve my guard. So I don't um there's a lot of improvement that needs to be done there. I like closed guard, but really I like uh guillotines taking the back, um, and then you know, uh hip check side control, that kind of stuff. Yeah, yeah. I enjoy I enjoy really nailing my shoulder into their throat and side control. That's a fun one, and then it can lead me over into mount and then go from there. Triangles. I love triangles. I think I like a lot of things.

unknown: 56:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 56:31

So yeah. Yeah, well, I it's hard to, I mean, it it would be uh uh kind of a detriment to your game if you only focused on one thing. Uh do you ever watch any uh like jujitsu practitioners like Marcelo Garcia or anything like that on YouTube?

SPEAKER_01: 56:46

Sometimes not a ton, but like if it pops up on social media.

SPEAKER_02: 56:50

If guillotine is becoming your favorite, he has the Marcelo teen, he does a lot of R-Men guillotine stuff in the no-gee. I think you'd love it. So check that out. I um well, some more fun questions.

SPEAKER_03: 57:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_02: 57:03

If you could uh roll with or train or have a class, seminar, whatever, with anyone past, present, um in jujitsu, who would it be?

SPEAKER_01: 57:16

Like a famous person?

SPEAKER_02: 57:18

Yeah, like a uh it could be a famous person that trains jujitsu, it could be somebody uh like Holes Gracie, I don't know. But um any anyone come to mind? Or it do you have any favorite training partners right now?

SPEAKER_01: 57:32

No uh like well-known person comes to mind just because I'm not as educated in you know, watching that enough to just have names pop into my head. Um, but I do I do definitely have favorite training partners. Um and it's usually the ones that will challenge me. Um and and but also it's like just fun too, you know. Um Colin and Jance are both some ones that come to mind. Uh Jasmine comes to mind. Um there's so many others. I I don't know. I love like everybody in our glass.

SPEAKER_02: 58:08

Yeah, yeah, you get something different from everything. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01: 58:11

But I just love the feedback and things that I learn and and things that I can try out. And uh I love that they are still very like aggressive with me. I I um I I like I don't know. Yeah, I like I like trying out the different things. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 58:27

No, I uh yeah, it's it's hard to and and that's the fun part of the question, right? It's hard to put your your finger on just uh just one. Um I kind of as we close out want to talk a little bit, uh a couple questions around maybe the future of Fortitude Defense. But before that, uh those that are listening and may be interested in checking out Fortitude Defense uh or getting involved in in some type of self-defense training, what are you know one to two uh things that you would want new students to walk away with from maybe their first exposure to self-defense? Is it confidence? Is it a certain skill? What is it in your opinion that you would say, okay, if you're only gonna do this one class, I want you to take this?

SPEAKER_01: 59:11

Uh so I if you're asking like as far as technique-wise, I think, yeah, we always incorporate like the the situational awareness and eye contact. Um I drill that into the ground. But uh I think ground techniques, like if I'm especially like I do a group, um once a year I do like a college and high school special because it's like okay, and then I take everything that I teach and I just pick a couple of different things um that I'm like, okay, if I'm only gonna see you one time, what do I what is do I have to like? I can't just leave you without this. Um and so there's uh you know a few things that we teach. Um, and uh besides the confidence and the just don't be in places at the wrong time. Like don't be where you shouldn't be anyways.

SPEAKER_02: 1:00:07

Don't put yourself in a bad situation.

SPEAKER_01: 1:00:09

Don't put yourself in a bad situation. Be able to spot red flags, especially in relationships. Because uh man, there's so domestic violence is huge and it's it's it's going it goes on without you even uh people that you would never guess is what's happening behind the scenes. So being able to spot those red flags in relationships or in your friends' relationships and be like, look, you need to you need to get out of there. But also just the the the ground techniques um and because no is not always taken as an answer um but no is a complete sentence.

SPEAKER_02: 1:00:48

Yeah I agree. That's great. And for you uh so kind of what's next for you personally on this uh amazing self-defense jiu jitsu martial arts journey that is your life and then what uh what's also next uh in 2026 for fortitude so me personally I'm just continuing to train and learn more and I'm just I eat it up I love love jujitsu um and I'm also continuing to um practice in tungsudou as well and just level up from there and um my I I I want to learn more so I can teach more even um with uh point driven weapons whether that's blade or a screwdriver or whatever you know.

SPEAKER_01: 1:01:35

A lightsaber how cool would it be if lightsabers exist slice yeah so me personally just continued training uh can just continuing making myself um just uh not ever forgetting the the passion and what started all of this um and and just continuing to see um the mission behind it all and just that I want to reach those people so personally I love continuing to improve myself improve uh what I can do I I compete um I've I have competed uh and I want to continue to compete in jujitsu so um I love to can just get better at that I never competed growing up I will I was never me either oh yeah I never competed like anything like I think one time in photography but nice yeah that's like that's a little different yeah that's a little different but never like truly competed in in a solo like I've I've played basketball and things like that but this kind of competition is is just uh new to me as an adult and so I I love it and it's like so exhilarating. Um so yeah personally that and then for fortitude in 2026 I just I really want to uh grow the uh awareness of like yeah just come back and just learn and I'm actually in the middle of um uh getting an app out there too just to make everything more streamlined uh just get more access yeah yeah more access and easier access and just streamline it make it not at all confusing and and uh just be there for for people who want to learn.

SPEAKER_02: 1:03:13

Yeah yeah and if anyone listening wants to contact you obviously for Fortitude uh defense classes they can go to the website that'll be in the show notes but are there any social media sites that you can connect with people as well.

SPEAKER_01: 1:03:25

Yeah definitely um I think the algorithm with Instagram works better so just follow Fortitude defense on uh Instagram if you only have Facebook it is uh I think listed as Fortitude Self-Defense but like the algorithm on Facebook kind of sinks. Yeah so uh I would I'm just kinda gone yeah I would suggest I I I don't have TikTok but I do have Instagram and like it's easy to look look at the highlights and see like past classes or I do uh things on tools or how to conceal a knife in a whole bunch of different ways um and just helpful tips and and sharing articles and things like that or just uh when my next class is um so yeah Fortitude Defense on Instagram give that a follow and then to sign up for classes fortitudedefense.com and then soon we'll have the app.

SPEAKER_02: 1:04:13

So yeah awesome awesome well thanks so much for joining and sharing this has been awesome um I think there's a lot that that uh is going to resonate with listeners and uh if it has resonated with you be sure to follow uh connect with us on the Caffeinated Jiu Jitsu Instagram page there will be links to 42 defense probably for the next couple months on uh the community and uh yeah until next time uh stay on the mats and keep your passion brewing the final tap on today's episode of Caffeinated Jiu Jitsu.

SPEAKER_00: 1:04:50

A big thanks to all of our listeners and especially today's insightful cast for sharing their PJ knowledge and tales. If you felt that Dremel's rock and are hungry for more hit subscribe drop a review and spread the Juju and contact the most reach out to the email provided in the podcast description and to join our grambling community head over to Instagram hit the comment your coffee scrambling and always be prepared for the next roll