This seminar was set up by Prof. James Foster to help out one of his students, Tony Welker, who was tragically injured at work, paralyzed from the chest down from a broken neck. Proving that his heart is even bigger than his intimidating size, Prof. Foster reached out to the Jiu-Jitsu community to put together this fundraiser, and in likewise fashion, the community answered incredibly with people from all over showing their support. The seminar was an all star line up of black belts sharing their knowledge, and over 100 people there to learn and show the love the Jiu-Jitsu family has for a brother in need. It was an amazing day!
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| Triumph For Tony Seminar Sept. 5th |
Watching and being a part of this seminar hit me personally on several levels. First, the tragic injury itself. With my work there is constant workplace hazards to be aware of and I am always mindful of being as safe as I can while working. The problem is that being 100% safe isn't always possible but if everyone is on the same level of safety awareness then we can lessen the state of hazards we work in. Some people work more carefree than others, sometimes you get caught up in the work and realize after that maybe that wasn't so safe. Errors happen, people get hurt, Tony is the prime example of that. Seeing what happened to Tony, and how the community has reacted, has brought home the impact workplace accidents has not only on the individual but his friends and family. So it was an honour to be a part of this seminar and help Tony out, if it were me I'd hope to be lucky enough to the have support.
Secondly, the show of support from the Jiu-Jitsu community, myself and another teammate came down from Victoria BC to Seattle, not a long trip, but others came from all over the USA, I believe a group came from Texas to participate and teach! And, we even had a special guest show up from Brazil! People from all over, coming from all different lineages of the BJJ family came together and showed what I've been saying all this time: it's all one family, and one art. This floored me, seeing this all come together, watching the support from all over, it was not you typical seminar.
My teammate and I took a hydroplane down the friday night, which was pretty cool flying low through downtown Seattle as we landed, and made our way to the hotel that evening. Given that the hotel was a bit of a walk away from the club and city buses weren't running during the time we needed I put out the request to see if I could get a ride for us to the seminar. It would be a great way to meet someone at the seminar as well as get a ride. A good friend of Foster's, Johnathan Moses (great guy BTW!) offered to pick us up Saturday morning, awesome! He told me Friday night he'd be a little late as he was "picking up a friend from the airport" no problem, I'm thinking maybe it's another teammate coming in late that he's picking up, great chance to meet another new face. So Saturday morning comes and as Johnathan's car pulls in to pick us up I see who's sitting shotgun, the Arm Collector himself, Giva Santana! Ends up they set up a special visit to surprise James Foster with his mentor and the head of the Lotus Club, very few people knew he was coming and he even hid from Prof. Foster until the last minute. "Hey! What's going on? I was just driving around the block and saw all the cars outside and thought I'd drop by" It was a way more special ride to the seminar than I was planning for!
The seminar, it was amazing! So much cool techniques were shown during the day by so many different instructors. it was really neat to see the different teaching methods each has and see techniques from a different perspective. Of course there were a few armbars shown, after all how do you skip armbars when the Arm Collector is on the mats?! But also a lot of guard passing techniques were shown as well. It was a lot of fun, seeing new faces, seeing old friends, learning awesome techniques, having Renato Laranja uncomfortably hug you and not let go...haha great times!
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| I just wanted a pic with him! |
As Prof. Foster is an amazing man, he put together a video of the seminar showing off all kinds of cool techniques, showcasing how awesome a day you missed, and cause I'm awesome, here it is:
or you can go to Youtube and watch it there with this link: Triumph For Tony Seminar
The ride home was uneventful, we mostly talked about how cool of a seminar it was, meeting all the people we met and watching them all come and support Tony. We were disappointed we didn't get to meet Tony, but he was the star there and was constantly surrounded by people, talking and taking pictures with him. It was good to see him out and wearing his gi while he watched from his wheelchair. It must have been a big and tiring day for him to be out, for the first time I believe, and see everyone. He was in great spirits that day, and so was everyone else, it was good feeling being there for the seminar, something I was gladly be a apart of again.
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| Lucky enough to get a picture with Classy Grappler, Giva "The Arm Collector" Santana, and the giant James "300" Foster! |
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