Jiu-jitsu teaches us to fight against some of life’s greatest challenges, whether it’s a 300-pound weightlifter with a knee on your sternum or something harder to see, like low self-esteem or mental illness. But on Saturday, February 11, the BJJ community will come together to defeat something that affects millions of people every day: cancer.
An all-day grapplethon benefitting Tap Cancer Out is scheduled to take place at Mark Cherico’s Martial Arts Academy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and make no mistake — it’s going to be big. Through fundraising alone, the event has already generated nearly $2,000 of its $5,000 goal, all of which goes to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network to help them with early detection, treatment, and clinical trials for patients. And we’re still a week away from the actual event.
Those who are willing and able to actually attend the grapplethon are in for a serious jiu-jitsu experience. For $40 — all of which goes to Tap Cancer Out — attendees will be treated to an all-day roll-until-you-drop open mat, which will have various “mini-seminars” interspersed throughout. They’ll also have the opportunity to win prizes through a raffle, and there will be lots of food there to ensure that no one runs out of energy in the middle of a roll.
If you’re not able to attend, you can still help the cause by fundraising. Various rewards including rashguards and even gis are available for those who go the distance with their efforts, so it’s really a win-win for jiu-jitsu lovers.
The Pittsburgh Tap Cancer Out grapplethon is just one more example of all the amazing ways the jiu-jitsu community comes together to make the world a better place. Events like this remind us that we’re all a close-knit family that knows how to band together and make things happen when we’re needed.
If you’d like to attend the Pittsburgh grapplethon, you can get all the information you’ll need right here. If the distance is a little (or a lot) too much for you, consider hosting a grapplethon at your own gym to raise money for the cause. We’ve all seen firsthand that jiu-jitsu can make the world a better place, and the more people who get involved, the more we’ll be able to change the planet one roll at a time.
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