The Unsung Jiu Jiteiros is a monthly article highlighting the unsung heroes of our Jiu Jitsu communities. These people have made an impact on their teammates in an incredible way and I would like to share some of their stories with you!
Our first submission this month comes from Kathrine Koldkjær Lundholm for her teammate/boyfriend Kristian Bendtsen.
His name is Kristian Bendtsen and he started bjj 5 years ago here in Aalborg. He is a blue belt.
Kristian is very good at taking care of the new people arriving to the academy and he loves to show techniques to everybody. As he says: “if i teach them the stuff i do, then they will use it against me and make me better”.
Around 3 years ago he broke his arm, both his radius and ulna and went through a big surgery. Although it was hard he still managed to return to the mats because that is where he feels like he is at home. Then, 2 years ago he even managed to get me dragged on the mats too and he showed me why he loves jiu jitsu so much and we began to share the love together.
Last year in december he won silver in the danish championship in his blue belt weight division which made myself and all of our teammates very proud!
Why is he so special? He is so good at supporting people and showing people why jiu jitsu is amazing and you can truely feel his passion and gives the people around him passion as well.
The last submission for this month comes via the students of Hooper’s Martial Arts in Eldorado Il.
Clint Hooper began his martial arts career in 1994 in Kenpo Karate where he holds a 5th degree black belt. He began training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in 2003 driving over an hour each way to class just to feed his passion. After only receiving his 3rd stripe on his white belt He began teaching those that otherwise would never had access to Jiu Jitsu. He received his black belt in March of this year from Andrew Sabens/Renato “Charuto” Verissimo.
What makes him stand out as an instructor is his dedication to his students. He sacrifices most of his time to the constant private lessons, class times, and coaching tournaments all while working a full time job and having a family. His teaching style is very personable, he watches and helps every student equally and is a firm believer in training with as many people as possible! Without him we wouldn’t have the level of Jiu Jitsu that we do in our small town. Without the dedication that he gave to his students a lot of us would never know the feeling of not only a great instructor but a great friend as well. Thank you Clint Hooper for all you have done for us!!
Thank you to those that sent in their votes.
Please if you have anyone that you would like featured on the Unsung Jiu Jiteiros please send me an email with the subject line of “Unsung Jiu Jiteiro” at honestycansuck@gmail.com, I would love to give everyone that chance to tell someone that they are appreciated. Thank you all so much! Oss!!
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