Freddy Martinez

Brown Belt
Instagram: @freddym.nyc

I’ve been training BJJ for 10 years now. I got into my martial arts after being expelled from high school (sophomore year), and my mom believed i needed some sort of discipline to help. I got enrolled into shotokan karate (I got up to a 2nd degree black belt by the time I stopped) and through karate I discovered BJJ and other martial arts. Besides rolling and having absolute wars with my friends, the camaraderie of jiu jitsu is one of the coolest things for me. You get to build strong bonds with your coaches and teammates, basically have a second family.

I never won a big tournament like Worlds, but I was able to build my own little team. I was able to help my students become better versions of themselves, and even win two, 1st place trophies as team, in back to back tournaments (JJWL adult nogi division). Seeing my students win and all their hard work pay off, that meant a lot more to me than any medal I could have ever won.

Fun fact? I don’t think I would have ever discovered jiu jitsu, if I had never been expelled from high school.