There is a place for everyone at Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Pasadena. From 3-year-olds to grandparents, anyone can join and learn self-defense skills while gaining strength and finding community. The gym officially opened on March 15 but will have its grand opening on Saturday, May 4.

The benefits of jiu-jitsu are threefold, explained owner Fred Joaquin. “Because you’re not maybe used to moving your body in these ways, it can be a workout,” he said. It’s a form of exercise, a potentially life-saving skill and a positive social outlet. “Studios become little communities,” and people who join usually come two to three times a week, he said.

Joaquin only started toying with opening a studio last year after practicing jiu-jitsu avidly for the past 12 years. He was drawn to the martial art to “stay in shape and learn self-defense,” he explained. Previously, Joaquin owned an Allstate Insurance Agency in Glendale but realized he could not imagine doing insurance for the rest of his life.

“The only other thing that I loved was jiu-jitsu,” Joaquin said, so opening a gym was an obvious choice.

The gym gives a whole new meaning to the idea of a family-owned business. Joaquin’s wife, Aida, also practices jiu-jitsu and is an instructor for their Women Empowered class. His two oldest children also participate, and he anticipates that one day, the youngest, less than a year old, will join in, too.

Jiu-jitsu is a Japanese martial art, but in 1925, the Gracie family in Brazil adopted it and adapted it to involve more leverage and technique. More broadly, it is known as Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

“There are very few martial arts that are new enough that you could know who started it,” Joaquin said. To use the Gracie name, gyms must be approved by the family.

In the 1970s, two Gracie brothers, Carlos and Rorion, moved to the United States, bringing jiu-jitsu with them. Rorion went on to found the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1993.

“That’s when people started to realize that there’s something to this jiu-jitsu thing. No fighter would ever dare compete in the UFC without knowing jiu-jitsu,” Joaquin said.

“If you have to end up on the ground and you know jiu-jitsu, you have a huge advantage over even someone much bigger than you who does not know jiu-jitsu,” he continued.

However, unlike other jiu-jitsu schools, which are more focused on tournament-style jiu-jitsu, Joaquin’s studio focuses on practical techniques for self-defense.

“The average person who wants to do jujitsu is not interested in joining tournaments,” Joaquin explained. “We want to be the school where the average person, middle age to older, can learn jiu-jitsu, not have to be competing in class, have a fun time, leave injury-free, learn some legitimate self-defense and get a little healthier. That was where we wanted to make our mark, as an accessible gym that’s open to all ages.”

Students will learn multiple techniques during a one-hour class, some standing, others on the floor. The gym offers four main programs. Women who want to learn self-defense can join the Women Empowered class, an all-women class focusing on practical skills to thwart various attacks.

“There’s no frills or any moves that require athleticism or strength,” Joaquin said.

In the short time the gym has been open, women are already attending the class regularly.

Then, there is a co-ed beginner program, which teaches jiu-jitsu fundamentals geared toward street self-defense. Students don full traditional garb called “gis.” In the beginner program and Women Empowered, there is no sparring, focusing on technique with partners in what Joaquin calls “cooperative resistance,” with gradually added resistance.

“Everything’s very practical, and with step-by-step instructions, you practice in a collaborative environment,” Joaquin said. “The vibe is really good. Everybody’s laughing and smiling, and there’s lots of talking. It’s almost like a social event.”

Gracie Bullyproof is a kids program geared toward children ages three to 16. Not only does the program teach jiu-jitsu, but it also imparts verbal deescalation, negotiation and the five rules of engagement — avoid the fight at all costs; if physically attacked, defend yourself; if verbally attacked, follow the Three T-steps (talk, tell, tackle); never punch or kick the bully — establish control and negotiate; and when applying submissions use minimal force and negotiate. There are also conversations surrounding why someone might turn to bullying.

“The program has a component of using your voice instead of immediately tackling a bully,” Joaquin explained.

The Master Cycle program is for intermediate and advanced practitioners — blue and black belts, unlike the white belt for beginners.

“Besides the basic self-defense, there are tons of cool and fun techniques to learn,” Joaquin said.

The Master Cycle program also includes sparring. In other jiu-jitsu schools, students might begin sparring on the first day of class, but at Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Pasadena, newcomers do not spar for at least six months to focus on fundamentals and technique.

“We have a gradual on-ramp for beginners,” Joaquin said. “If you have a bad first experience at the wrong school, you could easily be deterred from continuing.”

For people interested in learning jiu-jitsu, Joaquin wants people to know “that if they’re interested in learning self-defense and looking for a healthy, fun activity, there is a place for them at Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Pasadena,” he said. “We’re probably the most inclusive and welcoming gym out there in terms of jiu-jitsu. We have showers and amenities. It’s very much a high-end, like the Equinox of jiu-jitsu.”

U.S. Embassy Tashkent is pleased to announce the second round of the Self-Defense Camp in Urgench.

Personal safety is your right no matter your location, whether at home, in the workplace, or on the street. One in three women experiences physical violence in her lifetime, most frequently committed by a person they already know.

The problem is so pervasive that, more likely than not, someone around you—a family member, neighbor, co-worker, friend, or even you, yourself, — has experienced this type of abuse. Unfortunately, harassment and stalking on the street are an everyday reality for many women around the world.

To build the skills and confidence women and girls need to protect themselves, the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent is launching a new round of women’s self-defense camp in close collaboration with an alumna of a U.S. Department of State Sports Visitor exchange program and professional Judo and Sambo instructors in Khorezm.

Classes will take place at the Sambo Center in Urgench and run for three months beginning in mid-April 2024. The exact start date will be shared with selected participants. There will be classes for two age groups, each with a maximum of 30 participants.

• Group A: Girls ages 13-17- Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 15:00 to 16:00
• Group B: Women ages 18 and up -Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 16:30 to 17:30

To apply, please click on this link.

Participants will learn a set of techniques and exercises to defend themselves against physical threats and methods to maintain their strength and overall well-being.

Participants will also learn stress management techniques, and approaches for resolving conflict and communicating openly.

These classes are open to girls and women 13 years old and older, regardless of their fitness level or prior training experience.

 Registration deadline: Friday, April 12, 2024*

*Only 150 applications will be registered for each group. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the deadline or until 150 are received, whichever comes first.

Please feel free to distribute this information among girls and women in your community.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• This project is for girls and women only
• Classes are free of charge
• Participants will be selected based upon their applications
• The classes will take place at the Sambo Center in Urgench

By U.S. Mission Uzbekistan | Wednesday, 3 April, 2024 | Topics: Education, News, Press Releases, South & Central Asia, U.S. & Uzbekistan | Tags: Self-Defense Camp for Women and Girls

A small black plastic box is tightly clasped around Stephanie Clark’s left ankle at the dining table as she plays Uno with her son. The court-ordered GPS monitor is tracking her every move, and so is the 9-year-old boy.

He’s clinging to his mom after two years apart, only getting a few hours to play their favorite card game during visits at the Shakopee women’s prison. But now, Brandon Carlisle-Maynard Jr. gets to play at home with his mom. He can watch the list of movies he’s been waiting to see with her. He sits on her lap and crawls on her back like a human jungle gym. He doesn’t let mom leave his sight, he says, “except for when she’s going to the bathroom.”

Granted a new murder trial — and a rare second chance at life together with her son — Clark walked out of prison this week hoping that this time a jury will believe that she was justified in what she did.

The 33-year-old, sentenced to 25 years for the 2020 killing of her abusive, live-in boyfriend, won an appeal after judges found that an erroneous jury instruction may have swayed the verdict. Her case has since gained the support of some of the nation’s leading scholars on domestic violence, as well as local advocacy groups. Clark maintains that she acted in self-defense, fearing Don’Juan “Duke” Butler was going to kill her and her son, who was 5 at the time and in the other room.

Prosecutors say self-defense may well be true — had Clark not fired a second gun to kill a wounded Butler.

She said her son, who the family calls “Twoey,” is what triggered her to act, and since then it’s been a continued fight.

“What I had to do to keep my life and now what I have to do to try to keep it going,” she said.

Imminent harm

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charged Clark with second-degree intentional murder on March 6, 2020, the day after she shot Butler more than a dozen times in her Maple Grove home.

She testified at trial in October 2021 that Butler physically abused her almost daily. Family and Twoey’s father corroborated this, testifying that Clark changed after dating Butler in 2019.

Butler, previously convicted in Wisconsin of substantial harm battery, a class one felony, quickly moved in with Clark. He didn’t work, controlled her finances and punished her if she talked to other men, according to testimony and trial evidence.

Attempts to reach his family for this story were not successful. According to statements to police, Butler’s mom said that Clark loved guns and bought them for Butler to use.

Clark testified that on the day of the shooting, Butler held a gun to her head. She said he paced around the house holding the gun and saying that once her son went to bed, he would break her ribs. He later put the gun down and continued pacing. Clark grabbed a revolver and followed him, firing eight times in the hallway. She said she just kept shooting and doesn’t remember grabbing the second revolver and shooting Butler in the head in the bedroom.

Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Krista White rejected Clark’s self-defense claim, saying in her closing argument at trial that she had “every opportunity to leave or to make different choices that night and instead she murdered him.” She said nobody gets to hear from Butler about what happened.

The jury found Clark guilty. District Judge Peter Cahill sentenced her in February 2022, and that spring a Minneapolis law firm filed her appeal.

Her conviction was reversed in March 2023. The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that Cahill gave an erroneous instruction to jurors when they asked in deliberations what “imminent” meant in Minnesota’s self-defense law. Cahill, against the objection of Clark’s attorney, Eric Doolittle, said it meant “immediate.”

The appellate court disagreed. So did the Battered Women’s Justice Project, Violence Free Minnesota and seven domestic violence experts from Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

The appellate court said “the jury could have found that Clark was in imminent danger of great bodily harm, even if such danger was not immediate,” a term they said “obliterates the nature of the buildup of terror and fear.”

Prosecutors appealed, petitioning the Minnesota Supreme Court to review not on the issue of the jury instruction, but on whether juries should evaluate self-defense claims differently when a defendant endured intimate partner violence.

In filings, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty urged the state’s high court to “move the law in Minnesota forward” on the issue.

But the court declined to address it and dismissed the appeal earlier this month. The same self-defense standard will apply at Clark’s second trial. A new jury will decide whether her use of force was reasonable.

Moriarty’s office declined interview requests but said in a statement that “there is no question that domestic violence is a significant and insidious problem in our communities. Survivors of domestic violence need support and resources as they navigate potentially life threatening situations.”

“Whether the Supreme Court provides such guidance or the Legislature changes the law, jury instructions in appropriate cases should reflect the latest research on domestic violence. That is currently not the case in Minnesota.”

Doolittle said he wished the Supreme Court provided more guidance for cases like Clark’s.

“When you live day in, day out with the kind of threats and violence and fear, that needs to be incorporated into fairly evaluating whether someone’s actions were reasonable,” he said in an interview.

At sentencing, Cahill told Clark that he didn’t find her to be a credible witness and the only corroboration of domestic abuse “is a bruise.” He sided with the state, saying it is more likely Clark was angry and snapped. And while Butler may have abused Clark, Cahill said “he was not the aggressor.”

Prosecutors don’t dispute Butler’s escalating abuse. But the office said in the statement that evidence at trial supports continued prosecution for murder. They believe the jury instruction was harmless and jurors would have convicted her anyway. They asked for $1 million bail, but Clark was let out on $250,000 with conditions.

Doolittle said at her bail hearing that Clark is not going to risk letting her family, attorneys or supporters down.

“She understand this case is being followed by domestic advocacy groups … She wants to counsel people who have been through domestic abuse … Her only path to freedom is a trial.”

At home, in limbo

Clark’s homecoming aligned with Twoey’s spring break, making them all the more inseparable.

He doesn’t want to share his mom with anyone else, which is difficult with relatives stopping by to visit.

Clark’s uncle delivered a bouquet of flowers and cake Wednesday afternoon as her brother, Rob, grilled chicken wings in the snow-covered backyard, her first homecooked meal after ordering Dominos the first night back home at her mom’s in Maple Grove.

“Hopefully it’s the beginning, the start of a new beginning,” her mom, Kathy Clark, said. “Having her here is just unbelievable.”

Kathy Clark said she came to expect the worst during her daughter’s two years in prison. When they thought she would be released, something always got in the way. Six months after her murder conviction reversal, appellate attorneys pleaded for her release, but it was too late to see her dying father, who succumbed to cancer at 64.

Clark said her dad hoped to make her a steak dinner. Her oldest brother, Jason, will do the honors instead.

Jason’s wife, 30, also died while Clark was in prison, leaving behind a 10-year-old son, Jeremiah, who plays, and fights, like a brother with Twoey.

The boys are vying for Clark’s attention. She’s had to explain to her son that Jeremiah doesn’t get his mom back. But for now, Twoey has his.