“The room was filled with a lot of very tough people. We have the most generous people in the Boston BJJ Network and everyone took time out of their day to support a great cause. That just shows how selfless everyone is, and we are lucky to have each other. We all share a common bond with training together.” – Mike Pellegrino, Massachusetts Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Some of the team and I attended a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu benefit seminar for United Cerebral Palsy of MetroBoston and Climb for Cerebral Palsy this weekend. It was an awesome time, and a great way to spread our cause to amazing people. Hosted by Massachusetts Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, the event opened with a few words from Mike Pellegrino(co-owner), and a short introduction from me. The first half of the seminar was taught by Derek Stevens who trains out of Port City Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The second half of the seminar was taught by Jimmy Quinlan, who is featured in season 17 of the Ultimate Fighter on FX.
Brian was there to photograph the event (plenty of pictures of my performance are on Facebook), while Jared and I learned some new moves. Both of the instructors were excellent and everyone there came away with new skills.
Overall, our seminar was a success raising $1,005 for United Cerebral Palsy of MetroBoston. Mike Pellegrino, a big supporter of ours, runs the Mass BJJ gym, which is also one of our fantastic sponsors.
“We have the same warrior spirit in life to never settle for what we’ve been given and to always strive to improve. Each of us is lucky to be able train as we want. Jiu-jitsu teaches us to never give up no matter what the situation is. If we are in an arm lock, we try and work our way out. If we are on bottom in the mount, we work our way out. Phil was born with limitations, but hasn’t let that stop him in anything he does. He has continued to work his way out of those challenging spots and now he has his eyes set on a larger goal that not many in his place have attempted with climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro unassisted.” – Mike Pellegrino
