Maryland-based martial artist since 2008. Started a no-gi wrestling and jiu-jitsu class twice a week in high school under Michael Visitacion, a blue belt at the time, following the death of my sister. I had a friend I would always practice moves on in Weight Training the following day — with him being the first person I choked unconscious, via anaconda (he didn’t tap) 😅 It was just twice a week until I started University, at which point I abused every Free Class / Free Week trial I could in the surrounding area. I ended up finding a great friend and coach in Keith Jackson at Ground Control Columbia, and followed him to another gym. I continued training, often prioritizing my 3-a-day martial arts routine over actual University classes and Rugby practices; I even earned the “There in Spirit” award from my Rugby team for always missing practice but remaining a starting Flanker for the team — pure athleticism 😂 I remained mostly at one gym, but also hopped around gyms in the area I had made friends at — going by “the man with no belt” for a time, a great foreboding of the path yet tread. By the end of University I had yet to be promoted despite my consistent no-gi attendance, teaching kids classes, successfully winning gold at Intermediate no-gi as a “white belt,” and started to burn out from all the injuries I had overcome with still no recognition. I went to my first Globetrotters camp in Iceland 2018, and was promoted upon return — with my coach even saying, “you’re my blue belt,” in a manner like a dog pissing on a hydrant. I still enjoyed the training, until it came out that one if his students had been forcing himself on a younger female student.. so I removed myself from that gym and was officially a Globetrotter. At this point I got most of my training from the various connections I had made in the near-decade prior, as well as the many Globetrotter camps I would go to. Proud to be a Globetrotters Purple, and now Brown belt, and will likely continue training locally and abroad until inevitably opening my own gym in the near future (something I have been doodling plans of since I was 17) 🙂 Oh, and Priit is my father.