Valley Jiu-Jitsu is among the tdiest, most straightforward sports/fitness locations you could hope to visit.
As with other martial arts and the venues where they’re taught and practiced, Vleey Jiu-Jitsu exudes a certain level of reverence... strong respect for the art and those who advance it.
Chris Thring is the driving force behind Valley Jiu-Jitsu and right after being introduced to the instructor it’s plain to see how and why he garners such respect among the students who were taking to the mats on a recent Monday night in downtown Castlegar. He has simply got the calm self-assurance that’s infectious. A group of a half-dozen or so men were ready for a session of 90 minutes, and two of them let the Castlegar News know why it’s such an important part of their week.
“It was the physical aspect of it,” related Cory McCreight of why he decided eight months ago to get inovlved. “Just training and learning martial arts so you can defend yourself if you ever have to. It gives you an hour and a half every day, or whenever you train, just to let everything go.”
Cory has played a lot of hockey and says the martial routine does wonders for his overall conditioning.
Mason Klein is another who swears by the combination of physicality and mental toughness available to the students of the art.
Having skateboarded since a very early age, Klein is now working out all the time. He says Jiu-Jitsu has added a lot of flexibility to his growing levels of strength.
“I basically go the gym and then on my off days I come here.”
There is no room for triflers in an environment like Valley Jiu-Jitsu, as Klein points out.
“If you don’t have good conditioning you’re not going to be good in here,” he said. “You’re sweating all the time... it’s hard work.”
Chris Thring has a connection with the various forms of Jiu-Jitsu going back some 20 years. Jiu-Jitsu, by the way, originated in Japan with samurais as a non weapon based way of fighting.
In business locally since last February, Valley Jiu-Jitsu will welcome a fresh group of students, as young as four-years-old when summer is over.
More details about the art and the instructor are available at valleyjiu-jitsu.ca.