Using Jiu-Jitsu for Something Bigger
For most of my life, Jiu-Jitsu and martial arts have been about much more than fighting.
They have given me a career, friendships around the world, a community and the opportunity to help people become stronger versions of themselves.
I have taught thousands of classes. I have competed, coached fighters, built an academy and shared the mats with people from completely different backgrounds.
But lately, one thought has kept coming back to me:
Can I use Jiu-Jitsu to do something bigger?
Not only to teach.
Not only to fight or compete.
Not only to help the people who walk through the doors of my academy.
I want to go further.
That is where my idea for Rolling to Fight Cancer comes from.
Why Cancer?
Over the last few years, I have lost family members to cancer and seen it affect some of my friends.
I have seen people lose loved ones to this disease.
And every time something like this happens, it reminds me that behind every person fighting cancer there is also a family, friends and people around them going through that fight too.
Those experiences have stayed with me.
They made me think about what I can do with everything Jiu-Jitsu has given me.
I cannot cure cancer.
Jiu-Jitsu cannot cure cancer.
But maybe I can use Jiu-Jitsu to support the people who are trying to.
I can roll.
I can create attention.
I can raise money.
And I can turn something I already love doing into support for cancer research and the fight against this disease.
One roll might seem like a very small thing.
But I want to see how far I can take it.
Jiu-Jitsu Gave Me a Platform. I Want to Use It.
For many years, my goals were to become a better martial artist, a better competitor and eventually a better coach.
Then came building Casa de Luta, developing my students and fighters, and creating a place where people could grow through martial arts.
More recently, Backstage Jiu-Jitsu has allowed me to take Jiu-Jitsu outside the academy and share the mats with musicians and artists from around the world.
These experiences have made me realize that Jiu-Jitsu can create connections in places I never expected.
And now I want to use those connections for something more.
I want to use my Jiu-Jitsu, my platform and the opportunities I have been given to help people beyond my own academy and beyond the martial arts community.
Because after so many years of doing this, I have started asking myself a different question.
What can I give back?
For me, Rolling to Fight Cancer is part of that answer.
Rolling to Fight Cancer
The idea is simple:
I roll to raise money and awareness for the fight against cancer.
There is no fee to roll with me and no obligation to donate.
That is very important to me.
If we share the mats, we share the mats. Nothing changes.
But if someone I train with wants to support the idea and is in a position to do so, they can make a voluntary donation. No minimum amount. No expectations. No pressure.
If you can and you want to, you contribute. If you can’t or don’t want to, we still roll.
Through my regular training, special sessions, events and the people I meet through Jiu-Jitsu and Backstage Jiu-Jitsu, I want to create opportunities to raise donations for cancer research and organizations fighting this disease.
Sometimes I might be rolling with a fighter.
Sometimes with a musician.
Sometimes with a student, coach or friend.
It doesn’t matter who is on the other side of the mat.
What matters is that something as simple as sharing a roll can potentially create something positive beyond the mats.
I don’t want this idea to be about charging people to train with me.
I want it to be about giving.
Giving my time. Giving my Jiu-Jitsu. Using the connections and opportunities this sport has given me to try to help.
And if someone wants to join me in that purpose, even better.
No fee. No obligation. Just the opportunity to turn a roll into something bigger.
More Than Medals
Jiu-Jitsu has already given me more than I could have imagined when I first stepped onto the mats.
I still love training.
I still love teaching.
I still love competition.
I still love coaching and seeing my students succeed.
But after so many years in martial arts, I want some of what I do through Jiu-Jitsu to mean something beyond my own victories.
A medal eventually ends up on a shelf.
A fight becomes a memory.
A technique is passed from one person to another.
But if I can use Jiu-Jitsu to contribute, even in a small way, to something that could help other people and their families, that means something different to me.
This is just the beginning.
I don’t know how big Rolling to Fight Cancer can become.
Maybe it starts with one roll.
Then another.
And another.
But I know why I want to do it.
I have spent a huge part of my life rolling for myself, my students and my team.
Now I want to roll for something bigger.
ROLLING TO FIGHT CANCER 🥋❤️
— Abel Simón Cotado
BJJ Black Belt | Head Coach, Casa de Luta
Founder of Backstage Jiu-Jitsu