When the doors to Durango Brazilian Jiu Jitsu opened Jan. 25, Amy and Jonathan Griego couldn’t believe their eyes.
The new business owners were greeted by a mass of supporters at their new gym in the Bodo area of Durango. The immediate support validated the Griegos’ decision to open up the new space dedicated to training the martial art of jiu-jitsu.
“Any time you go into a new business, it’s kind of scary. Who’s going to come train? What kind of new students will we get? That kind of stuff was the hardest for me,” Jonathan said before leading a coed adult class Thursday night. “I’ve been in Durango for a long time, and it’s nice to be a hometown boy and be able to open this up and have friends come support me.”
Jiu-jitsu is a grappling-based sport with an emphasis on ground combat. It teaches numerous ways for a person to defend themselves from their back or how to control an opponent from the top position. Through a variety of choke holds and submission moves, jiu-jitsu is especially effective for smaller opponents to control an adversary who is larger and stronger.
Durango Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, located at 194 Bodo Drive, has been open for two weeks. Amy leads a women’s self defense class at noon every Wednesday as well as women’s-only jiu-jitsu classes. Jonathan leads a youth class as well as coed adult classes Monday through Thursday nights.
“It has been overwhelming because I didn’t think we had this much support,” Amy said. “Being that we branched off what was already established here in Durango, I didn’t think we’d have this much support for our classes so fast. At the grand opening, the doors were full of love and happiness and support. It was a great feeling.”
Jonathan, a 2001 graduate of Durango High School, had trained for years at Durango Martial Arts Academy, which provides a variety of training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo, Muay Thai kickboxing and mixed martial arts.
“I don’t take anything away from the other guys, they’re great, and I was with them for a long time and have a lot of love for the people over there,” Jonathan said. “But, to have a second spot was much needed.”
Providing a second option for athletes interested in training was a motivating factor in creating of Durango BJJ. In the span of only three or four months, Jonathan’s plans came to fruition.
“It can be scary walking into a place and train for the first time,” Jonathan said. “But it’s far from that here. We wanted to give somebody a comfortable place to come train without there being a lot of focus on fighting and stuff. Cage fighting, that’s all good, but we wanted to give somebody who is scared to go into an environment where that is the focus to come into a different environment and see that, hey, we’re not cage fighting in here. We’re just grappling and learning some cool self-defense stuff and learning some cool things to help us out on the streets maybe one day if something was to happen.
Finding business space to put down mats and create a gym was perhaps the hardest aspect of opening the new business. The Griegos credited their friends in the community for helping in that process.
“We had been asked by other people about opening a gym with them, but we just started talking about doing it on our own this summer,” said Amy, who is currently working to obtain more self-defense certifications and her Women Empowered Pink Belt. “Everything has fallen into place, and it feels like this is what we were supposed to do.”
Jonathan is a brown belt, one below a black belt, in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He has competed at world championships and at a professional level and performed well. He still competes and plans on attending the Pan-American Championships, the largest tournament held in North America, as well as worlds in 2020.
After he graduated high school, where he played football and basketball, Jonathan still wanted to find an avenue to channel his competitive nature. He found jiu-jitsu and became hooked.
Durango BJJ is a simple gym with an office and one mat room that provides an intimate feel. The camaraderie between the students was evident at Thursday night’s practices. Shortly after Amy awarded Aspen Wyatt her first stripe on her blue belt in a women’s class, Jonathan took the mat with roughly a dozen athletes for a coed class.
Jonathan had created a youth program at his previous gym for children ages 4 to 7. It started with only his daughter and one friend and boomed into a large class.
Jonathan is a second-generation business owner in Durango within his family, as his aunt and uncle own Griego’s restaurant on north Main Avenue. His brother, Orlando, is the head women’s basketball coach at Fort Lewis College and having huge success in his first season in charge of the Skyhawks. With the Griegos’ close connection to Durango, Jonathan emphasized his desire for his new business to promote a family-friendly and community atmosphere.
“That Griego name, it’s been around here for a long time,” Jonathan said. “We’re really community people. We love Durango, and this is our home. Anything I can do to give back to this community, I’m gonna try to do it. If I can save a person’s life from maybe committing suicide – I’ve talked with a lot of people about that kind of stuff and have had friends who thought about that – if I can bring them in here and give them a different perspective on life and show them camaraderie and good friends, that’s what I want to do.
“This gym, it isn’t just friends, it’s family. When it comes to jiu-jitsu, you’re so close to one another, it’s kind of intimate, so to speak. As close as you are on the mat, your friendship becomes more family-oriented. I’m trying to bring that to this place. It’s a good environment for families. Bring your kids, whoever you want. Everybody is welcome, open doors to everybody. Come train.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
