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WHEELING – In the six years since he started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eric Belancic has seen an increase in fitness and overall confidence.
“It’s a great workout,” the 30-year-old Warwood native said. “I feel confident in any setting. Like I’m always going to be prepared if something happens. God forbid, you find yourself in a tough situation, I might not win, but I have a lot better chance of doing well than if I didn’t train.”
Belancic trains a couple days a week at the Bullpen Fight Club, which operates out of the Nelson Jordan Center at 12th and Jacob Street in East Wheeling. The classes are taught primarily by Thomas Hastings, currently the only home grown Ohio Valley native to achieve a black belt in the discipline.
Hastings has been training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for 16 years and was promoted to black belt by his instructors in Morgantown – Don Cunanan and Phil Davis – who operate the school Ground Zero Fighting Systems there.
“The ranking system, in my opinion, is the most highly regarded ranking system in the world,” Hastings said. “You can get a black belt in Karate in a couple of years if you work hard enough. But there are only a handful of people who can get a similar ranking in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu that quickly. The average time is more like 10 to 15 years. It takes that long to build legitimate skill.”
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu promotes the concept that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend against a bigger, stronger assailant by using proper technique, leverage and by taking the fight to the ground. And then applying submission holds to defeat the opponent.
The martial art was pioneered by the Gracie Family of Brazil, but traces its roots back to late 19th century Japan where its parent art of Judo separated from older systems of jiu-jitsu. The founders of Judo took out the most dangerous techniques, and encouraged the use of mats and rules to make sparring safer. Safer sparring made for more frequent sparring which led to an acceleration of the development of the sport.
“So there was a big Judo revolution in Japan in the 1890s,” Hastings said. “And it had spread around the world by the 1920s. The Gracie Brothers in Brazil took it and learned it and started working on it. Judo ended up going the Olympic route. And that crowd wanted to see rules that favored throws and take downs. But the Gracies preserved the old way of ground fighting. They were each about 140 pounds and they were offering these $20,000 challenge fights. And nobody ever ended up winning that money.”
The challenge fights continued in Brazil through the decades, Hastings said, until members of the Gracie clan moved to the United States where they achieved worldwide recognition after starting the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the early 1990s.
“They burst everyone’s bubble as to what fighting actually is,” he said.
Hastings’ own martial arts journey began as a sophomore at The Linsly School in 1999. At the time, he said, he had taken some Kung Fu, but mostly everything he knew about fighting was from the movies. His awakening came at WesBanco Arena, when a cousin took him to see a mixed martial arts competition that featured, among other disciplines, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
“I saw these fights and I had never seen anything like that before,” Hastings said. “I’d been brainwashed by bad Kung Fu movies. But here were the best guys taking it to the ground and using submission holds. My cousin introduced me to an instructor and I immediately started training with him at Ohio Valley Gymnastics in Bridgeport.”
Within six years he was one of the most advanced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu students in the area. And when his instructor moved on, he began teaching classes at Ohio Valley Gymnastics. Then he bounced around various locations in Wheeling before meeting up with current Bullpen partner Mike Napple (a striking expert) and setting up shop at the Nelson Jordan Center.
“I’ve built up some talented guys,” Hastings said. “I probably have half a dozen or more of the best practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the area. More than any other school. Some guys practice two or three times a day, like professional athletes. They’ll come and meet up at noon and train for an hour and a half. Then they’ll come for a primary sparring session in the evening. And then a couple hours after that they’ll come back to lift weights.”
The ranking system goes from white belt to blue belt to purple belt to brown belt to black belt, Hastings said. He currently has five purple belt students, two brown belts and a handful of blue belts. There are about a dozen students total. And they’re all bound by a similar sense of humility.
“A lot of people walk around thinking they’re (tough guys),” he said. “They’re walking around in a delusional world. With Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu you quickly realize you can’t fake it. You’re going to wrestle live and get your butt kicked a thousand times before you learn to win. You learn to put your ego aside and get better. Or your ego can’t handle it and you quit. But to keep going makes you a better person. You’re not going around, (lying to) yourself. Sometimes my most advanced guys beat me. I can’t lie to myself about that.”
Bullpen Fight Club offers classes in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the Nelson Jordan Center for $50 for unlimited access. That includes classes taught by Hastings on Mondays and Wednesdays at 7 p.m. As well as a class taught by a purple belt student Thursdays at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays are “open mat,” where people can come and work on anything.
For more information visit the Web site at bullpenfightclub.angelfire.com.