Keweenaw Jiu Jitsu Academy Celebrating First Black Belt Trained Locally in the Keweenaw Peninsula

After many years of hard work, dedication, and hours of teaching others his skills, Stan Myaskovskiy has earned a black belt in Jiu-jitsu. It is the highest rank any person can earn in jiu-jitsu as a martial art. Unlike other martial art forms, Jiu jiu-jitsu takes years to master. Most black belts are achieved after 12 to 15 years of sport. Myaskovskiy says that teaching jiu-jitsu to his students has been the most rewarding, and earning his black belt wouldn’t be possible without many of them.

“To me personally it meant a lot to grow jiu-jitsu in the area and to grow the sport within our community. There’s been opportunities and times when I’ve considered going to bigger teams in bigger cities to, selfishly, grow myself and my skills. But I have an incredible team here and people that I’ve grown to adore. And have really good connections and relationships with them. So, I felt committed to sticking it out, doing it here, building it here. And now we have white, blue, and even purple belts locally. So, I’m very excited to be the first one and hope the first one of many that are grown locally.” – Stan Myaskovskiy, Owner, of Keweenaw Jiu-jitsu

Jiu-jitsu works to control an unarmed opponent’s explosive momentum in an altercation and has many uses in self-defense and as all-around form of physical fitness. Keweenaw Jiu-jitsu student Brady Haas first took up the sport while taking a class at Michigan Tech.

“I remember he had just gotten his brown belt. He has gotten substantially better, from my perspective, at teaching. Obviously, he’s gotten a lot better on the mats. But the biggest difference for me is how well he conveys the information to all of his students. He’s gotten a lot better at explaining stuff throughout the training process.” Brady Haas, Student, Keweenaw Jiu-jitsu

Keweenaw Jiu-jitsu will celebrate Myaskovskiy tomorrow and has invited the community to join. While their attendees can learn more about jiu-jitsu meet students and teachers and learn more about various programs. The celebration tomorrow will be at the Keweenaw Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Hirovonen Hall at 7pm. Find more event details here. And learn more about Keweenaw Jiu-Jitsu here.