JM Modern Jiu Jitsu

Today was a special one. We promoted Franny to Blue Belt.

What makes this moment so incredible is that she started with me as a small child. After many years of training, competing, growing, struggling, learning, and maturing on the mats, she has now reached one of the biggest milestones in Jiu Jitsu. This promotion is not only huge for her, but for our entire academy.

Over the years I have promoted countless deserving students all the way to Black Belt, but this is the first time I have personally taken someone from childhood all the way through to their 16 year old birthday and into the Blue Belt ranks. That is an amazing feeling and something I will always be proud of.

And to be clear, this promotion was not simply because she turned 16. This was earned through the drastic improvement we have watched from her over the last year. Something clicked. She found her confidence, competed with a completely different mindset, and started having major success in competition. She has even been out there beating Blue Belts already.

That is what makes this promotion feel so right.

Franny, we are all proud of you. You earned this through years of dedication and hard work, and this is only the beginning of what you are capable of accomplishing.

This year marks 20 years on the mats for me.

I wasn’t just the first person from Baton Rouge to earn a Jiu Jitsu black belt, I was also the first person to do it while living and training here. Building the culture from the ground up when there wasn’t much of one. No shortcuts. No moving away to a major city. We built this here.

I’ve been teaching for 18 of those 20 years and have spent the last 10 running my own academy full time. Over the years, I’ve had the honor of promoting more than 40 amazing people to black belt, and every one of them represents years of hard work, loyalty, and growth.

It isn’t just about competition wins or trophies. It’s the impact. Seeing students become coaches. Seeing kids become upstanding adults. Watching people gain confidence, discipline, and purpose through Jiu Jitsu.

The Jiu Jitsu Scene in Baton Rouge didn’t just appear overnight. Very select few of us sacrificed to build this community into what it is today, and I’m proud to have been the one to lead that charge from the beginning.

20 years in. Still teaching. Still learning. Still building.

And we’re nowhere near done.

Like it or not, I’m the Godfather of the Baton Rouge Jiu Jitsu Scene.
- Josh Mancuso

Huge shout out to Todd at 50 years old for going down 20 years in age and up 20lbs in weight to find a match, and ended up bringing home the gold medal! Amazing job brother!

What a day for the team at the AGF Baton Rouge Open. Proud to say we brought home every team trophy 1st place Adult Gi, Adult NoGi, Kids Gi, and Kids NoGi divisions. On top of that, Team 1776 secured the Overall Team Title, and JM Modern Jiu Jitsu earned Best Academy Under One Roof.

Couldn’t be more proud of our competitors, coaches, parents, and supporters. Everyone showed heart, discipline, and represented our academy the right way all day long.

Huge thank you as well to all the athletes from every academy who stepped on the mats, the referees and event staff who kept everything running, and AGF for putting together another great event.

Competition can get intense and emotions can run high, but at the end of the day this sport is built on respect. We’re grateful to share the mats with so many tough competitors and good people.

Back to work Monday!