05/28/2026
This weeks version of “Where are they now?” is a fun one because it honors the guy I was promoted to blue belt with, so that makes us blues brothers,😁 anyway, this weeks O.G. is Josh “Buns” Brown.
- Originally where are you from?
I am from Snyel̓mn, also known as Mission.
- When did you train at Cross Collar?
I trained at Cross Collar from 2015 to 2019, roughly this is the timeline.
- Where are you now?
I am not training at any club, but I plan to put in some work with Justin Dumontier this summer.
- Occupation?
My Ph.D. is in applied and cultural anthropology. Through post-doctoral positions, I have completed work documenting, better archiving, and curating Indigenous knowledge and languages. I am also focusing on revitalizing the Salish language.
- When did you start training?
I started training in Little Guy Wrestling in the 1980s, grappled and did some striking as I grew, and when I became a middle-aged man, I joined Cross Collar Academy.
- How many years have you been training total?
I trained at CCA for a few years and plan to continue training with others.
- What inspired you to start training?
I loved wrestling and missing being on the mats. I noticed Justin Dumontier, Sheldon Sheperd, and some of my old wrestling teammates were rolling, and I decided to join them.
- What were your thoughts after your very first class?
I thought this was different than wrestling and fun. I also like the low-key, non-cultishness of training at CCA. People were nice, and it was not like a fight club but a place to learn through structured instruction.
- What is your favorite memory of Cross Collar?
I have many great memories, but one of my favorites was the cold nights of hard training and the place turning into a steam room. People would push each other, but with smiles all on their faces.
- Who was your toughest roll (besides Justin)?
Many of the rolls were tough, but supposedly being ‘accidentally’ kicked in the head more than once by Gabe during drilling was rough. By far the toughest roll was with the whole crew during promotion. I shook for hours afterward, but I liked the challenge.
- What do you love about the sport?
I love that it is similar to wrestling, but adding locks and chokes made grappling more interesting and difficult. I recall that when I first started, I kept shooting in on Justin's legs and getting caught in a chokehold, and I wanted to reach the same level of proficiency at this skill. I also liked that it was taxing, but I did not leave practice with a pounding headache like from sparring and taking kicks and punches.
- Besides learning self defense, what else has bjj brought into your life?
BJJ reminded me that we are all fragile and simultaneously resilient meat sacks who can mentally and physically benefit from learning and training BJJ. It helped me learn to focus better in stressful situations, become more chill, and get to know some great people.
- Countdown to black belt?
Honestly, I am not sure this is in the cards for me. I contracted covid a few years ago and came out of it with rheumatoid arthritis. However, I am learning to manage the RA and plan to get back to some light training without having a digit ripped off.
*** Edited for spelling and/or grammatical errors.
Disclaimer* may or may not be a recent photo 🤣
