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Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (Fleet Marine Force/Aviation Warfare/Information Dominance Warfare) Christopher Colley, assigned as leading petty officer with Naval Hospital Bremerton’s Branch Health Clinic Bangor, recently visited Senegal with Team Big Brothers a Brazilian jiu-jitsu club to teach, train, and conduct a tournament with very receptive crowds of enthusiastic Senegalese.
Colley, a Black Belt, and eight other team members spent March 10-15, 2016, in Dakar, the sprawling capital, mingling and immersing with fledgling mixed martial arts novices. It was the third visit for the team to West Africa.
“Our goal was to spread the word on the martial arts discipline of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, as fitness, as exercise and as a perfect grappling sport that is akin to their national sport of ‘laamb,’ or Senegalese wrestling,. So there are some similarities,” said Colley, noting that the popularity of ‘laamb’ in Senegal is equivalent to what football is in America.
“There’s definitely a national mania. It seems the entire city shuts down if there’s a match going on. Every television is tuned in and the volume is as loud as it can be. It’s an all-consuming pastime,” Colley said, a Northern Virginia native with 11 years in the Navy and one year at NHB, including stints assigned at a small NATO command at Lisbon, Portugal, with Naval Health Clinic Quantico, Va. and on Okinawa.
Colley explained that the Senegal trip came about after a brainstorming gathering with Team Big Brothers to determine where would be a good place to visit and actively involve interested people in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
“We wanted to go someplace where we would be well-received, and there had already been teaching trips there before. It was also a big plus to have one of our black-belt member having family and contacts,” said Colley.
Team Big Brothers determined that Brazilian jiu-jitsu would help Senegalese fighters advance their skill level possibly enough to be able to try and compete in mixed martial arts, a sport that has experienced sizable growth and increased popularity in the past decade.
According to Moustapha M'Bengue, an African social activist/community organizer, there are approximately 6,000 registered professional laamb wrestlers in Senegal, yet with very few opportunities to succeed. M'Bengue hopes that Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts will create opportunities for young athletes.
Additionally, Colley attests, the Senegalese are a fitness-based culture. It’s not unheard of to see hundreds of people on a stretch of beach doing a group-aerobic exercise routine/class.
“The big difference this year besides teaching and getting more people involved as students was that we wanted to hold a tournament, along with reengaging from past visits. We wanted to make it so that by putting on a tournament, it could become self-sustaining so they wouldn’t be dependent on us returning,” Colley said.
Although there were cultural and language differences between the Senegalese and visiting Americans, by sharing Brazilian jiu-jitsu, the physicality of the martial art became a hands-on method to communicate.
“Despite a limited grasp of language by us and those we met, there was shared passion between us that had a profound affect. It was a tremendously positive experience. For example, we learned quickly that when we were in a gym, we would start in with seminars for those there, going over everything from basics to finer points. We might teach for an hour and a half and then spare for an hour. Then, after starting with 20 to 50 people of all ages, that number would quickly double. There was one time that particularly stands out. What started as a class for just about 15 suddenly expanded as 60 children, ranging from ages 4-8, all wearing mini-judogi (uniforms) turned the session from adult-based into a fun-filled experience tailored to the youngsters,” said Colley.
It was working with that group of children that provided Colley with perhaps the memory he retains the most from his time there.
“With that group of kids, there were two sisters, about four years old. They were in a small group and as I watched them, I saw them each share pointers with the other that one might have missed. Now with any adult in such a class, they’re receiving so much information at once it’s hard to take it all in. Anyone can only hope to catch so much at a time. But what those two did was something that we always hope happens, in that a student will learn not only as a competitor but also as a trainer because they are sharing as well as learning. For example, there is a way of gripping to maintain control of your opponent, and it was very surprising that the youngest and smallest girl picked up on that. Really unusual to see in someone so young. But then it’s been said that children can pick up another language at an early age easier than an adult can later on in life, and jiu-jitsu is like another language. It’s a physical language and she was picking it up,” said Colley.
It was by happenstance over 16 years ago that Colley discovered for himself the language of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, an off-shoot of judo, which emphasizes ground fighting by using specific techniques to take the opponent to the ground and execute submission.
In his high schools day, he stood 5’10”, but only tipped the scales at 98 pounds. He was labeled clinically underweight and bluntly informed by a doctor that he needed to add muscle on his frame.
“I went to the gym, but found it boring. It was recommended to try and join a sport. Any sport actually. I looked into martial arts and discovered a judo class. When I observed the class, what stood out to me was that there was never negative, always positive feedback on how to become better. I found out I could train for one month to see if I liked it, and then sign up. Almost immediately I fell in love with it. Although I moved due to work, I found another class and went from three days to six days of training. It became my life for a few years until I joined the Navy,” related Colley, adding that along with continuing his involvement in the sport once in the Navy, there have been gaps in his training. He taught in Okinawa which helped him feel comfortable in a role as an instructor, but during that time he didn’t advance his skill level.
Colley became part of Team Big Brothers from Northern Virginia/DC area with the patriarchal academy in Woodbridge, Va. in 2010 while stationed at Quantico, Va., and the members took him in like no other group. They knew he was in the Navy and were very accommodating.
“It’s was like being part of an exclusive fraternity,” Colley said.
With his skill level honed due to his dedication, discipline and drive, he competed in the 2011 Pan-Am championship and got a silver medal in the light class (between 167 and 181 pounds) as a purple belt master (the intermediate adult ranking in Brazilian jiu-jitsu cites the practitioner has gained a large amount of knowledge and may be considered qualified to help instruct lower-ranked students). In 2014 Colley competed in Copenhagen, Denmark and double-medaled in his weight class and in the open class as a light weight, a notable double-feat because usually it’s a competitor from a heavier weight class that wins.
What began with the original intention to find a way to exercise that wasn’t boring evolved into the driving passion of his life. When on leave, it revolves around the sport, with teaching, training and competing, and traveling to the almost-surreal surroundings of Senegal.
The West African nation is also seeped in history. The island of Goree, known for the location of the infamous House of Slaves and the ‘Door of No Return’ was the last place on the continent that slaves bound for the Americas would see. In 2013, President Barack Obama visited the site.
“We took just one day to sightsee and enjoy the cultural experience with no schedule or agenda for us. It was such a unique sensation to simultaneously understand the horrors of history and the current beauty. It was difficult to settle the mind on how to think and feel about it,” related Colley.
Present day Senegal also presented continual reminders that foreign traveling is always an experience.
“One noticeable difference is that the notion of time in Senegal can best be referred to as there being a lack of punctuality which can make planning difficult. Locals just grow up that way. Being late is not a concept to dwell on. Being a member of the military, we’re used to being on time for everything and taught that ‘early is on time.’ It was hard to wrap my mind around but I got used to it. It’s also a haggling culture. The price of something is the starting point to get into a discussion of what you’ll eventually pay. If you don’t haggle, you will be told that you should,” explained Colley.
The Senegal trip is one that has reminded Colley how events have come full circle for him. He’s trained, competed and been an instructor in every country he’s been stationed and visited.
“I worked in a dental clinic before joining the Navy. There was an elderly guy who came in one day and we started talking. He shared that if you’re going to go in debt, don’t do it over buying a car or a big television. Do it to travel and see the world, tour other lands and experience other cultures. That was a factor for joining the Navy. I have taken advantage in following his advice as a corpsman and with Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I was happy to get approved to go to Africa. I had misgivings it wouldn’t happen and fears about going. It took close to a year to get approved. We could have hardly picked a more difficult place. But what we experienced can’t be replicated except in person. It was a broadening experience for me, for those I was with and especially for those in Dakar that we met, instructed, trained and sparred with. It was very fulfilling,” Colley said.
The only grappling issue that Colley currently has is where to go next to teach and train, again with one skillful hold, one applied grip and one sparring session at a time.
| Date Taken: | 04.11.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 04.11.2016 10:32 |
| Story ID: | 194992 |
| Location: | BREMERTON , WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 160 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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