Christopher E. Long

Co-founder and content producer

Even under the best of circumstances, being a student of jiu-jitsu is no walk in the park. There's no roadmap for success. From blue to black belt, Pablo Lavaselli wasn’t affiliated with any academy, choosing instead to forge his own path of training and learning jiu-jitsu. Where many might have failed, Lavasalli’s do-it-yourself approach proved successful. Now, a 28-year old high level competitive black belt, he's a testament that anything is possible if you dedicate yourself to excellence and

Last July, Jiu-Jitsu Times published a personal essay, Jiu-Jitsu Belts and Friendships Must be Earned. It was my love letter to the gentle art. In that piece, I named a few people with whom I’ve trained that I predicted would be the future of competitive Jiu-Jitsu. One of these individuals was a 16-year-old blue belt named Cole Abate.

The prospect of making friends through Jiu-Jitsu wasn’t at all factored into my decision to enroll at Art of Jiu-Jitsu in Costa Mesa, California.

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