13 Aug This Is All Jiu-Jitsu… This Is All Guam: The Evolution of Mixed Martial Arts in the Marianas
It’s kind of hard to put into words… but if you’ve been around long enough—if you’ve really been around—you already know.
This ain’t just a sport.
This is our story.
Where It All Began
Before the lights, the medals, the belts, and the sellout crowds at Dusit Thani… there was just a garage. Concrete floors. No fans. No aircon. Just sweat, humility, and curiosity. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu hit Guam like a whisper in the early ’90s. And that whisper? It turned into a roar.
But even before that—long before us—our people always had a thing for the fight.
Back in the day, street fights weren’t rare—they were real. Kung fu, judo, akido, hapkido, taekwondo—those arts planted seeds. And when Bruce Lee came on screen? That was church. Kung Fu Theater had two screens and four shows in Hagåtña. Rocky, Karate Kid—those weren’t just movies. They were gospel.
But everything changed when jiu-jitsu made its quiet entrance. All of a sudden, what we were watching… we were doing. And it worked. Like, really worked. You learned a move, and five minutes later, you could make it happen. No fantasy. No tricks. Just effectiveness.
From Secret to Sacred
The earliest jiu-jitsu scenes on Guam were basically secret societies. Small groups, tight circles, quiet classes. But the moment it hit public in the early 2000s? Game over.
It went from garage rollouts…
To gym wars…
To school curriculums…
To Dusit Thani ballroom main events with $500 VIP seats and tuxedo crowds.
Now? You walk into a family BBQ—somebody’s gonna show you a triangle. You hit a middle school classroom—somebody’s wearing nogi under their uniform. We’ve reached the point where jiu-jitsu is not just a discipline… it’s part of the island culture.
The Rise of Guam’s Fighters
You know what’s crazy? The people that built this thing?
They weren’t Ivy League kids or pro athletes. A lot of them didn’t even finish high school. But they believed in this—like really believed.
And now look…
We’ve got fighters from Guam, Saipan, Rota training with legends across the globe. Opening gyms in the States. Competing in Brazil, Japan, the Philippines, even places you can’t spell on a map.
We’ve got kids from our backyards flying out and cornering fights in the UFC. We’ve got charter schools with full-time jiu-jitsu programs. We’ve got local promotions selling out hotels, with black belts, purple belts, and white belts—moms, dads, kids—cheering each other on.
It’s not just sport anymore. It’s family. It’s life.
More Than the Fight
The beauty of martial arts on these islands ain’t just in the wins. It’s in the sportsmanship.
I’ve seen standing ovations for knockouts…
But I’ve also seen bigger cheers for a fighter lifting his opponent’s hand in respect.
That’s the part that gets you. The part they don’t teach in technique class. That’s the stuff that changes a life—not just learning how to fight, but learning how to live better.
Jiu-jitsu teaches you how to survive.
But it also teaches you how to let go.
How to fail.
How to rise.
How to laugh after getting choked.
How to stay humble, no matter what belt’s around your waist.
A Global Bridge… With Island Roots
We’ve built something here that the world notices.
The fighters that walk through our mats? They’re not just future champions—they’re future leaders. Some go on to be entrepreneurs. Some become the best workers in their companies. Some stay to teach the next wave.
What started in a garage has now sparked global careers and lifelong brotherhoods and sisterhoods. Even if one gym wears red and the other blue, there’s an invisible thread that binds us.
Because when it comes down to it, this is all jiu-jitsu. And this is all Guam.
What’s Next?
Where do we go from here?
Anywhere we want.
From Rota to the Bronx, from Saipan to Sao Paulo—the Marianas are rising. And the next wave? They’re already warming up on the mats. In barefoot silence. On second-hand mats. In air-conditioned gyms or gravel lots.
They don’t need to be told what’s possible.
They just need to see someone do it.
So let’s keep showing them.
Let’s keep representing.
Let’s keep fighting—with heart, with honor, and with humility.
Because the world might not know where Guam or the CNMI are on a map…
But when that hand gets raised—
When that belt goes up—
When that island flag gets waved…
They’ll know.
BIBA MARTIAL ARTS.
BIBA JIU-JITSU.
BIBA MARIANAS.