Backed into the corner of a high school bathroom, four seniors were gathered around him, a freshman they weren’t familiar with. Even though the seniors had twice the advantage with a taser, he relentlessly punched one of the four and didn’t think twice. The remaining three were eager to attack him, and he took on the challenge. Needless to say, he emerged as the victor with little retaliation from upperclassmen moving forward.
Right off the bat, Joel's fighting spirit was brought to light when another student prompted a fight on the school bus in kindergarten. From then on, fights were a thing he sought out frequently and was involved in multiple times. During his eighth grade year, Joel and his close friend, Jared, were at a football game. There was a group of upper classman who they both had conflicts with prior to the day of the game and seeing each other initiated a fight. Two vs. six seems excessive and predictable, but it must’ve been an off day and being nervous to attempt at that was valid, yet they still lunged at it like any other effortless fight. Before it could end, staff got involved and removed them from the scene. He never saw his physical form as a disadvantage when it came to fighting, he was going to go for it regardless.
Since Joel had found a fondness for fighting, often he was watching UFC with his cousin Isaac. In 93’, he watched a UFC fight that involved Jiu Jitsu and saw that the physical form of the competitors was completely disregarded in this sport. As a lanky kid who was bullied, the sport made people seem near unbeatable, it’s not a surprise joining a sport like this was appealing to him.
Soon after graduating high school, Joel met his wife at Manhattan Christian College where his sister attended and was room mates with his wife. Sometime after, he married his wife in the living room of their shared home. Furthermore, they raised four kids and often were moving towns because he strived to create a better life for his kids and his wife. With no interest of his kids growing up being bullied as he was for being hispanic and growing up with little wealth, he was influenced by an idea of not being what you may call a stereotypical hispanic and worked continuously to provide.
Throughout all of this, he and his family landed in Ponca City, Oklahoma, where he found a gym that taught multiple MMA’s. For his health to improve, he quit his habits and attended Muay Thai classes in Oklahoma. He later found out that there was a Jiu Jitsu class right after his Muay Thai and was eager to switch over but was anxious about it, although in all his years he never let that stop him. He began attending and his health improved drastically. After another move to Norwich, Kansas, he was in a small town an hour outside of Wichita and had to find another gym he enjoyed attending. Shortly after he found Valor Martial Arts in Wichita and encouraged his kids to attend with him so they could maintain their health. Despite his efforts, only he and his second oldest continued to receive new belts and attend classes.
Receiving two jobs at separate times, two moves and he ends up in Salida, Colorado, where there weren't any MMA gyms. This was something that was disappointing for him, but it was only a small obstacle. Renting out a basement under Free the Monkey, he put some old mats from another school and a set of lockers and called it good. People began attending his gym and he found some amazing family friends through it. Each year, the gym came together and looked professional as ever, even if it was in a basement. Many gym members have attended tournaments and made many achievements as has he, earning his purple belt in Jiu Jitsu and continuing to seek higher. He owns multiple medals from all of his competitions and has framed his previous belts, he’s held and attended seminars taught by some of the best. It currently is and will continue to be something that impacted his life and improved it so greatly.
Joel grew and improved, there were many situations in his life that were difficult to get through, but he had made the decision from the start that it was himself over his problems. Your battles can be mental or physical, and regardless of this fact, they are still solvable. The sky is the limit and “we can be anything if we’re willing to put in the time and the work”.