So you want to make friend doing Jiu Jitsu?

One of the best things I have experienced since taking up BJJ is the friendships I have made both in our club. Most of my friends outside of my job at the University are from Cedar Valley Jiu Jitsu. Of course we get together to train, but we also hang out to watch fights, attend each others' wedding and birthday celebrations, and have yearly events.

One of these time honored events is the "Tri De Halsor." What is the TDH you ask? The TDH is a wonderful invention from our head instructor Greg. The TDH is conducted on the first nice day in May. It consists of swimming, biking, and running. However, these events are conducted while drinking (some choose to partake in libations as their form of hydration).

We swim 400 meters then run downtown to several Cedar Falls bars. Cedar Falls has a great downtown and the establishments are usually pretty excited to get such a large amount of business on a random Saturday after college has dismissed for the summer.  After 4 miles of running to bars (this is Greg's measurement, I think it is less), we mount our bikes for 20 ish miles of bike riding.

Hydration is taken seriously, so people pack various drinks (water, Powerade Zero, a camel back of  Captain and coke). This ride takes us around the Cedar Valley trail system. Cedar Falls/Waterloo has some of the best trails in the Midwest. We average 1-2 wrecks a year. This year I teamed with a friend and rode a tandem bike.

Finally, we end up at a restaurant to finish the evening with dinner and drinks. This year was Buffalo Wild Wings, so we could watch the Junior Dos Santos vs Frank Mir fight.

I can safely say that Jiu Jitsu has afforded me far more friends in the Cedar Valley then I would have ever made otherwise. Here is a picture of us all shortly before the ride.