I always wanted to learn a martial art since I was a kid, but my parents never let me, they did not want me to learn anything related with violence. Time passed, and I grew up and had to move to the countryside of Panama for work when I was 23, and never had the opportunity to learn.
Once I arrived in the caribbean side of Panamá where I live now, I saw an ad on the local newspaper: “Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - Muay Thai - Boxing Academy coming soon”
I thought to myself “this is my dream coming true”. I wrote to the newspaper asking for the person who placed the ad, got his email, and wrote to him offering my help to make this happen. He came down, we talked a little bit about each other, and he left the island with great expectations back to his country to finalize everything he needed to open his academy here.
I met Ray Quintana, our BJJ professor who had placed the ad, when he was a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu purple belt under Wellington Megaton Diaz. A lawyer by profession, very funny and charismatic guy with a huge passion for the sport who represents the Megaton Team.
Ray teaching kids the mount position:
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Back then in January 2014, when he was already living in Bocas with his girlfriend Kary, we were training on the porch of his house. I became his very first student in Bocas.
We spent a lot time searching for the right place for him to rent and open up the Academy. He found a garage type of building a little bit out of town, but easy to reach. People came and left, others stayed, and little by little the team started to grow.
This is a picture of the very first academy setup:
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Our team grew @angiebocas @lavikinga @evecab, and the vibe got stronger. Almost 2 years later, the team managed to find a better location in the center of town. We all moved the academy, painted and decorated the place, and prepared for Megaton to come down for the very first time in September 2015.
During his visit, some of us got promoted:
Our instructor Ray, always encourages us to compete. Well we did and always try to compete, as we all wanted to represent our Academy and make our professors proud!
You have to know that the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) community in Bocas is very small but growing, but the most important thing for us is the friendship we were able to build between us.
I do want to address that it takes a lot of heart and courage to leave everything and move to Bocas to open up an Academy like the one we have today. I never thought this sport was going to come to a small town in an island like Bocas, but it is thanks to Ray that we now have the very first BJJ academy on our beautiful tropical island: The Bocas Fight Gym.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has changed the life of several people already in Bocas. The kids class is big, more than 20 kids come to class every week.
Ray taught me that is never late to learn bjj, and I started BJJ at 33 years of age.
I wrote this post because it’s a way for me to thank Ray, now I can call him Professor Ray or Mestre Ray since last week Megaton promoted him to Black Belt. I feel very proud of him!
If you ever come Bocas del Toro, Panama and want to train, do not forget your gi (kimono) and let the Academy know. You can find them on facebook here
