Student of the Month (Adult Jiu-Jitsu program): David Yu

Hi David, please tell us a little bit about yourself.

My name is David Yu. I am a practitioner and competitor in the gentle art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for more than 10 years. I am also a Neurophysiologist and have been practicing Neurodiagnostics and spinal cord monitoring for almost 10 years. Currently, I live in the beautiful city of Los Angeles.
I relocated to Los Angeles in 1978. Raised by my aunt and grandmother I grew up in Eagle Rock and Highland Park for most of my life. As a teenager I spent 3 years in San Jose.
I graduated Eagle Rock High School back in 1996 before joining the United States Marine Corps.

What got you interested in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?

In my teenage years I practiced Taekwondo and Okinawa-Te Iron Hand Karate for a few years. At that time, my Karate instructor introduced me to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I’ll never forget the two 13 year olds who were skilled in Jiu-Jitsu sparring with me. They swept me, controlled and dominated the sparring even though I was a few years older than them and I knew Taekwondo and Karate! It impressed me a lot. Few months later, I took off to the Marine Corps right after graduating high school. I was the only person from my High School who went to the Marines. I served In the United States Marines Corps from July 21 1996 to Feb 4 2004.
During my enlistment I was stationed overseas in Okinawa, Japan. I served overseas in Iraq in 2002. During my time of enlistment I went to night school to earn an associate’s degree in Biomedical engineering. In 2004 I returned back to LA from my last duty station in Virginia Beach.

When did you start training?

Back home I bumped into one of my former Karate training partners.  He mentioned that right up the street there was a guy named Mike Rose teaching Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The Jiu Jitsu seed that was planted in my mind as a teenager started to bloom. The next day, I immediately went there and signed up. I will never forget the first day in class, thinking that I was in shape from the Marines. Jiu Jitsu was very intense and I had to take multiple breaks during class!  April 2004 is when my Jiu Jitsu journey began. I became addicted to Jiu Jitsu from the start.
I feel blessed because the Marine Corps was the best place I spent my 20s. Jiu Jitsu is the best place I spent my 30s up to date. I am 40 years old now and I am looking forward spending my 40s and beyond on this beautiful gentle art.

How often do you like to train?

I train as much as I can when I am not working. If work allows, I train twice a day. I like to train a minimum of 4-5 days a week. I compete whenever the SJJIF, or any local tournaments are available I would say I compete at an average of 5-6 times a year, probably more.
In the very beginning I had anxiety issues and competing helped me overcome that.

You like to compete a lot. How many times a year do you compete? What drives you to compete? How do you prepare for it?

At first I hesitated to compete and at times I even dreaded it, but now I love it. My motivation to compete is mainly Professor Gino and all my training partners at Silanoe Martial Arts. The motivation from fellow warriors inspires me to compete and train, it really drives me to compete. I prepare for competitions by incorporating strength training with kettle bells. I also drill and show up to class more often.

What tip would you offer someone who is just starting out?

The greatest advice I can give to beginners is to just give it a try. The worst that can happen is that you simply find that you prefer to play a different sport like for instance Muay Thai.  Make sure to hydrate plenty on your trial, and just take one step at a time. I notice a lot of injuries happen when beginners overstretch themselves and end up getting hurt. Listen to your instructor and your body so you don’t injure yourself.  It is a very humbling art but that’s where spiritual and mental growth begins.
Just keep showing up. There is no secret to getting good at Jiu Jitsu. You will get better by simply showing up to class. Often the most difficult part of getting good in Jiu Jitsu is not from being on the mat but getting there in the first place. It is at home, putting on the gi and walking to your car to drive to the academy.
That is the advice I would offer beginners.

Do you have any tips/advice or anything else you would like to share with us?

Jiu-Jitsu not only gave me the skills to defend myself, it created awareness of some of the bad habits I formed in my younger years. In my young adult years I was a very embittered selfish individual with low self-esteem. The low self-esteem, short fuse anger and bad anger management were things that the mats helped me deal with. Jiu-Jitsu gave me the confidence, compassion and calmed me down. This also holds true for the martial arts warriors that I have crossed path with and shared their wisdom and positive motivation. I see Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is as my fountain of youth. Had I not been training I would probably have been a bitter chain-smoking beer gutted depressed alcoholic. I could not have done this by myself. It is made possible by my extended family members: my Silanoe Martial Arts team mates and other Jiu-Jitsu friends.

Thank you

Did David Yu make you curious about Jiu-Jitsu?

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