If well guided in their studies, it won’t take long for practitioners to realize Jiu-Jitsu is, also, about developing a more positive view of people and the world around them.
That means having healthy habits, respecting the environment where they live, saving water, and buying brands that respect people and the planet.
That is the case, for example, of the company GreatMats.com, which, besides being a GRACIEMAG partner, now decided to enter the fight for a cleaner and sustainable world.
The initiative of its owner, David Butler, its Wisconsin factory produces the first “green” mats on the planets, thanks to the solar panels that provide for all the company’s energy needs.
Butler, in blue in middle: a "green" Jiu-Jitsu pioneer
The panels set up next to the factory in Polk County cost 118,000 dollars in 2007, with some relief coming from discounts and government incentives. Based on what it spent before, GreatMats.com’s owner calculated that in ten years the entire investment will be paid off. But that, he teaches, is perhaps not the most important part of the story.
“If you believe, like I do, that we need to move away from coal and nuclear power for the good of the planet, then I think we each have a responsibility to help make that change happen in whatever way we can,” says Butler, who produces mats for Jiu-Jitsu, martial arts, yoga and gyms.
What about you, what have you, as a Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, done for your community and consequently for the planet?
