Students at 6910N1 MMA and Fitness had two special instructors in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes on Monday and Tuesday.
Instructors Mike Lee and Maykon Barradas were in North Platte visiting Ryan MacDonald’s gym, holding a seminar on Monday and helping to hold classes for kids and adults on Tuesday.
“I hope the kids today just have fun training jiu-jitsu and have a new experience experiencing their black belt teachers, their coaches’ coaches,” Lee said. “One of the special things about martial arts is the lineage. We’ve been working behind the scenes all the time with Ryan, and now we come here and they can meet the professors and their parents can see them celebrate.”
MacDonald trained under Lee, and Lee trained with Barradas after Barradas moved to the United States from Brazil. Lee said he traveled 14 hours to be in North Platte while Barradas flew in.
“To see that affiliation spread to other states … is very special to me,” Barradas said. “To see my family’s name, go to other places in the US… nice to see.”
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Both Lee and Barradas presided over belt promotion ceremonies, with Barradas having the privilege of belting the kids who were transitioning to gray/white or gray. Both gave speeches to parents and children talking about the importance of the work they put into training.
Both Lee and Barradas have also partnered with current students in exercises, providing guidance and encouragement throughout the process. Between the two of them, they paired up with most of the class during warm-up exercises.
“I hope they come out today proud of themselves for the work they put in and encouraged by the experience with their professors,” Lee said.
