Support Martial Arts for Social Transformation, Ethics, and Rights (MASTERs)

Martial Arts for Social Transformation, Equity, and Rights (MASTERs) seeks to build community through the growth of martial arts. It does so by focusing on training instructors, supporting competitive athletes, and providing community support and mutual aid. MASTERs is working towards a world where the principle of “Jita-Kyoei” or mutual benefit and welfare is a common principle. We care about the fundamental worth of all human beings and the importance of community engagement. 

Judo and Brazilian Jiujitsu have repeatedly demonstrated a remarkable ability to assist people in personal growth. Stories abound about individuals who cite these activities as having changed their lives. That said, culturally they both struggle in different ways in the United States that are well documented. 

Expanding Judo

Judo in the United States has historically struggled to develop popularity. U.S. Judo is not competitive on the international stage; core to this problem has been limited access to high level instruction and limited instructor training. While there are programs through the United States Judo Federation and the United States Judo Association to train new instructors, they are often limited and poorly marketed. One of the goals for MASTERS is to ensure that students are trained from an early stage not just how to do judo but how to understand and teach it. Once instructors are certified, we will seek to help place them in locations where they can help to spread Judo. By training highly skilled instructors we can improve American judo overall, improve visibility and international competitiveness, and reach more individuals. 

MASTERS will support both the highest-level athletes and beginners. For the former we will work to support their efforts to reach the highest levels of the sport while providing off the mat mentorship to help them continue to progress in their daily life. In return for support, these individuals will help individual communities and raise the level of judo in the United States through teaching classes and seminars. Traveling to training sites outside the U.S. will assist them in bringing back international norms and practices to the U.S. For example, representatives training in Japan or traveling to competitions in Europe will broaden U.S. perspectives in the sport. 

Harnessing Brazilian Jiujitsu

Brazilian Jiujitsu, in contrast to Judo, is growing in popularity in the United States. Fees for training make it a middle- to upper-class activity, however. We will focus on providing access to excellent instruction and activity for low-income households. We will do this by providing training scholarships to families. This assistance will most often come in the form of free training provided by martial arts schools that we partner with. These dojos will donate memberships to MASTERS and we will work with the awardees. Alongside this, MASTERS will connect them with resources that will help with them on and mentor/support them off the mat. There will be a focus on interacting with school systems to help connect low-income households with opportunities.