I can remember carrying mats out of the back of a truck in -40, only to carry them up another 2 flights of stairs. Piling them in a small little room, putting them out wall-to-wall and getting my first tastes of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Some of those first classes there would only be 3 or 4 students, but we learned a hell of a lot. Then after a couple hours of good training we'd pull all those mats up again, cart them down the same 2 flights of stairs, bundle up and load them back into the truck. Some of us would then help unload them off the truck and up 1 flight of stairs and down 2 more to their resting place until next class. It's like it was yesterday.
We eventually grew, and as with any family, when you grow, you need a bigger space. So we made the move to our current location. No longer did we need to take the mats in and out of the truck. We just had to take them up and down each class. Much less time consuming but still not ideal. In our second home our family has grown larger, stronger and closer but still without a sense of home.
Tonight was the turning of a new, exciting page for Alliance Arctic Jiu-Jitsu. After our class, the last in our current location, we all for one last time, pulled up the mats. Only this time we loaded them into the trucks. It was time to move our family again, only this time it felt different, it felt like we were moving home. The class had a buzz about it. We were a jovial family, filled with excitement for what we knew was coming. Even though we were seeing one of our brothers off, the spirits were high. How had our family grown? We had gone from a group of people where a few would stick around to help with the mat loading and unloading, to a family who all eagerly got in there vehicles to move the mats to their new home. When we got there everyone was talking about the new facility, imagining what will be, feeling the excitement as we put the mats back down. After about 45 minutes we all left and prepared for the future.
With our first class in the new Martial Centre facility on Thursday, our family will have a house warming party. The same parties we've been having 3 times a week since January only this time the party will be in our place, our home.
Congratulations Faron, you've raised and led your family to their first permanent home and we thank you!
2010 was a great year for our school, a recap on how far we have come in such a short time. From the small room at Northern Untied place with very few students, to the Church gymnasium were we grew into being a part of the Martial Centre where we will continue to grow. I would like to share a link to our blog which Mike and I vow to keep running with updated class info and progress. 
