For Christopher Alfonso, Brazilian jiujitsu changed his life. 

In 2016, he was living in Philadelphia and his poor grades at university landed him in deep trouble. “I was just not doing well in school, and I was basically a knucklehead, honestly,” Christopher said. “I got dismissed from my university twice because of my poor grades, and thankfully, I had a really patient academic adviser who actually pleaded my case to a committee.” 

Facing the daunting task of getting his grades up while he navigated life thousands of miles away from his Pohnpei home, he called his cousin who was in New York also attending school. Christopher told him he was struggling, and he needed something to keep him on the straight and narrow. His cousin suggested jiujitsu. 

“‘It’ll teach you hard work, discipline, routine, perseverance,’” Christopher recalled his cousin telling him.

It worked. As a beginner, Christopher made a lot of mistakes. But that only fortified his resolve. Something clicked. Brazilian jiujitsu made him hungry for improvement, and that mindset bled into other aspects of his life. 

“I just kept staying consistent with it, and eventually I started to see that my grades were improving too. And years and years later, after sticking with it, I was able to graduate from the university, and I was actually able to be on the dean’s list at one point. It did a lot of good for me,” said Christopher, who is Pohnpeian and Filipino.

Now almost a decade later, the 27-year-old hopes to share some of that life-changing discipline with people at home in Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. In 2020, he launched FSM Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a nonprofit jiujitsu club.

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Growing up, Christopher recalled how his cousin introduced him to judo and then BJJ. His cousin would scour the internet in the days of dial-up and spend hours loading a 30-second video clip to learn new moves. He’d then teach Christopher. After the cousins graduated from college on the East Coast, they returned home and they wanted to keep up with their training. Without any jiujitsu gyms in Pohnpei, they leaned on each other and scheduled times to work out together. It wasn’t always easy. Work kept them traveling and often when one of them was on island, they’d reach out to set up a workout only to find the other had flown off to Yap or Guam or Japan. When they’d travel, they’d drop in on jiujitsu gyms, banking what they learned to show each other when they returned. 

But in 2020 that changed.

“FSM had one of the strictest lockdowns in the world. So we couldn't go anywhere for, like, almost two years, a little over two years,” Christopher told The Husk. 

Suddenly, the cousins had all the time in the world to train together. It also was apparent they wouldn’t be dropping in on any gyms any time soon. Faced with that uncertainty, the cousins thought: Wouldn’t it be cool if they started a small jiujitsu club here? 

Beginnings of FSM BJJ

The pair were already sharing space in the local boxing gym, rolling around in the boxing ring whenever the boxers weren’t using it. 

“Some people didn’t know what we were doing,” Christopher said. “They’d be intrigued and interested so we’d show a couple techniques.”

Once the seed of their own jiujitsu club was planted, Christopher said he pulled the trigger and bought a 12-foot-by-12-foot mat.

They recruited about a dozen others who were interested in learning jiujitsu, set a weekly training schedule, and put their new mat to use. 

Since 2020, interest and membership have swelled, prompting Christopher to buy another, bigger mat so that students have enough space to train. 

For FSM BJJ students, there is no cost to join.

“A lot of people keep saying that we should be charging but at the same time, I keep telling myself it’s going to be a barrier of entry to a lot of students here because a lot of them can’t afford that,” Christopher said. “I don’t feel comfortable charging that.”

“All we ask of our students is just be consistent, show up, be a good student,” he said. Many FSM BJJ students are in high school and college, and some are adults who have long since graduated from school.

The club is deliberate in recruiting athletes, as well. Current students often refer new ones, and the club makes it a point to choose students who can commit to the training schedule and who have a good attitude. FSM BJJ wants members who show up and who they can rely on to be a training partner who is safe and respectful, Christopher said.

Seeing the students transform as they progress through the sport has been the most rewarding part of starting FSM BJJ, Christopher said. He’s seen students come to their first day of classes timid and hesitant. Their shoulders are slumped, and they’re not as comfortable in their bodies.

Over time, “they’re more confident,” Christopher said. “They’re healthier physically and mentally. And that’s what it did for me when I was that knucklehead student out in the states. So it’s nice.” 

One of their top students started training with FSM BJJ when she was a freshman in high school and when she graduated at the top of her class, she gave FSM BJJ a shoutout in her valedictorian speech. She was the first female in the club to earn her blue belt, Christopher said, adding that she set a standard that the other athletes look to attain.

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‘That makes us proud’

Other FSM BJJ students now have dropped in at other gyms and they come up against jiujitsu athletes who are impressed with their skills. They ask them where they train out of, and the students proudly pronounce: FSM BJJ.

In February, FSM BJJ competed in the Copa de Marianas in Guam, and the team returned with 13 medals. Ahead of the tournament, the organization set out to raise funds, and they hoped to bring at least seven students to Guam for Copa de Marianas. The group was able to raise enough to bring 10 students. To come back home with 13 medals, considering they were up against athletes who train every day, sometimes two or three times a day – that was more than the club hoped for at their first tournament.

“It just goes to show that, you know, we can hang. We can go toe to toe,” Christopher said. “That makes us proud that, OK, what we’re showing (the students) is working.” 

Now that they’ve got a taste of victory, the club has its sights set on another tournament in Guam in January. They continue to train and hope to bring home another impressive medal haul after that competition.

To aspiring Micronesian jiujitsu practitioners, Christopher encouraged them to have fun, maintain a beginner’s mindset, and not be discouraged by loss. “My coaches have been training for more than 25 years collectively and they’re always saying, ‘You know, the reason why I still keep doing this is because it’s so much fun. I’m still learning,’” he said. 

For those looking to start their own club or business, Christopher said one quote that’s stayed with him is: A strong why can overcome any how. 

“I love that quote. If you really are passionate and serious about something, you’re going to find a way to get it done,” he said. 

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Support FSM BJJ 

Follow FSM BJJ on Facebook and Instagram, @FSMBJJ. Donations are also always welcome, Christopher said. Reach out to FSM BJJ for more information about donating.