On Saturday June 20, 2026, Solarte’s head instructor, Jenn Lozada, received her black belt from Rob Biernacki and Joey Lopez. Over 50 people squeezed into our small training space to take part for the ceremony and the rolling session afterwards. Thanks to everyone who made it as well as well-wishers from far and wide. Below is a transcript of Jenn’s speech.
13 and a half years… Actually, when I really think about it, it’s been more like 35 years because I started training martial arts over 35 years ago. I was on a quest. I wanted to find The One and I kept on trying different martial arts over the years. So many. Some legit. Some not. And it took until I was 40 to find The One. I was definitely without a doubt having a midlife crisis. You hit that midlife crisis and you make some weird choices. Jiu jitsu was my weird choice. There was just something about it. The puzzle of it. The physical challenge. And the fact that I was really BAD at it. I was really good at forms and those kinds of martial arts. If I had to imitate movement, I was great at that. But then, all of a sudden, people were actually resisting back and I sucked at it and I was fascinated. It just caught me. I finally found The One.
Martial arts has been so incredible for me. I’ve learned so much doing it. I’m trying to find the right way to put it…I’m one of those “jiu-jitsu saved my life” people. Martial arts and jiu-jitsu have seen me through some of the worst times of my life. It helped save me in those moments because it forced me into the present. Someone’s trying to choke you…you’ve got to stay present. The physicality of it. But most of all, the people in my life that have supported me during those dark moments that I’ve met through martial arts. That’s been incredible.
But I have to be honest. Sometimes martial arts and jiu-jitsu have been the worst times of my life. So did anyone math the math? When did I start martial arts? I started when I was 18. I would have started sooner with wrestling, one of the great martial arts. But there were no girls wrestling programs. They weren’t allowed to wrestle. So I had to wait until I was 18. And as soon as I turned 18 and left home, I started training martial arts. I was like, “Yes, at last” And within the first week of training, I had my first concussion. And it was not my last. So it’s been part of the best parts of my life and some of the worst parts of my life.
There’s a REASON why I am so passionate about safe training after my experiences of 35 years in martial arts, particularly as a woman. There are some things that I have experienced and that’s why I am so passionate about HOW we teach here. I don’t just accept, well, my master is a great master and he taught that way. He’s a great person, so I’m going to teach the exact same way. Well, what if that doesn’t work for everybody? And I don’t accept the testimonials like, “Well, that’s a world class gym. He’s the best coach in the world and those students of his are the best athletes in the world. Right? But do we talk about the athletes that didn’t survive? There’s such a thing as survivorship bias. What about the ones that didn’t make it? Either they were so physically or emotionally wrecked that they didn’t make it. So those are some of the reasons why I care so much about HOW we teach here.
Another thing that I really care about here is the training environment we create. Again, there are REASONS why I care so much about creating a safe training environment. And I think the keystone for that is creating a situation where people genuinely believe that they can communicate with each other. Where you really feel like you can, that it’s safe to say something like, hey, I’m coming off a rib injury and it’s pretty good. I know the instructor told us to do this game, but let’s just grip fight instead. And you like it’s totally fine to do that. Or someone in my self-defense classes. You’re working on a position that you feel really uncomfortable and you say, “I can’t work in that position. Some things have happened there. I can’t do that yet.” And it’s totally fine to say that. Even with the little kids here, at a very early age, I think it’s very importat we teach the kids age as early as four and five, to have conversations with each other. I have them talk to each other and say, “I don’t like it when you hit me with the pool noodle. I don’t want to play that game.” And they’re very civilized about it. I don’t just make them apologize. People of all ages have to understand what wasn’t acceptable and what to do instead.With all those various experiences, both wonderful and terrible…it’s all a huge part of what informs why we teach the way we do here. And the kind of training environment that we value together as a community.
[Looking down at the belt] So this took 13 years-ish [13.5 years]. As some of you know, for the last eight years or so, I have struggled with health issues. Ones that have profoundly impacted my ability to physically do jiu-jitsu. In an ironic twist of fate, I have a condition that affects all my joints and makes them really rather unstable, randomly on different days. My shoulder one day, my hip another. Left elbow another day. So I’m not a world beater in competition. That was not my fate.
I’m not getting a black belt because I can do all the cool moves. Definitely can’t do those anymore. But it’s because of all of you. [Looking at her instructors] You have been kind enough to share your knowledge—Rob, Joey, Jake, Garret, Alex, Brian. You’ve shared your knowledge with me so that I can help share it with others. And all of you have been willing to let me teach you all these years. When I first started, I wasn’t particularly a good teacher, but you stuck with me and you gave me your honest feedback. Sometimes it really hurt, but “You were right—that made no sense. Thank you for that.” That feedback from you has been invaluable. It’s my duty to try and get better as an instructor every day. No matter what, for the rest of my life, my duty is to try and become a better instructor every day. That only happens because of all of you.
I know “black belt” is considered an individual achievement. But in this particular case, I really do think that it’s a community achievement. It just would not have been possible without all of you. Thank you so much for your support and your feedback and for sticking with this tiny lady who teaches jiu-jitsu—it’s so absurd, right? It is my hope that we’ll continue to learn together and grow together and do our very best to make this the best small town jiu-jitsu club that it can possibly be. So thank you for the black belt, everybody.
