TODAY I MET RAFA

May 11

Today I met Rafa.

Crazy story. My good oil and gas buddy Ricky Menard runs the Battle Ground Championship. I’ve known Ricky since long before he got into the jiu-jitsu world. We used to work together at Premier Directional. He was the DD coordinator, and I was the MWD coordinator. We managed rigs across East Texas, West Texas, and the Northeast — probably 12 rigs total.

Ricky’s someone I trust. A lot.

So when things started going sideways with our instructor, I went to Ricky in confidence. Not everyone’s built for entrepreneurship, and I knew I needed help figuring out our next move. Ricky didn’t hesitate — he told me exactly who I needed to talk to.

That’s how I met Rafa.

We talked for about 20–30 minutes after the Austin Battle Ground Championship. I met his wife, Mel, and their two amazing kids. Right away, I could see it — the passion, the energy, the desire to build something real. Rafa has that spark, and I had no doubt he could be the one to help take the gym to the next level.

That same event was also Dino Jiu Jitsu’s first competition as a team. We had a great showing. Brooklynn competed for the first time. We quickly found out that competition might not be her thing, and that’s okay. It’s not for everyone. It’s hard, and it’s personal.

After the tournament, I went straight back to the gym. I took a bunch of pictures of the space and sent them to Rafa — doing everything I could to get him to come on board.