{"id":4204,"date":"2025-03-21T12:03:08","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T16:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/10q\/?p=4204"},"modified":"2025-03-21T12:03:08","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T16:03:08","slug":"rolling-with-it-how-one-temple-law-grad-builds-community-through-brazilian-jiu-jitsu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/10q\/rolling-with-it-how-one-temple-law-grad-builds-community-through-brazilian-jiu-jitsu\/","title":{"rendered":"Rolling with It: How One Temple Law Grad Builds Community Through Brazilian Jiu-jitsu"},"content":{"rendered":"

March 21, 2025<\/p>\n

Q: What\u2019s the first thing you do when you get stationed in Addis Ababa for work?<\/p>\n

A: Try to find the best jiu-jitsu training club, of course.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Or at least, that\u2019s how Temple Law alum Colin Stewart (LAW \u201910) sees it. His unique story is a great example of following your passion in life, wherever it might lead.<\/p>\n

Stewart\u2019s extremely readable book about this journey, written with his Ethiopian teammates, is \u201cBow Before No Man: The Origin of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Ethiopia<\/a>.” It\u2019s like Cool Runnings<\/em> meets Good Morning, Vietnam<\/em>, set at a small Ethiopian Brazilian Jiu-jitsu center during the middle of the Tigrayan war and<\/em> COVID. And it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

Before his law career or entrance into the world of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Stewart earned his undergraduate degree in Philosophy from St. Joseph\u2019s University. After graduating, he spent a year in China teaching English, which sparked an interest in international travel that has since taken him all over the world. Two years before starting at Temple Law, Stewart also traveled through Latin America with his brother before returning to the United States where he began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The sport quickly became a significant part of his life.<\/p>\n

Stewart was attracted to Temple Law in part by its China program and did in fact study abroad in Beijing (where he also coached jiu-jitsu) during his time here. While at Temple Law, he also trained 2 to 4 times a week, which as any law school student can tell you is super easy to fit into your schedule. But to him, it helped balance his academics and stress through physical discipline, even helping him to prepare for job interviews and networking.<\/p>\n

In 2021, Stewart was posted to Ethiopia for work. He searched for a gym where he could continue to practice, and eventually found Yared, one of the few jiu-jitsu coaches in the country. He then helped to build the community by inviting others to join their regular trainings and soliciting much-needed gear from abroad, as well as setting up an official status for their training center, so participants could move up in their pursuit of an elusive black belt. It is truly a tale of making something out of almost nothing\u2014and it would make an excellent movie.<\/p>\n

Though now stationed in Algeria (yes, he still practices jiu-jitsu there), he stays in touch with the Kao Academy in Addis Ababa. And that for him is the major takeaway from jiu-jitsu, that it can create a community from scratch anywhere in the world. Whether it\u2019s the mentorship of coaching or the intimacy between two sparring partners, it\u2019s the relationships that make jiu-jitsu a life-long passion for Stewart.<\/p>\n

His advice? Lean into your passion. This is how you\u2019ll find your people and enrich both your life and career.<\/p>\n

Sam Johnson is a 4LE and incoming Associate at Margolis Edelstein. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

March 21, 2025
\nTemple Law alum Colin Stewart (LAW \u201910) has combined his passion for Brazilian jiu-jitsu with his extensive international travel, helping to establish Ethiopia\u2019s first jiu-jitsu program while stationed there. His book, \u201cBow Before No Man,\u201d chronicles this experience and highlights the power of community built through this unique sport. Stewart serves as a great example of how following your passions can lead to meaningful connections and unexpected opportunities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":4206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,1870],"tags":[2922,1028,461,2923,423,128],"coauthors":[2532],"class_list":["post-4204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-authored","category-temple-law-alumni","tag-brazilian-jiu-jitsu","tag-career-advice","tag-china","tag-ethiopia","tag-interview","tag-temple-law-alumni","masonry-post","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"yoast_head":"\nRolling with It: How One Temple Law Grad Builds Community Through Brazilian Jiu-jitsu - The Temple 10-Q<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/10q\/rolling-with-it-how-one-temple-law-grad-builds-community-through-brazilian-jiu-jitsu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rolling with It: How One Temple Law Grad Builds Community Through Brazilian Jiu-jitsu - The Temple 10-Q\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"March 21, 2025 Temple Law alum Colin Stewart (LAW \u201910) has combined his passion for Brazilian jiu-jitsu with his extensive international travel, helping to establish Ethiopia\u2019s first jiu-jitsu program while stationed there. 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