While many of us try to separate and compartmentalize the various aspects of our lives, sometimes a blended line creates more space for them all.
Blue belt Joey Willett, Easton Lowry’s Kids Department Head and Director of Federal Programs for Aurora Public Schools, loves that his coaching time is also his family time. Not only do both of his two young daughters train Jiu Jitsu, but they see coaches like its GM, Daniel Groom, and co-owners Junior and Amy Fidelis as part of their extended family.
Ever since Joey found his Easton family, having dropped in within the first 48 hours of moving to Colorado, Jiu Jitsu has become a nonnegotiable family value, helping both him and his girls, ages seven and 10, find confidence on and off the mats.
As a life-long educator with a background in high school Shakespearean language arts, Joey values the importance of creating an effective, engaging learning environment. His love of art and understanding of literature, drama and music as a musician and former drum major has seeped inevitably into his teaching style.
Joey sees teaching and martial arts as both an art and a science, and his specialty lies in bringing the art. While he may not have the same technical Jiu Jitsu experience as some others, he can power a room by being the most optimistic, enthusiastic and bubbly coach he can – creating a performance that inspires kids to get to black belts.
“I’m an artist,” Joey says. “It’s always about the art, the music, the performance aspect.”
Like Jordan Shipman, Easton’s BJJ Kids Program Director and a former actor, Joey sees coaching kids in Jiu Jitsu as a performance – one that requires him to step into a role that inspires and uplifts. He views himself as a character in each child’s story, ensuring his part is positive, supportive and impactful.
Even on tough days, rather than bring his own day to the mats, he puts himself in the zone through a 30-minute transformation process that allows him to shed negativity, like a method actor preparing for the stage.
On the mats, he embodies the confident, energetic coach his students need, knowing the stakes are high – not for him, but for the 22 kids counting on him to set the tone. We’re always playing a character, and to Joey, every moment with others is an opportunity to play his best role and strive to be a better version of himself.
[Finding the Art in Martial Arts]
Finding Jiu Jitsu
Like most kids growing up in the 80s and 90s, Joey did a couple years of karate, but it wasn’t until he and his wife moved from South Mississippi to Denver that he sought out martial arts. The UFC had inspired him to try Jiu Jitsu, and on his first night in Colorado, Joey sent an email to Easton. By the time he woke up on his first morning, he had a reply.
Within the first six months of living in Colorado, Joey and his wife spent between 15 and 20 hours a week at Easton. They had no other friends or family in the area, and it became a way to spend time together, as well as their first shared physical activity.
Joey’s wife paused when she got pregnant with their first child back in 2014, but the event prompted Joey to weave himself deeper into Easton’s operational story. He told Ian Lieberman, Denver’s then-GM, that he was having a baby and asked if there was anything he could do to subsidize his membership. Knowing his background, Ian suggested that Joey help out with kids classes.
Joey began uke-ing (acting as the demonstration partner) for instructors and assisting with summer camps, and after the Pandemic hit, was invited to come help get Denver’s Kids Program back up and running. When his day job pulled him back into the office in 2021, Joey had to pause his role at Easton due to scheduling and distance, but, once the Lowry location opened up, he returned.
He’d been advocating for a location in the area for years, and as soon as he heard about Lowry, he reached out to its co-owners, Professors Junior and Amy. Joey was ready to clean toilets, mop mats and do admin, but instead Junior asked if he wanted to run the Kids Program.
Community that weathers challenge
Joey’s journey at Easton came at a pivotal time in his life during a decade full of change and navigating major life events. Since joining at age 29, he has witnessed his parents’ divorce, the loss of his father and best friend as well as his beloved dogs and become a father himself. Through it all, Easton has remained a constant source of support.
His Easton family became the first people he’d confide in and the first to check in on him during tough times. These connections, forged on the mats, gave Joey the tools and community to face life head on.
Now, at age 41, the mats have become a place of reflection and growth for Joey. Training alongside younger teammates — some in their early 20s or even high school — has also taught him to navigate the challenges of an aging body and shifting perspectives.
The lessons he learns on the mats about resilience and adaptation mirror those he applies to work, relationships and navigating life’s evolving landscapes. Seeing peers his age and older earn black belts inspires him, reminding him that growth doesn’t stop — it just takes on new forms.
[Easton’s Black Belt and Director of GMs, Ian Lieberman: the Journey Towards Wholeness]
Removing walls to create space
One of Joey’s biggest focuses across the board comes down to prioritization. At work, Joey helps school leaders decide how to allocate limited federal grant funds – a skill mirrored in how he prioritizes his own time.
“You might want 10 things and need 10 things,” says Joey, “but only have funding for five of them. As an adult, life and time work the same way.”
While he’d love to ski, golf or hike more, his dedication to earning his purple belt takes precedence. While it can be tough to be a parent, coach, work full time and find the space to train, breaking down the walls between work, hobbies, and personal life allows Joey to feed all of those individual aspects and not feel depleted.
He’s found that in life, as with on the mats, flexibility sometimes matters more than rigid focus. Just as coaching his daughters and training at Easton often blend seamlessly for Joey, he works hard to create a natural flow, letting work and life all bleed into each other in every facet.
“We’re not trying to create walls,” says Joey, “but rather trying to create appropriate spaces for everything.”
This ability to flow and find spaces of intersection and connection also comes in handy in Jiu Jitsu. If you’re fully committed to one attack on the mats, an opponent can easily throw you off; if you go in and find the flow, see what they’re doing and how you can fit, you’ll succeed from many angles.
[Flow Roll: the Essence of Flowing, In Life and On the Mats]
From finding options on the mats to breaking down the walls between teammates and friends, when you find more space in things, you also find more beauty in them. And one of the beautiful things about Easton is that success isn’t a singular vision — it’s a reflection of the diverse values and strengths we bring to the mats.
We especially see this in the variety of black belts that define what success can look like. From the physical dominance and competition style of some black belts to the teaching-focused route Joey strives for, every pathway is valid and celebrated.
People like Professor Ian embody the artistry of martial arts while others, like Professor Amy, take a sports and science competition approach. Whether it’s the competitive circuit, the science and sport approach or the art, there’s a model for everyone. Both Joey and his daughters can find inspiration for their own paths – from the way Professor Eliot Marshall openly navigates the challenges of aging to Lowry’s Coach Alex, a young brown belt striving towards his goals.
At Easton, you can be an artist, an athlete, an older practitioner or a kid and still find your place. It’s a state of constant growth that we see around us every day from people of all ages – an inclusive culture that welcomes everybody through values like stewardship, excellence and permanent growth.
