November in Colorado always brings a wave of crisp cold, cozy meals and an air of warm gratitude. As always, we are thankful for each and every one of you that makes up our nine-school community.
We say it often, but it’s true: this place wouldn’t be what it is without you. We’d have no one to teach, we couldn’t improve and we’d never know how effective our martial arts curriculum truly is. You inspire us every day with your tenacity, drive, resilience and friendships that span way beyond the borders of the mats.
This year, to celebrate our gratitude, we wanted to share a few words from our leadership and HQ team. Like our students, each of these humans adds a unique flavor to the academy, and it’s thanks to their love and commitment that all ships of the Easton fleet stay afloat and headed in one, unified direction.
We asked all of these Easton leaders what they were thankful for, and here’s what they said!
Amal Easton
This Thanksgiving and every day, I’m grateful for our Jiu-jitsu family—a diverse community bound by shared challenges and lasting connections—for my own healthy family, and for the strength to contribute to this amazing life we share.
This Thanksgiving and every day, I’m grateful for our Jiu-jitsu family—a diverse, healthy community bonded through the unique trust built by strangling (and being strangled by) one another. It’s a connection that goes beyond the mat, enriching our lives in unforgettable ways.
Eliot Marshall
When it comes to my life, I am most grateful for my kids and my wife. Along with that is the ability and opportunity to move my life forward in the direction that I absolutely love. I am aware that not all of that is under my control, and I am very grateful.
As far as Easton goes, it has given me everything I have ever wanted in my life. It first allowed me to go chase my dreams as an athlete. And now, it provides not only a way of living that feeds my family but this fantastic community that has had a positive effect on the people in it, and I would say now the BJJ and Muay Thai community at large.
[The Cost of Leadership and Growing, ft Eliot Marshall]
Mike Tousignant
I’m grateful for my family, friends, and Easton (honestly they are all very closely connected).
When I was lost in my 20s, I was given the opportunity to be a part of this community, and it has given me so much in return.
I’m indebted to this organization for everything I have, and I will always give back in any way I can. Thank you for existing.
[Turning Up the Heat: Embracing Challenge for Ultra Personal Growth]
Sean Madden
In honor of Thanksgiving, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on what I’m grateful for, both in life and in our Easton community. To me, gratitude is one of the most important things we can practice on a daily basis. It is often far too easy to focus on the negative and focus on what we don’t have, instead of focusing on the things that we do have.
The reality of it is: I’m grateful for all of it. Everything that life throws my way (the good and the bad), I’m grateful that I get to experience it all. In life, I have an amazing and supportive fiancé by my side, along with our two dogs that we love and laugh at every day. I have a back injury that I’ve been nursing for almost a year now, but I’m grateful for that as well.
The injury has taught me a lot about myself and it has forced me to look at life through a new lens and be creative with how I approach life on a daily basis. It’s certainly not an enjoyable injury, but I do think there is tremendous value in finding gratitude even in things like that.
Within the Easton community, I’m grateful for so much. I’m grateful to have a career doing something I truly love and enjoy. That doesn’t make my job less hard or stressful, but it does allow me to remind myself that I’m doing something I truly enjoy every single day. I’m grateful to have some amazing people to work alongside as well. Being a part of something as special and unique as Easton comes with its challenges, but with the team we have in place, those challenges are easier to conquer.
I’m grateful for the students at Easton who choose to spend their time and hard-earned money to learn Muay Thai from us and want to be part of our community. Muay Thai is not easy. Training is hard more often than not. So, for people to seek that out and want to pursue that with us at Easton always makes me feel grateful. I’m grateful for our fighters who trust us in training and in the fight and represent our team and community at the highest levels. The life of a fighter is not easy, especially at Easton, and I am grateful they chose us to train them.
Gratitude is one of the most important keys to a happy life. If you can practice it on a daily basis and constantly find things you are grateful for, you will live life with a whole new perspective. I’m grateful for it all!
[Easton Community Podcast: How Brave Would You Be if You Felt Supported?]
Matt Bloss
Wow, such a simple question with so much behind it! This has certainly changed over a decade plus with Easton; going from an active Muay Thai competitor and class coach to Department Head in Arvada, to now GM of our Boulder School and Program Director for Kids Muay Thai. My ‘WHY?’ and the things I get out of training have evolved significantly.
In my 20s, when competing/fighting was my main focus, I would’ve said the support of teammates and the high level training room that is full of opportunities to grow (AFOG!). Nowadays, I can’t quite keep up in the Comp Team room like I once could, and have realized that that is okay!
Muay Thai and BJJ can be different things in your life at different times, and the art & sport side of what we do overlaps, but not always. That is what makes Easton so special. It’s not a fight gym, it is a Martial Arts Academy that promotes a growth mindset.
So nowadays, being on the other side of my 30s, and with a few more aches and pains than I once had in my day-to-day, I’ve been having a blast realigning my relationship with Martial Arts. I am so thankful that there is space for me to give back and teach from beginners to active fighters, and also have areas to train and continue to get better in my artistic expression rather than base my identity on the competitive results. And also, being only a year or less away from my own Son being able to start in Little Tigers at Easton!
I am beyond thankful that these academies and communities will always be there to help in any facet, regardless of my life circumstances, and regardless of my athletic ability. What a special blend!
[Easton Community Podcast: Operating From a School and Program-Wide Perspective]
Jordan Shipman
This Thanksgiving, I’m most grateful for my wife Elizabeth and our baby girl we’ll be having next year.
We are starting a family, and I feel like the luckiest guy on earth. I’m overwhelmed by the amount of love and excitement we’ve shared with our families and the Easton communities.
Elizabeth and I both feel immense gratitude — knowing our child is going to be so loved!
[Easton’s Kids Program Director Jordan Shipman: Seeing the Bigger Picture]
Carlos Espinosa
I would say the things I’m most grateful for in life are my wife and my daughter – Valentina and Lily, as well as the health and well-being of the rest of my family and close group of friends. Because of all of them, I have a life that I love to live everyday and look forward to the future of crossing things off of my bucket list with them along the way.
The thing I’m most grateful for within the Easton community is the amount of additional friendships and support I receive from being part of the community. I’m grateful for the feeling of bringing some sort of value to the members at Easton and feeling like I have a purpose in the improvement of my own life and maybe theirs too.
Being passionate about anything is contagious and watching others share the same passion as me is very motivating and pushes you to do things you never thought you would do or could do. Not without some support, anyway. They have made me a tougher, more resilient person by just beating me up over the years.
[Between Identity and Practice: What You Put In Is What You Get Out]
Nick Mavrick
In life, I would be lost without my children–my family. Where would I be without the absolute dedication to my family? I would be shiftless, self-destructive, careless with my relationships and without a rudder….or so it feels. They give me the chance to be Dad. They give me the desire to be my best; to try my hardest every day; to show my daughters what kind of men and what kind of treatment they should expect and that they deserve. Every day, I demonstrate to my daughters the kind of respectful and kind and loving treatment they should demand by how I treat their mother.
My relationship to Easton is similar. I am grateful to have the opportunity and the responsibility to help guide members toward their best selves. I am equally grateful for my professors who have done the same for me. I have mentors and friends all around me who push me to be my best for them, for the members, and for myself. I am grateful for the opportunity to pay forward all of the love, support, honest feedback, and the ability to be more and more self-aware that I have received from my Easton colleagues and family.
[Easton Littleton’s GM, Nick Mavrick: Redefining What It Means to Be the Best]
Phil Lietz
My gratitude for life is entirely composed of the health and well-being of my family and friends.
Rach and I had a son this year, Jun, and we couldn’t be happier.
With regard to Easton, I am beyond grateful for the chance to work with the most caring and hard working team I’ve ever been a part of. It’s an incredible privilege.
[Professor Phil Lietz: Art, Martial Arts, and the Search for Mastery]
Daniel Groom
Just some thoughts, Overall what I’m thankful for is this community more than anything. It’s helped me pursue a career path I’m very proud of and leaves me feeling fulfilled daily.
It’s given me many connections and friendships over the years with people I would have never met without this Martial art and a very special community. I’m so thankful for all the people who have believed in me and helped build me / given me the guidance I needed to be where I am today, as well as the continued support and help from all of the team here at Easton.
I’m thankful to be a part of something so special, and to hopefully help shape and impact others in positive ways as my peers and colleagues have done for me over the years as well. Thank you, Easton!
[Easton Lowry’s Daniel Groom: Creating Opportunities and Thriving Under Fire]
Micheal Phipps
I am grateful for the life I get to live. I have an amazing wife, two cute dogs who love me no matter what, and a healthy, strong body that allows me to do the things I love to do day in and day out.
I’m also extremely grateful for my job at Easton and the community I get to take part in every day. Without Easton, I wouldn’t have any friends or connections in Colorado. The community has made this state my home and given me a purpose that I didn’t realize I was missing previously. I say this all the time, but I am living the dream even though I never dreamed it when I was young.
[Easton Community Podcast: Creating a Career in Martial Arts]
Alex Huddleston
I’m incredibly grateful for the Easton community, where everyday I get to see students utilize BJJ and Muay Thai as vehicles for personal development to change their lives both on and off the mats. Watching teammates encourage one another and celebrate each other’s progress has reminded me of the unique power of martial arts to connect people and lift them up! I’m grateful for the commitment and camaraderie that define our culture—qualities that continue to shape my life daily.
Off the mats, I’m deeply thankful for my wife, Beth, who shares both my crazy passion for Jiu Jitsu, our pups, and the interconnected life we’ve created together. They ground me in a way that makes it much easier to appreciate what truly matters.
Van Tran
I am most grateful for the friends I have made while working and training here. There are work friends, and there are friends for life, and I feel like I have friends for life here.
Easton is my family and I think it’s pretty special to be so connected beyond the work aspect. There is lots of love and passion here, and I am so grateful to be a part of it.
Kate Eischen
This season, I’m grateful for the ability to work at something I truly love. Every day at my job, I’m surrounded by people working on refining their martial arts skills, but beyond that, they’re doing something positive for their physical and mental health.
I am lucky to be surrounded by that kind of positivity day in and day out. I’m also grateful that I have family I like spending time with when I’m not at Easton!
[Centennial’s New GM, Kate Eischen: Stepping Into Your Power]
Sarah Rochniak
