Us
BULWARK
The Bulwark Project is a corporate socially responsible effort focused on the aid, and prosperity of children in economically disadvantaged rural areas in Ecuador. The program’s initial phase will take place in Tarifa, a small town near Samborondon-Ecuador. This will serve as a pilot project for future expansion throughout Ecuador.
It is an initiative by Bjj Tripping, an online Jiu Jitsu community, and with the collaboration of Bruhwer Coffee LLC, Harvest of Ecuador Sweden, JJAA, Andean Mountain Coffee NY, and a team of professionals have all joined together to bring forth this initiative. The value and importance of Bulwark is in the development of a child’s self-esteem. Our main objective is to inspire the children to believe in themselves, and provide them with the tools to achieve their goals.
Physical violence is an active threat to every child, but not necessarily the most dangerous, on a daily bases, kids all over the world are suffering from verbal and psychological abuse from their inner circle. These forms of aggression might be seen as not being harmful, but they become an imprint of how a child sees themselves in the future. Eventually, they become easier targets to bullying and other forms of physical violence, this type of abuse frequently leads to mental depression.
It is known that martial arts impacts a human being in many positive ways. Strength, and flexibility are among the most common. But in reality, the impact from learning jiu jitsu transcends the physical benefits. Learning self-defense will help them build a strong sense of awareness, and self-confidence will allow them to set goals and work towards accomplishing them on a daily basis.
Mission
Vision
Main Goals
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Provide our children with tools to avoid becoming victims, or perpetrators of bullying.
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Create habits that will help them have a healthy lifestyle.
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Teach children the importance of discipline through the practice and study of jiu jitsu.
Board Members
Guillermo Lozano
Jiu Jitsu was a life changing experience for him. Through this learning he has manage to grow in many areas and aspects that go beyond the Dojo mats. As a student and a coach he strongly believe in Jiu Jitsu as a tool not only for defense but for personal growth, learning about self love and self care from any physical or psychological aggression.
Juan Javier Alarcon
Brown Belt by Juan Miguel Iturralde, Iturralde Arte Suave. Lawyer, Masters degree in Criminal Law and parent of 2 children, who is willing to share with them the same love and passion for Jiu Jitsu, but mostly teach them strong values such as discipline and dedication with constant example.
Karla Garcia
Jiu Jitsu apprentice not only as a martial art but as a way of living. Economist, BA in Culinary Arts, Masters degree in Supply Chain Management and Logistics, CEO of Bruhwercoffee Cia. Ltda. Producer of Ecuadorian Specialty Coffee from the Amazon and Loja regions, passionate about coffee, its process and her roasted coffee brand Wild Coffee.
Statistics
we do?
Principle ground to have BJJ as a helping method:
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To develop self-confidence through the study of self-defense as a tool.
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Pass values that can be applied not only on the mat but in their personal life.
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Create healthy habits that can become part of their lifestyles. And aid them when facing strenuous situations.
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One of the particularities of jiu jitsu is the minimal use of strength and violence. With this, we aim to teach kids how to defend themselves without making them violent or aggressive individuals. Jiu jitsu’s philosophy is to always respect your opponent and to control their aggression.
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Jiu jitsu, even though it is a martial art, is playful, and can be taught through games.
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The practice of martial arts, and sports in general helps children deal and control their emotions more effectively, as well as learning how to interact with other children.
help?
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Since 2012 Juan Miguel Iturralde, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, introduces the first educational program for children in economical disadvantage in his dojo. Being his academy located in Samborondon, the search began in the areas near by, that is why children from Tarifa were selected to learn Jiu Jitsu in the program, a small rural town from Samborondon. Since then Iturralde Arte Suave academy has taught children following the philosophy of Professor Juan Miguel, in which jiu jitsu is not only a system of personal and selfdefense, but an art of personal growth.
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In this foundation program Guillermo took his first steps as a teacher. In which, inspired by the work of Professor Juan Miguel, Guillermo sought to replicate this initiative and give it an echo. When the Bulwark Project was born, considering the experience of Professor Iturralde’s program and its success, it was decided to merge with them to create our pilot plan. Learning from the experience and expertise of the 8 years of work of the Iturralde Arte Suave Foundation, Bulwark Project takes charge of continuing the program, providing new lines of growth and development for the children who benefit from this program.
Project
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Physical violence is an active threat to every kid, but not necessarily the most danger-full, on a daily base, kids all over the world are suffering from verbal and psychological abuse from their inner circle. These forms of aggression might be seen as non-harm-full, but they become an imprint of how a child sees himself later on. Eventually, they become easier targets to bullying and other forms of physical violence or mental illness as depression. In order to gain an understanding of bullying, it is important to have some understanding of the nature of aggression and the various forms it can take. Since all bullying is aggression, bullying can also be classified as direct and indirect, physical and nonphysical. However, scholars often break down bullying behaviors into several types based primarily on the nature of the intended harm. The learning of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will have a positive impact in society as a whole. In the Bulwark project we believe we can lead as an example by measuring the impact of our program on a small specific community. Ayampe part of the community “Las Tunas” has been chosen by us since it is a small village in Manabí Ecuador with no more than 500 native people, making it ideal for our case study.