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GC JiuJitsu

Hello my name is Gorilla Chris and my sobriety date is 31 May 2024. I represent team Newborn-Cascao Jiu-Jitsu in beautiful Spokane Washington.

I’m a brown belt under the incredible James Weed and this page is dedicated to my jiujitsu journey!

09/24/2025

I LOVE WHAT I LOVE 💕

08/14/2025

Two weeks till we go out there and put it on the line. Regardless of the outcome I’m grateful for my life today… I’ve worked so hard to come back from the depths of hell that is substance abuse! I’m so grateful for my life today and those I share it with. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting my journey!

07/21/2025

What is strength? Is it going to the gym and building muscles so one appears to be the master of the body or perhaps it’s learning a discipline so one knows how to defend themselves! I worked my whole life to achieve strength or at least what I considered strength to be. Yet my whole life I was dying on the inside. Trauma ruled me and dictated my actions on a daily basis. Substance abuse became my false idol and my only reprieve. I had that horrible victim mentality and with that negativity I became my own volunteer to my destructive behavior.

How do we change? For me the healing process was long and drawn out. Getting away from the two men that terrorized my youth my freshman year in high school. My Aunt Sherry and my Cousin Kelly showed me love and acceptance. Going into the Marines after I graduated where my mentors taught me perseverance and tenacious resolve to progress. Post service and most recently was when I had the biggest revelation. I finally started vocalizing all the deep dark s**t that I had locked away my whole life! I came clean about everything in my past that was keeping me sick.

I wake up everyday feeling blessed for my life in recovery! I start everyday with prayer and gratitude for the life my God has so graciously bestowed upon me. Then I thank him for the people that push me to new heights in all aspects of life!

Huge shout out to my friend for the invitation to his open mat at the in Liberty Lake. He is a world class black belt and someone I look up to and admire! Always a joy to scrap with some of the most savage grapplers in the PNW.

07/14/2025

I was terrified to get back into hot yoga after I got out of rehab last year. At a whooping 350lbs it was hard to do anything at that size, but I showed up. The first month was beyond challenging. I wanted to quit but the community pulled me through. They treated me with kindness, love, and compassion. The instructors showed me patience and the yogis cheered on my progress! I learned to be patient with my body and to honor it where it was. I fell in love with my body all over again and believe me I didn’t have anything kind to say about how I looked when I got out of detox last year! Pictures turned out wonderfully by from the Yoga for Jiujitsu class that my dear friend .mimi taught last week!

07/04/2025

What a MOMENTOUS MOMENT LAST NIGHT I’m still processing last nights PRACTICE! God is so good, recovery is such a blessing, and the people in my life today are the biggest gift living clean has given me. So after being away from the competition circuit for nearly six years I finally got to add some hardware to my collection. Man my old medals were definitely feeling neglected and were stoked to get some new friends. In pure Gorilla Chris fashion I cried like a blubbering baby during speech. If you listen to the reel you can totally hear them tears of complete joy and gratitude for my life today. It’s been a very long and challenging road back to where I’m at today but it’s been unbelievably worth it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the amazing people that continue to believe in me!

06/28/2025

So you lost to one of the number 1 brown belts in your age group not once but twice this week. So what 13 months ago I was homeless, I was addicted to every substance known to man, and I had given up on myself. I was in such a dark place I forgot how many times I tried to end my life. Yesterday was special for me and while I came up short I’m proud of the progress I’ve made! dude not only are you a savage on the mats your a world class human and it was an honor my guy. thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything. Representing Cascao jiujitsu is an honor and I can’t wait for the next one. .mimi I felt good yesterday largely due to all the work we do in the hot room. The BHY community is family and I’m beyond grateful for y’all. Thank you god for my life today… you have restored a broken soul!

05/10/2025

I’ve always dreamt I was meant for more but for my whole life I lived in my trauma, I let it define me, it consumed me, and it dictated my actions on a daily basis! Today I choose recovery, today my actions align with my beliefs, today I’m accountable for my actions, and today I choose to show up for myself! The best part about showing up for me everyday is I get to show up for others like this guy is an absolute savage and every chance to train together we’re one step closer to our individual goals!

01/02/2025

As I reflect on all the blessings 2024 brought me I am so blown away with how different my life is today! You know there was a point in my addiction I had given up on my goals and dreams… I had convinced myself that I would die addicted to drugs and alcohol! Alone and miserable with my only relationship to substance abuse. My life today is filled with connection to such wonderful people that only want to see me succeed. I have such immense gratitude to you all. I used to fantasize about getting back out there and competing again, but again I had lost faith that I’d ever get too. Every time I relapsed my addiction seemed to take me further and further away from my dream of competing. Now with it being within my grasp I am so overwhelmed with emotions words can’t express how much love I have for the community and my jiujitsu sister .mimi! To my coach and mentor you have fostered such an amazing program for us jiujitsu junkies and we all love you so much for all you do for the Spokane Martial Arts community! To my spiritual mentors and guides and your passion for Jesus Christ has overflowed into my life and I’m so blessed to have you guys in my corner. Lastly to my brother from another mother and the Five Mile Oxford House you brave men that are fighting daily to become men of honor, dignity, and respect may I always have such companions to trudge the road of happy destiny with!

12/26/2024

I’ve had the privilege of knowing Miss Rachel Burns for many years and after 17 years of hard work this wonderful human being earned her black belt in Brazilian Jiujitsu! Her dedication to her craft is inspirational and I’m honored to call her a friend and teammate. This is also a testament to her coach and the community he has fostered at Newborn Cascao Jiujitsu in Spokane Washington! This team is making such an impact here in the PNW from empowering woman, military veterans, municipal workers, and not to mention our incredible youth programs! I’m so blessed to be apart of such an incredible program.

12/07/2024

The greatest gift in life are the people that lift you up when you fall! It’s no secret that after my knee injury in Philadelphia I battled bouts of severe depression and substance abuse… I’ve been brutally honest about all of it because my hopes are to share my experience strength and hope so that my story may impact and possibly help someone else that’s struggling! I’m a bit over six months clean and sober from everything and while that doesn’t seem like much to most it’s a great deal to me. Before I moved to Philly .mimi opened up her community to me and continues to support and believe in my progression! Mimi and her husband Wes have always been incredibly supportive of my journey and are without a doubt two of the most wonderful humans I know. I’m still not in as good of shape physically as I was before I blew out my knee but I will be as long as I keep putting in the work. Mimi taught a wonderful 90min hatha class today and it literally kicked my butt! I’m truly humbled by the grind and will be bringing the best version of Gorilla Chris to the competition mats in 2025!

11/29/2024

What a dream my life is today! Yesterday on thanksgiving I celebrated six months clean and sober and today I got to meet one of my favorite jiujitsu/mma fighters . The community has built for us grappling junkies is legendary! Today I truly am counting my blessings. Thank you James and Sarah for allowing me to be apart of the Newborn Cascao Family!!!

11/10/2024

Happy 249 years old Marines!

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