Overview
Level up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu International has been spreading it’s non-for-profit mission throughout the world by establishing sister schools in impoverished communities and through sponsorship of underprivileged children training at our all our schools all across the Greater Los Angeles area (Level Up Studio City, Level Up Culver City, Level Up Woodland Hills). Level Up also supports the work of the International Jiu Jitsu Education Fund (IJEF) and other organizations such as PATH (People Assisting the Homeless), and the Youth Justice Coalition Los Angeles (YJC), in order to promote better communities and to give back to children and families in need.
Some of our current sister schools around the world include Level Up Guatemala, Level Up Brazil, and Level Up Inglewood. The children training at these school’s train for free and are sponsored by the support of both Level Up Social Outreach Program and the IJEF foundation. The children currently training in Guatemala and Brazil live in very difficult situations and have very little activities available outside of their Jiu Jitsu training. Through the effort of IJEF and the Level Up Social Outreach Program, the children are provided with a full-time professional Jiu Jitsu coach, Jiu Jitsu uniforms, mats and even facilities to train in.
Non-Profit Partnerships
International Jiu Jitsu Education Fund is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to bringing Jiu Jitsu to the underprivileged children around the world.
IJEF, trains and sponsors Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Instructors in places that lack access to the art of Jiu Jitsu – places with no martial arts academies, no gym mats, and no uniforms. This is usually third world countries or impoverished areas in the inter-cities of America.
The Jiu Jitsu coaches that IJEF supports, called “Roll Models,” are tasked with training as many children as possible, absolutely free. These coaches are sponsored by IJEF in order to provide professional Jiu Jitsu instruction for the children.
Level Up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is one of the first academies to join in IJEF’s effort to spread Jiu Jitsu to children around the world. With the effort of many other academies and people just like you, IJEF is now in many countries around the world and has affected the lives of hundreds of children through the positive power of Jiu Jitsu.
Find out more at the International Jiu Jitsu Education Fund official website: www.i-jef.org
We’re very proud to be supporting Chucos Charter School in Inglewood which is a part of the Youth Justice Coalition Los Angeles, helping at-risk youth between the ages of 16 and 24 years old to focus on earning their GED and also a pursuit of higher education. These kids are encouraged through activism and education to improve their lives and many have found Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to have a positive impact on their life pursuits. Some of the students decide to continue their training at our Academies across Los Angeles (Studio City, Woodland Hills, and Culver City). At all three locations we provide free Jiu Jitsu training for at-risk youth who cannot afford training and who qualify through application and scholarship approval process. These teens and young adults enjoy the same benefits through training in Jiu Jitsu, that other youth their age would without any financial hardship. We also provide transportation to certain qualified teens who cannot attend classes due to distance, or lack of transportation access.
Level Up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Studio City, Woodland Hills and Culver City are dedicated to providing free Jiu Jitsu training to as many underprivileged children in the Los Angeles area as possible. Through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu these kids find confidence, focus, discipline, mentors, and a sense of purpose. The PATH organization, People Assisting the Homeless helps the homeless population of Los Angeles to find housing, shelter, job placement and career opportunities. Many of the children of the Los Angeles homeless and homeless transitioning population cannot afford to take part in positive activities for obvious reasons. Level Up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu offers classes for these children in our academies across Los Angeles. The students and staff at Level Up also volunteer for various events with PATH including the Junior Advisory Board, donating free Self Defense workshops to benefit the homeless community, as well as bringing therapy animals to visit shelters in the Los Angeles area.
Guatemala
Level Up Jiu Jitsu in Guatemala is a thriving kids Jiu Jitsu school supported by Level Up Social Outreach Program and the IJEF foundation. Through sponsorship and the leadership of head coach Oswaldo Vasquez, long time student of Professor Erik Klinger, Level Up Jiu Jitsu Guatemala is dedicated to teaching impoverished children from the area of Xela, Quetzaltenango and the surrounding villages and towns of that area located in Guatemala. Children in this area are faced with an extreme likelihood of early pregnancy, high dropout rate from school, third world conditions, parental absence, and a limited access to activities of any kind outside of work, survival and poverty. Level Up Jiu Jitsu Guatemala now has almost 50 children training regularly for free as well as the various elementary school programs which coach Oswaldo visits to teach bully prevention classes outside of the main Level Up academy. We are very proud of the work that Level Up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has done in Guatemala and we also are excited about our various missions to Guatemala with the Los Angeles Jiu Jitsu students, to bring uniforms and other materials to the kids of Xela, Quetzaltenango.
Brazil
Level Up Jiu Jitsu Brazil Project is a non-for-profit effort to help children from slums and shanty towns in Sao Paulo Brazil. Our first project in Brazil is located in one of the largest and most dangerous slums in Sao Paulo Brazil, Itaquera. These children are subject to extreme poverty and little to no hope of escaping their dangerous environment. The Level Up Brazil Project focuses on teaching children Level Up Life Skills and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in order to help these children find focus, confidence, discipline, and most importantly, hope. Through the leadership of Professor Felipe Makoto Ono these children have been dominating the local Jiu Jitsu championships and are just in the beginning of their Jiu Jitsu training. Professor Felipe also focuses on building the children’s character and strong friendships which help them to find positive focus outside of their daily struggle inside the favela (Brazilian slum). We are very honored to help support Professor Felipe along with the International Jiu Jitsu Education Fund (www.i-jef.org) which helps to provide uniforms, and funding for the project children.
