Veterans in Gis

About Veterans in Gis

Veterans In Gis was founded by a former Navy Corpsman and former Marine Corps Infantryman. The two met practitioning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Springfield, MO. In the summer of 2020, they decided to join forces to create a charitable, non-profit organization that focuses on the two communities that have impacted their lives.

Mission

Veterans In Gis was created to introduce veterans to the physical and psychological benefits of training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In order to accomplish this, Veterans In Gis provides paid tuition for training and training uniforms (gi) for approved athletes.

Benefits

Brazilian Jiujitsu has many benefits!

Flexibility

Active stretching before class and the stretching that takes place during training can improve flexibility.

Patience

A technique executed at the right time is more effective, helping to teach patience to wait for the correct time.

Confidence

You learn to defend yourself in live, resisted sparring against people of all shapes and sizes, creating experience and confidence to handle yourself in real life.

Adaptability

Each person must become an expert on their own body, adpating to their own specific abilities and attributes to apply the fundamental concepts being taught.

Coordination

A practitioner must learn to effectively learn to use all four limbs simultaneously.

Meet the Founders

Here are the people that help run Veterans in Gis

Nick Lewis

I am Nick Lewis; I’m a husband and father to two sweet kids. I am also a co- owner to Springfield BJJ - the headquarters for Veterans in Gis. After graduating college with my Bachelorette of Science degree in Athletic Training, I joined the Navy in 2005, where I served as a US Navy Corpsman for 6 years. During my time, I was deployed to Iraq with Weapons Company, 1/3 Marines stationed in Hawaii, which is also where I met my beautiful wife. Later, I was stationed on board the USS Porter, DDG 78, out of Virginia Beach. While in Virginia, I was introduced to Jiu Jitsu. After my first class, I was hooked. Ever since then I have been continuously training for the past 10 years. During that time I have moved around the country until finally ending up here in Springfield Missouri. During my 10-year career in Jiu Jitsu, I have competed numerous times, earned my black belt, made many friends, and have come to understand the mental and physical benefits Jiu Jitsu gives you. I hope to teach those benefits to disabled veterans through this non-profit. My goal with starting Veterans in Gis, is to help build a strong community of veterans by arming all of our recipients with the mental and physical tools they will acquire while practicing this gentle art. I look forward to making a positive contribution to these 2 groups – veterans and Jiu Jitsu.

Josh Crocker

Greetings reader! Allow me to introduce myself. I am Josh Crocker. I proudly served in the United States Marine Corps from June 2002 to July 2010 as a 0351, anti-tank assaultman. During my career I also earned secondary MOS as a 8530, range coach and 0931, marksmanship instructor. My first duty station was with Weapons Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment. My second and last duty station was with the Inspector-Instructor Staff of Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment. I have three deployments to Iraq during phases 1, 3, and 6. Upon departing the Marine Corps, I gained some college credits, worked as a volunteer firefighter for a bit, and worked in retail loss prevention. In 2015, I decided to dive into the electrical trade. Since then, I have worked my way up from electrical apprentice to a member of the design department for a solar energy company that does residential and commercial installations. My son and I began our jiu-jitsu journey in September of 2018. Watching him develop a different sense of confidence and learn discipline from another angle has been awesome to watch. My wife joined in the spring of 2019. I love that this has become a family journey. I enjoy the relationships I have built with all of the other students I train with. I also enjoy the struggle and the physical learning and problem solving that is required. To me, there is a similar sense of espirit de corps among most of the students, especially when supporting each other at tournaments. Nick and I started this organization to expose other veterans to the benefits of training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. To us, there are clear physical and psychological benefits to the training experience. We want to help as many veterans as we can through scholarships, tuition discounts and gis. I would like to see us partner with veterans outdoor groups to share skills (marksmanship, survival, hunting, fishing...etc.). I would also like to coordinate with other organizations like ours for seminars or open mats. Hope to see you on the mats! OSS

Join the Team

Veterans in gis sponsors veterans in their jiu jitsu journeys. If you'd be interested in being sponsored, apply by clicking the button below.

Freedom through grappling