Rod McLean loves teaching all ages as owner and instructor at Grizzly Jiu Jitsu in Barriere, attracting students from up and down the North Thompson Valley. He currently has 25 students participating in his classes, which are offered at the Barriere Seniors’ Centre on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 4 to 9 p.m.
McLean lives in Barriere with his wife Desiree, nine-year-old daughter Adalyn, and baby daughter Emilia, having moved to the area three years ago from the Lower Mainland. He is a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu and loves teaching kids martial arts.
“I really believe in martial arts and teaching kids how to protect themselves,” he says. “Their words mean something. They don’t have to hit someone to get out of a bad situation. Our martial art is no punching, no kicking and no striking. It’s all grappling, wrestling and submission. You control the person with your body and not with your hands.”
McLean was a longshoreman in the Lower Mainland, but while he was taking paternity leave during the pandemic following the birth of Emilia the young family decided to build a new life in Barriere. Adalyn has been training in Jiu Jitsu with her dad since she was two.
Grizzly Jiu Jitsu has been attracting even more attention recently, with one of their adult students — 27-year-old Jordee Beeds from Birch Island near Clearwater — winning the Kelowna Absolute in the Okanagan. The competition invites teams from the Interior of B.C. to compete in this annual event.
The pride in his voice is obvious when McLean describes Beeds’ performance during the competition. “Jordee went in and won four for four of his matches against everyone in his weight group, winning over competitors from Vernon, Kelowna and Kamloops. He won three on submissions and one on points, which is very impressive for a first-time competitor. He really dominated, coming in from a small town and surprising everyone.”
Following Beeds’ wins in the Okanagan, other students in training are now being inspired and “wanting to compete too”, says the instructor, noting that it’s “catching on like wildfire in the group”.
When asked about the belt progression, McLean explains “When you start out in Jui Jitsu, you have a white belt, which is the novice or beginner. The blue belt follows as another step forward with more experience and training. Achieving the purple belt is classed as intermediate, not quite an expert or a master, but you are right in the middle. Brown becomes more of an ‘expert’ level, with black being your final belt, something that everyone strives for.” Purple is the first teaching belt in the middle of the five belts.
Jordee Beeds’ enthusiasm about Jiu Jitsu is undeniable.
“I thought I’d give it a try and just loved it right away,” says Beeds. “I’ve always wanted to be athletic and the first time I got on the mat, doing the simplest moves and learning strategic tricks just made me want to keep coming back. It’s so much fun. This is the first time I’ve tried any type of martial arts.”
Beeds works at the Tolko mill in Heffley Creek. He and his young family were residents of Barriere before recently moving to Birch Island to build a life here where it’s such a good environment and people are so welcoming, according to Beeds. He and his partner are expecting a second baby, who will be a sibling for young Bear, named after famed adventurer Bear Grylls.
Talking about his new passion, Beeds says “I feel the healthiest I’ve ever been in my life and my energy levels are just off the chart.” He says he is now eating “clean”, with no sugar in months: “I feel so strong.”
The new competitor is now aspiring to become an instructor himself and keep progressing in the sport. He’s also looking forward to reconnecting with the news friends he competed against during the Kelowna Absolute.
When he competed in Kelowna, Beeds says his fiancée and McLean were cheering him on. “I could hear them saying ‘You’ve got this’ and I just felt pumped. I wasn’t going to give up. It meant so much to see [my fiancée] there supporting me!”
Beeds is already training for his next competition on Nov. 18 in Kamloops, as he dreams of one day starting his own martial arts studio and following in McLean’s footsteps.
