Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Josh Breckenridge. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Josh thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Memento Mori Grappling Club has its roots in my music and art career.

Years ago while working as a touring musician I started studying a philosophy called Stoicism. During those times on the road I found myself always living in the moment. My bandmates and I would go to sleep in one city only to wake up and drive to the next.

I often to would tell my bandmates “enjoy the ride”. I would say that bc I knew that while in the moment we were rockstars touring the country opening for big bands, our lives were halfway over and these moments we would always cherish, and these moments would die. It was around that time I heard of the concept of Memento Mori.

Memento Mori, which I came to understand meant “remember you must die” while sounding dark was a saying that had a deeper and more profound meaning. To me it meant that all things must die, so do everything you can in the present moment and enjoy the ride until it ends.

Little did I know at that time Memento Mori would later play a much stronger role in my life as I would develop a permanent heart condition called Atrial Fibrillation.

As the touring wound down I fell in love with the martial art of Jiu jitsu. It was a way to always be present, while also challenging myself. Jiu Jitsu is so humbling bc it is an art that takes so many years to get good at, and no matter how big and tough you are you will lose for a very long time and just “survive”.

A couple years into my Jiu Jitsu journey I started to get into competing and was devastated when I got my AFIB diagnosis bc it meant I had to walk away from something I loved doing that was providing me so much community and joy.

A few years passed and I tried different ways medically to manage the disease with little success. I became sad and began to gain weight because just walking around the block would make me feel light headed and dizzy sometimes.

During that time my music career also came to screeching halt when the pandemic ended all touring work for my band and we released our fifth album that had very little backing or awareness.

I began studying art drawing, digital painting, and 3D modeling sometimes 15 hours a day bc it was a goal I could work towards that my health didn’t affect. Deep inside of myself though I knew I had unfinished business in other areas of my life so I started to research a surgery to correct the heart problem.

After having a successful cardiac ablation I laid in a hospital bed all night and I couldn’t sleep. My heart was racing and I just stared out of the hospital window all night and thought about my life and the things I still wanted to accomplish. The things left unfinished. And how my life truly always was a gift. Time was a gift. Memento Mori.. Remember you must die!

I made a list of goals I wanted to accomplish, some I cannot share here because I’m a big believer of actions over words. But one dream was doing something in my community that tapped into my love of martial arts, especially grappling. That night I decided I would someday open my own gym.

I immediately returned to training and coaching Jiu Jitsu and found an amazing community. An opportunity presented itself several months later to open my own space and with the help of my closest friends we converted an old warehouse with our bare hands into a small beautiful grappling club. This is the birth of Memento Mori Grappling Club!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Memento Mori Grappling Club is a small business here in Ventura California where we teach adults and children a hybrid of Jiu Jitsu, Wrestling, and Judo fundamentals. The main classes are taught by myself and my amazing co coach Rex Coggeshall. He has been with me since day one and and was involved throughout the entire process alongside our other good friend Rick Neal. I am so grateful for both of them and their constant help in this endeavor. We are blue belts in Jiu Jitsu with a background in wrestling or MMA,. We are passionate about learning as much as possible and teaching everyone we can! Our club also does monthly clinics where guest instructors, black belts, and specialists from other academies come and teach clinics to our team! We are like one big family and we have built an amazing community where we all support each other on and off of the mats!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I have always been as friendly as possible to everyone I meet in the local grappling community and continued be a humble student myself, always willing to learn anything someone wants to teach me. I know this is a life long learning journey and I am always trying my best to build and connect with other coaches in the community.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Getting a heart operation put things right into perspective. I used to always wait longer to take the leap with new dreams or goals but with all I’ve been through I know you do not always have the luxury of time. Opening Memento Mori Grappling Club without being a black belt was a risk but I decided to not wait for the things I want and it has paid off for me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/memento_mori_grappling_club?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
• Other: Memento Mori Grappling Club Ventura, CA (805) 232-5599