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Matthew Byrd

@byrdjitsu

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Birds don’t think about flying, they just fly

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I bite my lip until it bleeds.

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🇺🇸 SERVING THOSE WHO SERVE US. 🇺🇸

For the past few years, HICSMMA has been proud to offer FREE weekly training for First Responders and Military as a small way of giving back to those who serve our community and country.

🥋 Every Thursday at 6:30 PM

This includes:
🚑 Paramedics & EMTs
🚒 Firefighters
🚓 Law Enforcement
🇺🇸 Active Duty Military & Veterans

We’re a proud to partner with Tim Kennedy and the Heroes Program, sharing the mission of supporting the men and women who dedicate their lives to serving and protecting others.

Whether you’re looking to learn new skills, challenge yourself, relieve stress, or simply find a great group of people to train with—we’d love to have you.

No membership required. No cost. Just come train.

Know someone who serves? Tag them, share this post, and help us spread the word. 🇺🇸

📍 HICSMMA
🗓 Every Thursday
⏰ 6:30 PM
🥋 First Responders & Military train FREE

You show up for our community. We’d be honored to have you show up on our mats. 🇺🇸

And just to clarify—this is not a separate First Responders-only class. This is one of our regularly scheduled classes, and every Thursday we invite First Responders and Military to step onto the mats and train alongside our HICSMMA members completely FREE. #HICSMMA #FirstResponders #Military #Veterans #LawEnforcement Firefighters EMT Paramedics BJJ JiuJitsu BowlingGreenKY HeroesProgram

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One of the first verses that ever really hit me was James 1:2:

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds…”

I understood this through years on the mat.

The struggle on the mat is the struggle of life. If you want to progress at anything hard, eventually you have to understand that the hard stuff is what makes you better.

But James doesn’t stop there.

“…because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”

I always come back to that word: KNOW.

Do you KNOW that the testing of your faith produces perseverance?

I do.

And since truly surrendering my life to Jesus and having a relationship with God through Christ and the Holy Spirit living in me, I’ve started seeing another part of this passage differently.

“LET perseverance finish its work…”

LET.

That word matters.

You have to allow the trial to do its work. You have to surrender. You can fight against the suffering, become bitter, become prideful, blame everyone around you, or you can allow God to use what you’re walking through to shape you.

“…so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Surrender is hard.

But when you make the conscious decision to stop wasting your suffering and allow God to use it to grow your character, everything changes.

Thank You, Jesus, for Your Holy Spirit and for what You are doing in my life.

Continue to use me as Your servant. Let me be Your hands and feet while You remain the Head of my life. Let my life point people toward You.

All the glory belongs to You, King Jesus.

If you’re trying to follow Jesus, grow through the hard things, and become the man or woman God is calling you to be, follow along. I’m sharing what Jesus is teaching me through Scripture, life, suffering, and the mat.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
James 1:2–4 NIV

#JesusChrist #ChristianMen #Discipleship #Faith #JiuJitsu BJJ

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Vegas🤠🥇🎲🎰

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SOKY BJJ it’s a family function!

Open mat today at 2pm 🤙

#bjj #sokybjj #bgky #brazilianjiujitsu #bowlinggreenky

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The class was full and not an open space on the mat. We were closing out the day and packing up to leave. Coach @dwallace_hicsmma was there along with several other awesome peeps.

I got smashed today, but that is part of the roll, trying to move and work, without having jiu Jitsu gravity take over. lol

Tomorrow is Gi training hopefully I can be there foe the advanced class! Everyone have a blessed day!

#hicsmma
#BowlingGreen
#jiujitsu
#openmat
#nogibjj

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NYC 2026 dump

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Pan IBJJF Championship 2026.

Grateful for my coaches and teammates. Thankful for the experience and for being able to compete.

Back to work.

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Never driving again.

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Goodbye all of Matthew and Austin.

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Hot!

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