Story by Brooke Goldman. Copy editing by Daniel Cohen. Photos by Jasmine Maddux and Bryan Salter.

Statesboro, Ga. - Quietly pacing the gymnasium floor and waiting for his turn to compete at the Arnold Gracie Grappling Championship, Chace Hawk, 29, will be fighting more than just his opponent.

A lot of unusual thoughts might run through your mind when standing across from a two hundred pound collegiate wresting champion whose only goal is to choke you unconscious or possibly break a limb, but for Hawk this scenario has become an everyday occurrence.

For the past 9 years Hawk has faced challenges greater than this. Leaving home and family in Augusta, Georgia at the age of 19 to live abroad, he learned the importance of self-reliance the hard way. Only a few years earlier in 8 years earlier in 2000, Hawk found himself completely alone and homeless on the streets of Dublin, Ireland. After his personal struggles, Hawk developed the personal philosophy of “get busy living or get busy dying.”

Living in a strange land
Arriving in Ireland with little more than two-hundred euros in his pocket, a naïve 19-year-old American student quickly finds himself homeless and disillusioned. Hawk describes his experience as “the lowest point in my life.” He said he went into this experience unprepared. He wasn’t so much bothered by the fact that he was hungry or didn’t have a place to sleep at night, but for the first time in his life, he relied on himself and and he failed. “The feeling of having absolutely nothing and that my life was completely out of control is something I never want to experience again,” Hawk said.

Getting a job in Ireland proved to be a greater challenge than Hawk had expected. Two hundred euros doesn’t last long while living in a major metropolitan city. “I thought that I would find a job in no time. I had a great work ethic and I was young and healthy, but I was also there illegally, so many job sites were apprehensive about giving me work.” said Hawk.

So he ended up sleeping in a Catholic church at night and pandering for a little pocket change. While in Ireland, Hawk was introduced to many other young travelers from around the globe, including Daniel Morias who had traveled to Dublin from the South American country of Brazil. Morias and Hawk quickly developed a friendship and taught one another about the culture of their home country.

Hawk describes Brazilian natives as very athletic and sport-oriented people. “All Daniel ever talked about was sports! I found myself forgetting about the horrible predicament I was in when I heard Daniel talk about his favorite sport, Jiu-Jitsu. The martial art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a combat sport that focuses on grappling techniques and originates its techniques from Japanese ancestor Jujutsu.

It was a martial art that Hawk had never heard of before, but eventually it would really shape the person who he would eventually become.

No place like home
Hawk eventually found a way to depart from his stay in Dublin, but his friendship with Morias was one that would continue even after he made it back to the United States.

“Daniel’s enthusiasm really inspired me to begin training Jiu-Jitsu myself. I did that for about three years while I worked off and on in Augusta, Ga. Eventually, I decided to go back to college and was accepted into Georgia Southern University.”

After his first semester at GSU, Hawk noticed that the campus did not offer Jiu-Jitsu, so he decided to start an intramurals club dedicated solely to the sport. “Creating a brand new club sport that no one had ever heard of at Southern was a lot easier said than done. I had to cross through so much red tape just to get the school to consider me,” says Hawk.

He had to first prove that there were at least 30 students that would be interested in participating in the class, and then he had to find someone qualified enough to teach it.

Hawk eventually found that person in Michael Renfro, a graduate student at GSU who had also trained for many years in Jiu-Jitsu and other martial art forms. Together Hawk and Renfro formed the Georgia Southern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Grappling Club.

A new era for Georgia Southern
“We created the Georgia Southern Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Grappling Club in response to many of my friends who were interested in the sport because of the growing popularity of television shows like Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride,” says Hawk. Those who were interested in the game could now find an avenue to participate in it.

Since its inception the club has grown by leaps and bounds. “We are always accepting new students into the club. It feels like every week someone new shows up to practice just because they heard about the club from a friend.” The club meets three times a week at 7 p.m., on Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday. There is no participation fee for current Georgia Southern students.

“Not all of them come on a consistent basis, but I don’t mind that so much. We usually have about ten people show up every week” says Hawk. Not only has the club grown in popularity, but it has also become the most decelerated intramural club sport at GSU winning several nation championships, most recently becoming the National Champions of the Arnold/Gracie National Grappling Competition.

Hawk says the real joy that he gets from the Jiu-Jitsu club is that it has become something that he can always look back on and say that he accomplished. “I put my mind to something, and I succeeded. That’s what’s really important to me,” he said.

One of the things that he enjoys the most is their annual competitions. He explained: “Technically, Jiu-Jitsu is an individual’s sport, but I don’t think anyone really looks at it that way. We are there for each other for support during our competitions and win or lose, we always have a great time.”