After two decades of professional martial arts, coaching, and challenges, the 47-year-old \u201chomegrown\u201d Filipino fighter reflects on one of the most coveted achievements in martial arts he recently received.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s mixed emotions. I\u2019m so grateful\u2026 the reward is fulfilling.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Dave \u201cThe Scarecrow\u201d Galera, 47, earning his new black belt is more than just a rank; it is a physical symbol of his 20-year journey to becoming who he is today. Just a week ago, Galera was awarded his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt by Professor Edison Kagohara, the Founder of Overlimit Jiu-Jitsu Academy. This is a milestone he describes as \u201cone of the hardest belts to earn in martial arts.\u201d In a Facebook Post from Gridlock MMA\/Jiu Jitsu, Galera was \u201cgrateful beyond words for this life-changing opportunity\u201d and for welcoming him into the family.<\/p>\n
For the veteran fighter and coach, this achievement marks the culmination of his career that began in 2006. Galera\u2019s jiu-jitsu journey began in Reno, Nevada, at the established Charles Gracie Jiu-Jitsu academy. \u201cThat\u2019s where I started my jiu-jitsu journey basically,\u201d Galera recalls. \u201cI got my blue belt\u2026 the year of 2006.\u201d<\/p>\n
He moved back to the Philippines afterwards and dedicated himself to mixed martial arts (MMA), in which he trained under the legendary Team Lakay for 12 years. This new focus marks a hiatus for his Jiu-Jitsu progression and a detour that would make history. Galera built his professional career, which led him to join the Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) Interim Bantamweight Championship, in which he fought under Team Lakay Championship.<\/p>\n
In 2014, he became the first \u201chomegrown\u201d Filipino fighter to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), making his debut at the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night 34, where he faced Singaporean MMA fighter Royston Wee.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything, basically,\u201d Galera says when asked about the hardest part of his athletic career. \u201cThe training-wise was day in, day out\u2026 especially if you\u2019re, uh, competing in mixed martial arts\u2026 there\u2019s no slacking off. You have to work from morning, in the evening, and you do this day in, day out\u2026 That\u2019s really, uh, brutal sa katawan rin.\u201d<\/p>\n
After his retirement, he opened up his own gym called \u201cThe Gridlock Fitness Center,\u201d which was located in New Lucban. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, after six years of operation, he decided to close down his gym. \u201cWhen everything shut down, I decided to close down my gym,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
That closure, however, led him to a new opportunity where the newly opened Sniper Gym offered him a position to teach, allowing him to share his first passion with enthusiasts. \u201cI started pursuing my jiu-jitsu career from here onwards with Overlimit Jiu-jitsu,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Now standing as a coach, Galera navigates the \u201chard process\u201d of understanding the different goals of his students. \u201cI need to understand you,\u201d he explains. \u201cDo you want it to be just fitness? You want to be a competitor?\u2026 I\u2019m adjusting to your schedule as well. Pero, sooner or later naman, I can read, I can read you. Uh, because I handled so many students before and nababasa ko naman,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
When asked about what he felt when one of his students won in a competition in Cebu, he said he felt really happy with his progress. \u201cReally happy sa progress niya, \u2018yung growth niya sa jiu-jitsu\u2026 his jiu-jitsu skills are developed.\u201d He also said that he still goes to the basics when he needs to. \u201cWith jiu-jitsu, it\u2019s a sport that you grow and grow and grow\u2026 Even I have my black belt, I still go back to my basic\u2026 I\u2019m still learning from my students. I\u2019m still learning from my mentors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even earning his black belt, Galera remains humble as he continues to practice what he preaches. He added that he competed a month ago at the local Primal Grappling Tournament held in La Trinidad. After 20 years of waiting, he said he had a feeling of upgrading his belt but wasn\u2019t really rushing. \u201cIf they do hand it to me, I\u2019ll be really grateful. But if not, I can always wait and upgrade myself as well, just keep on learning.\u201d He said.<\/p>\n
Galera also shared his future plans for the time being, saying, \u201cHopefully, I could start competing again next year, uh, internationally\u2026 make this gym a lot stronger, and make more students, and keep everybody happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Galera continues to teach jiu-jitsu at Sniper Gym, notably owned by high-profile fighters Frank Loman and Stephen \u201cThe Sniper\u201d Loman. The gym is located at Plaza Natalia, Baguio City (Landmark: In front of Cosmopolitan, near KFC), which is open from Mondays to Saturdays. Rates for walk-ins would be P200 or a monthly fee of P1,500. Interested individuals can visit the gym or find their page online for more details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After two decades of professional martial arts, coaching, and challenges, the 47-year-old \u201chomegrown\u201d Filipino fighter reflects on one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290595,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,638,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-290594","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-mma","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}