BOGALUSA, La. — It’s just like any other jiu-jitsu class, with take downs and sweeps, but what makes this class a little different is the mission behind it.
“The whole purpose of it was to give the kids out here that are living here in Bogalusa and the surrounding area here in Washington Parish, somewhere to come and they could train and it would get them off the street and teach them some type of life skill,” said Stephen Stephano who owns SNAP Fitness in Bogalusa.
When Stephano started jiu-jitsu classes in the back of his gym back in 2017, the goal was simple.
“I want them to be able to have the confidence,” Stephano said.
Coming from a life of absent parents and little guidance, Stephano says finding a gym is what saved him.
“Those life skills, the mental, physical and character disciplines, that I needed to have to make me successful later, that all is stuff I learn in a gym," Stephano said.
In a city where Stephano says there aren't many after school activities for kids, he saw a need.
"We have no movie theater, no bowling alley. These youth are just running the streets," said Jenny Keaton, whose 13-year-old daughter takes the class.
For Keaton, Stephano's vision is keeping kids off the streets and putting them in the cage for a lesson on staying disciplined when life wrestles them down.
“To watch these kids grow together and learn together, it’s just amazing,” Keaton said.
Keaton's daughter has been taking classes for two year and says the self-discipline learned on the mat, flips right into the real world.
“Her confidence has been a major boost. The kids come in here and they work so hard,” Keaton said. “To see where she began to where she is now, it's like, she's a little beast. I mean, it's amazing.”
Whether it's a kid being bullied or one with low self-esteem, Stephano says he's seen it all, but the importance of taking charge remains the same.
"Two or three weeks later, they're completely different kids, because they're so much more comfortable in their ability," Stephano said.
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