Grappling with your clients is not only allowed — it’s the point at this business

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This story is part of WTOP’s Small Business September coverage. Each week, WTOP will be highlighting small businesses across the D.C. region, along with financial, government and other organizations that help our small business community thrive.

A day at the office for these folks means rolling around on the mat and even choking their coworkers and clients.

In this Small Business September installment presented by EagleBank, WTOP’s visited a martial arts school that also serves as a safe space for a more politically active community.

Highstyle Jiu Jitsu is easy to find in an alley off Ninth Street in the Shaw neighborhood of D.C. with its colorful hyena mural surrounding the front door.

“We just used to be laughing a lot, we’d have a lot of fun. And so, some folks would just call us the ‘hyena clan,’” said founder and instructor Benjamin Lagos.

Lagos said the focus of his gym is a place where people can feel unintimidated and unharnessed when they practice martial arts.

He described “the macho element in the jiu-jitsu culture these days” and said the sport has been very male driven.

“So many people, I think are, for whatever reason, hesitant to jump in,” Lagos said. “We like to be here to provide a space for folks who don’t feel safe training in gyms.”

They teach Muay Thai but specialize in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, including all its techniques from arm bars to rear naked chokes.

Lagos compared starting Brazilian jiu-jitsu with learning a new language of body positions, passes and guards.

“Eventually, you find yourself, you find your voice,” he said. “And everybody’s got their style, and so it’s really rewarding just kind of training with people over time and years and building that relationship.”

Jiu-jitsu also provides plenty of health benefits, both physical and mental, as well as self-defense training. It also builds plenty of other life skills outside the gym.

“The confidence that you build. … You learn how to problem solve. So, these are lessons that apply off the mats as well,” Lagos told WTOP. “This is a combat sport, so you’re bound to run into conflict on the mat, and working that conflict out, talking it out, coming to an agreement with people and respecting folks’ boundaries.”

Lagos opened Highstyle Jiu Jitsu in 2019 before the pandemic and trained at various spots before they found their final location.

“I didn’t want our space to kind of just go back to business as usual,” he told WTOP. “Because it wasn’t just the pandemic, it was also George Floyd. There was a lot of stuff going on in the country that is still going on, and so I think it’s only picked up from there. Just how much more political we’ve gotten as a club.”

Lagos said they are dedicated to many political and social justice causes. Earlier this year, the business hosted a training seminar that raised money to send aid to Gaza.

“I couldn’t run a business that was apolitical,” Lagos said. “Many of our members are involved in organizing throughout the city. We made an effort to make sure that that’s our focus.”

Lagos also emphasized that they “keep certain law enforcement off the mats that should be very welcoming for others.”

They even host a queer fight club run by MMA fighter Sabrina Brown.

“It’s been a nice thing for everyone who enjoys it. They get some self-defense training, some socializing,” Brown told WTOP. “It acts as a nice escape to some people. It’ll give you something else to focus on.”