“Of course we are saddened that we had to close the gym but it was the best decision given the circumstances,” he said. “We have to do our part to help stop the spread and social distancing is the main way. So it was a no brainer and ultimately, we are content with doing the right thing.”
Cuki Alvarez explains an exercise drill to his young students during a Kids BJJ Class at the Trench Tech Gym. Photo by James F. Sablan Jr.
Alvarez said BJJ is “definitely a contact sport and we almost always drill techniques and roll with each other. After hearing and learning more about the coronavirus and how it easily spreads from person to person, we knew that we eventually had to stop that from happening and the only way was to close the gym indefinitely until we find a cure for the pandemic.”
Alvarez’s Zoom sessions consist of solo drills. “There are so many solo movements one can do to keep active with BJJ. We also get creative and make BJJ dummies with towels and blankets and pillows and put the Gi over them, and drill moves on the dummy. And of course, I drill with my wife as well.”
Meanwhile, all Trench Tech Gym member accounts are frozen, and no payments are collected. Once the gym reopens, Alvarez said, “we’ll continue where we left off.”
