Last week, Shane Creepingbear’s jiu-jitsu students, villagers Ezra Hardman and Beetle Creepingbear — the teacher’s daughter — continually troubleshot a difficult grapple. Hardman had the young Creepingbear in a constricting triangle, from which she repeatedly attempted to escape. After several attempts, she cracked the code: Hook the leg and make more space. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
Creepingbear hits the mats
- Published: August 20, 2024
Self-defense. Snap decision-making. Stress relief. Full-body exercise. In-the-moment mindfulness.
Jiu-jitsu has given Yellow Springs resident Shane Creepingbear all this and more since he started taking the martial art seriously over a decade ago. And now, with a weekly class he leads at the Wellness Center at Antioch College, Creepingbear wants to give these physical and mental gifts to anyone willing to hit the mats with him.
A brown belt who has trained and competed throughout the country, Creepingbear hosts a jiu-jitsu training class every Thursday, 7–8 p.m., on the top floor of the Wellness Center. Both longtime and would-be martial artists of all ages and abilities are welcome to attend, provided they have a Wellness Center membership or a $15 day pass to the gym.
“It’s like the human game of chess,” Creepingbear told the News last week, referring to the technicality and variability of jiu-jitsu. “Rarely are you ever fighting the same match twice. Just like the real world — off the mats.”
Coupled with his own passion for the sport, it’s that “real world” applicability that spurred Creepingbear to launch his weekly class. He said he tries to incorporate a pedagogical approach that is inclusive and trauma-informed, which ultimately helps his students know how to fight off assailants or anyone wishing to do harm.
“So, here’s what to do if someone puts their hands on you, strikes you or is on top of you,” Creepingbear said.
Beyond learning how to defend oneself, Creepingbear said, jiu-jitsu is some of the most engaging exercise a person can have.
“The workout is just so much more fun than getting on a treadmill or lifting weights in one place,” he said. “That stuff is so boring. Jiu-jitsu keeps your mind engaged while you’re exercising. With someone resisting your every single move, you’ll absolutely feel sore afterwards.”
It’s a more technical form of wrestling, according to Creepingbear — one that involves strategic locks, strangles, chokes, throws, takedowns, grappling, guards and a litany of other moves, depending on the situation and mind and the size of the opponent.
So, while all are welcome to attend Creepingbear’s class, he cautioned would-be attendees:
“It’s all up to your physicality and how far you’re willing to go,” he said. “Can you get on the floor? Do you mind someone being on top of you? Potentially getting your face smashed, your ear getting bent, your jaw getting pushed in — all with sweat dripping in your eye?”
Creepingbear continued: “There aren’t a whole lot of injuries, with it being a tap-out system, but it’s still a semi-combat situation. So, how do you get out of that situation?”
While it may sound like a war zone, Creepingbear said he goes to the mats with respect and compassion for both the sport and his students. He’s the dean of admissions at Antioch College, so he’s used to working with people from many backgrounds with a smorgasbord of physical goals. According to him, he’s worked with students as young as 10 and as old as 70.
“I try to be as personable as I can — to understand you and your goals,” he said. “I’m not going to make you wrestle with someone you don’t know or trigger anything you don’t want triggered. Take this at your own pace.”
That is, after all, what Creepingbear himself has done — taken his own jiu-jitsu journey at his own pace.
He began wrestling with friends and practitioners in his backyard nearly 20 years ago — often, he said, as “Taco Tuesdays that led to a bunch of sweaty dudes rolling around in the dirt.”
Eventually, as his attraction to the martial art waxed, he sought out professional training, read more about the technical aspects and wound up working with a Dayton-based gym that follows the professional lineage of fifth-degree black belt Carlson Gracie Jr. Over the years, Creepingbear has competed professionally and has risen through the ranks of the belts. He said he’s just about a year away from his own black belt.
“Competing is one of the most intense things I’ve experienced in my life. It’s just you, your opponent and a judge. Truly a fight or flight situation,” he said.
The silver lining? Creepingbear said competitions have steeled him for the stress of everyday life.
“To this day, every time I get nervous, especially public speaking — which I often do in my work with [Antioch College] admissions — I think, ‘Competing is a whole lot more difficult than this,’ and then suddenly, I stop panicking,” he said.
He continued: “And then there’s the mindfulness on the mat. When someone is trying to choke you, it’s hard to think about anything else. You can’t think about external stuff. It’s all a mindfulness exercise.”
For more information on Shane Creepingbear’s jiu-jitsu classes, which take place every Thursday, 7–8 p.m., in the Antioch College Wellness Center, contact the gym at 937-319-0100 or go to antiochcollege.edu/wellness-center.
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