Congratulations to one of my best students from the glory days of the blue basement in NYC – Doug Pelinkovic!! Doug was a true training room beast from days long before the squad and earned his stripes training alongside Georges St Pierre, Boris Benyanovich and others of that time. He always eschewed competition as he was an extremely busy businessman. The very first time he entered a competition was at fifty years old – he entered IBJJF Masters No Gi world championships and won the gold medal! Now he just went to Pan American championships and won another gold! He is a very fine example of a student who learned the whole game at a very high level to a point where he was extremely competitive even with the best athletes in the world in the gym and all while working an extremely busy professional life and raising a family. These are the students I admire the most. It's one thing to learn jiu jitsu to championship level – it's another to do it in your spare time while working full time and raising a family! Congratulations Doug! teaching every Monday night for years in your dojo in the Bronx will always be one of my favorite Martial Arts memories! Well done!!
