Neon Belly Jiu-Jitsu

05/28/2026

This weeks version of “Where are they now?” is a fun one because it honors the guy I was promoted to blue belt with, so that makes us blues brothers,😁 anyway, this weeks O.G. is Josh “Buns” Brown.

- Originally where are you from?
I am from Snyel̓mn, also known as Mission.

- When did you train at Cross Collar?
I trained at Cross Collar from 2015 to 2019, roughly this is the timeline.

- Where are you now?
I am not training at any club, but I plan to put in some work with Justin Dumontier this summer.

- Occupation?
My Ph.D. is in applied and cultural anthropology. Through post-doctoral positions, I have completed work documenting, better archiving, and curating Indigenous knowledge and languages. I am also focusing on revitalizing the Salish language.

- When did you start training?
I started training in Little Guy Wrestling in the 1980s, grappled and did some striking as I grew, and when I became a middle-aged man, I joined Cross Collar Academy.

- How many years have you been training total?
I trained at CCA for a few years and plan to continue training with others.

- What inspired you to start training?
I loved wrestling and missing being on the mats. I noticed Justin Dumontier, Sheldon Sheperd, and some of my old wrestling teammates were rolling, and I decided to join them.

- What were your thoughts after your very first class?
I thought this was different than wrestling and fun. I also like the low-key, non-cultishness of training at CCA. People were nice, and it was not like a fight club but a place to learn through structured instruction.

- What is your favorite memory of Cross Collar?
I have many great memories, but one of my favorites was the cold nights of hard training and the place turning into a steam room. People would push each other, but with smiles all on their faces.

- Who was your toughest roll (besides Justin)?
Many of the rolls were tough, but supposedly being ‘accidentally’ kicked in the head more than once by Gabe during drilling was rough. By far the toughest roll was with the whole crew during promotion. I shook for hours afterward, but I liked the challenge.

- What do you love about the sport?
I love that it is similar to wrestling, but adding locks and chokes made grappling more interesting and difficult. I recall that when I first started, I kept shooting in on Justin's legs and getting caught in a chokehold, and I wanted to reach the same level of proficiency at this skill. I also liked that it was taxing, but I did not leave practice with a pounding headache like from sparring and taking kicks and punches.

- Besides learning self defense, what else has bjj brought into your life?
BJJ reminded me that we are all fragile and simultaneously resilient meat sacks who can mentally and physically benefit from learning and training BJJ. It helped me learn to focus better in stressful situations, become more chill, and get to know some great people.

- Countdown to black belt?
Honestly, I am not sure this is in the cards for me. I contracted covid a few years ago and came out of it with rheumatoid arthritis. However, I am learning to manage the RA and plan to get back to some light training without having a digit ripped off.

*** Edited for spelling and/or grammatical errors.

Disclaimer* may or may not be a recent photo 🤣

05/22/2026

Going way back for another O.G. “Where are they now?” we have Westyn, who still manages to pop in from time to time and harass newly minted blue belts 😁
He didn’t know it at the time, but in the photo he was working on a Twister

- Originally where are you from?
Ronan

- When did you train at Cross Collar?
I started in 2016ish and have since become a phantom that will randomly pop up

- Where are you now?
I live in St. Ignatius

- Occupation?
Business Development Manager at Mission West CDP in Ronan

- When did you start training?
2016

- How many years have you been training total?
Too many to still be a white belt

- What inspired you to start training?
My dad was going to class and he was getting older but somehow more capable of beating me up so I had to balance the scales.

- What were your thoughts after your very first class?
I just got beat up and humbled by everyone but I feel great

- What is your favorite memory of Cross Collar?
Slapping Jarvis with my foot…still don’t know how my foot ended up where it did

- Who was your toughest roll (besides Justin)?
Probably Gabe…my wrists have never been the same

- What do you love about the sport?
Besides learning self defense, the endless learning that it provides

- What else has bjj brought into your life?
A great community of people

- Countdown to black belt?
Maybe never but I’ll keep showing up as an apparition from time to time and maybe I’ll get consistent again one day.

05/01/2026

Checking in with another O.G. of Cross Collar Academy Gabe Moxness, or “The Mighty Thor” because he makes his opponents mighty sore (nyuk nyuk) but no joke, Gabe is a beast and taught us all quick lessons about arm bars when he was just a teenager.

This is an older pic, Gabe is a now a Brown Belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu, which means he is just as good as Justin 😉

-Originally where are you from?
I was born and raised in the woods outside of St.Ignatius MT.

-When did you train at Cross Collar?
I trained off and on at cross collar from 2013-2020.

-Where are you now?
I now live in South East North Dakota.

-Occupation?
I farm with my grandfather.

-When did you start training?
I started training in September of 2013.

-How many years have you been training total?
I have been training off and on for about 12-13 years.

-What inspired you to start training?
My mother (Janet Moxness) got me into Jiu-Jitsu.

-What were your thoughts after your very first class?
I wasn't quite sure what to think after my first class, but after a few more classes I learned that there were little muscles in my knees that I had never really used before.

-What is your favorite memory of Cross Collar?
I have so many great memories from Cross Collar Academy it's hard to choose a favorite, but I would have to say my favorite memories were of the Christmas parties.

-Who was your toughest roll (besides Justin)?
My toughest roll was Jarvis Ashley, he would get ahold of you and slowly but surely make his way over your guard, into Mount, and crush you.

-What do you love about the sport?
I love the community and international language of Jiu-Jitsu, I have trained at a couple gyms in Portugal and though I don't speak Portuguese I was welcomed in an could communicate with Jiu-Jitsu.

-Besides learning self defense,
what else has bjj brought into your life?
Jiu-Jitsu has taught me mental fortitude and perseverance, even though something is difficult and uncomfortable doesn't mean that it can't be done.

-Countdown to black belt?
I am currently a brown belt training at Valor martial arts in Fargo ND, I hope to have my black belt in the next couple years.

04/24/2026

Take a minute and get to know someone we fondly as “The Bulldozer!” another O.G. member of Cross Collar 😁

-Originally where are you from?
Milnor ND

-When did you train at Cross Collar?
2014-2020?

-Where are you now?
I am here.

-Occupation?
I am a self-employed Elder and end of life caregiver, and I also help my dad and Gabe on my dad’s farm in North Dakota seasonally.

-When did you start training? Sometime soon after Justin started Cross Collar, I can’t remember exactly. I remember we were at the fitness center for a while and then moved over to the other place.

-How many years have you been training total?
I haven’t trained much in the last 6 years.

-What inspired you to start training?
I thought it sounded fun & interesting.

-What were your thoughts after your very first class? That it was fun and good exercise, but I had no idea what I was doing.

-What is your favorite memory of Cross Collar?
Battle ropes during conditioning class (jokes). I loved the competitions, especially when a group of us went to Boise. I really liked learning new techniques.

-Who was your toughest roll (besides Justin)? Gabe and Rose

-What do you love about the sport? It is not always about strength. Sometimes good technique would get me out of trouble.

-Besides learning self defense, what else has bjj brought into your life?
I have made many good friends and also have learned a lot about myself. I have learned how to better control myself when I feel scared or angry. It also takes a lot of discipline and commitment to see improvement.

-Countdown to black belt?
I think that would be a long ways down the road. I can’t imagine surviving another promotion!

04/17/2026

In this week’s “Where are they now?” We have the most “O.G.-est” of the O.G.s, Charity Cheff, down since day 2!
- Originally where are you from?
I am from Ronan, MT

- When did you train at Cross Collar?
Started training at CCA in 2014 (I think) I was at the second class.

- Where are you now?
Where am I now? My desk 😂😂😂 Now I am a proud (and inconsistent) member of the Neon Belly crew.

- Occupation?
I am the Special Services Director for the Ronan School District (someone once asked me if that was like being in the Navy Seals 😂)

-What were your thoughts after your very first class?
Thoughts after my first class was “sign me up for a second class!”

- What is your favorite memory of Cross Collar?
I have so many good cross collar memories!! Janet eating way too much pound cake before class, mystery bruises everywhere, Westyn barfing on the wall, Chee-Toes (iykyk), Justin’s smirk right before a wrist lock…so many good memories!

- Who was your toughest roll (besides Justin)?
Toughest roll. The 12 right before the purple belt!!

- What do you love about the sport?
I love the community of the sport and the confidence it brings. I also am forever grateful for the lifelong friendships that have started from training.

- Countdown to black belt?
Countdown to blackbelt. Got to get to brown first!

04/09/2026

Congrats to our newest blue belt! Anthony Yazzie battled a hard 12 - 5 minute rounds tonight as part of his promotion. Anthony has been one of our hardest workers since day one, but because of life and injuries, he has been a white belt for quite awhile! His Neon Belly family is so proud he stuck with and has leveled up! Congrats and thanks for all the hard rolls tonight!

04/07/2026

Twas the night before promotions, and time for another installment of "Where are they now?"

Let's catch up with some of the former members of Cross Collar Academy, with this week's O.G., Dr. Charles Van Rees!

- Originally, where are you from?
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up in the burbs outside.

- When did you train at Cross Collar?
2019-2021

- Where are you now?
Athens, Georgia

- Occupation?
University professor. I also do nature guiding on the side and run a blog to help people connect with nature.
(guloinnature.com)!

- When did you start training?
I started training in martial arts around 2003-2004 when I was a teenager.

- How many years have you been training (bjj) total?
I think my first time ever grappling and learning a little was as early as 2014 but I didn't start training consistently in BJJ until I started at Cross Collar

- What inspired you to start training?
Martial arts has been a long time passion of mine, I am always looking to learn more and improve. I had been aware for years that I needed to get into BJJ and get a better sense of grappling and Cross Collar was such an amazing place to do that.

- What were your thoughts after your very first class?
That this was a very chill group of people who also really knew what they were doing. I had tried to start training consistently at several gyms in the past and never really found what felt like a welcome environment.

- What is your favorite memory of Cross Collar?
Summer training then swimming in the reservoir.
(he means Mission Dam!)

- Who was your toughest roll (besides Justin)?
Jarvis always made me feel like I had no idea what I was doing. And Rose used to bow and arrow choke me all the time.

- What do you love about the sport?
I like how technical it lets you be; details become so hyper-important. When striking gets involved then there isn't time for a lot of detail and lots of things can go out of the window quickly. In BJJ there can be a rather cerebral element to it and the pace is more conducive to thinking. I also like feeling increasingly secure on the ground, where in the past I always felt out of my element.

- Besides learning self defense, what else has bjj brought into your life?
Friends for sure. Aside from some family in Kalispell I was pretty isolated when I moved out to Montana for my job. Cross Collar gave me a family so quickly and was one of the biggest things that made me sad to leave.

- Countdown to black belt?
If it happens, it will be a while. I took almost 2 years off recently because of cancer treatment (everything seems good now, though :) ) so my timeline is all mucked up. But I am excited to be back to training.

12/16/2025

Always good to see the homies come home for a visit!

Awesome Monday night class. Full mats with regulars and visiting familar faces. Everyone is welcome, come by and let's get better together.