The We Defy Foundation is celebrating 10 years of fulfilling their mission of providing therapeutic relief for disabled combat veterans through Jiu Jitsu. Starting in 2015, Professor Alan Shebaro and disabled combat veteran Joey Bozik recognized the impact Jiu Jitsu had on building quality of life, connecting to a positive community, inspiring and encouraging healthier living, and reminding oneself that regardless of your situation, you’re still in the fight.

The recognition of this powerful impact sparked the movement that is now the We Defy Foundation. Since the organization’s inception, We Defy has grown from funding one veteran at a time through individual seminars, to onboarding 35-40 veterans per month into the year-long scholarship program. The organization has provided over 1600 scholarships, has grown its approved gym network to over 1000 gyms nationwide, and supports nearly 600 veteran athletes training at any given time thanks to its dedicated force of volunteer ambassadors.

Although supported by strong anecdotal testimonials and a couple of 3rd party research studies, the organization has never had the opportunity and capability to truly measure the impacts of Jiu Jitsu on combat veterans and their ability to cope with military connected disabilities…until now!

“It’s a critical piece of the puzzle to truly demonstrate the impact of our program in strengthening the coping skills and mitigating the reintegration challenges that veterans face when returning from service,” says Executive Director, Kevin Linderman. Thanks to a generous gift from a motivated donor, the We Defy Foundation is now enabled and empowered to undertake one of the largest research studies of its kind to date.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for the organization, and we are seeing significant buy-in from our veteran athletes already,” says Ambassador, WDF Research Lead and PhD student at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Jack Kaufman. “We are fortunate to lean on a tremendous, interdisciplinary team here at UTSW, having researchers and clinicians with expertise in Veteran health, psychiatry and neuropsychology and expect to be in full swing by June of 2025.”

The study will be ongoing for the next 2 years and will be a mixed-method design leveraging assessments of depression, anxiety, and trauma symptoms, as well as civilian transition and functional status. Veteran athletes will also be interviewed qualitatively with the intent of learning about unique contexts for the results, truing-up We Defy’s understanding of what’s occurring along the timeline of the program and identifying future areas to evolve in other subsequent phases of the study.

All of this is in support of the organization’s effort to demonstrate the impact of the We Defy program on the veteran community and grow it’s capability to fulfill a vision where ALL disabled combat veterans are empowered to heal, thrive, and engage through the practice of Jiu Jitsu, fostering their physical and mental well-being, community connection, and self-reliance. The study will also foster engagement and awareness of the We Defy program within academic medicine, as well as spark new opportunities to engage with the scientific community and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

If you are a disabled combat veteran and are interested in learning more about our program please visit:

https://wedefyfoundation.org/pages/athlete-landing

If you would simply like to support the organization via donation, please visit:

https://wedefyfoundation.org/pages/donate-now

For more information or to contact the We Defy Foundation, please visit:

https://www.wedefyfoundation.org