Alliance Eastlake Jiu-Jitsu Foundation

06/19/2026

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06/19/2026

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🎙️ Grappling with Grace Podcast | Eric UreskWhat does it take to ...

06/19/2026

Some people leave a legacy not by how long they live, but by how deeply they impact the lives around them.

When Ty was 17 years old, her 7-year-old sister lost her battle with brain cancer.

Most people would understand if that kind of loss hardened a person. Instead, Ty chose to let it shape her.

What struck me during our conversation wasn’t just the tragedy of losing a little sister. It was the way her sister continues to influence the way she lives today.

When life gets difficult, when obstacles seem overwhelming, Ty often asks herself:

“What would my sister do?”

And the answer changes everything.

Her little sister fought a battle no child should ever have to fight. She faced pain, uncertainty, treatments, and fear. Yet what Ty remembers most is that she didn’t complain. She kept fighting.

That perspective became a compass for Ty’s life.

When training gets hard…
When a fight camp gets exhausting…
When grief resurfaces…
When life feels unfair…

She remembers a little girl who faced far more than most adults ever will.

Not to minimize her own struggles, but to place them in perspective.

That’s one of the most powerful lessons grief can teach us. The people we lose don’t always leave us. Sometimes they continue to guide us through the values they lived, the courage they modeled, and the example they set.

Ty isn’t simply carrying the memory of her sister.

She’s carrying her sister’s strength.

And in many ways, every time she refuses to quit, every time she chooses courage over comfort, every time she keeps moving forward despite pain, she’s honoring a life that ended too soon by living her own life fully.

That’s a beautiful legacy.

Not just remembering someone who has passed.

But becoming the kind of person their life inspires you to be.

PurposeThroughPain KeepFighting StrengthInAdversity HopeAfterLoss LiveWorthy MentalToughness Inspiration TyStrong 🦋♾ENS4EVER♾🦋 Dawna Gonzales-Gonzales

06/19/2026

If being hard on yourself worked, it would have worked by now.

For years, I thought the answer was more discipline, more punishment, more self-criticism. I thought if I beat myself up enough, I’d finally change.

But that’s not what changed me.

What changed me was learning how to love myself correctly.

Not selfishly.
Not narcissistically.
Not by buying myself things or chasing temporary pleasures.

I knew how to love other people. I knew how to sacrifice for other people. But I had never learned how to care for my own soul.

And when I finally did, everything started to change.

The drugs lost their grip.
The alcohol lost its appeal.
The po*******hy lost its power.

Because those things were never the solution. They were attempts to soothe wounds that needed healing.

Real transformation began when I stopped treating myself like an enemy and started stewarding myself like someone God had entrusted to my care.

You cannot hate yourself into becoming whole.

You heal by learning who you are, whose you are, and by loving yourself enough to do what is healthy, holy, and life-giving.

The relationship you have with yourself sets the ceiling for every other relationship in your life.

Learn to care for yourself well. Learn to speak truth to yourself. Learn to extend yourself the same grace God has extended to you.

That’s not weakness.

That’s where healing begins.

SelfWorth IdentityInChrist Transformation HealthHopeHealing MenHelpingMen Resilience GraceOverShame Dawna Gonzales-Gonzales

06/19/2026

What does resilience look like when life breaks your heart?

I asked Ty about one of the hardest moments of her fighting career, and I never expected this answer.

The week of a fight, her grandfather—someone she was incredibly close to—passed away.

Most people would have understood if she stepped away. No one would have questioned it. But she showed up anyway.

Not because she wasn’t hurting.
Not because she had it all together.
Not because she felt strong.

She showed up because she made a commitment.

Sometimes resilience isn’t winning the fight. Sometimes resilience is simply walking into the arena when your heart is carrying more weight than your body.

Through the loss of her younger sister, the loss of her grandfather, and the many battles life has placed in front of her, Ty continues to move forward. That’s not toughness alone—that’s character being forged in the fire.

As believers, we’re reminded that strength isn’t the absence of pain. Strength is continuing to walk faithfully through it.

“We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” — Romans 5:3-4

This conversation left a mark on me. Not because of her record, but because of her resilience.

WomenWhoFight KeepShowingUp StrengthThroughAdversity HopeInTheHardTimes 🦋♾ENS4EVER♾🦋 Dawna Gonzales-Gonzales

06/18/2026

Why are you still training? Dawna Gonzales-Gonzales Misbehaved Women Pod - w/Dawna Gonzales

06/17/2026

For years, I thought my strength came from a man named Pepper Brooks.

Pepper was fearless.
Pepper was violent.
Pepper was tattooed.
Pepper never backed down from a fight.

What I discovered during my sabbatical in Missouri—through counseling, therapy, prayer, and deep healing—was that Pepper wasn’t really me.

He was a protector.

He was the armor a wounded little boy created to survive trauma.

The little boy inside me learned early that the world wasn’t always safe. So he built a man who was tough enough, intimidating enough, and dangerous enough to make sure nobody could hurt him again.

And for a season, that protector served a purpose.

But eventually, what helps you survive can also keep you from healing.

One of the greatest lessons I learned was this:

The war was over, but the soldier was still standing guard.

I didn’t need to become tougher.
I didn’t need to become harder.

I needed to become whole.

Real strength isn’t found in how much damage you can do.
It’s found in how much healing you’re willing to embrace.

Today, I’m grateful for Pepper Brooks. He helped me survive.

But I don’t need him anymore.

The scared little boy who was driving the grown man is finally growing up.

And as he heals, I’m discovering that peace is more powerful than intimidation, vulnerability is stronger than bravado, and wholeness is greater than survival.

Sometimes becoming a man isn’t about building a bigger warrior.

Sometimes it’s about healing the little boy who built the warrior in the first place.

Faith Leadership Growth MentalHealth DoHardThings HealingJourney Purpose Wholeness Pastor JiuJitsuLife Dawna Gonzales-Gonzales

06/17/2026

“I asked Professor Dawna, ‘What would you say to the woman who feels broken, lost, or unsure of her worth?’

Her answer was simple, but powerful:

‘Go take it.’

Not permission.
Not validation.
Not approval.

Take it.

Because your worth was never something another person had the authority to give you in the first place.

Too many women spend years waiting for someone else to tell them they’re enough. Waiting for a relationship, a title, a compliment, or an achievement to finally make them feel valuable.

But worth doesn’t come from what someone says about you.

It comes from what you decide to believe about yourself.

The Stoics taught that we cannot control how others see us, speak about us, or treat us. What we can control is how we see ourselves.

When you hand your worth to other people, you hand them the keys to your peace.

Take them back.

Stand up.
Lift your head.
Walk forward.

Not because life has been easy.
Not because you haven’t been hurt.
Not because you have all the answers.

But because you refuse to let your scars become your identity.

The world may have wounded you, disappointed you, abandoned you, or underestimated you. But none of those things get the final say.

You do.

The moment you stop asking, “Do I have value?” and start declaring, “I have value,” everything begins to change.

You don’t find your worth.

You recognize it.

And once you recognize it, walk boldly in it.

Go take it. Not from the world.
Dawna Gonzales-Gonzales Misbehaved Women Pod - w/Dawna Gonzales
From the fear, doubt, and lies that have been keeping it from you all along.

Mindset Stoicism Growth Healing Purpose Confidence DawnaGonzales DoHardThings

06/17/2026

“I asked Professor Dawna, ‘What does jiu-jitsu actually teach you?’

Her answer stopped me in my tracks:

“Jiu-jitsu teaches you who you really are.”

Not who you pretend to be.
Not who you want people to think you are.
Not the version of yourself you post online.

The mats have a way of stripping away the masks.

When you’re tired, frustrated, under pressure, and facing adversity, your true character rises to the surface. Jiu-jitsu reveals how you handle fear, failure, discomfort, conflict, and uncertainty. It shows you where your ego gets in the way, where your confidence is real, and where growth is still needed.

That’s why combat sports are so powerful.

They teach humility when you’re winning too much.
They teach perseverance when you’re losing.
They teach discipline when you don’t feel like showing up.
They teach courage when everything in you wants to quit.

As a man of faith, I’ve learned that pressure doesn’t create character—it reveals it.

The same way trials reveal what’s in our hearts, hard training reveals what’s in our minds and spirits. Every difficult round becomes an opportunity to learn, adapt, and grow.

The goal isn’t just becoming a better grappler.

The goal is becoming a better husband, father, leader, friend, and disciple.

Because when you learn how to stay calm under pressure on the mats, you become better equipped to stay steady under pressure in life.

Sometimes the greatest lesson in jiu-jitsu isn’t learning a technique.

It’s discovering who you are when things get hard—and deciding who you’re going to become because of it.**

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” — James 1:2-3

CharacterUnderPressure DoHardThings GrowthThroughAdversity Perseverance HealthHopeHealing Dawna Gonzales-Gonzales Misbehaved Women Pod - w/Dawna Gonzales

06/17/2026

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