For these military veterans, Brazilian jiujitsu is a path to healing and finding a new community

As a U.S. Army soldier in Afghanistan in 2013, Dan Kovalik got used to the adrenaline rush of bullets whizzing by while on patrol. Risking his life was part of his job as he radioed in Apache helicopters to protect other soldiers.

But by the time he retired from the Army in 2018, his 23 years of military service had taken their toll. He had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and was rated 80% disabled by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Kovalik moved back to his hometown of Johnstown, Pa., where he struggled to find the sense of purpose and camaraderie that had come so easily in the military.

“I was looking for ways to be part of the community,” Kovalik said. “Church. The VFW. Then I tried jiujitsu.”

Kovalik, 49, shared his story Saturday from the deck of the USS New Jersey, the decommissioned Navy battleship in Camden. The battleship was host to dozens of fans of and participants in Brazilian jiujitsu — a martial art that uses grappling and leverage to subdue opponents — for a day of competition.

It was part of a two-day jiujitsu seminar and fundraiser put on by the We Defy Foundation, a Texas-based nonprofit that provides qualified combat veterans with free local jiujitsu classes and mentors who help them reintegrate into civilian life. Veterans must have been honorably discharged and have a VA disability rating of at least 80%.

“The physical execution and mental chess game helps me to focus,” Kovalik said. “That, and just going out for a beer or dinner with friends afterwards.”

The program has over 500 veterans currently enrolled, We Defy Foundation executive director Kevin Linderman said. About 70% of those who enroll complete the one-year program.

“What makes it so different is, you have to do it with someone else,” Linderman said of jiujitsu. “When you’re grappling, you’re connecting with someone deeply. You’re both getting better through the process. It’s physical, and you’re learning how to operate under stress.”

It’s also one more way to fight an ongoing crisis, Linderman said. Though military veterans made up 7.6% of the U.S. population in 2020, they accounted for 14% of suicides, according to research published in the National Library of Medicine. The suicide rate among veterans is 1.5 times higher than that of the overall population, after adjusting for age and sex, researchers noted.

Though prevention efforts have shown some success, nearly 6,400 veterans died by suicide in 2023 — the most recent year for which data were available — according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Omar Feliciano of Brooklyn, N.Y., said he found Brazilian jiujitsu after struggling to process a traumatic event he witnessed while in the Marines.

“It really affected my sleep, my relationships with people,” Feliciano said. “I was irritable for no particular reason.”

After another Marine recommended the We Defy Foundation, Feliciano applied. Now, Feliciano benefits from the structure of attending jiujitsu class twice a week, keeping him physically active and building camaraderie with other people in his community.

The 33-year-old mechanical engineer said jiujitsu is helping him be a better father. He fought — and won — a jiujitsu match Saturday.

“We’ve seen that it has a significant impact in reducing PTSD, depression, and anxiety,” said Linderman, 52, who came to the sport in 2015 while dealing with multiple deaths among his family and friends. Much like the veterans he helps, Linderman said, he was caught in a “rumination cycle,” and he quickly learned that an evening of grappling with opponents was a great way to break that cycle.

The foundation was formed in 2015 by Army veterans Alan Shebaro and Joey Bozik. Though Bozik lost part of one arm and both legs from the blast of a roadside bomb in Iraq, he learned how to adapt his body to the martial art. In the process, Bozik regained much of the community he had been missing, Linderman said.

As the COVID-19 pandemic waned, interest in the group accelerated, Linderman said. The organization has gotten $250,000 a year in financial backing from Facebook head Tom Alison. With 2,000 people moving through the program so far, interest is only growing. Linderman estimated that there are hundreds of thousands of Iraq or Afghanistan veterans who qualify for the program — including some who are struggling to find connection in civilian life.

“I think that a way for people to stay connected to each other is one of the most important things right now,” Linderman said.