This is Tyy Withrow @tyywithrow He was born and raised near Seattle, Washington.
Tyy got his black belt from @james300foster
He started jiu jitsu in 2007 right out of high school. Tyy didn’t do any sports in high school, but as soon as he took the first class, he knew this is something that is needed in his life. Jiu Jitsu has played a huge part for Tyy, he has met most of his friends through it, and travel the world doing Jiu Jitsu media.
In April of 2017 is when he first picked up a camera, his ex gave Tyy her old camera to take photos of her at a tournament.
Later that year he was able to shoot at No Gi Pan, which felt like a huge deal. After moving back to Seattle, he wanted to keep doing more photography in jiu jitsu, so any local tournament Tyy could be present at, he would take photos. In 2019, he had someone who was like a mentor to him at the time ask “Why would people book with you when they can book with me? ! have the better gear and setup.”
It really took Tyy momentum away. He started doing less and less work, and then, of course COVID hit. After some time off from shooting, his ex asked Tyy to come with her to Dallas for No Gi Pan in 2021. He was able to get onto the media team, and since then, he has done every major tournament in the US, as well as quite a few opens. He currently shoots for GracieMag as a freelance photographer.
Tyy does his best to make sure new photographers are welcomed and help them with anything that is needed. He wants to make sure no one feels the way he felt when starting out.
“Blowing out someone else’s candle doesn’t make yours shine any brighter.” Is a quote that has stuck with him for quitesome time and is an important reminder that tearing someone else down doesn’t make us better, but when we can come together, we are better. Tyy had so many opportunities thanks to photography and jiu jitsu, he has been able to travel internationally to go do photography for different jiu jitsu events.
Presently he is a 1st degree black belt
📷@mike_klk
#peopleofjiujitsu #people_of_jiu_jitsu
Why the journey will change you, not the destination-
You find out who you actually are when no one’s around to influence you
You figure it out every time bc you have no choice. For sure missed flights, language barriers, getting lost with no signal and having to retrace your steps. You have no other option but to find a way
You sit with yourself long enough to notice so many little thing. The world opens up and you take in everything. You notice the average person in this random city on the other side of the world and what they do on any given Tuesday.
The random encounters are so interesting and one interaction is theme of the trip. The stranger or conversation on the commute wasn’t supposed to be part of your story but now it’s the whole story summarized
Discomfort becomes something you move through instead of away from. You stop seeing the world should cater to you and you learn how to navigate through whatever opposition and not take it personally. You just keep going and forget bc it doesn’t matter
This experience is yours and no one else’s preferences bleeding into your memories. Everything that happens is ultimately yours.
You crave the solitude and don’t fear being alone in a room on the other side of the world. If you can handle this here, you can handle yourself anywhere
Most of the fears you had about yourself are all in your head bc now you have shown yourself you can manage whatever happens. With no one around, you have nothing to prove to anyone.
There’s memories and experiences you don’t need to explain when you come back. The knowledge you have makes you carry yourself a certain way without anyone knowing your story
Ive taken every job I’ve had seriously, no matter the pay or how simple.
It was never about how much the job pays but who I would become in the process of taking it on
Who I became from executing the work is more valuable than the paycheck
I could lose all my money but I could never lose my skills
That is why some of yall struggle- you just seek immediate payouts but never considered how to better yourself in the process
I don’t see a separation of career and self- the work you do is your value to this world
@tyywithrow@albinoandpreto@thegroundworkfoundation
From myself and everyone at the @thegroundworkfoundation thank you to everyone that helped made this Philippines outreach project possible. We couldn’t have done it without you guys!!!
Huge shout out to Prof. @dwightlloyd and the whole team at @eightytworising . You guys have been amazing host and made all of us truly feel welcomed. The Jiu-Jitsu community that you guys have created in Davao is something special and we can’t wait to see you guys continue to grow and develop.
Another huge shoutout to Prof. @normster25 and everyone at @newground.cebu . Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to share our Jiu-Jitsu with you guys. It was a pleasure training with the team 🔥
Lastly thank you to Prof. @markentrata and everyone at @alliancejiujitsumanila for making our last day in the Philippines truly memorable. Thank you for all the gi donations and hard training!!!
In this trip I learned so much and gained some amazing friends and family. This trip has been truly amazing and special and I’m glad I got to do it with all of y’all @brian__marvin@alexayaness@erinstandage@tyywithrow@andyramireztx7@senoritajiujitsu@natpack_monserrat . ❤️
Appreciation post for everyone involved so far. From those who have worked with us, donated, followed our journey, and even came out and helped ❤️🙏🏻
We got back from the Philippines and are excited to ride the momentum in all the new projects coming up. Stay tuned. We have multiple countries and multiple cities on the agenda. You don’t wanna miss the new adventures in our mission to reach the world 🌎🥋🫶🏼✨
📸 @eightytworising
Wrasslin on the beach. Can’t help but learn from others for insight on techniques I’m working on🥰 #russiantie #wrestling #wrassling #beach #philippines
Yall always loosely say to me you want this life it must be so fun but I don’t think you do.
You don’t want to sit alone and face yourself to admit what you want bc you fear it won’t work.
You don’t want to put your heart in what you do bc you fear you will get hurt if you tried.
You prefer to say you don’t know how to do something bc you prefer to not learn and have an excuse.
You want others to guide you when in reality not one person is going to have this plan for you.
You won’t even make a decision by yourself bc you don’t trust yourself.
So yea, you could
@tyywithrow
I miss the Philippines already 🇵🇭😭
Also I’m bringing @tyywithrow on every vacation from now on. Look that this amazing drone video 😍
#Philippines 🇵🇭 #Paradise 🌴#IslandHopping ⛵️
PART TWO
Jack and Odie were the couple from Maasin City, a secluded area, we had previously visited. They have over a decade of judo and years of teaching jiu jitsu to the kids there and run a program for the kids after school with their own means and resources. They had taken a ferry to come to our seminar in Cebu last week and surprised us.
We had extra gis from our @eightytworising event in Davao and didn’t know where they were to be dispersed yet but i was so excited to see them bc it was meant to be.
I pulled them aside after and told them I had a surprise. When they came out I asked if they had space for two suitcases to come back home and they said yes.
Their first reaction was so humble lol they thought it was just the suitcases I was talking about. When they realized they were filled with gis, they were soo excited
The next humbling thing that they responded was, “what about the kids in Manila?” He was thinking about the kids who might not receive and taking away from someone else. I told him not to worry about anyone else and to take eveyrhting and give it to their kids
What a blessing this life having this common denominator of jiu jitsu and being able to help those who equally want to help others
Some of their kids have already came to Cebu to compete and I hope we can make the trip and visit them again next time. The more opportunities we can give to the community the more our purpose is fulfilled. Hopefully there can be a part 3 later this year ❤️🇵🇭🌱🥋
@thegroundworkfoundation
🎥 @tyywithrow
