ARLEE — Last Thursday night in the upstairs gym at Arlee Junior High School, the mats were full - not with Little Guy wrestlers, but with students of Brazilian Jujitsu, AKA submission wrestling. 

Mid-class instructor Aaron Brien fiddled with a CD player in the corner.

He was wearing a gi,  the robe used for battle in traditional fights, and was ready to get “rolling,” as the practice is referred to in slang, with another advanced student of the art.

Just as soon as he found the right tunes, that is.

“If I’m going to get beat up, I’m going to get beat up to something I like,” he said. “I’m going to play some Creedence.”

Next thing, while “Bad Moon Rising” sounded from the speakers, the two were in a battle of holds, grips, chokes and jabs while some 20 students sparred off in pairs.

Brien started out as a Jujitsu fan, watching the Pride and UFC battles that have recently blown up with popularity.  

Having taken classes in Missoula since 2006, Brien found he had a knack for submission wrestling, where opponents employ moves in an attempt to get each other to tap out.

And he couldn’t stay away from the ring, fighting in three Mixed Martial Arts and four traditional Jujitsu competitions.

When his wife, Misty, took a job as a counselor in the Arlee School District, Brien asked for permission to use the junior high for free classes.

Now, every Tuesday and Thursday night from 6-8 p.m. (6:45 to 8 p.m. for the next two weeks), the mats are a place for the brave, interested, or just those looking for a great workout, to indulge in the complex sport.

It isn’t easy, physically or mentally, but that’s why Brien and his students dig it.

“I’ve dabbled in a lot of sports and to me this is the most well-rounded sport as far as conditioning, cardio, and lungs. You use muscles you’ve never used in traditional sports like basketball and football and you use your brain,” Brien said. 

Doing submission battle takes composure, Brien said.

“I’ve heard trainers call it physical chess,” Brien said. “It’s a huge mental game. You can’t be mad. You have to be calm … it kind of creates better character in you rather than just make you a better fighter.”

Although Brien likes to hit the cage once in a while for a full-out fight to test his progress, he says his program in Arlee is about offering the community a chance to enjoy a well-crafted practice - not to train cage fighters.

Brien has had participants from 6 years old to 45. And while he said this is the only class of its kind he knows of in the Valley, students and fighters still come to participate from Missoula and as far as Darby - and anyone can participate. 

“For me it turned into more of a community thing, just providing something people aren’t used to seeing,” Brien said. 

Eventually he wants all of his students to get gi’s, the outfit rooted in the grappling style, but understands they are expensive.

Overcoming the stigma of violence comes with teaching Jujitsu, Brien said, the creators of which also were the minds behind much of the cage fighting seen on TV. 

“It’s really hard to get credibility when you fight in a cage,” Brien said. “I have to explain that it’s a sport and competition and that most of the guys are really nice guys that would never fight anyone outside.”

Among those who attend are fighters who come to train from Missoula, adults from around Lake County and beyond, and Arlee and Mission students, from high school to elementary aged.

On the night Creedence Clearwater Revival was played, long-time participant Justin Kudlock brought his son, Mission freshman wrestler Russell Schultz to class.

It was a good opportunity to share some father-son time together, the pair agreed.

For Kudlock, the intricacies of the sport won’t soon get old.

“I enjoy the aspect of learning,” he said. “There’s so much to learn, you could do it for 20 years and not know everything.”

For Schultz, he is learning a one more way to grapple on the mats. His traditional wrestling already earned him a place at state.

“It’s a lot different,” Schultz said. “Take being on your back - it’s a good thing in this but in wrestling it’s bad. So I’m just getting used to it.”

He thinks it could help his wrestling come next season.

“It’s just another thing to learn and I like it because it’s really competitive,” he said.

And Schultz isn’t worried about mixing up the rules.

“I just have to adjust. I’ll know not to throw an arm bar in wrestling,” Schultz said.