South Lake Tahoe man headed to international Jiu-Jitsu event

Submitted by paula on Wed, 09/20/2017 - 10:46pm

In March of 2014, the South Lake Tahoe community rallied behind its native son, Ryan Wallace, and raised $25,000 to get him a new prosthetic leg.

By 2016, Ryan's active lifestyle got the attention of Amputee Blade Runners and he was fitted with an blade runner leg, allowing him to compete in the Endeavor Games in powerlifting, discus, shot put and sitting volleyball.

Wallace hasn't stopped since.

This week has reached another goal and is headed to Los Angeles as a member of the US Para Jiu-Jitsu team to compete against athletes from around the world in the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu World Tour. For the first time, the event has invited "limb different" competitors.

"This type of goal is the most powerful because it induces a little bit of fear, fear of failure, fear of being harmed by a more capable athlete, fear of wasting the sacrifices made with a bad performance," said Wallace. "A goal oriented person such as myself can have a lot of goals that excite them, exciting goals are easy to work for when everything is going well and you are feeling good."

But adversity, pain, illness, fatigue and other roadblocks can try and divert the path to achieving those goals, something Wallace works through with training and dedication.

"Part of my continued motivation is to show the community that their efforts to raise funds for me when I needed a prosthetic was worth it," said Wallace. "I also respect the goals and path taken by the kids I coach so I strive to accept similar challenges to be a positive example for them."

Wallace has always been a wrestler and has had fun transitioning to Jiu-Jitsu. He said elements of wrestling have both helped and hindered his new sport.

"Habits that I have formed over twenty five years of wrestling get me in problematic situations in a sport that is grounded in submissions," added Wallace.

The tournament is being held in the Los Angeles Convention Center and event activities start Thursday, September 21 with fights beginning on Saturday.