Help Expand Morillo Judo Club for Everyone

My name is Casandra Eakle. My children have been competing in juijitsu for the past three years. Our family is always looking for a way to challenge our children. Over the last year we met Sensei Morillo. He helped our son come out of his shell in his competion and helped him gain confidence in his skills. He gives such fine attention to his students and their individual needs. As we have attended his school more and more students started packing in his building. He is in the need of expansion. This Go fund me was created to help Sensei Morillo get a new building to continue to inspire a great many more students.

Here is a bit of background on Sensei Juan Morillo: Juan was born in the rural parts of the Dominican Republic. Family and community was the strength of his development and growth. At a young age he understood that a strong community always brings out the best in each person.

Juan arrived in the United States at the age of 13 and after finishing high school he enrolled in our US Military. He served for nearly 11 years before separating from active duty. While serving he was stationed overseas and eventually started his martial arts journey. When stationed in Japan, Juan had the opportunity to train in Kickboxing, Jujitsu, boxing and Judo. Judo is what captured his heart and he has been training for the past 20+ years.

Through martial arts Juan discovered the same sense of community and family that he experienced in his childhood. It is through martial arts that Juan feels that a community will thrive and come together.

Juan earned his Judo blackbelt in 2009 while stationed in Japan. Upon returning to the United States, he continued training and has since opened a humble martial arts school, “Morillo Judo Club” where he continues to enforce his core beliefs of community and family.

Juan is passionate about teaching. He wholeheartedly believes that students, of any age, who learn martial arts have an upper hand over those that do not train, in all aspects of our everyday life. Flexibility, strength, endurance, and self-defense are among the many things that will greatly improve through training. Kids, especially, will get a get a sense of pride and improve discipline through martial arts.

Morillo Judo Club was established in 2017 with the main goal: improve community relations through martial arts. His aspirations and goals started from hauling mats in the back of a pickup truck to different locations to teach at the local community center. It has been a rough road at times, but perseverance, discipline and the vision for continued growth of the community has not made Juan waver from this path. However, being able to enforce this vision during this time, he’s come to a roadblock. Finding and funding a building sufficient for the needs of the students has been a hardship.

Juan has inspired many children and adults to become the best they can be. He has high expectations and builds confidence not only in Judo, but in being a good human.

Please join in supporting Juan in finding the right place to continue to teach, motivate and ignite the potential of all his students and the many generations of students to come.