John Canestaro: Buffalo NY Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing & Women's Fitness Member Feature

This weeks featured Brazilian Jiu-Jistu member is JOHN CANESTARO!

Buffalo NY Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing & Women's Fitness Member Feature

October 11, 2013

by Cara Nassar

John is most well known around here for being funny.

You would never know it looking at him because he tends to come and go pretty quietly. But everyone always says he is a funny guy and I quickly came to find the truth in this as we sat down and spoke. He made me laugh at least a dozen times.

I don't know John very well, but what I can say is this: His friends speak very highly of him (when they aren't busting his balls) and it seems like overall he is really loved around this place. 

He loves his family, which consists of his wife Karyn and his 9-year-old daughter. And he loves his work. He is pretty successful, owning his own company Buffalo Power Washing, which he says keeps him pretty busy March through December.

Oh, and he loves donuts. (I still don't think I fully get that one.)

I had the pleasure of sitting down with John and talking about his experiences in at the World's Jiu-Jistu Championship and of his experiences in BJJ in general.

Tell me about your recent victory?

I took bronze at the Master and Seniors World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Long Beach California. It’s the world championships for older age groups. Last year I took double gold at blue belt. This year I won my weight at open weight division and took bronze. I competed in purple belt which was way freaking harder [laughs].

Tell me a little bit more about the tournament?

It’s stressful. It’s definitely stressful. It’s a huge tournament and people from all across the world compete. The guy I fought in quarter finals was from Honduras. There are a lot of tense moments leading up to it so when it’s over, just to be able to talk to everyone, relax and enjoy the moment was really cool. Now that I’ve been there a couple times I’m more used to what goes on so it’s a little bit less stressful. The World’s is not your run of the mill tournament by any means.

And the competition?

Before your first round they tell you who you are going to be competing against. First round quarter finals I get the name of the guy and I go to check Facebook and I come to find that he’s some jacked anti-terrorist [laughs]. I mean this guy has got assault rifles or he’s lifting weights in like all of his photos. Lots of people use Facebook to scope out the competition and here I am looking at this guy and I’m like that dudes probably looking at MY Facebook going this guy is some goof eating donuts in half of his pictures [laughs]. I ended up beating him anyway.

Is this something you are likely to do again?

Yes! I plan on going every year. Dan and I were talking about who would be coming with us because Dan says he is in for next year too. I would be excited if we could turn this into a big thing.

How did you get into Jiu-jitsu?

I started out as that guy trying to lose 15 pounds on the treadmill or the elliptical or lifting weights. Everyone talks about how they got into martial arts when they saw the original UFC tapes, but it wasn’t like that for me. I actually remember watching tapes of Matt Godden before he was my teacher and I remember being like ‘wow that’s so cool!’ I started talking to Coach Corey about it. Corey is a super nice guy and I told him I really would like to try it and I asked him if he thought I was too old. He was like “Nah man! Come on out!”

Really though, I suck at softball. Golf is not my thing. Basketball is not my thing. I used to wrestle in high school. So I said to myself I’m going to give a shot and give it a year and see what happens. I bought myself a year membership upfront to prevent myself from backing out and that was four years ago. Now it’s weird because I’m friends with all the people I used to watch in the videos. I once asked Matt if he knew I watched his videos and he goes “No…. that’s kinda creepy.” [laughs]

How long have you practiced Jiu-jitsu?

5 years. I started at 37.

How did you find us?

Matt opened up a gym in 2009 and at that point I thought this is it. It was my chance to start. At a brand new gym I won’t be the new guy because everyone is new. From there I pretty much followed Matt, but I love it here. We’ve got a lot of guys too. Bigger guys. Experienced guys. Guys around my age with families. I have more of a bond with people here than I think I would at another gym with younger guys.

What about Jiu-jitsu do you love/hate?

I love at the end of class you are sparring every day. You get a reward for practicing and learning the techniques and you get to apply them every day. It’s a big payoff to be able to get the aggression out. Not anything I don’t like about Jiu-jitsu in particular. I just wish I didn’t have four knee surgeries. A month into taking BJJ I tore the cartilage in my knee. I genetically have bad knees. But Jiu-jitsu is good option for anyone with knee problems. No running or jumping it’s all on the mat.

Who has influenced you most?

Matt. Matt has been the one since the beginning, but I think this is by far the best time for me to be doing jiu-jitsu. Dub and Matt are the perfect blend. They work well together. Coach Dub is awesome too, I have always idolized him. My wife Kayrn who has been very understanding of my passion for BJJ and I have really appreciated that.

What is your bread and butter move?

The Ezekiel choke. I’ve finished like half of my matches with that.

What has BJJ taught you?

You don’t have to be born with any type of ability. A lot of people think you have to be gifted. I’m not really gifted at anything. People think are born at 3^rd base with bases loaded and that they’ll hit a triple, but I don’t always think it’s like that. I’m a grinder. I think if you put the time and grind away you are going to get better no matter who you are. I guess what BJJ has taught me then is patience. They always say it’s a journey or at least that’s the big thing everyone talks about.

What would you say to someone that was thinking about joining?

For all those people who were like me that kept putting it off like ‘no I can’t do that,’ everyone is a newbie at some point. Give it a year and a year from now you will look back and realize that a far as jiu-jitsu goes you are a competent white belt. You would have some good experience. And until you get in here you are just wasting time. People think everyone is so mean at a gym. Everyone is so nice. I have 4-5 people from here that I text every day, 10-15 on weekly basis and 50 guys that all share this love and interest. At my age I feel lucky to have that because not everyone has that. Most people are lucky to hang onto a few good friends.

What do you wish more people knew about BJJ?

This is the big thing that drives me nuts. They don’t understand the progression. It takes 10-12 years to get your black belt. It took me five years to even get my purple belt, whereas some kid gets their black belt in tae kwon doe in five years. People don’t understand how long it takes to progress to black belt and then they ask me why I still am where I am. It drives me nuts.

What is some advice you would give to someone wanting to start BJJ?

Don’t be a spaz. People come in feeling like they have to prove themselves right from the beginning. You are supposed to suck when you start. Don’t try to overcompensate by doing needless things.

Did you always want to compete?

When I started out I had no real plans on competing. I did an in house tournament, and then I felt like I wanted to do a real one. After that I just kept progressing to bigger and bigger ones until finally I did the adult world championships last June where I went against a 20 done year old Olympic level black belt in judo from Mongolia. He dominated me, but it was good experience and I know it helped me win double gold at last year’s masters/seniors championships. I get nervous, but at the end of the day it's just a sport and if you lose, so what. The sun will rise the next day and my wife of 13 years and my 9 year old daughter will still love me the same, even if I get tapped.

Any thoughts of fighting MMA in the future?

I would like to. I have a nickname already picked out, "the jellyfish". I look soft and jiggly, but if I touch you it's going to hurt! I plan on standing over my unconscious opponent at the end and fake urinate on them to elevate the sting. [laughs] Just kidding! I would never do that. For now I will just concentrate on BJJ.

What is something people don’t know about you?

I have a guilty pleasure/ I love watching some of my daughter's shows like iCarly, Victorious and Full House. Sometimes I'll make it seem like I'm rewarding her for good behavior by putting on one of them for her, but really I want to watch it myself. My wife has walked into the room with me watching iCarly, an hour after our daughter has gone to bed.

“When John first started training with me he came in overweight and out of shape, I should say a complete slob [laughs]. But now he’s competing and placing at some of the biggest tournaments in the world. He is a great training partner and a great friend.” – Coach Matt Godden

"Big John is awesome. As one of the older guys in the gym he sets a great example for younger people of how to approach training. He listens, trains hard and tests himself in competition, even winning double gold medals as a blue belt at the World Championships. He's also one of the funniest people you'll ever meet. I rate Big John, 2 thumbs up!" – Coach Mike “Dub” Dauenhauer

“John is pretty much one of the reasons I kept training.” Jared Threat, member

“If I had a donut for every time John made me smile and laugh I'd own a Paula's donut shop to walk in. Big John is a good friend who believes in you when you have ceased to believe in yourself. He inspired and motivated me to take my BJJ to the next level and compete in the Worlds Master & Senior tournament. It was an awesome and very rewarding experience and I have him to thank for it.” – Dan Lombardo, member

Hope you enjoyed this weeks Buffalo NY Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing & Women's Fitness Member Feature!