#surfight

Nothing like jiu jitsu to round out my workouts for the day. I did some DDP Yoga in the morning to make sure I stay limber. This afternoon, I did Speed Kills from the Onnit 6 BodyWeight program. Got to it later in the day, so I was still plenty tired when I made in to train with my favorite savages. All technique tonight. No energy left… 🤣 Thanks, Uncle Lucas, for teaching. One of the main things I love about jiu jitsu is also one of the things I love about surfing. There is absolutely no faking either. You either make the technique work, or you don’t. You either get that wave, or you don’t. The Adventure Mind ideal is all about doing the difficult and scary on purpose. That way you’re not as easily rocked when the difficult and scary stuff comes to you that you didn’t choose. This picture gives evidence of how much I worked today. My beard is all over the place and dripping with sweat. I’m throwing double shakas, as is my MO. The Surfight bull horns are overhead on the wall behind me. Photo credit: @aloya319 (Andrea Loya) @surfightjj @bro_nameth @onnit @ddpyoga @diamonddallaspage @trufit @athleticgreens @usasurfing @cafoundation @hi5sfoundation @stokeforlife #BlindSurfer #Surfight #Trufit #Waves4All #heroesofsport #TeamUSA #ProfessionalAdventurer #JoshuaTheJedi #AdventureMind (at Del Mar, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZtAkH6LZcq/?utm_medium=tumblr

Seems my body involuntarily did this Monday. Hope this is my one and only seizure. Using this as a reminder to take care of myself, so I can keep striving for the benevolent badassery to which I aspire. Caption for my blind/vi brothers and sisters: Zoom in on Joshua wearing a black t-shirt with yellow text. The text says, “Have you tried turning it off and on again?”. #WarmReboot #seizure #BlindSurfer #ProfessionalAdventurer #Surfight #Waves4All #Trufit #StokeForLife #heroesofsport #AmpSurf #JoshuaTheJedi #AdventureMind https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce6ugezv1pQ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

My friend Matt surprised me with a travel bag for surfboards for my birthday. Matt,and his wife Sarah, are some very cool people. Also proud to be on the USA Surfing National Adaptive Surf Team with Sarah. Hawaiian Adaptive Surfing Championships are next week. I’m leaving Megan on the mainland,but she really wants to come. 2 photos here. One shows me lying in the bag doing a cobra pose from yoga. Megan, a black labrador looks inside. In the second photo, Megan has joined me inside the bag. @matt.bettencourt @sb10ct @usasurfing @surfightjj @expeditiontrufit @mikespikerman @gdb_official @stokeforlife @accessurf_hawaii #BlindSurfer #Surfight #HASC2022 #dogfather #Waves4All #StokeForLife #JoshuaTheJedi #AdventureMind https://www.instagram.com/p/CeZmW98vXsD/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Feast your eyes on my new board shaped by David at King’s Paddle Sports. Thank you, David and everyone at King’s! She’s a 9 foot beauty. The top of the board is an orange heavy sunset fade, with just a little red in the nose. The bottom is orange with a black fishnet pattern. Mad thanks to Stoke For Life and High Fives Foundation for putting up the $$ for the board. Much love to both organizations. Now, it’s time to dial in the board and ride it into a victory at the Hawaiian Adaptive Surfing Championships next week. @kingspaddlesports @stokeforlife @hi5sfoundation @surfightjj @expeditiontrufit @mikespikerman @trufit @cafoundation @accessurf_hawaii @usasurfing @isasurfing #BlindSurfer #surfing #Surfight #StokeForLife #highfivesfoundation #Waves4All #HeroesOfSport #inspiredsurfers #TeamUSA #AASP #JoshuaTheJedi #AdventureMind (at Kings Paddle Sports) https://www.instagram.com/p/CeSP_n-Lldq/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Ready to paddle for my first wave at the WSA West Coast Championships this last Sunday. Enjoying the moment just before I do. One of my most favorite things about surfing is the calm just beyond the break, and the appreciation of the moment just before the action begins. Photo credit John White. Thanks, AmpSurf, for the sponsorship! I took 1st again, in case you were curious. Pleas send me more blind surfers! @expeditiontrufit @surfwsa @ampsurf_us @ampsurforg @surfightjj @usasurfing @isasurfing @stokeforlife @hi5sfoundation @surfride @trufit #BlindSurfer #surf #surfing #Surfight #Waves4All #AmpSurf #heroesofsport #inspiredsurfers #JoshuaTheJedi #AdventureMind (at Churches Surf Break) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdq-CKyPzLZ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Post 2 of 2: Here’s the rest of the bio which began in my last post. Please leave your thoughts or suggestions in the comments. This pic was taken by the kind folks at American Comedy Co. the last time I performed there. Fantastic club and staff! Joshua has earned five black belts and ranks across seven styles. He continues to train and grow as a martial artist, having developed a particular fondness for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The overlap in surf and jiu jitsu culture eventually had its impact, and Joshua started surfing in 2017. His competition record and intuitive surfing style has many wondering if he really can use The Force. Joshua has continued to embrace authenticity in response to personal struggle. In late 2016, Joshua had to scale back his martial arts training due to a torn hamstring. While recovering, he tried his hand at standup comedy, thoroughly enjoying himself. Soon after, he was diagnosed with PTSD and major depression connected to childhood trauma prior to his blindness. He now speaks honestly and openly about his struggles in his standup and other forms of expression. Whether it be standup comedy, martial arts practice, surfing, or hosting a podcast, Joshua does his best to live by the following ideal. “Adventure is a state of mind. How you live it is up to you!” @americancomedyco #blind #comic #MartialArts #BJJ #Surfight #BlindSurfer #JoshuaTheJedi #AdventureMind https://www.instagram.com/p/Cco1ozkLcx3/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Post 1 of 2 Here’s a brief bio. What else do you think I should include or modify? Please leave your thoughts in the comments. This pic is of me warming up on the beach with some Mind Boxing exercises before the WSA contest in Huntington Beach earlier this year. Joshua “The Jedi” Loya is a blind surfing champion, martial artist, and standup comedian. Joshua’s mission is to cultivate resilience and a renewed sense of wonder in himself and in the people he meets. From an early age, Joshua was easily lost in stories of adventure and personal triumph. He had a congenital condition which made him extremely near-sighted and more vulnerable to eye injuries. As a result, he quenched his thirst for adventure through books, movies, TV, comics, and video games. He loved to ride his bike and his skateboard, but he was taking a huge risk whenever he did. Things changed when he lost his remaining sight in a martial arts accident with a pair of nunchucks at age 15. In response to losing his sight, Joshua reveled in the fact that he could no longer lose it, the activity restrictions placed upon him when he was young had now been lifted. The summer after he lost his eyesight, he tried water-skiing for the first time. He studied kung fu in his junior year of high school and competed in his first martial arts tournament when he was sixteen. In his senior year, he was the first blind person to qualify for his belay card at his local climbing gym. Joshua was now able to not only appreciate stories of adventure through awe inspiring literature. He could now craft some adventure stories of his own. (Continued in next post) #blind #BlindSurfer #adaptive #Surfight #surfer #Waves4All #JoshuaTheJedi #AdventureMindurer https://www.instagram.com/p/Ccoz37lL6CU/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Group shot of the adaptive surfers from this past weekend’s WSA contest. These are small contests, but they’re fun. Always stoked to show what adaptive surfers can do! Thanks to AmpSurf for covering my registration fee! Special thanks to John White for having my back in the water. Another 1st place win in the books! Send! Me! More! Blind! Surfers! @ampsurforg @surfwsa @stokeforlife @expeditiontrufit @trufit #BlindSurfer #Surfight #AmpSurf #StokeForLife #JoshuaTheJedi #AdventureMind (at Oceanside Beach and Harbor) https://www.instagram.com/p/CbZH95yu90r/?utm_medium=tumblr