Dokkodo
Dokkōdō (Japanese: 獨行道) The Path of Aloneness, The Way to Go Forth Alone, or The Way of Walking Alone
Ben Gardner is a Black Belt and the head instructor/owner of Dokkodo Martial Arts/10th Planet Jiu Jitsu in Bath, NY. Ben and I were training partners for almost a decade at 10P Rochester before he opened his own school closer to his home in Southern Tier NY. Ben was my “forever partners” when 10P Rochester reopened after the great COVID lockdown of 2020. That meant we were exclusively training with each other to help “stop the spread”.
This might not seem like a big deal. And to me it really wasn’t because I knew Ben was reliable. I knew he’d show up to train and wouldn’t flake on me. Leaving me without a partner. But, this was kind of a big deal. Ben lives over an hour south of Rochester and made the drive multiple times a week. No just during those post COVID lockdown times. For years. It’s that kind of dedication to improving as a Jiu Jitsu practitioner that helped him to earn his black belt from 10th Planet Black Belt Chris Herzog.
Dokkodo means to go the path alone. It’s a fitting name for a gym run by a guy who trekked back and forth through injury, bad weather, and bad days in search of a challenge and knowledge. In those situations the only thing that can keep you going back for more is discipline and passion. Ben is now passing that knowledge onto his students with hopes of instilling in them solid understanding, fundamentals and a love of the art.
