We thought it was important for people to know the background story of our company – Experiential, Cultural, and Outdoor School, Inc. More commonly known as ECOS, ECOS Groups and ECOS BJJ. ECOS was started in 1992 in Maryland to run cultural exchange programs and exciting expedition style trips for middle and high school aged students. ECOS ran successful exchange programs in the country of Panama but our presence was much stronger with the adventure based travel programs. From the mid-nineties to 2005 ECOS ran 10-20 excursions throughout each summer to fantastic destinations. We ran backpacking trips each summer to the Collegiate Peaks areas of Colorado, Zion NP, Bryce NP, Lake Powell (sea kayaking), Yosemite NP, Olympic NP, Mt Ranier NP, San Juan Islands (sea kayaking), Dolly Sods Wilderness Area, Boundary Waters (canoeing), Gran Canyon NP, Assateague NS, Yellowstone NP, and so many more places. Every time we ran a...Read more

ECOS Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a very progressive gym. We love training with people from other gyms/associations and try to have visiting black belts into our school at least 6 times per year. There are two schools of thought here….. Instructors, myself included, normally teach a technique in a certain way with the same teaching cues each time. Recently, we had Mike Horihan down to teach a seminar and the focus was on sweeps and counters. He showed a scissor sweep technique that is much more difficult to defend and now we have added that to our curriculum at ECOS. Without going outside of our school we would not have been exposed to this method that was “new” to us. Whenever a person visits from another school you get to train with somebody whose game you do not know. This can expose holes in both your game and theirs making...Read more