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 trip to the same place it was always a different experience because of group dynamics and weather. We had bear encounters (1-2 feet away) in Yosemite, straight line winds that took out tents and rolled 95 lb kayaks on the beach, hail storms on the Colorado ridges, paddling with orcas, or navigating a landslide on a narrow trail coming up from the base of the Grand Canyon.

After the early 2000’s some family commitments took over and the adventure travel really slowed down. From then until today we have only run a handful of day camps each summer but jiu jitsu became a significant part of the director’s life.

Fast forward to 2018……. After training jiu jitsu in MD and NC and achieving the rank of purple belt we decided to add jiu jitsu as a program at ECOS.

Jiu Jitsu falls right in line with our mission which is rooted in providing services that are challenging and push people to their limits. With jiu jitsu we also felt it was very important to give back to our law enforcement and military community. Remember, all HP Police Officer train for free and military (active or retired) and other law enforcement agency personnel train for $50/month.

ECOS will continue to provide quality jiu jitsu training to the High Point and surrounding communities. We are also hoping to begin our adventure programming again as well.