The Bulwark Project is a free jiu-jitsu program for kids in Las Tunas, Manabí, Ecuador. It works with Fundación Mar del Sur, which supports the community in many ways. The jiu-jitsu classes themselves are The Bulwark Project. About 60 kids are signed up. Some disappear for weeks because they work or take care of the house.
The story
Las Tunas sits on the south coast of Manabí, in an ancestral community of the Manta people, between the sea and the dry forest. For more than five years, The Bulwark Project has run a free mat there for children and teenagers.
The project works with Fundación Mar del Sur. Ulises is clear about the split: Mar del Sur is a foundation that helps the community in all aspects. The Bulwark Project is only jiu-jitsu for the kids. Classes are free, for ages 5 to 18, several times a week, with local coaches and visiting black belts.
How many kids are on the mat on a given day is a hard number. Ulises says kids here usually work and take care of the house, so some disappear for weeks. About 60 are signed up for the program, probably more. That is why a notebook does not hold: the ones who drift off are the ones a roster and attendance history would show.
There is no tuition. The project runs on the coaches' own money, community support and donations from people who visit. In October 2026 it joined Social Belt, the BJJ Notes program that gives Gyms at no cost to social projects. The next step is to put every signed-up kid on the roster and record who shows up, including the ones who vanish for a stretch and come back.
This is the first Social Belt case outside Brazil. Class photos stay on the project's Instagram, @bulwarkbjj. The ask is the same as on any other tatami in this program: keep teaching and keep taking attendance.
In their words
“This program can be the answer to solve all this kids life problems.”