Omaha man battles cancer with jiu jitsu and community support
INCURABLE DISEASE WITH THE HELP OF ONE OF HIS PASSIONS, HE SURROUNDED HIMSELF WITH PHYSICAL AND MENTAL FITNESS HIS ENTIRE LIFE. WELL, NOW THAT’S BEING PUT TO THE ULTIMATE TEST. KETV NEWSWATCH SEVEN’S MADISON PERALEZ CAUGHT UP WITH HIM AND LEARNS HIS TRICKS TO BATTLING CANCER. I’M GOING TO GRAB HERE AND THROW TYRONE. ABDUL TEACHES ME A FEW MOVES IN ONE OF HIS MANY JIU JITSU DOJOS ACROSS OMAHA UP, UP AND DOWN. YEP, THERE WE GO. AND LOCK. THERE WE GO. NICE. AWESOME. YOU WOULDN’T KNOW THAT JUST MONTHS AGO, HE FINISHED INTENSIVE TREATMENT FOR MULTIPLE MYELOMA, A TYPE OF BLOOD CANCER. THREE MONTHS IS A LONG TIME TO BE AWAY FROM YOUR PASSION, FROM SOMETHING THAT YOU YOU’VE BUILT FROM SCRATCH. I PIONEERED JIU JITSU IN ZIMBA…
Omaha man battles cancer with jiu jitsu and community support
INCURABLE DISEASE WITH THE HELP OF ONE OF HIS PASSIONS, HE SURROUNDED HIMSELF WITH PHYSICAL AND MENTAL FITNESS HIS ENTIRE LIFE. WELL, NOW THAT’S BEING PUT TO THE ULTIMATE TEST. KETV NEWSWATCH SEVEN’S MADISON PERALEZ CAUGHT UP WITH HIM AND LEARNS HIS TRICKS TO BATTLING CANCER. I’M GOING TO GRAB HERE AND THROW TYRONE. ABDUL TEACHES ME A FEW MOVES IN ONE OF HIS MANY JIU JITSU DOJOS ACROSS OMAHA UP, UP AND DOWN. YEP, THERE WE GO. AND LOCK. THERE WE GO. NICE. AWESOME. YOU WOULDN’T KNOW THAT JUST MONTHS AGO, HE FINISHED INTENSIVE TREATMENT FOR MULTIPLE MYELOMA, A TYPE OF BLOOD CANCER. THREE MONTHS IS A LONG TIME TO BE AWAY FROM YOUR PASSION, FROM SOMETHING THAT YOU YOU’VE BUILT FROM SCRATCH. I PIONEERED JIU JITSU IN ZIMBABWE. ABDUL SENSEI WAS PART OF THE UNITED NATIONS JIU JITSU ASSOCIATION AND TAUGHT ABDUL IN SOUTH AFRICA. IT’S ALL ABOUT SPREADING THE GOSPEL, SO TO SPEAK, OF JIU JITSU. YOU KNOW, SELF-DEFENSE, PERSONAL PROTECTION. HE TOOK THE SPORT BACK TO HIS HOME COUNTRY AND AS A RESULT, LED TO HIS AFFILIATION WITH THE UNITED NATIONS GROUP RIGHT BEFORE HE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER. THEY VOTED, NOMINATED ME, AND I ACCEPTED THE THE POSITION OF PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED NATIONS OF JIU JITSU. HE MOVED TO NEBRASKA IN 1999. IN OMAHA. AT THE TIME, THERE WERE NO JIU JITSU CLUBS. BY 2004, HE PARTNERED WITH THE YMCA AND NOW RUNS HIS OWN DOJOS. I DON’T THINK THAT PEOPLE SHOULD PAY AN ARM AND A LEG TO LEARN HOW TO DEFEND THEMSELVES. HE WAS STILL TEACHING UP UNTIL HIS INPATIENT TREATMENT IN AUGUST, WHERE HE HAD TO STAY AT THE HOSPITAL. EVEN THEN, HE FOUND A WAY TO BE ACTIVE. WHILE I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL, I MANAGED TO WALK A FIVE AND A HALF MARATHON. I WAS ABSOLUTELY HUMBLED WHEN HE WOULD COME INTO TREATMENT, HAVING ALREADY TAUGHT THE SAME NUMBER OF CLASSES AS THE NUMBER OF TIMES I HIT SNOOZE ON MY SNOOZE BAR. EVENTUALLY, HIS STUDENTS SET UP A GOFUNDME CAMPAIGN WITH A $20,000 GOAL, WHICH WAS MET WITHIN MONTHS. I’VE BEEN HERE IN OMAHA SINCE 1999. I’VE BUILT A LOT OF GOOD RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE YOU KNOW, PARENTS, STUDENTS, RIBLETS, GET THE RIBLETS. AND JUST THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE. AND SO FOR FOR ME, IT WAS JUST ABSOLUTELY MIND BLOWING TO SEE THAT KIND OF RESPONSE IN THAT SHORT OF A TIME. ONE DONATION CAME FROM A PARENT, DINA GUPTA. WHATEVER WE COULD DO TO SUPPORT WAS IMPORTANT FOR US AS WELL. HER SON, DANIEL, ATTENDS SENSEI ABDULLAH’S CLASSES. DANIEL WAS VERY, VERY SHY, DID NOT KNOW EVERYONE, BUT WITH HELP FROM SENSEI, EVENTUALLY HE WARMED UP TO ME AND NOW HE’S LIKE ONE OF ONE OF MY BEST STUDENTS. HE’S JUST AMAZING. IT’S NOT THE SAME FUN HE HAS WITH SENSEI TYRONE. IT’S NOT AS MANY LAUGHS, IT’S MORE FORMAL, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, LIKE WE CONTINUE COMING HOPING TO SEE HIM SOON. ALTHOUGH ABDUL WAS IN RECOVERY, HE COULDN’T STAY AWAY FROM THE DOJO, SO HE SURPRISED SOME OF HIS STUDENTS AND COLLEAGUES. WHAT’S UP GUYS? HOW ARE WE DOING? THE FIRST THING HIS STUDENTS DO? HOW ARE YOU FEELING? DO YOU HAVE TO DO ANY MORE TO SHOW CONCERN FOR SENSEI? ALL THE BABIES LOVE HIM AND THE PARENTS AS WELL, LEAVING A LASTING IMPACT ON THE KIDS. BUT MY FEET BACK AND LIKE WHEN YOU’RE STARTING IN A RACE, BUT A LITTLE BIT FORWARD AND THEN GO STROLL OVER, I’VE LEARNED SO MUCH FROM HIM. BEEN A BIG INFLUENCE ON HOW MY LIFE IS GOING NOW. I THINK IT WAS GOOD FOR HIM TO SHOW UP, TO SHOW THE KIDS THAT HE’S DOING FINE. ABDUL’S DOCTOR SAYS HIS FITNESS PLAYED A HUGE ROLE IN HIS RECOVERY. THAT LEVEL OF PHYSICAL FITNESS GAVE HIM A RESILIENCE NOT ONLY PHYSICALLY, BUT MENTALLY AND EMOTIONALLY TO THIS LIFE CHANGING DIAGNOSIS THAT HE RECEIVED WHILE NAVIGATING THIS LIFE CHANGING DIAGNOSIS. THE FIRST COUPLE OF WEEKS FOR ME WERE THE ROUGHEST. ABDUL STILL MANAGES TO HAVE A POSITIVE OUTLOOK. YOU THINK TO YOURSELF, WHY ME? MAYBE THIS IS, YOU KNOW, THE UNIVERSE TELLING ME I CAN HAVE A MESSAGE FOR SOMEBODY ELSE IN OMAHA MADISON PERALES. WHEN I COME BACK, YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO BE TOO TOUGH. KETV NEWSWATCH SEVEN. AND WHILE HITTING THE MATS WITH SOME OF HIS STUDENTS TODAY, ABDUL ALSO HAS PLANS TO GO TO SICILY, ITALY, IN THE SUMMER FOR A UNITED NATIONS JIU-JITSU CONFERENCE. ABDUL IS AN INSPIRATION A
Omaha man battles cancer with jiu jitsu and community support
Updated: 11:33 PM CST Nov 9, 2025
An Omaha man is navigating an incurable disease through falling. His life has revolved around physical and mental fitness, and now it’s being put to the ultimate test.Tyrone Abdul was diagnosed with multiple myeloma nearly a year ago, and after completing intensive treatment for the blood cancer, he has returned to the jiu-jitsu dojo. Abdul, who has been immersed in fitness for over 30 years, credits the activity and community for helping him tackle the disease head-on. “Three months is a long time to be away from your passion, from something that you built from scratch,” Abdul said.Abdul pioneered jiu-jitsu in Zimbabwe after learning the sport from his sensei, who was part of the United Nations Jiu-Jitsu Association in South Africa. “It’s all about spreading the gospel, so to speak, of jiu-jitsu, you know, self-defense, personal protection,” he said. Before his cancer diagnosis, he was nominated and accepted the position of president of the United Nations of Jujitsu.Moving to Nebraska in 1999, Abdul found there were no jiu-jitsu clubs in Omaha at the time. By 2004, he partnered with the YMCA and now runs his own dojos. “I don’t think that people should pay an arm and a leg to learn how to defend themselves,” Abdul said. Even during his in-patient treatment in August, Abdul remained active, managing to walk a 5K and a half marathon. “I was absolutely humbled when he would come into treatment, having already taught the same number of classes as the number of times I hit snooze on my snooze bar,” Abdul’s doctor, Tanya Wildes, said.Abdul’s students set up a GoFundMe campaign with a $20,000 goal, which was met within months. “I’ve been here in Omaha since 1999. I’ve built a lot of good relationships with people, you know, parents, students,” Abdul said. “And just the community at large. And so for, for me, it was just absolutely mind-blowing to see that kind of response in that short of a time.” Despite being in recovery, Abdul couldn’t stay away from the dojo and surprised his students and colleagues. “How’s it going?” Abdul asked upon his return. His students immediately showed concern for their sensei, asking about his health and treatment. “All the babies love him and the parents as well,” Dina Goda said.“It was good for him to show up, to show the kids that he’s doing fine,” Julian Hendershot said.Dr. Wildes emphasized the role of Abdul’s fitness in his recovery. “That level of physical fitness gave him a resilience, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally, to this life-changing diagnosis that he received,” Wildes said. Abdul, while navigating this diagnosis, maintains a positive outlook. “The first couple of weeks for me were the roughest,” Abdul said. “You think to yourself, why me? Maybe this is, you know, the universe telling me I can have a message for somebody else.“Abdul plans to hit the mat with his students and attend a United Nations jiu-jitsu conference in Sicily, Italy, this summer. His journey continues to inspire many across the world.Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |
OMAHA, Neb. —
An Omaha man is navigating an incurable disease through falling.
His life has revolved around physical and mental fitness, and now it’s being put to the ultimate test.
Tyrone Abdul was diagnosed with multiple myeloma nearly a year ago, and after completing intensive treatment for the blood cancer, he has returned to the jiu-jitsu dojo.
Abdul, who has been immersed in fitness for over 30 years, credits the activity and community for helping him tackle the disease head-on.
“Three months is a long time to be away from your passion, from something that you built from scratch,” Abdul said.
Abdul pioneered jiu-jitsu in Zimbabwe after learning the sport from his sensei, who was part of the United Nations Jiu-Jitsu Association in South Africa.
“It’s all about spreading the gospel, so to speak, of jiu-jitsu, you know, self-defense, personal protection,” he said.
Before his cancer diagnosis, he was nominated and accepted the position of president of the United Nations of Jujitsu.
Moving to Nebraska in 1999, Abdul found there were no jiu-jitsu clubs in Omaha at the time. By 2004, he partnered with the YMCA and now runs his own dojos.
“I don’t think that people should pay an arm and a leg to learn how to defend themselves,” Abdul said.
Even during his in-patient treatment in August, Abdul remained active, managing to walk a 5K and a half marathon.
“I was absolutely humbled when he would come into treatment, having already taught the same number of classes as the number of times I hit snooze on my snooze bar,” Abdul’s doctor, Tanya Wildes, said.
Abdul’s students set up a GoFundMe campaign with a $20,000 goal, which was met within months.
“I’ve been here in Omaha since 1999. I’ve built a lot of good relationships with people, you know, parents, students,” Abdul said. “And just the community at large. And so for, for me, it was just absolutely mind-blowing to see that kind of response in that short of a time.”
Despite being in recovery, Abdul couldn’t stay away from the dojo and surprised his students and colleagues. “How’s it going?” Abdul asked upon his return. His students immediately showed concern for their sensei, asking about his health and treatment. “All the babies love him and the parents as well,” Dina Goda said.
“It was good for him to show up, to show the kids that he’s doing fine,” Julian Hendershot said.
Dr. Wildes emphasized the role of Abdul’s fitness in his recovery.
“That level of physical fitness gave him a resilience, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally, to this life-changing diagnosis that he received,” Wildes said.
Abdul, while navigating this diagnosis, maintains a positive outlook.
“The first couple of weeks for me were the roughest,” Abdul said. “You think to yourself, why me? Maybe this is, you know, the universe telling me I can have a message for somebody else.”
Abdul plans to hit the mat with his students and attend a United Nations jiu-jitsu conference in Sicily, Italy, this summer.
His journey continues to inspire many across the world.
Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.
NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |