Some News From My Academy.

Big thanks to John Danaher for conducting a phenomenal seminar. It's always a pleasure to have John down at our academy – he truly is a master among masters. We look forward to having Professor Danaher back at our academy in the next few months, so if you didn't get the chance to participate this time, make sure to take a seminar when John visits again.

There were also many promotions awarded during the seminar; here’s a rundown of the new belts, from blue to black…

Jon "Johnny" McDonald, Bobby Donovan, and Steve Elizarde were all promoted to blue 
belt. These guys have trained extremely hard even before they stepped into our academy. Steve and Bobby both have strong wrestling roots and Johnny has a military background. They all bring to the mats the discipline and drive necessary to excel.

Next up, we have Eric Sherman, who was promoted to purple belt. Eric came to our academy when he was around 15 years old. In less than three years, we have seen him grow into a highly skilled BJJ practitioner, dominating the grappling tournaments one by one. His most recent triumphs include the Pan American No-Gi gold medal championship and 1st place at the NAGA World Championships.

Our next purple belt is Gary Rock! The last name is fitting due to his size and strength. But don't judge a book by it's cover. He thrives to use the technique he has learned to it's full potential.

Congratulations as well to our new brown belt, Judo Mark Staniszewski! A black belt in Judo (hence his nickname), Mark has been training with the academy for a long time. He too has been cleaning house at the grappling tournaments as well as in judo.

And now on to our three new BLACK BELTS…Chris "Focker" Broker, Bill Mason, and Mike "Waz" Wasielesky! This is a huge accomplishment that all three men have waited and trained very hard for.

Focker, as we know him best, is an old school member from team Serra who his training with Matt and Nick way back when we trained at "The Barn." He first got that name, if I remember correctly, for being extremely aggressive until one day someone shouted, Meet the Parents style, "IT'S JUST JIU-JITSU FOCKER"... and the name has stuck ever since. But these days, Focker has a black belt for a reason. He's dangerous with the leg attacks and has learned to adapt Jiu-Jitsu to his everyday life.

Next up is Bill Mason. Bill has competed in many NAGA tournaments and has won just about all of them. You can always see Bill at the tournaments and UFC fights supporting all of the guys on the team.  He his a great asset to team Serra and it is an honor to have him as a black belt at our academy.

Last but not least is Mike "Waz" Wasielesky! Mike is a NYC firefighter. When he isn't fighting fires, he is battling it out on the mats. He is a great example of the effectiveness of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. His technique and agility have proven to be problematic for much larger opponents both standing and on the ground. Mike is also from the old school crew.