Since 2022 I have been training out of Marcelo Garcia Academy in NYC. I started training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in August of 2006. After 13 years of dedicated hard work, I received my Black Belt in BJJ from the legendary 3-time UFC Champion, UFC Hall of Famer, and Jiu Jitsu master, Royce Gracie.

My coaches helped to get me where I am, so I want to recognize all of them. In college, I started training BJJ under Joe Hurst, a first American who visited the home of Helio Gracie in Brazil in the early 90s (he literally just bought a ticket to Brazil, showed up and asked Helio to teach him Jiu Jitsu). When I moved to Boston for grad school, I continued my training under Alexandre Costa, a 5x IBJJF Masters World Gi Champion and 4x IBJJF Masters World No Gi Champion. When I moved back to NC for my PhD studies, I trained under Mazi Heydary for 5 years. Currently, I train under, 2019 ADCC Champion, Matheus Diniz in NYC.

Outside of BJJ, I received a PhD from UNC Chapel Hill, a top 10 Political Science program in the nation. There I specialized in political behavior/psychology and quantitative methodology. After UNC, I came to Dartmouth where I was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Rockefeller Center. Currently, I have a day job on Wall Street.

A couple of words about teaching, since I view it as a vocation. Teacher is probably my favorite title. Not because it is valued or appreciated in society (professor is much fancier), but because that’s who I am at heart. If I know something, I can teach it. Doesn’t matter whether it is handstands or statistics concepts. That being said, it’s worth mentioning that I have been teaching academic subjects since May of 2013. I taught SAT and GRE classes for The Princeton Review for 6 years (and before you ask, yes including English sections). I also taught 5 different college courses at UNC as a primary instructor. Throughout this decade, I constantly aimed to improve my ability in the art of teaching.  

I hope that materials I post on this website will help my students on their BJJ journey.