Christian
Christian completed his undergraduate degree at UofT in 2022 and is currently the president of the club. He grew up training in several combat sports including wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu, grappling, boxing, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts. He competed in high school wrestling for 4 years and represented the UofT wrestling team for 1 year. He is now the rank of purple belt.
Hiro
Hiro completed his doctorate in the UofT Earth Sciences department and is an original member of the club and current beginner class instructor. He focuses on the basic movements and techniques of Jiu-Jitsu. Before studying grappling with the UofT club, Hiro practiced BJJ and Judo for several years in his martial journey. He is now the rank of blue belt.
Former Instructors
John
John wrestled competitively for 4 years in high school and represented the University of Toronto Varsity wrestling team for 3 years. After enrolling in the Physics Ph.D. program here at U of T, he took up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at Toronto BJJ. John has been training BJJ since 2015 and is the former club president. He is now the rank of purple belt.
Diego
Diego is a Postdoctoral Researcher at U of T and got his Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Lotus BJJ Club in São Paulo, Brazil. He is affiliated with International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF), a certified BJJ referee by CBJJE, and has been practicing the gentle art since 2007.
Dennis
Denis began training at BJJ in 2011 and is a black belt under Professor Elliott Bayev of OpenMat MMA near UofT St. George Campus. He has degrees in Kinesiology and Education from the University of Toronto. Denis is an active competitor and has had the opportunity to train with top instructors and compete worldwide.
Peter
Peter Nolan is a BJJ black belt and used to be a professional MMA fighter. He has an MMA record of 5-1; all his wins were by submission. Peter graciously agreed to teach our Sunday afternoon Grappling Club classes while studying at U of T.
Stefan
A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner since 2013, Stefan is a purple belt and a no-gi grappling specialist. Training out of Toronto No-Gi (Zenith BJJ), Stefan received his blue belt from world champion Robert Drysdale before moving on to purple. Stefan is a Grappling Industries gold medalist cleaning out his division by submission and formerly held the top spot in VSME Grappling rankings.