Mauricio Zingano
Head Instructor

Mauricio is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black Belt under Professor Carlos "Caique" Ellias(Caique is a Black Belt under Rickson & Helio Gracie).

He began his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training in 1993 with the Gracie family and has been taught by Rickson, Royce, Rorion, Rolker and Relson Gracie. He is one of the very few people in the world to have been a student of Grand Master Helio Gracie and has spent dozens of hours being privately taught by him not only in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but also in how to teach the art.

He has also trained in other styles such as Muay Thai, Boxing, Judo and Wrestling and was once been coached by world boxing champion Ray "Boom Boom" Mancine and Muay Thai champion Brian Popejoy.

Mauricio is an accomplished Jiu Jitsu and mixed martial arts fighter and an experience instructor who pays very close attention to his students and truly has a love for passing on his knowledge.

Dave Ruiz
Instructor

Dave is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt under Rigan Machado (Rigan is a Black Belt under Carlos Gracie Jr.)

He began his training informally watching tapes and practicing with a friend in 1993, and eventually moving to California in 1994 to train with the Gracie family. Dave has also trained under Royce, Rorion and Grand Master Helio Gracie.

Dave was among the few people who wore privileged enough to receive private training , along with Mauricio Zingano, from Grand Master Helio Gracie.

Dave has many accomplishments in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and he is a devoted instructor with many years of experience.

Mike Mendel
Assistant Instructor

Mike has been training with Professor Zingano for the past
4 years and is currently a purple belt. He has been one of
the most dedicated students since day one and has an incredible ability to teach and communicate with the other students. Mike's patience, since of humor are very appreciated by everyone in the school!

Matt Simms
Assistant Instructor

Matt is any incredible instructor and fighter. He is a very methodical teacher and pays close attention to detail. As a MMA fighter he holds a record of 2 wins with no loses, both wins by submission. He also holds several titles in
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competition, both in his weight class and in the open weight division. Matt is a blue belt in BJJ.

Heather Schmitz
Instructor.

Heather is a first degree purple belt under Professor Zingano. She was a former pro downhill mountain bike racer before discovering Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Currently Heather is the main instructor of our kid's program. She is an amazing instructor and extremely dedicated to her students.

Heather is also a Olympic Weight Lifting Instructor and is available for private instruction of Jiu Jitsu and Olympic Weight Lifting

Cat Albert
Instructor

Cat has been with the team for a little over a year, but has made some huge accomplishments both in BJJ as well as in MMA. She is a BJJ World Champion, Colorado State Champion and Rio de Janeiro State Champion (Brazil). Cat holds a blue belt in BJJ and teaches the kids program and freestyle wrestling as well. Her fun personality and drive to excel make her an awesome addition to the team.