Lineage: depending on point in time: Rigan Machado >Rodney King>me; Hilton Leao da Silva>Roberto (Beto) Ferreira>Arlans Siqueira>Craig Welsh>me; Royce Gracie>Roy Marsh>me; Carlos Gracie Jr.>Ze Radiola>Orlando Sanchez>Ben Zhuang>Glenn Lambdin>me; also learned a ton from my friend Mark Picton, who got promoted to blackbelt in 2015 by Victor Estima/ Carlos Gracie Jr. lineage

Everyday guy, average Jiu Jitsu hobbyist, full time training supervisor in a state authority, almost 49 years old, practicing and teaching „basic“ Brazilian Jiu Jitsu on a recreational level three sessions a week. Started training martial arts 27 years ago in 1999, because while serving in the military I watched a vhs tape, where a guy in a white Judo uniform named Royce Gracie from Rio de Janeiro won the ultimate fighting championship in November 12th, 1993 .....rest is history. I was instantly hooked, wanted to learn that magical „Jiu Jitsu“, too, and shortly after signed up at the local Jiu Jitsu club three blocks away from my apartment. It was Japanese Jiu Jitsu though and uneducated in relation to martial arts back then, I didn’t even know it was different from the style Royce Gracie learned. „Gracie“ Jiu Jitsu was non existent at the place in Germany where I lived at that time, so I practiced Japanese Jiu Jitsu about 4 years and thereafter trained Israeli martial arts (Krav Maga + Krav Panim el Panim) and combat sports like Luta Livre and Boxing. In the end though, full circle, more than a decade ago, i transitioned into training and teaching Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the martial art I wanted to learn in the first place in 1999.