David Ruiz is the founder of Colorado Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy and is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt - 3rd Degree under Professor Rigan Machado.
David started his training in Los Angeles, California, under Rorion, Royce,and Helio Gracie. This is where he was specifically taught how to instruct the art of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, by literally putting in thousands of hours.More about David Ruiz …

 Oscar Martinez began his training at the age of 15 with one of his closest friends, Edgar Fiero. Edgar was a fighter who trained under Kru Puk and Sakson Janjirra. Edgar would later become a Muay Thai heavyweight champion.The two would meet at Sun Valley Park where they would hit the speed bag and work Thai pads. In addition, Oscar also participated in boxing at the local recreation center to keep himself out of trouble.More about Oscar Martinez…

Mauricio Zingano is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt 3rd Degree 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.
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Nobuo has been studying martial arts since he was six years old. He began his training in Kendo (Samurai swordsmanship). He has studied full-contact Karate for over ten years and used his Karate expertise to become the 1997 Japanese National Sansho Full-Contact Kung Fu Champion.In 2000, Karate brought Nobuo to the United States where he trained and served as a full-time, Karate apprentice at his school’s International headquarters.
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Professor Mike Nickels, star of season 3 of the UFC’s reality TV show “The Ultimate Fighter”, has been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu since 2003. Mike has competed in several BJJ/Grappling tournaments all over the country, including Grapplers Quest, placing 1st each time, and the highly renowned IBJJF Pan Jiu Jitsu Championships, in which he also placed 1st at each tournament. Winning tournament after tournament and developing a highly technical and athletic game has earned Mike a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt under Professor David Ruiz.

Matt has been studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for quite some time. Previous to Colorado Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Matt studied directly under Professor Rigan Machado. Excelling as one of Rigans best students, Matt was aksed to appear in Rigan Machado’s 3 part Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu technique book series, Encyclopedia of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Click hereto purchase your very own series with Matt.Matt has been a extremely valuable assest to our academy. Matt brings with him the awesome mental and technical side of Machado BJJ straight from the source along with head instructor David Ruiz. We are lucky to have him with us.

Sean Stewart began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Professor David Ruiz in 2004 and has been studying the Art with dedication ever since. Winning 1st place gold at a number of tournaments in Colorado (including multiple Fight To Win and RMBJJF gi and no-gi tournaments), not only has Sean learned
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Robert Wunderlich started in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu a few years back and has exceeded tremendously in that short period of time. Winning multiple competitions including receiving a Silver medal at the 2006 Pan American Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships and placing first in April’s local grappling competition. Robert, AKA “Baby Huey” is a great assest to the academy and we are proud to have him as a student and Assistant Instructor.

Rich Hess grew up in Ponca City, Oklahoma, where he started wrestling at age 6. He has 10 years of Boxing experince and his martial arts achivements include:

1998 U.S. National Combat Jiu-Jitsu Blackbelt Champion.  1998 National Extreme Sport Fighting Championships semi-finalist, pro MMA debut @165lbs. 1998 USWF 145lb World Title 8-man Tournament semi-finalist. Gladiators Challenge Veteran. Ring of Fire; former #1 ranked @145lbs. 2000 Black Belt 3-D martial Arts from Clarence Thatch. 2002 Brown Belt Judo.  IFC Vetran (ISKA MMA world Title Fight).  2006 Pan American Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Silver Medalist @154lbs. 2007 Pan American Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Gold Medalist @154lbs. Shoot Boxing Japan Veteran. Fight to Win Jiu-Jitsu Champion.

2009 Brown Belt Colorado Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Dave Ruiz