Saturday, May 15th was a special day for Cascade Jiu-Jitsu! I had the honor of promoting three very worthy friends to the rank of Black Belt. Stefan Grunkemeier, Kyle McAlister, and Andrew Jang all embody what it means to be a Black Belt both on and off the mats and I am proud and honored to share the mats with them. Thank you all for your friendship, leadership within the academy and the many hard training rounds that help keep us sharp.

Congrats Gentlemen

This past Friday Gordon Ryan defeated Vagner Rocha at Who’s Number One via Triangle Choke. Even more impressive was the way he controlled the match and dictated the tempo. The victory is his second in the last month and the second time he’s “called his shot”. Last month prior to his match with Roberto Jimenez he stated on social media that he would finish that match with a mounted armbar. Jimenez was able to escape a early armlock attempt by the larger Ryan, however, Gordon was eventually able to secure mount and the promised armlock finish. Prior to his match with Rocha, Gordon delivered a letter to the event announcers with directions to open after the match. After the conclusion of the match the announcers opened the letter to find a picture of a triangle indicating his path to victory. Winning in the fashion that he has been is a very impressive feat but calling your shots against the best grapplers on the planet puts him on a different level. Gordon seemingly passed up several submission opportunities while hunting for a triangle finish on the number one ranked middle weight no-gi grappler in the world. Needless to say, it’ll be interesting to see if he continues this trend.

Just launched a new look website, but still the same sweat and on the mat! Hope you enjoy the site and see you on the mat!