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Some people know what they want from the very beginning. Our second degree black belt, Michael Cusi is no exception. After watching the UFC Night of Champions with Royce Gracie, where he discovered the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He started at Roy Harris' academy in August 2000. Ten years later, he earned his black belt from Harris himself. Cusi shared with us that BJJ positively changed his life. He gained a stronger self-confidence, made a lot of valuable friendships, and he lear …

Joining our team this year is 3rd degree black belt, Guto Campos. At age 18, he felt the need to learn a self-defense martial arts sport. Growing up and being in Brazil all his life, he found Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. His first professor was Carlos Aveline, also Master Walter Mattos' student. One day, Campos' mom told him to find a job to help make money for their household. He was afraid that this would interrupt his training, so he began to teach in their living room. Campos' mother w …

Sometimes we begin somewhere and end up at a completely different and new place. That's exactly what happened to our very own Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, Tom Knox. Originally a black belt in Judo, one of his training partners began to train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and asked if he was interested. After some time, Knox was hooked and did BJJ full-time. On top of being a black belt, he's also a professional skater. For him, skating and BJJ balance him out by keeping his life at a vari …

Congrats to our boy Arnaldo Oliveira scoring a tough second place @ the ACBJJ No Gi Grand Prix 2017, in Rio De Janeiro, Brasil.  Arnaldo had a solid performance winning second place, after a few tough matches defeating Lucas Rocha via Guillotine and Patrick Gaudio via Omoplata.  Patrick Gaudio became the tournament favorite after defeating Claudio Calasans.  We look forward to a bright future with this youngster, Congrats Arnaldo! …

We've long awaited for Rolando Samson to make his black belt debut after receiving his black belt this past June 7 from Professor Andre Galvao. On September 9, our esteemed athlete showed up and blew the roof off at the IBJJF Mexico International Open and NoGi Open. Although he initially didn't feel prepared, when his first fight began, something clicked as it always did. Rolando said, "I just needed to beat the mentality that I wasn't prepared to fight these top-level guys. After …

With the tragic events taking place in Texas, Roots Athletics is organizing a charity seminar to raise money for those who have been effected by Hurricane Harvey. All of the money raised will be donated to the "Red Cross Hurricane Harvey Relief" program. Our goal is to bring the Philadelphia community together to help those in need. The seminar will be from 1pm-3pm and will have multiple local instructors sharing their Jiu Jitsu knowledge in exchange for a small donation. All …

Big congrats to our long time friends The Jimenez Family.  After years of living and building their Academy in Spring, Texas.  The Jimenez family decided to chase their dream and move out west to Las Vegas, Nevada.  Heading the instruction is Raul Jimenez (Blackbelt- Team Gacho/Alliance), Raul has a solid competition background winning major tournaments such as; IBJJF Worlds Championships, Pan Ams and European Open.Assisting Raul, is the kid Phenom himself Worlds, Pans and Europea …

Douglas Bueno came to the United States from Porto Alegre, Brazil in 2015 to teach Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and compete in competitions. He found Jiu-Jitsu when he was only 16 years old, but now he's come a long way. He received his black belt from Gustavo "Guto" Campos and is part of the ATOS team. So far this year, he conquered at the IBJJF Austin Open, winning both his division (Master 1) and the open class. He also placed 3rd at the IBJJF American Nationals in the Master 1 divisi …

Arnaldo Oliveira's grappling career started at only 16 years old with Coach Gilberto Gabas in his hometown Aracatuba, São Paulo. Gabas supported him ever since, guiding his career until he received his black belt on December 2013. Shortly after, he moved to the United States to be more involved in the BJJ community and become a professional athlete. He became a competitor under the world famous Leonardo Vieira at Checkmat HQ (Long Beach). Arnaldo also became an instructor at Gooch' …

We here at MOYA are excited to add the newest addition to our family:  Rudson Mateus (Manacapuru - Amazonas Brasil).  Rudson is an absolute terror on the mats, with his slick sweeps and submission mindset.  Recently coming off a Double Gold Win at IBJJF World Championships 2017 (Brown belt Div), where he beat some of the best big named Athletes in his division and in the Absolute Division.Rudson will be making his Black Belt Debut at Copa Podio on August 12th, 2017, after recently …