This is a photo of me with Rickson Gracie at a seminar in the early fall of 2016. Two years prior I'd begun training in martial arts at a mixed style school. Part of that curriculum consisted of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. After a year of doing only partial training in BJJ I wanted to learn more and to specialize in it. I began to try other schools, doing "drop-in" classes. While on a trip to San Diego I spent time at an "old school" gym run by Fábio Santos. When I returned to Wisconsin I was very happy to return to my original gym but really wished I had access to more of the "old school" self defense style I'd seen in California. With in a month of my return a new instructor came into my life when I met Thales Blaso. He trained under the very same lineage that I wanted to learn from! What an amazingly fortunate occurrence. Both his main instructor, Luiz Claudio, and the instructor Fábio Santos that introduced me to "old school" were trained by Rickson Gracie. How lucky am I?
