Pat Cooligan - Team Renzo Gracie Ottawa Head Instructor

Pat is a black belt under Renzo Gracie – the first in Canada, and the fourth Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Black belt in Canadian history. For the past several years, he has been a professional martial artist and full-time instructor. Aside from his BJJ accolades, which include a silver medal at the Pan-American BJJ Championships, he also holds the rank of 4th degree black belt in traditional Jiu-Jitsu.

Pat’s real skill, however, lies in teaching, in which he has had (and continues to have) a rich and varied experience. Pat has not only produced several championship grapplers, he was featured in a 4-week BJJ demonstration on the A Channel's "News at Noon" program, and also in "On The Mat", one of North America’s premier grappling magazines. Pat also has taught the Canadian Army and Special Forces on numerous occasions, and is the recipient of several commendations from the Department of National Defense as well as from several different branches of the Canadian Army. Pat has also had the pleasure of training with some of the best BJJ has to offer - notably Helio, Royce, Rickson, Renzo, and Roger Gracie, to name only a few of the Gracie family members he has met. Pat has also traveled to Brazil several times to the world-famous Gracie Barra School to hone his skills and teaching ability, and stay current on the newest techniques in Brazil.

Pat over-sees all of our programs here at the Sudbury BJJ & Muay Thai Academy and frequently travels to Sudbury to teach and evaluate our students.

Visit his website at: www.oama.ca

Steve Joncas - Sudbury BJJ & Muay Thai Academy Chief Instructor

Steve Joncas is a purple belt under Pat Cooligan and is Sudbury BJJ and Muay Thai Academy’s Head Instructor. Steve started his first martial art, Goju-ryu Karate, at the age of ten and received his black belt in 1996. He then went on to train in Judo, Traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, Muay Thai and has also had extensive American Kick Boxing training, under 23 time world champion Jean-Yves Theriault. Steve began working with Pat Cooligan, who is one of only a handful of representatives of the world famous Gracie family in Canada, while living in Ottawa back in 2002. Steve relocated to Sudbury to open his own school and continues to train at the Ottawa Academy of Martial Arts under Pat and has the opportunity to train with members of the Gracie family including Renzo, Roger, Igor, Rolles, Kyra, Kayron, and Gregor Gracie as well as other high level black belts and world champions like Marcio Feitosa, John Danaher, Shawn Williams, Braulio Estima and Roberto “Gordo” Correa.  Steve also attended a week long training camp with several members of the Gracie Family including multiple time Absolute World Champion Roger Gracie in the Spring of 2011.<

To keep his curriculum current Steve has had the privilege of travelling with his instructors to train at such places as the Renzo Gracie Academy in New York City, the Renzo Gracie Los Angeles academy, and Roger Gracie’s academy in London England. Steve is also the only BJJ instructor in Northern Ontario who has had the privilege of training in Brazil at the world-famous Gracie Barra School, and Evolve Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Rio de Janeiro. This training offers Steve the opportunity to train with the likes of George St. Pierre, Frankie Edgar, Ricardo Almeida, and various students and black belts at the visited academies. Pat holds Steve to such a high regard in October 2010 he invited him to travel with him to London England to help corner OAMA's UFC Fighter Mark Holst at UFC 120, making Steve the only person in Sudbury to ever corner a UFC fight.

Steve loves to teach martial arts, and thoroughly enjoys running the school and training and coaching the competitors.

You can contact Steve via email at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Jenn Ricker - BJJ Instructor

Jenn is the co-founder of Sudbury BJJ & Muay Thai Academy. She began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai under Steve Joncas and Pat Cooligan in 2008. Jenn was one of the first women promoted to blue belt at the Academy and had the honour of receiving it from Renzo Gracie himself. Since 2008, Jenn has had the opportunity to train with many high level BJJ practitioners including Kyra Gracie, Renzo Gracie, Roger Gracie, Gregor Gracie, Rilion Gracie, Rolles Gracie, Igor Gracie, and Shawn Williams to name a few. Jenn’s involvement in BJJ has allowed her to travel all over, training and competing in New York, Los Angeles, Columbus Ohio, and Costa Rica where she participated in the first Gracie Adventure Camp.

Jenn also trains in Muay Thai, receiving her Blue Pratchia in 2010. She has been fortunate enough to train with several Muay Thai legends including Georges St. Pierre’s Muay Thai instructor - Kru Jean-Charles Skarbowsky, Ajahn Burklerk Pinsinchai, UFC fighter Kru Mark Holst, Ajahn Coban Lookchaomaesaitong, Kru Chris Kew, Kru Jeff Harrison and Kru Mel Bellissimo. Jenn also proved her warrior spirit and team dedication by taking a Professional MMA fight on two-days notice on a Wreck MMA card in 2010.

Jenn’s main focus at the Academy is the fitness program. She is the head Strength and Conditioning instructor receiving her Agastu Kettlebell Certification in November 2009 and her Crossfit Level 1 Certification in September 2011. With over five years of yoga training and a Teacher Training Certificate from the world renowned David Swenson, Jenn is also the head yoga instructor. Along with assisting Steve Joncas in the BJJ and Muay Thai programs, and heading the fitness program, Jenn is heavily involved in the development and growth of the children’s programs offered at the Academy.

• NYC Open 2011 – Blue Belt Champion
• Ontario Open 2011 – Blue Belt Silver, No-Gi Silver
• Ontario Provincial BJJ Tournament 2010 – Blue Belt Champion
• Renzo Gracie Invitational 2010 – Blue Belt Silver
• Renzo Gracie Invitational 2009 – White Belt Champion, No-Gi Champion
• Arnold Classic 2009 – White Belt Silver, No-Gi Bronze
• NAGA Detroit 2008 – White Belt Champion, No-Gi Champion

You can contact Jenn via email at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Matthew Richer - BJJ Instructor

Matthew started off with wrestling in high school where he gained valuable experience and eventually ended being the Captain of his team and winning City Championships. After university he had a passion to get back into contact sports so he trained in traditional Jiu-Jitsu for a short period of time before joining the team here at Sudbury BJJ & Muay Thai Academy. Matt immediately fell in love with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and even trained with the likes of Igor Gracie, Gregor Gracie, and Rolles Gracie to name a few. He enjoys the technical aspects of Jiu-Jitsu and using superior leverage, grips, and position to out match his opponents. Matt currently holds a blue belt under Renzo Gracie through Pat Cooligan.  Matthew recently captured the Ontario Open 2011 Masters Absolute Championship and received a silver medal in his division.

Paul Berthiaume - Wrestling Coach & BJJ Instructor

Paul started his wrestling career in high school gaining four years of training and competition experience. He then went on to compete at the university level at Laurentian. Paul has been coaching the Chelmsford High School Wrestling Team and Rayside Wrestling Club for 18 years. He has his Level 2 certification with the National Coaching Certification Program and was one of the coaches for the 2006 Commonwealth Youth Wrestling Championships in Scotland. Paul is currently the representative for North Eastern Ontario Wrestling and the Convener for Sudbury Wrestling. He has competed in several grappling tournaments including winning gold at the Arnold Classic. Paul currently holds a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Renzo Gracie through Pat Cooligan.

Guy Poulin - BJJ Instructor

Guy is a blue belt under Renzo Gracie, and is one of the most accomplished competitors here at Sudbury BJJ.  Guy has an incredible passion for training and competing in Jiu-Jitsu as shown by his hard-core training schedule. Most weeks he trains 5-6 days, and in fact, the only time he missed an entire week in 4 years, he happened to be visiting relatives in Japan and managed to get in some training while over there on Vacation.  Guy's accomplishments include gold medal performances at the 'Arnold Classic', the 'Renzo Gracie Invitational', the 'Toronto Classic', and most recently Guy managed to bring home 2 gold medals form the 2011 'Ontario Open Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships'.