Pat Cooligan – Owner/Head Instructor at Ottawa Academy of Martial Arts

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 Defence 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.

Visit his website at: www.oama.ca

Steve Joncas - Chief Instructor & Kids Jiu-Jitsu Instructor

Steve has been training in martial arts for over 25 years, has been teaching for over 10 years, and has owned the 'Sudbury BJJ and Muay Thai Academy' for over 4 years.

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 holds a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Renzo Gracie through Pat Cooligan who is one of only a handful of representatives of the world famous Gracie family in Canada. He continues to train at the Ottawa Academy of Martial Arts under Pat and periodically trains with members of the Gracie family like Roger, Igor, Rolles, Kyra, and Gregor Gracie as well as other high level black belts and world champions like Marcio Feitosa, John Danaher, Shawn Williams, and Fabio Leopoldo.

Steve's real strength lies in teaching and coaching and he has produced several champion grapplers since opening Sudbury BJJ including medalists at 'Grappler's Quest North American Championships', 'The North American Grappling Association', and 'The Toronto Classic BJJ tournament'. Steve has taught seminars on self-defense and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the 'Sudbury Police Association', and has taught several seminars on women's self-defense in the Sudbury area.

Jenn Ricker - Head Kettlebell and Yoga/Flexibility Instructor

Jenn started training with Sudbury BJJ & Muay Thai in January 2008 and was amazed with the fitness results achieved through BJJ and Muay Thai practice. Since being a part of the team, Jenn has had the opportunity to work with several top athletes, instructors and coaches in both sports. In November 2009 Jenn had her greatest honour to date in the Mixed Martial Arts world, receiving her blue belt from Renzo Gracie. Jenn is a part of both the BJJ and Muay Thai competition team, and has won several hight level Grappling tournaments and has her sights set on competing in Muay Thai as well. Jenn's main goals in training are fitness, wellness and self-defense.

Jenn is our Head Kettlebell instructor, receiving her Agastu Kettlebell Certification in November 2009. She also instructs our yoga/flexibility program, and assists with our kids programs.

Mike Houle - Head Muay Thai Instructor

Mike fell in love with combat sports, like most other 21 year olds, because of the UFC and MMA. His training experience began with a striking sport, kickboxing, where he had six amateur competitions, two being in the SuperHeavyweight division, two at Heavyweight and two more at his current competition weight of 185lbs. Because of the restriction of low kicks, knees, elbows and the clinch in kickboxing Mike was drawn to the sport of Muay Thai which he currently practices and instructs at the Academy since April 2008.

Mike’s training from that point has been nothing but extensive Muay Thai, BJJ, MMA & conditioning workouts. Being a part of the Sudbury BJJ and Muay Thai Academy team, Mike has had the opportunity to train with some of the best instructors in the country from our affiliated schools, including Kru Chris Kew, MAS Thai Boxing head instructor in Cambridge, Ontario and Pat Cooligan, Team Renzo Gracie Ottawa head BJJ instructor. Mike has also attended seminars with world renowed instructors like John Danaher, black belt instuctor at the Renzo Gracie Academy in New York and Johnsong Fairtex, a Muay Thai champion from Thailand. Being a part of these teams has also allowed him to train with some of the best competitors in the country, such as Kru Mark Holst, current FreedomFight MMA Lightweight Champion.

Mike's has had success in several BJJ competitions and has his sights set on a professional MMA career.

Tom Cooney - Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu & Kids Jiu-Jitsu Instructor

Tom is a very accomplished Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor, having won gold medals in the heavyweight division at some of the biggest and best tournaments in North America such as NAGA, Grappler's Quest, and The Arnold's.

Tom is also a passionate instructor and has a very detail oriented style of grappling which he brings to his teaching. Tom is truly an asset to the Sudbury BJJ instructor's team.

Tom has a background in wrestling and shootfighting and has been training since childhood. He has had the opportunity to train with some of the world's best BJJ instructor's and world champions like Carlos Gracie Jr, Renzo Gracie, and Marcio Feitosa to name a few.

Matthew Richer - Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Instructor & Website Designer

Matthew started off with wrestling in highschool where he gained fours year of 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 tradional 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 Holles 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.

Paul Berthiaume – Wrestling Coach & Jiu-Jitsu 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. Paul currently holds a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Renzo Gracie through Pat Cooligan.