Professor Vinny first started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to learn how to defend himself after being bullied for a long time in school. The more he trained, the more he fell in love with it, and it became a huge part of his life. He has been training for over 11 years now. He believes that the hard work and the great people at the academy have really helped his life move in a good direction.

One of his favorite parts of BJJ is competing. He started competing when he was 16 and has placed in both world-level Jiu-Jitsu tournaments and wrestling events. His big goal is to take first place at the IBJJF No-Gi Worlds.

In 2026, Vinny was awarded his black belt. He teaches both our kids and adult BJJ classes and is also the captain of our kids’ BJJ competition team.