Marcelo Garcia Gainesville Association

06/24/2026

Thank you to and for another wonderful and successful trip, and for the tremendous honor of guest teaching at your amazing academy.

23 days, 25 classes taught (9 Fundamentals Gi, 7 Fundamentals No Gi, 3 Advanced Gi, 5 Advanced No-Gi, and 1 All Levels No-Gi), and the academy is still standing and the students are still smiling (I think ;)

To my Hawaii family: you guys are amazing, and I can't thank you enough for always making me feel at home ❤️

To my Florida family: Love and miss you, and looking forward to seeing you all this week. ❤️

06/23/2026

You know you're teaching right when the adorable kid in class demonstrates the move of the day perfectly on the grizzled veteran brown belt. 😄

06/21/2026

I always tell people that my greatest accomplishment in life was earning my black belt from the GOAT, Marcelo Garcia, at 46 years old.

The truth is, that’s actually my second greatest accomplishment (albeit a very close second). 😜

My greatest accomplishment is helping raise three wonderful, kind, empathetic, and compassionate kids who, even as young adults, still seem to enjoy having me around. I’ve also been fortunate enough to gain some bonus family along the way too ❤️

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads and everyone who has stepped up to play a fatherly role in someone’s life!

And a special Father’s Day shoutout to my own father, Wei-chi Ying who has always been the best role model I could ever have.

06/19/2026

✅ Continuing to fulfill the dream of teaching at the world famous

✅ Sharing the unique techniques of the GOAT

✅ Wearing .kr & to look as handsome as ever

✅ Meeting incredible people and making wonderful friends along the way

06/17/2026

Marcelo Garcia Jiu Jitsu
O'ahu, Hawaii
Gi Fundamentals Class
06/15/2026

Photo by

06/16/2026

Marcelo Garcia Jiu-Jitsu
O'ahu, Hawaii

Advanced No Gi Class
06/15/2026

06/15/2026

06/11/2026

I first met Yuta at one of Marcelo's promotion days in NYC a few years ago. I was immediately impressed with him because he was standing and clapping for every white belt promotion. (If you are a higher belt who is kind and welcoming to lower belts, I'm an immediate fan.)

This was even before I knew what a great competitor he was — having already won an ADCC Trial, IBJJF Asian Opens, and more.

Then I learned that he had moved from Japan to NYC specifically to train under Marcelo. And as much as I love Marcelo, seeing someone make that kind of sacrifice and commitment to learn from him made me an even bigger fan of his.

I was especially thrilled for Yuta when I heard he was moving to Hawaii and assisting with teaching at Marcelo's academy there. And now, after regular training, learning, and coaching under the 🐐, Yuta has achieved the remarkable feat of placing 3rd at the IBJJF World Championships (Adult black belt) in the stacked Featherweight division at the age of 33 (almost 34!)

I'm proud of Yuta, and he is an inspiration to all of us!

The students in Hawaii are so fortunate to train with both Yuta and Marcelo ❤️

06/06/2026

Anyone that says BJJ is a waste of time has never trained for 31 years, winning the World Championships at every belt color (including 5x at black belt), and winning ADCC 4x in his weight class (tied for the most ever) — because this is the view Marcelo Garcia and his family enjoy every day :)