Dan “TrumpetDan” Lukehart is the owner and head instructor at Brea Jiu-Jitsu. Dan has been training Jiu-Jitsu since January of 2006 and is a Black Belt under Beneil Dariush.
We are in the process of getting a new phone number, so it may be a day or 2 while we are unable to be reached by phone. Feel free to email BreaJiuJitsu@Gmail.com or just drop on in to try a class!
Thursday/Friday – AM Adults Regular Class, PM Adults Open Mat, No kids/juniors.
Saturday – Regular Kids Class, Adults Open Mat
Please take advantage of what is in our own backyard! Head on down to UCI and watch people from all over the world compete for one of the most coveted titles in BJJ! (IBJJF.org for details). Coach Dan and all of our adult students will be there most of the 4 days.
Its been a few months since we last updated, so we thought we would dust off our website a bit! After all, if it doesn’t make it on the internet, it’s like it never happened!
Here are some of the things that are new:
We recently said a temporary goodbye to Pedro Veras, a relatively unknown but elite level purple belt staying and training full time with us for a few months. He has not competed in the United States much, so even people who follow grappling closely may not have heard of him.
He took advantage of many opportunities to train, compete and advance his career while he was here. Competition wise, the biggest tournament he did was the No Gi Pans which he took first place in the adult middle heavy division. On the left in 2nd place is very well known and skilled grappler Andrew Wiltse. That should give you some indication of his skill set!
Career wise, he was able to network and train with the Elite team and gain an important sponsorship. Here is the Brea Jiu-Jitsu Elite Team Sponsored Athletes!
(L to R) Alicate, Fabricio, Pedro, Hus, Michelle, Juan
On the far left in the above picture is Alicate. He heard that we were hospitable to visitors through the grape vine and initially was just training on a more temporary basis. He doesnt speak a drop of English, but enjoyed it here so he decided to stay permanently! Hes taking care of the paperwork to extend his stay after his travel visa runs out. He has competed often since arriving.
Alicate earns double gold at IBJJF Long Beach Open
This last weekend Alicate got in his car and drove to Texas and back to compete in the IBJJF San Antonio Open. He brought back with him 2 gold medals! That probably made the 20 hour drive more bearable on the way back! Check out these beautiful foot sweeps he used to win the open weight category.
A few weeks back, we took some of our 100% home grown grass fed competitors to the Southern California Jiu-Jitsu Championships. The team went an astounding 10-1.
In the lower left corner is Steven Edwards who took home his first 1st place finish. Along the way, he won 1 match by 20 to nothing!
Steven Edwards wins his first match 20-0!
What often scares people away from joining our gym (especially when reading a website and seeing all the positive effects of hard work…cough cough) is that everybody is so good and the training is so grueling that they don’t think they fit in to the equation. While it is true we train very hard, but we don’t throw you do the wolves and say “Sink or swim!” We teach you everything you need to know from square one. Steven didn’t even know how to tie his belt a few months ago. We should have snapped a picture of that (We didnt =( )
Steven competed again past weekend on December 2nd. He went 4 matches in and took first place. Here is a highlight of his performance.
Do you notice how he is basically doing the same technique over and over? His opponents knew it was coming, but couldn’t stop it. How is that? Well, come to class and we will show you! A clue might be found in this highlight that Coach Dan put together last month of him competing coming up the ranks. Compare the two:
15 year old Nolan Stuart has been a member of Brea Jiu-Jitsu since we opened 5 years ago and is one of our top home grown prospects. He signed up for wrestling at Brea High School and competed for the first time this last weekend. He went 5-0! You can see all the influences of his coaching. Omar Gaitan‘s Abus roll, Coach Dan Lukehart’s front headlock to go behind/trip from the rear clinch and a sweet new takedown from Brea Wrestling.
Nolan wasn’t the only one who had his first wrestling competition this last weekend! Sar Arellano competed at the same tournament, though for a different high school. He went 4-0!
Its worth mentioning that both Nolan and Sar are guard pullers! Despite this, we frequently teach stand up techniques (especially in the kids class from which they grew out of), and every roll at our gym – adults and kids – starts from the feet. Regardless of your Jiu-Jitsu strategy, it was very important to have everybody comfortable and confident in stand up from day 1 in BJJ so you didn’t develop a phobia of takedowns common in BJJ! Starting rolls on the knees is a no no here.
The next several weeks are about to get very busy around here as we welcome top competitors from all over the world as they prepare for no gi worlds held in Anaheim, CA.
We have temporary converted all of our PM classes to no-gi. We are sure to have an amazing update in a bit about all the great training and elite guys who are in pushing our skill level higher. If you want in on the action, swing on down…even if you don’t know how to tie your belt yet. Plus its no-gi. You don’t wear a belt. =)
Things have been mighty busy around Brea Jiu-Jitsu! In fact, to keep up with what’s going on, its best to follow our Facebook page. We update regularly and it is the best location to see whats going on inside the gym.
Here are some highlights:
Over the past few years we have formed a strong friendship with the athletes from team Cicero Costha. For those who may be unfamiliar with the team, they are consistently the top performing team by win percentage. Here are some statistics we gathered which includes all male competitors from major teams at all belts blue-black. It includes data from hundreds of matches.
Many Cicero athletes stay with us for months at a time, so it is not unusual to have many world champions of all belt levels on the mat. This includes during the regularly scheduled training sessions and outside of class informal training. Here is a video made by one of the athletes showcasing some of the training at the gym. In it you will find black belt world champion Paulo Miyao, black belt world medalist Tiago Barros, Purple belt world champions Thalison Soares and Wilson Moreira and more.
For several months, we have been the training location of Diego “Pato” Oliveira who won the 2017 Purple Belt World Championships (adult division). He completed his preparations at Brea Jiu-Jitsu and continues to train along with 3 other top Cicero athletes. Having them on the mats has been a real asset for our team and propelled our homegrown athletes to many tournament successes. Success is contagious.
Pato winning IBJJF Worlds
The friendship with Cicero Costha is by no means an accident. It is a result of our no politics policy, welcoming atmosphere and helping broke but dedicated athletes find some footing and friends in the US. The buzz among other top up and coming competitors has drawn many top athletes from other teams regularly to our mats.
Last Friday, we saw one of our friends Kaynan Duarte, 2017 IBJJF Purple Belt World Champion (now brown) drop in. Kaynan stayed with us for several weeks while facilitated a meeting with Atos HQ’s Andre Galvo. He regularly drops in and consider him part of our extended family. Kaynan qualified for the upcoming ADCC championships, so we did an impromptu no gi class to help.
Light Feather Purple World Champion (Cicero) vs Middle Heavy Purple World Champion (Atos)!
DJ making fun of Kaynans rather…strong…chin
Fabricio (American Nationals Champion), Kaynan, Conner (blue belt adult world champion), Dominique Bell (Purple Belt world champion) at Joe’s house (“Free food? Heck ya!”)
Kaynan’s story is not unique. We have helped many competitors gain some footing and provide some good training until they get settled. We love this, because we always have some top competitor in that nobody has yet heard about. Sometimes we never hear from them again, sometimes they regularly visit back, and sometimes they make us their home gym. In the white gi, we picked up a then unknown purple belt from LAX and found him a place to stay with us until he could settle in. Most of the time, the kids class just knew him as the guy who took a nap in the corner.
After the first training session with him, it was instantly clear to all how good he was. We sounded his name to anybody who would listen for several months. Of course, everybody knows him now. Not too terribly long after this photo was taken, Jonnatas Gracie won the weight and open weight world championship as a lightweight and became one of the biggest names in the sport. Check out FloGrapplings coverage of this impressive feat.
Is having top competitors from different teams on one mat a problem? The simple answer is no, its not. Everybody, regardless of team, are typically friends. Sometimes there is some light hearted banter when they roll which has them and onlookers laughing. Sometimes there is an intense roll, like when some top Irish competitors came in to what Cicero guys perceived as home territory, and there was some tense moments during the roll. All tension left after the roll was gone and they talked about the techniques they both used.
In other news, Coach Dan, who suffered from PCS (Post Concussion Syndrome) which kept him away from rolling for 3 years, is regularly rolling again. This is fantastic news, except should you find yourself on the receiving end of a knee on belly.
Come join us on the mats and see what our team is about!
Italo Moura (Cicero; No Gi Worlds Silver Purple) rolling with Roberto Jimenez (Alliance; Juvenile Blue World Champion)
Fabricio Machado (Checkmat; American National Champion Brown) looking good
Hiago George (Cicero; Worlds Medalist Black Belt) getting a roll in with Chris
Cole Franson (Tinguinha; No Gi Worlds Medalist Adult Brown) after training with Roberto Jimenez (Alliance; Juvenile World Champion)
Paulo and Joao Miyao with a group of elite competitors while in town for a tournament
Newly minted black belt world champion Nicholas Meregali (Alliance) dropped in while filming for JiuJitsu.net
Juan and purple belt rooster world champion “Little Miyao”
Johnif wins the purple belt division all by submission at NABJJF. He canceled his trip back to Brazil and trains with us every class!
“Little Miyao” Supporting the kids team with lots of “oss”
Thiago Barros (Cicero; Black Belt Adult Worlds Medalist) and Doug Kallin (Relson Gracie)
Jonas Andrade (Cicero; Purple Worlds Medalist) looking good with Italo Moura (Cicero: Purple No Gi Worlds Silver). These two were the first two Cicero athletes to stay with us for long periods.
This scene over at Khiem’s place isn’t exactly what you expect when you think of the famously stoic Miyao Brothers.
Sean Roberts (Ralph Gracie; Metamoris vet) and Dan showing some techniques in class
Nielton Mendes rocking our patch in Brazil!
CSW Black belt Bryan Clavecilla is a familiar face getting in his gi training 2-4 times a week.
Coach Dan is often asked by elite black belt Eliot Kelly to provide strategic cornering. This amazing shot of Dan cornering opposite Saulo Ribeiro catches the instant that Eliot secured victory against his brother – multiple time world champion and legend Xande Ribero.
Brea Jiu-Jitsu has formed a friendship with many top competitive black belts and provide solid training while they are in town. World Championship medalist (black belt adult) Tiago Barros and Relson Gracie black belt Douglas Kallin were in for our 7AM class today.
Read more about our welcoming and open philosophy towards guests and visitors here.
Today we held a no gi parent and child class in place of our regular kids class. It was great for the kids to drag their parents on the mat and put them through the “warm ups” and sparring! A good time was had by all.
We are in the process of getting a new phone number, so it may be a day or 2 while we are unable to be reached by phone. Feel free to email BreaJiuJitsu@Gmail.com or just drop on in to try a class!
Thursday/Friday – AM Adults Regular Class, PM Adults Open Mat, No kids/juniors.
Saturday – Regular Kids Class, Adults Open Mat
Please take advantage of what is in our own backyard! Head on down to UCI and watch people from all over the world compete for one of the most coveted titles in BJJ! (IBJJF.org for details). Coach Dan and all of our adult students will be there most of the 4 days.
