Professor Robson began his jiujitsu journey at the age of 10 at Clube Agenor Alves led by Ulisses Paixão (@ulissespaixao) and Mestre Pina (@mestre_pina) in Manaus, Brazil. Influenced by his older cousins and friends at the age of 16, they took training seriously with his friend and mentor Marcos Almeida (@marcosalmeida1047), under whom he trained up to his purple belt.
At the age of 19, he started to represent the Asle Academy led by Sensei Henrique, where he had a brief stint. At 22 years of age, he joined the Pina Club as a brown belt, where he won several regional titles until he earned his black belt in December 2012.
In 2013, Professor Robson took over the Kids program at the Pina Club and taught children and beginners, while also competing in regional tournaments.
In 2019 he emigrated to the USA and by 2020, Coach Robson founded Park West BJJ. He has since won various competitions in the IBJJF and AJP and continues to be an active competitor today. Coach Robson leads our advanced adult and kids classes.
Coach Brenda's career in jiu-jitsu and wrestling started at a young age. Under the guidance of Mestre Pina (@mestre_pina) in Manaus, Brazil and wrestling coach Nestor Antonio Garcia (@nag_teamgarciawrestling), she began competing and quickly found success in both arts.
In 2019 she emigrated to the USA and founded Park West BJJ with Coach Robson in 2020.
Coach Brenda teaches our advanced adult and kids classes, and is proud to lead our women's classes as the only female black belt in the area.
Coach Frank has over 25 years of martial arts experience and is currently a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Starting in the traditional Japanese martial arts after an Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Marine Corps in the early 90s.
He trained in Goshin-Do-Kempo Karate & Samurai Jiu-Jitsu, rising to the rank of brown belt in a school that had a very ridged and limited promotion protocol. He cross trained in BJJ while training in the Japanese martial arts, eventually focusing on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
As a retired career Police officer, a former Bergen County Police Lieutenant, Frank spent 17 on SWAT. Eventually rising to the position of team Commander.
During his time as a police academy instructor, he taught basic recruits, in-service and advanced tactical officers in defensive tactics and firearms skills. He created a program called T.A.C.T.I.C.S that was the primary defensive tactics system used at the BC police academy for many years. He is currently employed as a full time Training Instructor for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
His focus for the “fundamental” classes at PWBJJ is to build a solid foundation and understanding of jiu-jitsu with a strong emphasis on self defense, eventually moving students confidently up to the advanced classes.
Coach Steph has been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for just over 4 years and has earned her way to her purple belt after winning silver at the 2022 IBJJF Pan American Championship and gold at the 2022 IBJJF World Master Championship.
After deciding to try BJJ for cardio and self-defense, she quickly developed a passion for the martial art and competition. Under the guidance of Coach Robson and Coach Brenda as a brand new white belt with essentially no martial arts experience, Steph quickly became a student of the game and has competed all over the country and internationally.
Coach Steph loves being involved at the gym and helps teach the kids classes.
Coach Cass started kickboxing when he was 5 and traveled the world competing in Point Karate Tournaments with Team Paul Mitchell.
He is an ISKA, WKA, WAKO, NASKA World Champion.
Coach Cass teaches a striking oriented self-defense class with elements of Kickboxing, Muay Thai, and Krav Maga.
Coach Elijah's martial arts journey began at age 11 with taekwondo. At 13, he transitioned to wrestling, competing throughout high school.
After graduating, he shifted his focus to MMA, honing his skills in boxing, jiu-jitsu, and muay thai. In 2019, he returned to his high school to coach wrestling, where he mentored the first state champion wrestler in the school's history.
Coach Elijah teaches a striking-focused class that combines elements of taekwondo, muay thai, and wrestling.
