Matthew D'Aquino- Matt D’Aquino is a 2nd Dan Black Belt with 17 years of experience in judo. He has represented Australia at two World Championships and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing at the -60kg division. He has been competing internationally as a senior since 2003 and has competed and trained all over the world.

Additionally, Matt also holds a blue belt in BJJ and was the 2009 Australian purple belt Submission Grappling Champion in the no gi -67kg division. Matt also has his certificate 3 and 4 in Fitness.

Matt is currently studying for his Bachelors in Education at the University of Canberra in Australia. He is a state coach and has a keen interest in anything to do with judo and becoming a better athlete, whether it is through improved technique or in the gym.

Matt is a Christian and has a passion for helping people find stability in their life and he has a dream of one day opening a judo club and giving people the same awesome experiences he has gotten out of judo.

Gant Grimes- I have been lifting barbells since the mid-80s and training in martial arts since the early 90s. Kenpo was my first love. The aggressive nature and physicality of that art was a nice transition when football was over. I trained in a few more styles until I found judo in the late 90s. After several breaks (school, marriage, kids, moving), I rejoined Texoma Judo (my original club) a couple years ago and have been training ever since. I have a black belt in karate and brown belts in judo and jujitsu.

Mark Rippetoe taught me the barbell lifts over 10 years ago, and I still train at his gym. While I have coached individuals on the lifts, I am more interested in programming for groups of athletes. I believe in smart, simple programming as opposed to the latest and greatest exercise fads.

In addition to judo, I enjoy Highland Games, mountain bike racing, and the occasional Olympic lifting meet.

John Schneider- John holds a M.S. degree in Exercise Science with a focus on Performance Enhancement & Injury Prevention. He also is a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer and a NASM Performance Enhancement Specialist. John is the head Coach and owner of ThreeRivers CrossFit. Additionally he holds the Basic Barbell, Olympic Weightlifting, and Running/Endurance Training CrossFit specialty certifications.

John has been practicing judo since 1998. He holds the rank of nidan and has competed around the country. In college, John was the captain of the University of Pittsburgh Judo Team and the president of the judo club. In 2005, John was the only Marine Corps representative on the U.S. Armed Forces Judo Team.

John has been in the Marine Corps for 11 years and currently holds the rank of Captain. His Military Occupational Specialty is Military Police. John's fitness knowledge has been used to train his Marines and prepare them for combat operations. He has been deployed to Iraq twice and is currently preparing for a deployment to Afghanistan.

John appreciates any athletic challenge. He has competed in triathlons, marathons, Strongman comps, wrestling, Brazilian Ju Jitsu competitions, Olympic Weightlifting meets, and Highland Games. He has experience coaching strength and conditioning for sprinters, wrestlers, football, basketball, baseball, and basketball players, and judo athletes.

Jamie Skibicki- Profile coming soon.

Jason Struck- Jason Struck is an RKC and Crossfit Level One certified coach who runs Crossfit Full Circle in Richmond, VA. He is completing a BS in Exercise Science with a concentration in Pre-Physical Therapy as well as a minor in Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University while running twenty to thirty ‘WODs’ per week. He has also held the title of President, VP and Treasurer of VCU Judo club, and now serves as one of its primary student instructors.

“I began lifting weights in 2000 to supplement my Kung Fu training. After a half year training full time in Shaolin martial arts in China, and competing in San Da events, it became abundantly clear to me that physicality played a crucial role in non-cooperative martial arts (judo, boxing, wrestling, etc). Realizing that I was completely outperformed by some of my more athletic peers who would in fact be in the same weight class as me was a major wake-up call. When I got back home, I decided to take up Judo to help me win more decisions in San Da. After a few weeks of grappling, I pretty much forgot about striking from that point on. Between the fast-paced nature of judo competition, or the huge advantage strength can confer in any grappling event, I was determined to be as strong as possible pound-for-pound, and to have the kind of cardio that would never quit when it came to randori or long practice sessions. I found this through a combination of heavy and explosive lifting and Crossfit, or more accurately, Crossfit with a heavy emphasis placed on HEAVY.”

Over the last 8 years, Jason has accrued certifications and specialty classes/seminars on topics as diverse as personal training, nutrition, gymnastics, program design, motor learning, anatomy, yoga, core training, safety/cpr/first aid, Olympic lifting, powerlifting, strongman and more. Jason has benefited from training on the mat or in the weight room with some of the most well respected coaches in the states such as Rhadi Ferguson, Pavel Tsatsouline, Brett Jones, Jason Brown and Pamela MacElree, Chris Wilkes, Jim Bathurst and several authorities in Richmond, like Tim Kontos and Chris Stewart of VCU and U of R or Chris Lawyer, strongman and powerlifting coach and owner of the Weight Room. As the lead instructor for upwards of 20 Crossfit classes a week, and with a personal training schedule that typically includes 6-8 hours of Judo and 10-12 hours of BJJ each week, Coach Jason is ‘living it’ when it comes to S&C for grappling sports.