Congratulations to everyone that competed in NAGA! Smash had a great showing and the competitors brought home lots of medals. It’s amazing to see everyone’s progression. Thanks to Mario Rios, Manny Rocha, Crystina Zastrow, and Eli Sanchez for all the help coaching. Awesome day for the competitors and we know a lot of Smashers are looking forward to the US open.
Tag Archives: east san jose bjj
We Came to Smash!
Congratulations to all the Smash Gyms Jiu-jitsu Competitors! Competitors from both our San Jose and Sunnyvale locations competed in two different tournaments! Everyone that competed brought home a medal! Incredible performance!
Jiu-jitsu by the Bay
Douglas Ancey – 1st
Tony Benavides – 3rd
Nathan Benavides- 3rd
Sergii Khaperskov– 1st
Jonathan Montinola Bialoglovski – 2nd
Los Angeles International Championship
Scott Clymer – 1st gi, 2nd no gi
Manny Rocha – 2nd gi, 2nd no gi absolute
Gabriela Americo – 2nd gi
Tina Linhsamount – 1st no gi, 1st absolute
Smash Gyms teaches Jiu-jitsu, Wresting and Judo in beginner friendly classes with world class instruction! Try a Free Week! Gym Location in Sunnyvale near Levi Stadium and Great America and in San Jose near Eastridge Mall and Raging Waters.
Summer Specials! Two Bay Area Locations! FREE WEEK!
Try a Free Week of Beginner Friendly Classes!
Smash Gyms Sunnyvale is located on Tasman & Lawrence near Great America and Levi Stadium. Smash Gyms San Jose is located across the street from Eastridge Mall in East San Jose and Evergreen.
Classes Include Kickboxing, Boxing, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, MMA, Self-Defense, Yoga, UJAM, Zumba, Strength & Conditioning, Fitness Bootcamps, Judo and more!
We have classes for the entire family! Our classes are all taught by expert instructors to make sure you have fun and get a great workout!
Visit www.smashgyms.com to register for a FREE WEEK!
READ OUR YELP REVIEWS!
http://www.yelp.com/biz/smash-gyms-sunnyvale-2
http://www.yelp.com/biz/smash-gyms-san-jose
Teaching Professionalism
One thing that stands out about the Smash Gyms instructors is the professionalism in which they conduct themselves. Anyone who have been involved in martial arts for a long time and traveled around to different schools can attest that this is a quality that is often lacking by many instructors. Check out this short video where Smash Gyms Sunnyvale Head BJJ instructor Michael Jen talks about this subject.
How to Tie Your Belt!
There are many different ways to tie your belt in martial arts. In this video Smash Gyms Jiu-Jitsu Instructor, 4th Degree BJJ Black Belt, and Judo Black Belt Michael Jen shows us how he teaches our BJJ students to tie their belts.
Mario Rios – BJJ Black Belt – Smash Gyms Instructor
People who know Mario Rios know two things about him. He is super nice and he knows A LOT about grappling! Mario is a very caring and passionate instructor. He has been involved in wrestling, judo and BJJ for almost 20 years. This incredible experience in grappling provides a wealth of information anyone interested in advancing his or her grappling knowledge. If you take Mario’s classes you can look forward to highly detailed technical instruction explained in a way that you can easily understand and implement right away. He has helped many people advance in the grappling arts with his organized and systematic approach to grappling.
Mario started his training with grappling in 1995 while he was a student at Fresno State College. In Fresno, there were no Jiu-Jitsu studios, so he started working out his house with Jason Hannen, now a black belt at Pacific Martial Arts. Most of the techniques were drills based on Renzo and Craig Kukuk videos, since youtube was nonexistent, and information was hard to come by.
In those early days Mario sought out other Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu students who were commuting long distances to train at some of the Gracie Academies and began training regularly with them. Some of these partners were wrestlers from Fresno Pacific and Fresno State. During this time, Mario was also training at the Fresno Judo Club before moving from the area.
After completing college, Mario was faced with the decision to relocate. He had two requirements, finding a job, and finding his passion, Jiu Jitsu. Mario found both and moved to the Bay Area in 1996. In the beginning, he took classes with Claudio Franca. Although he enjoyed the classes because of such a long commute to Santa Cruz, he decided to train in Mountain View at Ralphs. Training at Ralphs was a great experience. Mario was able to train with some of the premier grapplers at the time and began to really understand the dedication necessary to excel at this art.
In 1999 began training with Michael Jen. Michael’s unique approach and attention to detail was different from the Jiu-Jitsu he had experienced in his earlier training. Mario was impressed with Michael’s highly detailed instruction and his openness to share techniques.
In 2010, when the first Smash Gyms opened Mario immediately became a leader in the gym and helped many people in different programs. The environment and resources that Smash provided motivated Mario to focus and push himself until he received his Black Belt in 2011 from Michael Jen. Mario believes Smash Gyms amazing instructors and members helped push him to reach his long-time goal of becoming a BJJ Black Belt. After seeing the incredible growth of Smash and the value that it has brought to our members, he decided he wanted to help open another Smash in San Jose. Mario is co-owner of San Jose Smash Gyms and will be working full-time and teaching BJJ classes along with fellow BJJ Black Belts Rudy Sanchez and Michael Jen. Mario’s goal is to bring as much value as possible to Smash members in Evergreen and East San Jose.
Sam Spengler’s New MMA Classes at Smash Gyms
Beginning Monday February 10th 2014 Sam “The Ram” Spengler will begin teaching beginner friendly MMA Fitness & Self-Defense Classes at the new San Jose Smash Gyms. Smash Gym San Jose is located in Evergreen right down the street from Quimby Oak Middle School where Sam has taught for over 12 years.
As a veteran PE teacher, wrestling coach, athlete, and role model Sam Spengler has contributed to the East San Jose and Evergreen community in many ways. As a teacher Sam’s positive attitude is contagious and he is extremely popular with his students and fellow staff. Sam has had huge success as the Quimby Oak Head Wrestling Coach. He has led the Quimby Oak Lobo’s wrestling team to win their league for 12 years in a row. As a coach Sam has helped students fulfill their potential by guiding them in their athletic careers. He has created countless champions. Many of Sam’s students have gone on to receive scholarships, become coaches themselves, and be contributing members of the community.
Sam has been wrestling since he was 5 years old. As a senior in high school he earned a bronze medal in the Montana State Wrestling Championships and also received a scholarship to play college football where he earned a degree in Education. A seasoned martial arts veteran, Sam has been competing in kickboxing and MMA since 2003. He began training kickboxing over 10 years ago at West Valley Community College with Brian Kuhn. Shortly after Brian introduced Sam to Cung Le’s Martial Arts in San Jose where Sam began training MMA. Sam continued his MMA training with Cung Le and supplemented his training by learning BJJ at Smash Gyms. Sam has trained with many world-class competitors and instructors over the last 10 years.
Sam has competed in hundreds of wrestling matches, 22 kickboxing matches, dozens of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu tournaments and 9 MMA fights. Sam is also the head of his Physical Education Department in San Jose. This competitive experience in kickboxing, wrestling, brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts coupled with his teaching background lends him the unique ability to transfer his knowledge to eager students in a structured and systematic way. Sam’s organized and fun classes will help students of all skill and fitness levels learn technique and improve their fitness level due to a format and curriculum designed to create an optimal learning environment. Sam is happy and excited to pass on his experience and unique skill set to the Evergreen and East San Jose community at Smash Gyms.
2011 Jiu-Jitsu by the Sea Champion
2011 Jiu-Jitsu by the Bay Champion
2011 San Jose Open Champion
2011 San Jose Open Absolute Division Champion
2012 American Cup Champion
2013 US Open BJJ Champion
Smash Gyms San Jose is Now OPEN!!!!
Smash Gyms San Jose Evergreen & East San Jose will begin classes tomorrow February 4th! After dealing with the permitting process since July we were finally cleared to open. Thanks so much for all the help and support from the local community!
Try our first Jiu-Jitsu class Free on Tuesday evening at 7:30pm! We will add programs and classes in the days and weeks after. Please see the link to the schedule below for updates.
We are amazed by the generous help and support from the Smash Family, the local Wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu community, and our neighbors in Evergreen and East San Jose. We are looking forward to giving back by bringing as much value as possible to individuals and families within the community.
Please come in and try a free week of training! All classes are beginner friendly!
In the next couple weeks we will begin our other classes including Kickboxing, Yoga, UJAM & Zumba, Strength & Conditioning, MMA Self-Defense and Fitness, Bootcamps, Kids Wrestling & BJJ, Kids tutoring and more! We will have a GRAND OPENING PARTY some time in March!
Here is a list of just some of the people that came to help! Thank you for the support!
Curtis and Daniel Summers of BC Electric for their extremely generous donations!
Coach Vince Rodriguez and Michael Rodriguez
Joe Gonzalez
Sam Spengler
Noel Galano
Reza Milani
Michael Villar
Scott Clymer
Hsiaolin Wang
Jerry Brito
Nikki Langendorf
Debbie Sanchez
Eugene Kang
Stephen Novachkov
Refugio Rios
Greg Crane and Ed Crane
Julie Sanchez
Mrs. Rios
Ben Hyatt
Juan Romo
Carlos Renteria
Jeff Pena
Leo Shen
Halen and Beasten Tanimoto
Sean Carty
Issac and Alex Rios
Tony Boyle
Ivo and Yane Penev
Amethyst May
Luis Lesende
Casara Sanchez
Javier Martinez
Fernando Alarcon
James Basurto
Smash Gyms Coming to Evergreen and East San Jose
New Smash Gyms Location right across the street from Eastridge Mall in East San Jose and Evergreen! Cross streets will be Quimby Road and Capital Expressway!
Please LIKE Smash Gyms San Jose Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/smashsanjose
or
Sunnyvale Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/smashgyms
Also sure to check San Jose Gyms website for updates: http://www.smashgyms.com/sanjose/
Smash Gyms San Jose
2268 Quimby Road – Suite C (Building A)
San Jose, CA 950122
Smash Gyms San Jose will offer the same great fitness and martial arts classes we offer in Sunnyvale and Santa Clara! Every class is taught by experienced professionals for a unique fitness and social experience that will allow you to reach your physical and mental potential. Smash Gyms instructors take a systematic and beginner friendly approach to teaching, with a focus on the individual needs of each student. Smash instructors are excited to help you reach your personal goals!
Specialty group fitness classes like Strength & Conditioning, UJAM, Yoga, Kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Grappling, MMA (mixed-martial arts), Self-defense, Circuit Training, Bootcamp, Zumba, Wrestling and more!
After School Martial Arts & Tutoring Available for youths in addition to world class martial arts instruction.
To accommodate everyone’s needs we offer monthly memberships, annual memberships, drop in, and prepay options. We have special discounted rates for Police, Firefighters, Teachers, Students and Military Service Members.