Professor Joel started training in 2012 for a combination of reasons. After beginning his career in 2008 and satisfying all the things he thought would bring him happiness he still felt there was more to do and experience beyond just starting a family and climbing the corporate ladder. “Surely life isn’t just working Monday through Friday and having a bit of leisure on the weekend,” he thought. He wanted to be healthier, learn something useful, and find something more productive to do with his free time. To satisfy these goals he started training Jiu-Jitsu. After years of training, competing, instructing, and even fighting MMA he’s now opted to put on yet another hat and start his own team in his backyard of the central Woodlands.

Joel and his wife Ashley are old school Woodlands residents dating back to the late 80’s/early 90’s. They built GBRF from scratch and own/operate the gym along with an amazing team of coaches and professors. You’ll see Joel or Ashley at the academy in some capacity more often than not. Their 3 sons train as well.