Bryan Baldwin started his Martial Arts training when he was 13 years old. He began with Terry Varnadore
and Jeff Thompson at the Tae Kwon Do School, sponsored by the Hendersonville City Recreation Department. He worked his
way up and earned his 8th degree green belt. After this, he took a short break from the Martial Arts to join the Hendersonville
City Police Explorers Program.
In 1993, started back his training in Tae Kwon Do with T.J. Kwon, 6th Dan Black Belt and also with and Shorin-Ryu Karate under
Kyoshi Doug Perry.
In 1993 and 1994 he competed in several full Contact TKD championships placing in all. He also
was a referee and competitor of the 13th annual Junior Olympic TKD Championship in Dayton, Ohio. In 1994 he was
given a Presidential Sports award and a TKD Recognition Award from the Tae Kwon Do Times magazine.
He earned and received his 1st Dan Black Belt on November 17, 1995 from
T.J Kwon.
In 1995, after he married Elizabeth, Bryan began his training in Jiu Jitsu with Master Romero "JacareŽ" Cavalcanti and transitioned to Master Relson Gracie While training with Relson he met and became friends with Joe Hurst. He has been training with Joe since.
Bryan attended a Certified Self Defense Seminar under Carlson Gracie Jr. in 1997. He also trained some in Judo,
competing in several tournaments. Since 2001 he started competiting in area grappling and submission competitions, usually
placing in each division he competed in.
Bryan has
also had the opportunity to train with Sensei Troy Price, Shihan Fumio Demura, George Kirby, and many BJJ and MMA artists
such as Carlos Machado, Daniel Moraes, Saulo Ribeiro, Royce Gracie, Marcello Clemente and Joa Jr., Marcos and David Avellan,
Bas Rutten, Tim Lajcik, and Roberto "Spider" Traven
Bryan took a year off from training regularly to follow his dream of becoming a Law Enforcement Officer.
He attended BLET in August 2000 and graduated top of his class in April 2001. He loves being a LE Officer and encourages
many LEO's to come train with him, for their own personal safety.
Bryan's goal in his Martial Arts career is to keep training and earn his Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
and continue teaching his two children, Brandon and Preston. His hope is to one day open a full time school where he
and his sons teach the future generations of great fighters.
"Gameness means neither fatigue or pain will cause the fighter to lose his enthuiasm for fighting contact" ~Gameness~
