I’ve been training martial arts since the age of 14 in 1986. I have black belts in TKD and karate, and have dabbled in boxing and Kali. I discovered BJJ in 1992 when watching UFC1 on PPV with fellow MSU karate club black belts. I wanted to know how that little Brazilian guy beat everyone, so I started training BJJ in 1994.

I fell away from it after a year, and continued karate. In 2007 I picked it back up again, and ended up falling in love. Chris Haueter came to Michigan to give me my black belt in 2018. My 10 yr old daughter tried to choke him afterward in the restaurant, but he and Melissa remained friends with us for some reason 😂 . For this I am grateful.