Gordon Ryan
Address
Austin, Texas, United States
Phone
About Us
Gordon Ryan was born on the 8th of July, 1995 in Monroe, New Jersey – United States of America.
Ryan’s introduction to jiu-jitsu was made by Miguel Benitez at the age of 15. His tuition would be taken over shortly after by the legendary Tom deBlass – one of New Jersey’s most prominent grapplers.
Months after taking his first steps in the sport, as a four-stripe white belt, Gordon met Garry Tonon. Tonon had just received his brown belt at the time but was already regarded as one of the rising talents in the sport, and deBlass’ most accomplished student to date. The two grapplers became good friends and as Garry started coaching at the Brunswick BJJ academy, Gordon joined his classes, developing his technical abilities also under Tonon’s guidance.
With Garry Tonon’s growing influence in Gordon’s grappling lifestyle, as a purple belt, Ryan started traveling to New York regularly to train with another one of Garry’s mentors – John Danaher. The Renzo Gracie Academy head coach and his methodology were also a big part of Ryan’s success, particularly in the submission-only jiu-jitsu circuit where Ryan’s potential star status was first noticed.
After a stellar 6-month brown belt run, where Ryan won important tournaments such as the Newaza Challenge and the World Championship, Gordon was awarded his black belt by Garry Tonon (February 2016) in a ceremony supported by the presence of Tom deBlass, Ricardo Almeida. and Danaher – who shared the responsibility of the new belt rank.
