Professor Michael Simpson - Gracie Barra 1st degree Black Belt

Michael has been training and teaching in martial arts for over 36 years

(18 years of Tae Kwon-Do and over 18 years of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu). 

He began his training in Tae Kwon-Do at the age of 12 and received his

Black Belt  in Tae Kwon-Do in1988.  Starting as a Purple Belt Michael took

first place in kata (forms) in 14 consecutive competitions from 1984 to 1993. 

Between 1992 and 1993 Michael won the Pacific Northwest AAU championship

in both advanced kata and free sparring.  In 1996 he received his 4th degree

Black belt in Tae Kwon-Do.

 Michael, like most BJJ students first got interested in BJJ after watching the

first UFC.  Unfortunately, there were no schools locally or resources to train back then. 

So with a group of friends Michael started training with what little resources they had. 

Then in 1997 an official Carlson Gracie BJJ school opened in Everett, Washington. 

Michael was one of the first to join, after a couple of years he received his Blue Belt,

unfortunately shortly thereafter the school closed.  Michael, again was training on his own

for several years until he got back in touch with Rodrigo Lopes one of his instructors from

the Carlson Gracie School (Rodrigo is currently a 2nd degree Black Belt and owner of

Gracie Barra Seattle/Bellevue).  Michael now trains under Rodrigo Lopes.

In July of 2004 he received his Brown Belt from Rodrigo and Mamazinho.  

In March of 2007 Marcio "Mamazinho" Laudier promoted Michael to Black Belt.

In September of 2011 Rodrigo Lopes promoted Michael to 1st degree black belt.

 Other than Tae Kwon-Do and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Michael has spent several years

training in Muay Thai, Boxing, Kung-Fu, Escrima and Jeet Kune-Do.

Professor Mark Salser - Gracie Barra Black Belt

Professor Nate Zaretzke - Gracie Barra Black Belt

Professor Derek Tulluck - Gracie Barra Black Belt

Jeremy Ryatt - Brown Belt

Kids Class Instructor

Adam Conway - Brown Belt

Judo Instructor

Gary Steward - 4th Degree Judo Black Belt

Gary has almost 30th years in Judo.   He has been awarded

Sensei/Coach/Instructor of the Year by the United States Judo Federation

Northwest Yudanshai (Black Belt Association) 2 years consecutively

(2005/2006), based largely on the accomplishments of his students, ranked on

the National Elite Athlete Roster by United States Judo Incorporated.
His students have championed all levels of local, regional, High School, College,

U.S. National, Open and International competition.  4 of his students have been members

of 6 different U.S. World Teams, both Junior and Senior. Others have competed at the

Olympic trials, ultimately holding positions as alternates to the U.S. Olympic Team. 

Gary himself has taken the Bronze at 3 U.S. National/International Masters competitions.