We started with the simple idea of not having to drive to Ventura for Jiu-Jitsu, but it quickly grew into so much more. We really enjoy training jiu-jitsu and we hope to infect you with that same passion for the subtitle art (柔術 ).
We hope you enjoy all we have to offer, and share the experience with others so that this beautiful pastime can be enjoyed by everyone who seeks it out.
Tsunami Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Ojai is owned and operated by Will Shifflette, life long martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner since 2012.
The son of school teachers and a Tae Kwon Do instructor (John Shifflette & Martha Fellows), Coach Will carries the family tradition of instruction into the next generation.
Will’s studies in Jiu-Jitsu started with a “self defense tactics” class at Ventura College taught by Richard Goff (a Japanese jiujitsu black belt and retired police defensive tactics instructor) from the first class Will was hooked. Later during a year living in Spain (San Sebastián/Donostia) the itch to train in the grappling arts would return and he got his first taste of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at Gracie Barra Antiguo (at the time called Total Combat Fight Club”) training under the owner David Martin, and with instructors Jose Bernaola (Hakai Jiu-Jitsu), and Jon Martiñera.
It was amazing training, the guys had a great group and set a great example for how great the jiu-Jitsu lifestyle could be. There was a mural of both goku AND a bull terrier on the door so clearly not only do these guys have good taste but also this is the place im gonna train 4 sure. After returning to Ojai, Will connected with John Jensen (Known to the internet as The Rev.) owner of Ojai Valley Mixed Martial Arts and joined the Tsunami Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Team led by John Veloso Ouano (of which he is still is and always will be a member). At Ojai Valley MMA, Will worked his way up from white belt to brown belt learning technical leg locks, the secrets of the MMA guard, wrestling fundamentals and a wide array of takedowns from Professor John Jensen.
During this time Will was also blessed to work regularly with Professor Renan Vital (6 consecutive time SJJIF World Champion) student of Professor Roberto “Gordo” Correa, (Gordo is widely known as the originator of the half-guard position). Professor Renan is one of the best in the business, equally loved and respected by all who meet him, Professor Renan showed Will the value of hard training, how to adapt Judo to the Brazilian Jiujitsu setting, specialized advanced maneuvers for both gi and no gi and a contagious love for the grappling arts. During his time at Ojai Valley Mixed Martial Arts and learned the tip of the iceberg that is the art of wrestling from Carl Fronhofer through classes provided at Ojai Valley MMA. Wrestling is slowly integrating into the art of jiujitsu over time, in the future, the hybridization of wrestling and jiu-jitsu will likely be seen as the uniquely American contribution to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
At Ojai Valley MMA Will first started teaching and the dream of eventually owning an academy began.
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Jiu-Jitsu, as with many traditions, is transmitted through the generations through personal relationships between instructor and pupil. Here we honor the contributions of our forerunners by sharing a little bit of their story. Without them William Shifflette would have no Jiu-Jitsu story to tell and we would not exist.
The originator
Born 28 October 1860 – Died 4 May 1938,
Kano was a Japanese educator, Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, athlete, and the founder of Judo (Originally known as Kano Ryu Jiu-Jitsu).
Judo was, for the first time, the Japanese martial art to gain widespread international recognition and the first to become an official Olympic sport.
Pedagogical innovations attributed to Kanō include the use of black and white belts, and the introduction of “Dan” ranking structure to show the relative ranking among members of a martial art style. All colored belts in martial arts are directly due to his influence making him The First Black Belt in history. Well-known mottoes attributed to Kanō include “maximum efficiency with minimum effort” (精力善用 seiryoku zen’yō) and “mutual welfare and benefit” (自他共栄 jita kyōei), both still incredibly important principles in modern Jiu-Jitsu.
Judo and its descendant arts (SAMBO, Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu etc.) are like the big cats of the animal kingdom, characterized as much by their similarities as by their differences. Kano’s influence on the martial arts world and the world at large is clear to see and all martial artists today honor this man as a pioneer, some would even say he is solely responsible for the survival into the modern period of Japanese martial arts (and by extension other martial arts traditions). By translating martial arts from techniques used simply to kill and injure into a vehicle for self development as it is now widely seen today Kano secured the future continuation of martial arts practice. Before Kano there were no martial arts in the modern sense, only skills related to physical violence, and traditional martial dance styles such as Taekgyeon (a dance/physical game which, following in Kano’s example, would eventually birth Tae Kwon Do in Korea).
Born 18 Nov. 1878 – Died 28 Nov. 1941
Conde Koma (“Count Combat”)
Gastão Gracie was a business partner of the American Circus in Belém. In 1916, Italian-Argentine circus Queirolo Brothers staged shows there and presented Maeda.[44][45] In 1917, Carlos Gracie, the 14‑year-old son of Gastão Gracie, watched a demonstration by Maeda at the Da Paz Theatre and decided to learn judo. Maeda accepted Gracie and Luiz França as students,[46] and the youth became a great exponent of the art and ultimately, with his younger brother Hélio Gracie, founded Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, modern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.[47] In 1921, Gastão Gracie and his family moved to Rio de Janeiro.
Carlos, then 17 years old, passed Maeda’s teachings on to his brothers Osvaldo, Gastão, and Jorge. Carlos and Hélio are considered the founders of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.[47]
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