Head Instructors
Jason "Dynamite" Dent
Owner,
Head Instructor, and driving force behind our Muay Thai and
Mixed
Martial Arts programs. Jason has been involved in the Martial Arts
for well over a decade getting his start in traditional Karate
achieving his Black Belt before moving into Muay Thai & MMA. He has
about 17 amateur Muay Thai fights and currently competes
Professionally in MMA. Jason has fought internationally and in large
events such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship, King of the Cage,
SuperBrawl, and Apex just to name a few.
Jeff Starr
Head
Instructor of our Gracie Jiu-Jitsu program here at the GriffonRawl
Academy. Jeff is a member of the Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Association
and is currently a Brown Belt. Jeff has plenty of BJJ competition
experience and still currently competes. Jeff prepares those wishing
to compete in grappling tournaments and MMA fights. Jiu-Jitsu
classes are adaptable to both Gi and No-Gi. Even if you are not
looking at competing these classes are great for self defense as
well.
Donny "Eagle Eye" Walker
Head
Instructor of our USA Boxing program here at the GriffonRawl Academy.
Donny has over ten years experience in the Martial Arts and is a
certified Instructor under the United States Amateur Boxing, Inc.
Donny runs classes in the sweet science three days a week and is
also involved with our Muay Thai & MMA programs. Many of our
fighters work with Donny to polish their boxing techniques and
combos in addition to everything else we work.
Chuck Schilling
Head
Instructor of our Wrestling program here at the GriffonRawl
Academy. Chuck
started Wrestling at the age of 11, he wrestled varsity for three
years at Mentor. During Chucks senior year he was Captain of the
team and also Winter Athlete of the year. Chuck started coaching at
Mentor Youth Wrestling while still in high school and has coached at
all levels of the Mentor program since graduation in 99. In addition
to training, and fighting for GriffonRawl he is now currently
coaching at Ridge Jr. High in Mentor.
Ron Russo
Head
Instructor of our Judo program here at the GriffonRawl
Academy. Ron
started his martial arts training at nineteen years old in 1965. Ron
began his studies in the arts while enlisted in the US Army. He may
have started with Karate and Ju-Jitsu but quickly found a love for
Judo and has been with it since. Ron's is ranked as a Sandan 3rd
Degree Black Belt under the U.S.J.A. and also ranked as a Shodan 1st
Degree Black Belt by the Kodokan. Ron competed in Judo tournaments in
the 70's and the 80's. Ron will puts his years of experience to work
by helping our students and fighters learn to incorporate Judo
takedowns into there games.
Rocky Nelson
Rocky
Nelson Med., LMT, CSCS is GriffonRawl's Strength & Conditioning coach as well as our
official Rehabilitation expert. In addition to training in
MMA himself Rocky owns and operates his own weight lifting and
fitness gym located in Painesville, Ohio. Rocky helps our students
and fighters work on developing explosive power, stamina, and
conditioning, along with developing rehab programs for fast recovery
from injuries. For more info on Rocky or his
gym you can visit his website at
www.rockhousefitness.com
Assistant
Instructors
Aaron "Juice" Veverka
Assistant
Instructor of our Muay Thai program here at the GriffonRawl
Academy. Aaron has been training, fighting, and teaching here
at GriffonRawl since the winter of 1999. Aaron brings a vast amount
of experience with him as he currently has about thirteen Muay Thai
fights under his belt. In addition to training under Dan Rawlings
and Jason Dent, Aaron travels to seminars and camps directed by
Ajarn Chai (Founder of the Thai Boxing Association) to further his
studies of Muay Thai and is currently working on getting his
Instructors certification.
Mark Fredebaugh
Assistant
Instructor of our Muay Thai program here at the GriffonRawl
Academy. Mark has been training and teaching at GR since the summer
of 2003. Mark brings a good mix of discipline, creativity, and solid
work ethic to training and teaching at the Academy. With on fight
under his belt so far, Mark looks to continually improve in his
skills to re-enter the ring in the future. He has trained primarily
under Jason Dent and has also taken part in several seminars with
team founder, Dan Rawlings.
AJ Carl
Assistant Instructor
of our Wrestling program here at the GriffonRawl Academy. AJ
started Wrestling when he was twelve years old. AJ was varsity for
two years, a state qualifier once, team captain his senior year, and
after graduating has been a coach for six years at Mentor High.
Obviously AJ knows his wrestling but what makes him such a great
coach here at GriffonRawl is that he also has seven amateur MMA
bouts under him already and is looking to turn Pro in the not to
distant future.
Allan Turner
Assistant Instructor of our Boxing
program here at the GriffonRawl Academy. Allan started his Martial
Arts Training 1980 at the age of 11. Studying Tae Kwon Do until
joining the Navy at 18 where he furthered his education under a more
informal setting. Allan has been a part of our Boxing program for
over 3 years now and although he always wants to "spar", he is
willing to work with anyone before or after class with any questions
or concerns they might have.
Juan Gabriel Hernandez
Assistant Instructor of our Boxing
program here at the GriffonRawl Academy. Juan has been at
GriffonRawl for sometime now training and helping teach Boxing and
Jr. MMA. Juan is very dedicated to Boxing , specially coming
from Puerto Rico where Boxing is one of the top sports and where he
did some Boxing as a kid. When not training at GriffonRawl he is
usually at the Rock House Gym working on new material for our guys
as well as for himself. Juan is an asset to GriffonRawl because he
enjoys teaching and watching our new comers learn the fundamentals
of Boxing, and he also is willing to take the time out of his
training schedule to help our guys spice up their technique, speed,
and combinations.
GriffonRawl Florida Academy
Dan "Tanis" Rawlings
Founder of
GriffonRawl Academy here in Ohio back in 1997. Griffon is a
mythological creature that serves as our mascot, and obviously Rawl is the
beginning of Danny's last name, thus our team name GriffonRawl. He now resides in Brookesville Florida and has continued to spread the GriffonRawl name and open two academies in the area, one being in Brookesville and the other in Tampa. Dan is a Pro Muay Thai fighter and has competed internationally for years. He is also a certified Muay Thai Instructor under Kru Vut Kamnark of the U.W.M.T.A. If you would like more info on the Florida schools or would like to contact Dan, please visit the
official GriffonRawl website at www.griffonrawl.com
