The de Groot Brothers

Brothers Jean-Marc and Matthew de Groot grew up in a large family where rough housing was just a part of daily life. As they grew older this turned into a passion for wrestling, and eventually, they found jiu jitsu. It started with them converting their basement in to a jiu jitsu gym, then they started taking classes. They became frustrated at the level of jiu jitsu in their own town so they decided to start teaching a jiu jitsu class at a local judo club that had free mat space a couple of nights a week. When they first started the class, no one showed up. They ended up training and learning on their own and got pretty good. They fine-tuned their technique and would just drill and drill—they became obsessed. Finally, a student showed up and their teaching careers began.

Over the years, they gathered a large following and just through their own research online and through YouTube videos, ended up becoming quite successful in competitions. When they lost the judo club space they had to make the hard decision to either give up jiu jitsu or go full on and create their own gym. Driven with passion, they put everything in to building their new jiu jitsu gym from the ground up. After a lot of hard work, the gym eventually gained success with members increasing monthly, as well as creating quite the mark in the competitive jiu jitsu world. In the end, they created a career that they are passionate about as their gym gained international success competing and winning in world championship events. To them jiu jitsu is their ultimate passion and what they want to do with the rest of their life.

Creative Team