Professor Ron Kieltyka
Third-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu
- 1987 Karate black belt, Jewett City Karate Club
- 1998 BJJ blue belt under Rickson Gracie
- 2002 Purple belt under Megaton Dias
- 2008 Brown belt under Gabriel Gonzaga
- 2011 Black belt under Gabriel Gonzaga
- Today Third-degree black belt
In his words
I started my formal martial arts training in 1985 at the age of 23 under the watchful eyes of sensei Robert Thivierge along with sensei Arvo Laats, in a small garage dojo called the Jewett City Karate Club. With dedication and constant training I obtained my black belt in 1987. Training and teaching karate for several more years, I began to wonder about the violence involved with the striking martial arts, and whether karate was a good fit for me.
In 1995 a karate student of mine brought in a videotape that changed my life: a recording of UFC 1. I was amazed at how a skinny Brazilian man could defeat all these big strikers without even throwing a punch. My mind was made up right there that my path would change. Soon after, I realized that skinny Brazilian's "special training" had a name. It was his brother, Rickson Gracie.
As fate would have it, Rickson Gracie was doing his seminar tour through Long Island, New York in 1996. I went, trained with Rickson, joined his association and trained under him for several years, earning my blue belt from Rickson in 1998.
Having met and trained extensively with Megaton Dias while he was a representative of Rickson Gracie, it was a natural fit to keep training with Megaton after personal tragedy struck Rickson's life and he stepped away from jiu-jitsu for many years. Megaton promoted me to purple belt in 2002.
By 2006 I had spent a decade traveling the country training with amazing instructors, and jiu-jitsu schools had spread across the country. At Megaton's suggestion I found a school I could finally drive to instead of fly to, and started training under Gabriel Gonzaga in 2006. I earned my brown belt in 2008 and was promoted to first-degree black belt in 2011. I currently hold the rank of third-degree black belt.