Instructors

Andy began learning Jiu-jitsu in 1995. He first learned of Jiu-jitsu by watching Royce Gracie fight his way to numerous victories in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Impressed by Gracie's performance and flawless use of technique, Andy immediately enrolled at the Gracie Jiu-jitsu Academy in Torrance, California. The following year, he was awarded his rank of blue belt from Professors Rorion and Royce Gracie. In Fall of 1997, he relocated to Beijing and brought with him his love for Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.

The Beijing Jiu-jitsu Academy first started off as an impromptu training group in 1998, with Andy looking for other Jiu-jitsu practitioners in Beijing. He quickly learned that he was the only Jiu-jitsu practitioner in town; perhaps in all of China as well. Disappointed by the lack of training partners in the city, Andy began to teach Jiu-jitsu to his friends as a way to maintain his own training. As more of his friends were "converted" by the effectiveness and practicality of Jiu-jitsu, the word began to spread throughout the Beijing community. Thus, the Beijing Jiu-jitsu Academy was born.

In 1999, under the sponsorship of the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC), Andy served as the chief representative and technical coach to the Beijing Sports Commission for China's first Jiu-jitsu team to compete in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates at the prestigious Submission Wrestling World Championships. This was China's first exposure to Jiu-jitsu and Submission Wrestling at the world level. Although China did not win any medals, the experience was enough to encourage Andy to further promote the sport of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu on the Chinese mainland.

In September 2005, Andy established China's first professional mixed martial arts team, consisting of Chinese athletes, Zhang Tie Quan, Dai Shuang Hai, Ao Hai Lin, and He Peng. They immediately went into training and preparation for their international MMA debut in December 2005. Under Andy's leadership, the Chinese athletes stepped onto the international stage for the first time at the Universal Reality Combat Championship VII in Manila, Phillipines where they made Chinese MMA history by finishing ALL their Filipino counterparts in devastating fashion, using their newly acquired jiu-jitsu skills. The Beijing Jiu-jitsu Academy Team brought home 4 solid victories, including a knockout victory over the URCC bantamweight world champion, Mark Sangiao.

Andy has actively sought to promote the benefits of Jiu-jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts training to foreign and local martial artists in China and hopes to further develop Jiu-jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts throughout the region. Andy holds a B.A. degree in Psychology from the University of California, Riverside and has been training Jiu-jitsu for 13 years. Andy holds the rank of brown belt and continues his training under the guidance of Professor Pedro Schmall.