Head Instructor

Don Whitefield grew up in Germany where he studied Judo in his youth. As an adult he practiced boxing before moving to Canada, where he started to train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Fighting in 1997. Since then Don has had the opportunity to train with some of the greatest BJJ teachers in the world, such as Carlson Gracie Sr. and Ricardo De La Riva, who awarded Don his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt.

Don is the official Canadian de la Riva Jiu-Jitsu representative and a certified Carlson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu instructor. Don believes that an instructor's teaching skills are as important as his BJJ skills and he has a College Instructor Diploma, allowing him to pass on his knowledge and experience with ease. Don is completely dedicated to the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He lives a jiu-jitsu life.

Instructor

Demian Williamson has been training in the martial arts since 1992. He practiced Judo for seven years and achieved the rank of brown belt. He began to train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 1998 in New Jersey under David Adiv who is the senior student of Royler Gracie. Demian received his RGJJ Team blue belt in 2000 before moving to British Columbia. Since then he also practised Temple Kung Fu and Kickboxing while he continued to train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Demian is a very patient teacher as well as a strong and technical fighter with great takedowns. He is teaching now several classes a week as a De La Riva Jiu-Jitsu purple belt.

Click HERE to view Demian's competition record.

Assistant Instructor

Shawn Albrecht has been a part of the West Coast BJJ and MMA Team since the very beginning.

Shawn trains very hard and is a disciplined student. He has advanced quickly and currently has an amateur Mixed Martial Arts record of 6 wins and 2 losses and a professional MMA record of 5 wins and 2 losses. He is very well rounded in all MMA disciplines and has won multiple Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Fighting tournaments. Shawn currently teaches the Kids and Teen Mixed Martial Arts program as a de la Riva Jiu-Jitsu blue belt.

Click HERE to view Shawn's competition record.