Carlson Gracie brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team ottawa

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David Dash is the Head BJJ Instructor at Zen. He is a Blue Belt under Marcus Soares. David has trained throughout Canada and as far away as Hong Kong. He has competed in local, national and international tournaments. Some recent results: NAGA East Coast Championships 2011 Division: GI Directors Middle Weight Blue Belt Medal: 2nd Place NAGA World Cup, Florida 2009 Division: NO-GI Masters Light Heavyweight Beginner Medal: 1st Place Division: NO-GI Directors Heavyweight Intermediate Medal: 2nd Place Division: NO-GI Masters Light Heavyweight Intermediate Medal: 2nd Place A typical class includes a warm-up, strength and conditioning followed by stretching, drills, practice from different positions and instruction. We focus our classes on good positioning, transitioning from positions and escapes and submissions. We teach in the classic Carlson Gracie style; physically demanding, tight and aggressive! We offer five classes a week to both women and men from the age of 13. Two noon classes and three evening classes. Noon classes are 45 minutes and evening classes are one hour each followed by 15 minutes of open mat practice time.
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Professor Marcus Soares 8th degree black belt
Marcus was taught by Carlson Gracie, Sr. who was born August 13, 1932 and was the eldest son of Carlos Gracie who founded Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Rio de Janeiro during the 1920s. Carlos Gracie and his and his brother Helio Gracie established the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Organization in Rio de Janeiro in 1925. Carlson Gracie, Sr., learned the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from his father and uncle. In the mid-1950’s Carlson became known as “El Garotao” or, “Big-Boy”. He earned this nickname for his respect for kindness and fair play. His uncle Helio Gracie's academy taught only the most basic positions to outsiders, reserving the advanced positions for the family elite. Carlson split from Hélio Gracie's group in order to teach all the techniques to anyone who was interested and was willing to work hard. He went on and founded one of the top mixed martial arts teams in the world opening up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the masses. The masses responded, hungry to learn everything they could. To compete for students, the other academy was forced to offer all their positions as well. This good-natured competition breathed creativity and invention into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Carlson's influence on no-holds-barred fighting is extensive as well, for the style of Jiu-Jitsu he taught at his academy was distinct from that being taught by Helio. While Helio's brand of Jiu-Jitsu emphasized technical proficiency, Carlson favored a 'warrior style' of Jiu-Jitsu that encouraged physical prowess and barraging your opponent with a series of attacks. Carlson fought a total of eighteen vale tudo fights, with only one loss to Euclides Pereira in a fight that was held in Bahia. His first fight was against Capoeira practitioner Luiz "Cirandinha" Aguiar in this March 17, 1953. Carlson won after over an hour of fighting. His second match was a draw against Wilson "Passarito" Oliveira in May, 1953. Carlson had a rematch in March 1954 in the longest fight of his career, which he won in the fifth 30 minute round. Carlson catapulted to fame at the tender age of seventeen when he avenged the defeat of his uncle Helio Gracie. A former student of Helio's, Waldemar Santana, had defeated the much older Helio during a match in 1955. That match lasted four hours and is still the longest in modern history. Carlson's match with Santana in 1956 was a much shorter affair: four rounds of vicious vale-tudo combat came to draw. Carlson reigned as world champion for thirty years covering the '50s, '60s and '70s. Riding on his newly found fame, Carlson became the most sought-after Jiu-Jitsu instructor in Brazil. Carlson Gracie’s Arrebentacao Team spawned many champions such as Allan Goes, Murilo Bustamante, Mario Sperry, Wallid Ismail, Pablo Popovitch, Andre Pederneiras, Ricardo Liborio, Rodrigo Medeiros, and Marcelo Alonso. He was also responsible for introducing and mastering Vitor Belfort into Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Carlson Gracie also trained Stephan Bonnar, a finalist in the UFC reality show The Ultimate Fighter 1. He was in Bonnar's corner during his legendary fight against The Ultimate Fighter winner Forrest Griffin. Many of his student have gone on to form some of the most respected BJJ and MMA teams in the world such as the Brazilian Top Team and Nova Uniao, all of which have remained respectful to their roots and the their master. He is considered one of the preeminent teachers of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the world; a reputation he holds to this day. Carlson Gracie died on February 1, 2006, in Chicago, Illinois, of heart failure, apparently the result of complications of kidney stones (and possibly his pre-existing diabetes), following a hospitalization of several days. At the time of his death he was a ninth degree red belt and was referred to as Grandmaster. Carlson considers his proudest achievement to be the scores of students that he has instilled with his love for the sport that changed his life.
Grandmaster Carlson Gracie Sr. 9th degree red belt
David Dash Blue Belt
David’s instructor is Marcus Vinicius de Macedo Soares, born and raised in Rio de Janeiro (Copacabana Beach), Brazil.  He has been a member of the Carlson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Team since 1970 (the first generation).  During all this time in his career, Marcus has had the opportunity to instruct and to spar with some of the best and finest Brazilian fighters of our time.  From 1970 to 1981, Professor Marcus Soares was a very active and successful member of the Carlson Gracie Team, the #1 Team in the world for over 3 decades. In addition to the many fighters he has trained, Marcus trained Denis Kang for many years awarding him his black belt in BJJ and cornering him at his fight with Michael Bisping at UFC 105 in Manchester England. Marcus was promoted to BJJ Master 7th degree black belt by Grand Master Carlson Gracie in 2005 and received his 8th Dan in 2012.  He is the most experienced Carlson Gracie Team Professor in the world and the head of the Carlson Gracie Team in Canada. 
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