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Meet Your Coaches

Almost all of our coaches began as students on these mats, and their enthusiasm for the sport, and for the people around them, can be felt.

Danielle Gallo, head coach of Underworld BJJ, celebrates an international victory in BJJ competition.

Danielle Gallo

Head Coach: Adults, Kids, and Women's BJJ

  • BJJ Brown Belt

  • 2025 No Gi World Champion, Adult Purple Belt

  • 2024 No-Gi Pan American Champion, Adult Purple Belt

  • 2025 World-Ranked #1 Purple Female Rooster Weight

  • Has yet to learn how to flow roll

  • Favorite submission: Flying armbar

Head Coach Aidan Oates smiles as he playfully submits his opponent while training BJJ.

Aidan Oates

Head coach: Adults and Kids BJJ

  • BJJ Purple Belt

  • Thinks of BJJ as an endless puzzle: complex, but solvable.

  • Living proof that you can learn BJJ through the power of sparring and Youtube

  • Is convinced that BJJ is better than dating apps (met his fiancée on the mats)

  • Favorite submission: Baratoplata

Head coach Alfredo smiles in a Jiu-Jitsu gi while training on the mat with a partner.

Alfredo Atencio

  • BJJ Black belt under Jen Zanotti and Jay Ferrari 

  • Over a decade of grappling experience and coach of most Adult BJJ classes

  • Working through trying every single form of martial arts

  • Favorite submission: Triangle

Black belt Graham poses for a photo as he grapples a student.

Graham Burkhalter

  • BJJ Black belt under Roan Jucao Carneiro

  • 18 years grappling experience (12 years BJJ)

  • Best submission: Bow and arrow 

  • Favorite submission: Whatever he saw on Instagram right before class

Black belt Dave smiles as he trains in a black gi at open mat.

Dave Boafo

  • BJJ Black belt under Diego Bispo

  • Grappling since 1999, with 11 years grappling experience in BJJ

  • Teaches alongside his twin teenage sons, who are both Yellow belts in BJJ

  • Favorite Submission: Peruvian Necktie

Coach Brendan smiling while grappling with another man on a blue mat.

Brendan Dailey

  • BJJ Purple belt (and has been with our gym since it opened!)

  • From Charleston, West Virginia

  • When he isn’t choking people, he can be found baking cakes

  • Favorite submission: Kimura

Woman, Coach Heidi, in blue jiu jitsu Gi, grappling, hard in gym.

Heidi Kaila

  • BJJ Blue belt

  • Proud (and often only!) representative of her homeland, Finland, in local tournaments

  • Ask her about moss

  • Favorite submission: Triangle

Coach Alex poses for a photo after a hard training session with virgorous exercsise.

Alex Dowd

  • BJJ Purple belt

  • From Buffalo, NY

  • "Trying new things pays off, even if they don’t work the first 100 times”

  • Favorite submission: Guillotine

Coach Sienna smiles while grappling another woman during Women's BJJ training.

Sienna Brancato

  • BJJ Blue belt

  • Thinks cats are the best natural jiu jitsu athletes in the world 

  • Ask her what book she’s reading!

  • Favorite submission: Arm triangle

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Elena Zimmerman

  • 1 year BJJ experience

  • Submitted everyone in her first ever jiu jitsu tournament

  • Drunk Shakespeare actor

  • Favorite submission: Anaconda

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Morgan Gruber

  • 1 year training BJJ

  • Part of the rugby to BJJ pipeline

  • Has a twin (and it's not Elena)

  • Favorite submission: Mounted head and arm choke

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