Program · Gi & No-Gi · White Belt to Black Belt
Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu.
The grappling system that changed every serious conversation about hand-to-hand fighting. Taught by one of Connecticut’s first black belts, ranked under Professor Roy Harris — learn privately, at your pace, with and without the gi, from your first day to your own black belt if that’s where you want to go.
1997
Training BJJ Since
2002
Teaching BJJ in CT Since
2012
Black Belt, Roy Harris Lineage
Gi + No-Gi
Both, Fully
1:1
Instruction Format
Why BJJ
The martial art that always tells you if it’s working.
Most self-defense training asks you to take its word for it. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu doesn’t. You can train it at full resistance against a fully uncooperative partner, safely, today — and either you controlled them or you didn’t. That feedback loop is why BJJ produced the results it produced, and why militaries and combat athletes adopted it.
It was also explicitly designed for the smaller person. Leverage, position, and patience beat size and strength in grappling more reliably than in any other domain of fighting. If you are not the biggest or strongest person in the room — and most people aren’t — this is the art built for you.
And it happens to be one of the most absorbing physical practices a person can take up. Clients who came in for self-defense stay for twenty years because the problem-solving never runs out.
MSDC was teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Connecticut in 2002, when BJJ schools in New England were genuinely rare. This is not a program we added because it got popular — it’s how we started.
The lineage matters — here’s ours
- Black Belt awarded 2012 under Professor Roy Harris, Harris International — a 7th degree black belt tied for “highest ranked American” and known throughout BJJ as the “teacher’s teacher.”
- He started over to earn it. Chris Martell began training BJJ in 1997. In 2002 he set that progress aside and began again from white belt under Professor Harris — reaching black belt ten years later, in 2012. That decision tells you what standard this program is held to.
- Also Associate Level Instructor in gi and no-gi grappling (2006) and Level 2 Jeet Kune Do Instructor (2011) under Professor Harris.
- Professor Harris has visited MSDC to teach seminars and instructor courses repeatedly since the early 2000s. That relationship is direct and ongoing, not a certificate on a wall.
- Additional grappling background: Judo from age six, a Budoshin Ju-Jitsu black belt (2011) under Professor George Kirby, Small Circle Jujitsu, American Jiu Jitsu, with some splashes of Sumo and Shuai Jiao.
“Open to all affiliations, ranks, and experience levels.”
The way MSDC runs all of our public events
The program
Four ways people train BJJ here.
Same art, different goals. Tell us which one you are and the instruction is built accordingly.
Track 01
Self-Defense BJJ
The original application. Standing defense, closing and clinching, takedown defense, getting back to your feet, escaping bad positions, and controlling a bigger, stronger, heavier person long enough to leave. Minimal sport material.
Track 02
Gi Jiu-Jitsu
The traditional, technical practice. Grip fighting, guard systems, sweeps, passing, submissions, and the belt progression from white through black. The version of the art with the most variety…and a direct carryover to winter clothing choices.
Track 03
No-Gi & Submission Grappling
Faster, gripless, and closer to what applies without clothing to hold. Wrestling integration, leg entanglements, and methods of systematic control that don’t rely on the grips, friction, or sweat absorption of the cloth.
Track 04
MMA Grappling
Grappling with strikes in the picture: takedowns, wall wrestling, position over submission, ground-and-pound offense & defense. MSDC has trained competitors including a professional MMA fighter.
What a beginner learns first
We start where it matters. Not with a submission of the month — with the ability to not be in trouble.
- How to fall and move on the ground without injuring yourself
- Body positioning and the essential principles of not getting flattened out
- Escaping mount, side control, and back control — the three worst places to be
- Getting back to your feet safely from the ground with someone on you
- The Open Guard: the position that turns a bad situation into a neutral one
- Your first two or three high-percentage submissions, and how to force your opponent to offer them to you
What an experienced grappler gets
Plenty of our private BJJ clients already train somewhere and come to us for something specific.
- Targeted work on one hole in your game, diagnosed in the first session
- A clear delineation of Main Quest vs Side Quest — the map and the compass from your current ability to the next level
- Conceptual instruction in the Roy Harris tradition: principles over technique collection
- Competition preparation, gi or no-gi, including strategy and gameplanning
- Video review of your own rolls and matches with an expert eye
- Movement screening and injury-avoidance programming for a long grappling career
Rank
Belts are earned, and they mean something.
MSDC awards Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu rank from white belt through black belt on demonstrated skill, against the standard of the Harris International lineage. There is no time-in-grade purchase, no testing fee treadmill, and no rank for attendance.
Ranked through private lessons
Yes, this works — and for many adults it works better. You’ll be assessed continuously rather than in a single high-stakes test, and you’ll be pushed to demonstrate skill against live resistance before you’re promoted.
Rank you can take anywhere
Because it comes from a recognized lineage under a widely respected 7th degree black belt, your rank travels. Walk into a gym in another state and it will be understood.
Or ignore rank entirely
Some clients never want a belt and just want to be good. That’s completely fine. The instruction doesn’t change; only the paperwork does.
BJJ questions
Before your first roll.
Am I too old, too out of shape, or too small to start BJJ?
No, and no, and especially no. BJJ’s founding claim is that leverage beats size, and it holds up. Private instruction removes the usual barrier for older or deconditioned beginners: you’re not thrown into a warm-up designed for twenty-two-year-old athletes, and you’re not rolling with someone who wants to prove something.
Do I need a gi to start?
No. Start in athletic clothing and decide later whether you want to train gi, no-gi, or both. If you do want a gi, we’ll tell you what to buy and where — or we can provide you one of our favorite brands at a discount.
Will I have to spar or compete?
Live training is how BJJ works, so you will eventually train against resistance — but it’s introduced gradually and at an intensity you control. Competition is entirely optional. Plenty of our clients have never competed and never will.
I train at another school. Can I take privates here?
Yes, and you’re welcome. We won’t ask you to leave your gym, won’t poach you, and won’t contradict your instructor’s game — we’ll help you get better at it. Not every instructor believes that cross-training privates are a normal and healthy part of BJJ culture, but we do, and we’ve stood by this forever. Our doors are open.
Can I train BJJ and Krav Maga at the same time?
Yes. They’re taught separately here precisely so you can. Many clients run a Krav Maga block for a fast skill built and a longer BJJ arc alongside it. Because everything is by private lesson, you set the split.
One hour on the mat
tells you everything.
Book a single private lesson. No uniform to buy, no contract, no commitment beyond the hour.