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Marcos “Yemaso” Torregrosa

Professor, 3rd degree black belt

Marcos “Yemaso” Torregrosa is a Third Degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt and founder of Yemaso BJJ.  Marcos studied with and received his black belt from 2003 world champion Cassio Werneck.  Marcos was born and raised in Puerto Rico.  His first encounter with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu occurred in Bayamon, where UFC 8 took place.  Soon after, Marcos moved to Sacramento and began training July 1999.  Marcos has been regarded, by many, as a great instructor of jiu-jitsu since his days as a blue belt when he started teaching.

Marcos attained his black belt in 2007, and is widely regarded as one of the best. He continues to regularly study and train with the world’s best grapplers in the pursuit of complete mastery in the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Over the course of Marcos’ competitive career, he has amassed a cumulative, comprehensive, and spectacular amount of titles of the highest merits. Below is concise list:

For a complete list of professor Marcos’ titles click here.

 
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Tom Steele

Professor, black belt

Professor Steele began his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu journey shortly after graduating high school in 2004, where he began training with Rodrigo Lopes and Mamazinho at Gracie Barra Seattle. Training twice a day, six days a week, he earned his blue and purple belts from Professor Lopes and began teaching classes at the academy. A severe eye injury sidelined his progress for a few years, but he returned to the mats after moving to Star, Idaho. After his return to the mats, he became an instructor and returned to competition. Professor Steele earned his Black Belt from Mitch Coats (3rd degree black belt) in July 2018.

As a purple belt, Professor Steele began taking frequent trips to Sacramento to train and receive instruction from Professor Torregrosa. After years of progress and frequent visits they decided to partner on the opening of West Idaho BJJ.

In addition to his contributions on the mat, Professor Steele is a father of three and frequent volunteer in the community.

 

Nikolas Williams

Professor, Black Belt

Professor Nik began training jiujitsu at age 10 in Santa Cruz, California. Throughout his time in the colored belts he trained in Northern California under Garth Taylor, Caio Terra, and Paul Schriener. He began teaching kids classes in 2014 and opened High Caliber Jiujitsu in Santa Cruz, CA in 2017. 

In 2019 Nik was recruited by Professor Steele to lead the kids program at West Idaho Brazilian Jiujitsu. Shortly after, Nik moved to Star, ID, where he now leads the kids program and instructs adults classes. He received his black belt in 2023 from Professor Tom Steele and Marcos Torregrosa.