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Coach Brian...
Brian’s journey in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu started back in 2000. He started training at the first Royce Gracie affiliate school, located in Cleveland OH. He trained at that academy until approximately 2006 when it closed. He received his blue belt from Royce Gracie prior to the school closing. He moved on and began training under Jeff Starr, a Relson Gracie Black Belt. Brian received his purple belt from Jeff. Shortly after receiving his purple belt he began training MMA fighters. During that time, Brian began studying Muay Thai, kickboxing and wrestling; he was still training his groundwork. Brian has coached and or instructed fighters that have made it to the UFC. Brian backed away from striking arts after taking a very serious injury and began re-focusing on the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Brian was lucky enough to catch back up with some old training partners and he was introduced to Master Pedro Sauer. The detail and structure that was present in the Pedro Sauer system was exactly what Brian needed to reignite his love for Jiu Jitsu. Brian received his brown belt and a couple years later in October 2017 received his black belt from Master Sauer. Brian has been teaching Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for over a decade while always being a student first.
Brian is married to his high school sweet heart, Jillian and has three beautiful children. All three of Brian’s children practice Jiu Jitsu and love it. Brian spends his free time with his family, running his small knife making business and hiking with his wife. Brian is CPR certified and concussion recognition certified.
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Coach Jeff...
After sustaining an injury to his left ankle that had him unable to walk, Jeff Fillar was determined to get full mobility and function out of his leg again. This lead him to start training MMA under his personal friend, Brian Morris, as a form of physical therapy to regain strength. Since then Jeff’s passion grew, he regained full function of his ankle, and has earned his blue belt in Brazilian JuJitsu.
This journey has led to Jeff becoming part owner and manager of Black Lotus where he can be found teaching children on the mats. Jeff is certified in CPR and holds a certification from Secure Space Consulting for pistol/rifle training as well the NRA for basic pistol training.
In his spare time, Jeff can be found backpacking through various areas or spending time at home with his two dogs, Roger and Higgins. He is also a motorcycle aficionado, so any conversation pertaining to two wheels is always welcome!
Coach Joe...
Joe has been a student of self-defense for 25+ years. During the past 18+ years, he has applied this training in his profession as a police officer. Since becoming an officer, the focus of his training is street effective defensive tactics which are in accordance with federal and state laws. Joe is a certified Gracie Survival Tactics for Military and Law Enforcement Instructor as well as being commissioned by the Ohio Attorney General as an instructor in Defensive Tactics, Subject Control, Impact Weapons, Edge Weapon Defense, Legal Concepts, and certified as a Physical Fitness Specialist. He teaches defensive tactics full time for a large city police department, part time at a local college, and has had the opportunity to teach defensive tactics and martial arts seminars, classes, and private lessons to men, women and children, as well as to law enforcement, military and security professionals in excess of ten years.
In 2000, he had his first opportunity to train in jiu jitsu at a police ground defensive tactics class. For the next several years, he practiced jiu jitsu along with other self-defense programs. In 2005, Joe embraced Gracie Jiu Jitsu as the most complete system available. After six years of training, Joe joined the Pedro Sauer Team as a Blue belt. He received promotions to Purple, Brown belt and then in October of 2017 was awarded his Black Belt by Master Pedro Sauer.
Joe is an advanced level, Black Belt practitioner and instructor in Gracie Jiu Jitsu. His competition experience has provided him with success at the local and state level, winning medals in both gi and no gi competitions.