Thank you for being a part of the story of Alliance Jiu-Jitsu Keller and C4 Muay Thai & Kickboxing.
Hello everyone, Professor Snow here. Twelve years ago, I began teaching Jiu-Jitsu, and about 10 years ago, I started my own little dojo here in Keller. Three other locations have housed us prior to our current facility that we call home. Lately, you have probably noticed lots of changes around the academy. We excited to be renovating and remodeling, and are just getting started. Soon, you will see a brand new face to the academy and a much smoother operation top to bottom from here on out. Anyway, back to the history…
Our first location was on the second floor inside a 10k sq ft white, steel building with red trim. Inside of this gymnastics center was where we (my little brother Jesse and me) first took up teaching the Gentle Art to youth for free on Saturdays, and then later added a few days per week. Walking up a narrow, carpeted staircase that turned at a 90 degree angle to the left half way up, you would arrive at the dojo, about 500 sq ft on the second floor overlooking the gym below. The “Treehouse,” as some fondly refer to it, had some scrap mats taped together in a makeshift manner that served for training. Many holes in the sheetrock of that little room where our heels kicked through were plotted all around the room, including some people-sized ones as well.
Around that time in 2009 we made the jump to begin an adult program. It was then that coach Chris Gray began training with me. Also with us on the mat were Brian North “Big Brian” and a little kid about 9 years old named Kade “Tarzan.” Chris has since established an amazing Muay Thai program with us, and we are very proud of all of his hard work and dedication. Without his guidance, hard work, personal investment, effort and vision, the academy would not be where it is today. This September marked our 10th year of the gym. During that time, we had many transitions- at one point, my little brother spent about 6 months teaching in my stead while I trained at Alliance headquarters in Sao Paulo and Rio. At the outset of the academy is when I first moved to South America as a 23 yr old kid. The academy was left to Brian North and a handful of students including Chris and Kade. I first spent 9 months teaching and training in Ecuador. To this day, we still have strong ties with the country, and periodically have practitioners, athletes, black belts, and even old students of mine visiting us here in Texas. In January 2020, we expect to have a transplant brown belt from Ecuador living and training with us as well as teaching classes. He was one of my juvenile students back in 2012 in Ecuador, and is now intent on making a profession out of Jiu-Jitsu.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you have enjoyed learning a little about the beginnings of Alliance Jiu-Jitsu Keller. I will continue this writing soon, so stay tuned for part II of the series of our academy’s history…
