Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlson Gracie > Helio Gracie > Royler Gracie > Regis Lebre > Jack Shellenberger
Our history starts with Mitsuyo Maeda being sent from the Kodokan in Japan to teach Judo and groundwork in Brazil. From there he accepted Carlson Gracie as a student and eventually Carlson Gracie taught his siblings what he had learned. One of those siblings, Helio Gracie, transformed jiu jitsu into an art of leverage and technique since he was so much weaker than his other training partners and needed a way to make the techniques work for him.
Helio Gracie ended up having nine kids and taught all of them the art of Jiu Jitsu. One of those kids was Royler Gracie who is a 4 x World Champion, 2 x Pan American Champion and 3 x ADCC Champion. Royler Gracie is the president of the Gracie Humaita organization. Royler Gracie was able to take Regis Lebre under his wing and guide him to be a technical and well known competition black belt. Regis Lebre has notable wins such as International Masters & Senior Champion, Pan American Champion and Gracie Worlds Champion. Regis Lebre is the Vice President of the Gracie Humaita organization.
Steve Maxwell, who owned Maxercise in Philladelphia, contacted Saulo Ribeiro and asked if he knew anyone who would be willing to move to Philly to run his BJJ program. Steve Maxwell had one of the first BJJ schools on the East Coast at the time and his current black belt had left to pursue other endeavors. Saulo Ribeiro recommended Regis Lebre to which Regis agreed and started Regis Lebre Jiu Jitsu in Philadelphia at Maxercise.
In comes Jack Shellenberger who had been training at Southside BJJ, in Salisbury MD, for one month. Jack was told that the main instructor, Regis Lebre, lived in Philly and that he needed to see what his instruction was all about. After one visit to Philly, Jack was hooked. Jack then went to Philly every Saturday, unless he was competing, and was able to learn some of the finest technique from the likes of Regis Lebre, Andre Maracaba, Xande Ribeiro, Saulo Ribeiro, Zak Maxwell, Steve Maxwell and Brian Rago.
Jack Shellenberger taught classes and trained at Southside Jiu Jitsu during this time and always used weekends to train with the finest BJJ practitioners in the Philly area. Jack eventually received his Black belt in 2016 from Regis Lebre, which is right around the same time Sean Ashley started training back at Southside.
Sharing in Jack’s passion for traveling to the highest level schools to get great technique and training Sean Ashley joined in on the trips. Jack and Sean would talk about their passion together and realized they shared many of the same goals, passions and desire to create something different and wonderful.
Jack and Sean as well as a core group of instructors and people decided to open up their own facility that would have an energetic, family and team centered environment! They envisioned a facility that would cater to not only the serious competitor but the hobbyist as well. They understood that it’s not about the Black belt vs the White belt but rather the sharing of the love and appreciation for the same sport. Jack, Sean and the team then made the move to open 410 and here we are!
We can’t express how excited we are to be here and show our love and appreciation for Martial Arts!
