Heroes Martial Arts Head Instructor
Gumby
Alan “Gumby” Marques is the Founder of Heroes Martial Arts. He started training in Jiu Jitsu back in 1996 at Ralph Gracie’s original academy in Mountain View. He went to found the website and brand OntheMat (OTM) which
sponsored and promoted events and fighters all over the world before starting Heroes in 2009.
4th Degree Black Belt
Gumby received his black belt in 2006 from Ralph Gracie, who gave awarded him the belt from HIS waist!
Teaching Style
A very experienced and hands on teacher, Gumby firmly believes a solid foundation in Fundamentals will allow you to personalize your style down the road but loves working with anyone who also loves Jiu Jitsu.
Favorite Moves
Trying not to have a favorite move is what Gumby is working on, but most people know him for his back takes and control.
Other
A big believer in community, Gumby is currently the president of the SJDA (San Jose Downtown Association) and is fighting hard to represent other small businesses who have been impacted in the last few years.
Gumby earned his black Belt in 2006, with actually Ralph Gracie awarded Gumby with his personal belt. In 2009 looking to settle down a bit after more than a decade of traveling around the world promoting Jiu Jitsu, Gumby opened Heroes Martial Arts in downtown San Jose. More than a place where Gumby could pour his diverse and unique experience in Jiu Jiu Jitsu into the next generation, Gumby wanted a place to call home. His mantra has always been that Heroes would be the type of place he would want to attend as a student.
The name Heroes came from wanting a lighter representation of Martial Arts than was being presented at the time. Training Jiu Jitsu is like having superpowers, so the comic book motif was perfect, and as one of the greatest superheroes of all time (Spiderman) realized, with great power comes great responsibility. While the Jiu Jitsu is world class, the culture has always been based on simplicity and respect, avoiding many of the trapping of traditional martial art dojos.
As far as rules go
Things are based Common Sense and Common Courtesy
.if you display those things you’ll get along just fine at Heroes.
Heroes Martial Arts has since taught thousands of students. From giving people their first introduction to Jiu Jitsu, to building high level competitors and instructors, to working with the community and providing self defense workshops, Heroes has built up mentally and physically strong individuals and built up a thriving community of students who have becomes leaders within the greater community.
In 2020, Heroes expanded with a second location in the Eastside of San Jose, with Nick “Eastside” Borbon, who started at Heroes as a 17 year old brand new to Jiu Jitsu graduating to the role of head instructor. At the same time long time student Trevor Ireland graduated to the main instructor at the downtown Heroes location. Gumby’s directive to both was to build the next generation of you.
In 2023 Heroes Martial Arts and Samurai Jiu Jitsu in Campbell officially merged. Samurai was founded by Rich Jackson, an long time Jiu Jitsu practitioner who was awarded his black belt from Gumby when he relocated to the West Coast after spending much time on the East Coast, including 10 years the infamous blue basement at Renzo Gracie’s Manhattan Headquarters. Kevin Kopecky, promoted to black belt by Gumby and Jackson has assumed head instructor duties at the Campbell location.
Heroes Martial Arts continues to exponentially grow and we’re very excited to see where the team takes Heroes Martial Arts into the future!
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