ARVIN WIDDER

Founder of the Club and Head Instructor, Arvin is BJJ and Judo (4 Dan) black belt. He started practicing judo in 1973, at the age of 12, and has been very active in the world of judo ever since. At 18, he was promoted to black belt. By that point he had already won the B&H championship and was ranked second in then Yugoslav junior selection. He went on to become a silver medalist of the state championship and a member of Yugoslav national team. Arvin continued successfully competing throughout his career. Most recently, at the World Judo Masters Championship in Vienna in 2004 where, amongst more than 1000 competitors, Arvin scored 8th.

In 2000 he discovered Brazilian Jiu-jitsu as the perfect blend of the best there is in ground and stand-up techniques. He met Sensei Edson Carvalho, judo (5 Dan) and BJJ (4 Dan) black belt, formerly BJJ and judo champion in his native Brazil and became Edson’s student in the USA. In January 2004 Edson promoted Arvin to black belt in BJJ.

In November 2008, Arvin competed at Pan-American BJJ Championship in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil and won two golds – he is currently the PanAmerican BJJ champion in middle-weight and absolute super-senior divisions.

Arvin teaches BJJ classes for public three times a week.