Coaches – Fortitude Martial arts & Fitness Singapore

Main Achievements(Blackbelt)

Professor Vinc T started his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu journey only during his final year in his university studies.

In stark contrast to many champions in the sport who started BJJ at an early age, he started at an age that is late. Nonetheless, he knew he had to make up for lost time to fulfill his dream to compete at the black belt level one day. His insatiable interest for the art has led him to travel round the world to train and compete. He has travelled miles to countries as far as Brazil and the USA for long training stints at some of the top academies. Owing to his devotion to the sport as well as training ethics, his rapid progression from white to black belt within 5 years makes him one of the fastest promoted Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in Singapore. In 2015, he was handed his Black belt by none other than one of the legends of the art, Luis Carlos Mateus on the home soil of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Rio Janiero. Mestre Luís Carlos, also known as “Manimal” is a famous Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master directly under the late Master Carlson Gracie senior. Vinc T has proved his consistency by being an accomplished competitor at every belt level including multiple times IBJJF Gold Medalist as a black belt.

Fortitude Martial Arts was founded by Prof Vinc in 2014, where he put his focus on coaching and running his academy programs. Some of his notable coaching achievements include leading one of his first student: Emma Xiong from white to black belt at an accelerated learning path in 3 years and winning two consecutive IBJJF World Championship title at the advanced purple and brown belt levels. This unique program also led Emma to become China’s first ever female BJJ black belt. Prof Vinc also leads a strong kids team at Fortitude Martial Arts. In 2018 and 2019, Vinc led one student under the age of 10 to win two consecutive Abu Dhabi World Professional Championship title for kids.

Through his experiences in learning the art, Prof Vinc strives to build mental fortitude in all his students and constantly challenges them to step out of their comfort zones while developing their character and resilience. Prof Vinc also adopts a variety of curriculums/styles used by some of the successful teams in the world where he had spent time training with, to complement his approach in formulating an efficient training methods and providing a conducive learning environment for his students.

Main Achievements(Blackbelt)

Professor Shane began his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu journey at a young age of 15 years old. He has always been attracted to martial arts since young, particularly to the art of fighting on the ground. That lead Prof Shane to take up Judo when he was 14 after watching videos of Pro Wrestling and MMA, before finding and switching to BJJ one year later when he heard about it from his aunt who had been training Jiu Jitsu as a hobby for some time.

Not long starting Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in 2007, he fell in love with the art. He was driven to train 5 to 6 times a week and competing alot of local competitions. Prof Shane has travelled to train in both Singapore and Melbourne, Australia since 2008 because his father was working in Singapore at that time. That is where Shane Met Vinc T and the two of them have hit off well as training buddies, travelling around the world training and competing since purple belts. Prof Shane ascended the Jiu Jitsu ranks through his hard work in the sport and was awarded his blackbelt in 2014. As an active competitor, Prof Shane held notable competition title wins such as the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu Jitsu Championship twice in 2012 and 2014 at purple and brown belt respectively, establishing himself as one of the top Aussie BJJ competitor. With Prof Shane’s extensive years of experience in training Jiu Jitsu and competition, he brings an extensive wealth of knowledge to the Fort.

Main Achievements(colored belt)

Qualifications

Coach Kacie discovered Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu while finding a hobby during a hiatus from her profession as an architect. Since then, the sport has taken her around the globe to train and compete. Her competition accomplishments led her to dive deeper into her hobby turning it full-time. Her astute ability to notice precise details has helped to advance her technical knowledge, and guide others to progress in their training. A certified trainer, Coach Kacie conducts a number of fitness programs at Fortitude including assisting with the Women’s and Kid’s BJJ program.

With great passion and patience with her students and young athletes in her classes, Coach Kacie brings an invaluable presence onto the mats at Fort.

Qualifications

Coach Yazid discovered BJJ from watching MMA fights. Inspired by the effective submission moves used by the fighters, he picked up BJJ in 2012. Due to his partial psychomotor impairment since young, Coach Yazid had a hard time taking up sports. Through BJJ he realised the importance of understanding movements by breaking it down into simpler and finer details to help himself and others process it.

One of Fortitude’s first student since white belt, and currently a brown belt under Prof Vinc, Coach Yazid believes in having fun with the fundamentals in BJJ which serves as building blocks in the art.

Coach Yazid has travelled as well to United States and Brazil to reinforce his knowledge of BJJ. He has also medalled as a podium finisher around the region & competed at the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship. A dedicated student of the game, Coach Yazid is frequently spotted on the mats on most days helping the junior belts refine their techniques.

Coach Gladwin is a church pastor, a faithful servant of God and avid student of the art. He started his BJJ journey in 2011 as an outlet for himself to keep fit after a long break from his judo training for years due to family and work commitments.

He is currently a BJJ brown belt under Prof Vinc. Nicknamed ‘GLADiator’ in the gym due to his persistent grappling style, Coach Gladwin is easily spotted on the mats with his family during the early evenings doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu together. You will never miss Coach Gladwin and his megawatt smile at the gym. He’s always approachable and enjoys coaching in his free time as he likes to share his BJJ knowledge, helping the junior belts to navigate their journey and study the finer details to help sharpen his techniques

One of Coach Murshi’s main reasons for taking up the gentle art was to improve his lifestyle and to keep fit. Since then he has never stopped training and has competed locally and regionally since he started his BJJ journey at Fortitude as a white belt in 2017. Coach Murshi is one of the hardest working trainee at fort and you can see him on the mat most days of the week.

Currently a purple belt under both Prof Vinc and Shane, Coach Murshi nicknamed “Mushin” in the gym because he is always in his zone once he steps onto the mat. As an active competitor in the sport, Coach Murshi has won several tournaments around Asia, and has done Fort proud on many occasions with his fighting spirit.

Follow Us