No Limits Grappling Academy Coach Earns Judo Black Belt
As of December 4th, 2021, Black isn’t just a part of the color scheme for No Limits Grappling Academy, it's part of its history. The gym’s owner and Head Coach Matt Marcinek was promoted to the rank of shodan (black belt) in the sport of Judo by the instructors of Scranton MMA’s Judo club, who Marcinek started training with nearly 17 years ago, and under the supervision of 4x Olympian and Olympic Silver medalist, Jason Morris.
While No Limits Grappling Academy is exclusively a No gi jiu-jitsu training facility, Judo, which features the traditional gi (uniform) and belt style that traditional Martial arts employ, was a huge part of the “Silverbacks” leader’s life up until 2010 when the International Judo Federation (IJF) banned all techniques using the arms to grab an opponent at the legs. This effectively ended his competitive judo career and caused him to focus solely on Jiu-jitsu. However, whether he was training in the sport or not, his years spent in judo still impact his training and coaching to this day, even if its “fashion” does not.
“I’m sure some newer people that were here were probably surprised that I even own a gi, let alone now have a Black belt in judo,” Marcinek said chuckling. "But judo has had a tremendous influence on me, my coaching, and my life in general. This is obviously a really cool moment for me to be able to call myself a black belt and to get it from these guys who have meant so much to me is really special."
The lack of a uniform doesn't mean that there will be a lack of Judo techniques at No Limits Grappling Academy, Northeast PA’s newest martial arts training facility.
“I was very intentional in naming the gym No Limits Grappling Academy and not something like No Limits Jiu-jitsu, or No Limits wrestling, or No Limits Judo. We don’t separate any of the disciplines, instead, we take the most effective parts of each to build the most complete athletes and competitors as possible. Now, having a black belt in one of those disciplines just reaffirms that I need to do things at the highest level possible and that's what I plan to do.”