Ryan James Gruhn (born July 22, 1982) is an American Martial Artist, MMA Coach, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt.

Personal life

Gruhn was born in

State College, Pennsylvania State College is a home rule municipality in Centre County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is a college town, dominated economically, culturally and demographically by the presence of the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania Sta ...

and attended

State College Area High School State College Area High School, often referred to locally as "State High," is a public high school in State College, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the only public high school in the State College Area School District and is within walking d ...

. He went to

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

where he studied business.

Martial arts

History

Gruhn began his martial arts training at the age of six in Tae Kwan Do and started studying the Striking Arts (Muay Thai & Boxing), Grappling Arts (Submission Wrestling & Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) and Weapons Arts (Kali/Escrima/Silat/Arnis) at the age of twelve with Dan Inosanto, Erik Paulson and Surachai Sirisute. Ryan is best known for his fighting in Dog Brothers Gatherings. He has fought both nationally and internationally in Real Contact

Stick Fighting Stick-fighting, stickfighting, or stick fighting is a variety of martial arts which use simple long, slender, blunt, hand-held, generally wooden "sticks" for fighting, such as a gun staff, bō, jō, walking stick, baston, arnis sticks or simil ...

events since 2005. Gruhn is a

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

Black Belt under MMA pioneer and fifth Degree Black Belt;

Erik Paulson Erik Paulson (born June 28, 1966) is an American mixed martial artist. He is the first American to win the World Light-Heavy Weight Shooto Title in Japan. Biography Erik started his career in martial arts starting with Judo at age of 8. However ...

. Other notable instructors of Ryan's include Surachai Sirisute (

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

) and Marc Denny "Crafty Dog" (Dog Brothers Martial Arts / Filipino Martial Arts). Gruhn is the only person to simultaneously hold the title of “Ajarn” in Muay Thai (Black Arm Band), “Guro” in Dog Brothers Martial Arts (Black Dog Tag) and "Professor" in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (Black Belt). He was also the first ever to earn the rank of "Black Dog Tag" in Dog Brothers Martial Arts.

Dog Brothers

Gruhn is part of the Dog Brothers who put on semi-annual Real Contact Stick Fighting events in Los Angeles, California, Canada and Europe. He has been part of several documentaries including "Dog Brothers Reality Show" by

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

, "Fight Club, No Limits" by

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...

and "Dog Brothers Cruel Combat" InDemand which aired on the

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

Network. Ryan is considered a "Full Dog Brother" which he earned by fighting in the Dog Brothers Gatherings in both Toronto, Canada and Los Angeles, California. He earned the name of "Guard Dog" on February 27, 2012 at the First Annual Canadian Gathering held in Toronto, Canada.

Coaching

Gruhn coached professional fighters; Phil Davis (

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

/ Bellator),

Ed Ruth Edward Lee Ruth (born October 21, 1990) is an American former professional mixed martial artist and freestyle and folkstyle wrestler. He competed in the Middleweight division of Bellator MMA. As a folkstyle wrestler, he was a three-time NCAA ...

( Bellator), Patrick Cummins (

), Paul Bradley ( WSOF) and

Jimy Hettes James Michael Hettes (born June 9, 1987) is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed as a featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Hettes is a 2-time Keystone State Games Judo Gold Medalist and earned the nickn ...

(

) when they trained in State College, PA at the defunct Lion Heart Fighters gym and at current Central PA Mixed Martial Arts. Gruhn's students have won titles in Muay Thai, MMA and Golden Gloves Boxing along with fighting in Real Contact Stick Fighting and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Gruhn coached Phil Davis and Ed Ruth while training at Central PA Mixed Martial Arts ahead of Bellator 186 on November 4 at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Stick fighting events

Grappling record

Lineages

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu * Kano Jigoro →

Tomita Tsunejirō , born , was the earliest disciple of judo. His name appears in the first line of the enrollment book of the Kōdōkan. . Tomita, together with Saigō Shirō, became the first in the history of judo to be awarded the rank of Shodan by the foun ...

Mitsuyo Maeda ,Virgílio, pp. 22–25 a Brazilian naturalized as Otávio Maeda (),Virgílio, p. 9 was a Japanese ''judōka'' (judo practitioner) and prizefighter in no holds barred competitions, also being one of the first documented mixed martial artists of t ...

→

Carlos Gracie Sr. Carlos Gracie (September 14, 1902October 7, 1994) was a Brazilian martial artist who is credited with being one of the primary developers of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Along with his younger brother Hélio Gracie and fellow students Luis França a ...

Hélio Gracie Hélio Gracie (October 1, 1913 – January 29, 2009) was a Brazilian martial artist who together with his brothers Oswaldo, Gastao Jr, George and Carlos Gracie founded and developed the self-defense martial art system of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, also ...

→

Rolls Gracie Rolls Gracie (; 1951–1982) was a Brazilian martial artist. He was a prominent member of the Gracie family known for their founding of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and considered by some the family's best ever fighter. He was teacher of Rickson Gracie, ...

& Carlos "Carlinhos" Gracie Jr →

Rigan Machado Rigan Machado (born 2 July 1966) is an 8th degree red and White belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, earning his rank under Carlos Gracie, Jr. He is a former Pan American Champion (1996, 1997 weight and absolute) and a veteran medalist of the ADCC. Mac ...

Dog Brothers Martial Arts *

Dan Inosanto Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

→ Marc Denny Jeet Kune Do/Filipino Martial Arts *

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

→

Muay Thai * Chai Sirisute

Television, podcasts and DVDs

* The Shin Guard System * "Dog Brothers Reality Show"

* "Fight Club, No Limits"

* "Dog Brothers Cruel Combat" InDemand on the

Network. * "Die Less Often 1" Dog Brothers * "A Gathering of the Pack 2"

News

On October 21, 2017, Gruhn competed and won the silver medal in the Kasai Elite Grappling Championships. While he originally went to coach his Jiu-Jitsu team from Central PA Mixed Martial Arts, one of his students was left without a match. Instead of leaving her without a match, Gruhn stepped up and competed against her, earning a silver medal in the Ultra heavy Black Belt division. This made headlines as his student was a female white belt who he lost to. On November 2, 2017, Central PA Mixed Martial Arts hosted ADCC Champion Gordon Ryan for a seminar. Gordon Ryan accused Gruhn of filming him with his cell phone. On March 2, 2019, Gruhn won Gold at

North American Grappling Association The North American Grappling Association (NAGA) is a grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) promotion started in 1995. NAGA Submission Grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments are held throughout North America and Europe. NAGA is the l ...

in Albany, NY at the expert/Black Belt level. On March 4, 2019, Gruhn was featured in Town & Gown Magazine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gruhn, Ryan 1982 births Living people American martial artists People from State College, Pennsylvania Smeal College of Business alumni