Matthew Kelley

Hello my name is Matthew Kelley. I am a husband, father, veteran and educator. I am currently a brown belt here at Torres Jiu Jitsu. I am the primary instructor in our kids leadership program and I also teach in our adult essentials class. My jiu jitsu journey is somewhat unique as I started a little later than most. At 33 years old and severely out of shape I worked hard to become fit and then start jiu jitsu. This is not the best practice as I quickly learned that I should have used the art to become more fit while I was learning to defend myself.

Throughout my sports and martial arts life I have made adjustments to compensate for my physical deficiencies (more likely to compensate for being the old guy grappling with much younger and more athletic partners). This has led me down the wonderful road of seeing jiu jitsu as a puzzle that allows me to use my opponents lapel against them. Entangling and frustrating my partners while using my favorite submissions (shoulder locks) is fun, sometimes amusing to me and frustrating to the youngsters!

I have competed many times over the years and while I still pursue competing, as I age and progress in the art it has become very fulfilling to pour into the lives of my students and teammates.

Jiu Jitsu empowers the weak, instills confidence in those that have none and demands discipline in order to reach a better version of yourself. Doing life with a team of high quality individuals is fun, inspiring and broadens horizons. Come train and begin a journey that has many lessons that will be useful on and off the mats.