Mike Gorski (aka Big Mike) has been practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for over 20 years (and martial arts in general for over 30).  His credentials include:

• 20+ years BJJ experience
• 30+ years Martial Arts Experience
• BJJ Brown Belt under Dax Razzano, Bloomington, IN
• Head Coach/Instructor at El Diablo Combatives, Montrose CO from 2019 to 2021
• Currently Head Coach/Instructor at Big Mike’s BJJ, Oak Harbor WA

Big Mike’s Story

Before Mike became Big Mike, he was a skinny little kid. For about four years, he had the misfortune of living right next door to the neighborhood bully. As a result, Mike got beat up like it was his job pretty much on a daily basis. In 1987 Mike saw Karate Kid and became forever obsessed with martial arts! 

Ten years later, he’d studied more martial arts, self defense and "street-fighting" systems than you could shake a stick at. He even picked up a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, but never truly felt like he had found a reliable way to defend himself against bigger, stronger opponents.

Then in 1997 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu changed it all. BJJ was everything he got into Martial Arts for, a truly reliable and effective way to train the little guy to beat the big guy. He was hooked! 

In December, 2018 he finished up 20 years as a U.S. Navy Helicopter pilot and retired from active duty. Moving around every 2-3 years, combined with hectic operations and deployment cycles might have slowed his advancement through the ranks in Jiu-Jitsu. But thanks to the Navy, he’s been able to live and train Jiu-Jitsu in a multitude of places with a wide variety of fantastic instructors all over the world. As a result, he has a very unique game cobbled together from bits and pieces he’s taken from many great coaches.

In December of 2018 he retired from the US Navy.  As a Navy flight instructor he had to get very good at teaching physical skills and procedures. He’s been able to use that experience over the years to help him become a better Coach.

On several occasions he’s been stationed in areas with no Jiu-Jitsu schools nearby, and had to start up his own club. On other occasions, he was asked to coach at existing clubs.

In 2019 he moved to Montrose Colorado, and started training at El Diablo Combatives. His skill and teaching ability earned him the respect of the other members, and he was soon promoted to the position of head Jiu-Jitsu Coach!

In September of 2021 he moved to Oak Harbor, Washington. He checked out the local Jiu-Jitsu scene for a while, but couldn’t find exactly what he was looking for. So he decided to create a place that would deliver the type of training he was after. And just like that, Big Mike’s BJJ was born!

Mike brings 20+ years of Jiu-Jitsu experience to the table. He's been in the game long enough to have seen new techniques come, go out of style, and then come back into style all over again. So when he shows you a technique, you can rest assured it's not something he learned from YouTube last night. It's something he hits regularly during sparring. As a result, he can show you all those little details that make it actually work against a resisting opponent.

Mike also brings decades of teaching experience to the table. He was a swim instructor in college, a flight instructor during his 20 years in the Navy, and an NJROTC Instructor afterward. He started, ran, and taught at multiple Jiu-Jitsu clubs during his time in the Navy, and was Head Jiu-Jitsu Coach for two years at a gym in Colorado. Mike has been teaching people physical skills all of his adult life. And that translates into better Jiu-Jitsu instruction for you.

Simply put, you'll be hard pressed to find someone with Mike's unique depth and breadth of experience in both Jiu-Jitsu and Coaching.