Lineage Carlos Gracie Sr. - (Founder of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) > Carlos Gracie Jr. > Travis Tooke
Martial Arts Background
Over three years head instructor at Team Tooke Mixed Martial Arts
Over 12 years training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu/Submission Wrestling
Over two years training in Judo
One year training in Collegiate Wrestling
Over seven years teaching experience for both children and adults
Over 4 years training law enforcement officers
Experience training professional mixed martial arts fighters including UFC and Pride fighting veteran Yves Edwards.
2008 NAGA Instructor of the Year
Competition
Multiple time South Texas Wrestling Champion
1999 Klein Oak Wrestling District Champion
1999 Texas Regional Championship Bronze medalist
1999 Texas BJJ Cup Champion
1999 Texas Big D Nationals Champion
2000 2x Texas BJJ Cup Champion
2001 Texas BJJ Challencge Winner of Gi, No Gi and Open Class Divisions
2001 Texas BJJ Challenge Awarded Most Technical Fighter
2001 Grappling Games Champion
2001 3rd American International Championships Champion
2002 Texas Invitational Championship-Gi and No Gi Divisions
2002 Texas BJJ Championships Champion
2002 Southwest Submission Championships Champion
2002 H-Town Challenge Winner of Gi, No Gi, Open Gi and Open No Gi Divisions
2002 Southwest Submission Championships Winner of Gi, No Gi and 8 Man Division
2003 Smack Down in H-Town Winner of Gi, No Gi, Open Gi and Open No Gi Divisions
2003 Finisher Cup Superfight Winner
2003 NAGA Champion, Gi and No Gi
2004 Brazilian State Ranking Silver Medalist
2004 Copa Independencia Champion/Open Division Bronze Medalist
2004 Brazileiro de Equipes (Team Nationals) winner of both fights/2nd place team medal
2005 2x Grapplers Quest Champion
2007 Grapplers Quest bronze medalist Absoulute weight division
2008 3X NAGA Champion-Winner of Absolute Division
2008 NAGA Hawaii Gold medalist Adult Expert Division - Middle Weight, Absolute Division Bronze medalist
Watch Coach Travis in a competition match in Brazil. Notice that Coach Travis was a Brown Belt at the time, fighting against a Black Belt.
Travis Tooke with Marcelo Garcia at American Top Team.
Profile
Travis Tooke is one of only a handful of non-Brazilians to achieve the rank of Black Belt from Carlos Gracie Jr. and at only 23 years of age, became one of the youngest BJJ Black Belts in the United States. His name has appeared numerous times in Grappling Magazine and he is among the top Jiu-Jitsu competitors in the country. He first fell in love with grappling years ago after a friend first introduced him to mixed martial arts and the UFC where Royce Gracie made history and changed the way the world looked at fighting. After that, he was hooked and today he could not imagine what his life would be like without Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Since that fateful day, he has blessed enough to train with many notable instructors and training partners including Abu Dhabi and World Champion Marcio "Pe de Pano" Cruz, Marcio Feitosa, Nelson Monteiro, Randy Couture, Rodrigo Medeiros, Jefferson Moura, Rafael Lovato Jr., Travis Lutter, Yves Edwards, Cachorrinho, Carlos "Escorrega" Lemos, Hermes Franca and the legendary Carlos Gracie Jr., just to name a few. After an extensive one-year stay in Brazil, training and competing, he returned to Texas to pursue teaching and competition.
Travis sees himself as a student as much as a teacher. He believes he learns something new everyday and understands that Jiu-Jitsu is a lifelong journey that teaches you something new every time you step on the mat. Travis loves to teach and is definitely an instructor who will show you everything he knows the very best that he can. Ask any student here and they will tell you that no matter what your question, you will find the answer here. His highest objective as a teacher is to see the student go as far as he/she can and achieve their goals, in Jiu-Jitsu and in all aspects of life.
Of everyone he has trained with, Travis feels that as both a teacher and competitor he owes the most to Carlos Machado for all his instruction and wisdom. Carlos is one of the greatest Jiu-Jitsu instructors in the world and is whom Travis considers the most innovative and knowledgeable instructor he has ever met. Others he would like to thank for their help over the years include Ingrid Bay (his fiancee) for all her love and making him learn Portuguese, Alvis Solis (first Jiu-Jitsu instructor), the Lorenz Family for all their support, Carlos Gracie Jr., everyone at Machado Jiu-Jitsu, everyone at Gracie Barra, his students, all his family, all his friends and all those who have supported him. He thanks God for everything he has and for everyone in his life.
