Upcoming Events

Coaches Tyler Toner and Sean Madden on the Lion Fight Card in Las Vegas July 4th

Coach Tyler and Coach Sean are headed to Vegas for Lion Fight 16 at the Palms Casino Resort. They’ve been training hard, and we’re excited to watch them in action this Friday. The fights will be televised live on AXS TV at 7:00 PM MT.

Boulder Social at T|ACO

Thursday July 24th 7:00-9:00 PM

Come enjoy some food and drinks with your favorite Easton Training Center members and staff. Our last social was a great success, and we’d love to see everyone come out again!

ETC Boulder Ninja Night

Saturday July 26th 6:00-9:00 PM

Enjoy an evening to yourselves while your kids have a blast with their favorite instructors! You can sign up at the front desk.

Denver A List

Easton has entered the race for best Martial Arts and best CrossFit facility in Colorado! Show your support by voting for us in both categories. Bring in a print-out or a screenshot of your vote, and earn Perkville points!

Have a question for us? Ask us on Facebook or Twitter! #EastonTC

Post your questions to our Facebook page, or direct your tweets to @EastonTC, and tag them #EastonTC. Hashtag the name of your program in your tweet or facebook post (#BJJ, #Striking, #CrossFit, or #Kids), and we’ll post a reply. Feel free to post a video question or photos so we can see what you’re talking about!

Recent Events

Chris Tramell Wins Sparta Combat Muay Thai Fight

On Sunday, June 29th, Coach Chris Tramell was the headline fight at Sparta Combat’s Summer Brawl at The Grizzly Rose in Denver. He fought three rounds against a 6’3” southpaw named Brian Scraper. Chris’ weeks of hard training paid off, and he was able to keep Scraper at a distance, avoiding his knees and elbows. He kept moving, throwing Scraper off rhythm, and landed some solid punches and kicks. Chris won the fight by unanimous decision. Read more about the fight.

Brian Carlsen Wins Dream Jiu Jitsu Tournament

Coach Brian Carlsen recently won the Dream Jiu Jitsu submission-only brown belt tournament in California. Thirty-one brown belts participated in this single-elimination competition, and Brian submitted his opponents in all five of his matches to win. One of his matches was against Sebastian Broche, who had taken third at Worlds the previous weekend. The match lasted for over 50 minutes, and Brian ended it with a knee bar. Read more about Brian’s experience at the tournament, and watch his interview with Raf Esparza for the Jiu Jitsu podcast Around the Mat.

Revgear Tournament

On Saturday June 28th, Easton Training Center sent a troop of competitors to the Revgear World Open Jiu Jitsu tournament in Denver, and had a great showing by everyone. James Strater-Smith, Tim Galluzzi, Sarah Hernandez, Claire Bauer, Kathryn Milner, John Schultz Jr., Tony Nicola, and Alex Yablong all brought home some hardware.

Terrence Moore Wins Fight

Terrence “Dark Matter” Moore recently fought at Sparta Combat Muay Thai’s inaugural event in Golden, and was the only MMA fight on the ticket. In the three days leading up to the event, Terrence had to drop ten pounds because of a last-minute weight class switch. Despite this, Dark Matter finished his opponent in all of 30 seconds, creating a small universe in the process. Terrence’s first jab drew blood, and Terrence quickly submitted his opponent with a standing guillotine. The stunned crowd hadn’t even had time to get out their cameras. This is the only photo of the fight.

Kids Martial Arts

Andy Carson

Thirteen-year-old Andy Carson has been training in Jiu Jitsu at Easton since he was four years old. In his nine years of training, he’s made his way through the Little Tigers and Tigers programs, and is currently a green belt, the highest belt achievable in the kids’ program. Andy currently takes mostly adult classes at ETC Boulder, and for the last six months he has also been assisting with the Little Tigers classes.

When he was taking Tigers classes, he would often find himself helping the younger students with their form and technique, so assisting with the Little Tigers classes seemed like the logical next step. His favorite thing about teaching the younger students is being able to help them in the areas where he once struggled. He takes his role as a mentor seriously, and enjoys spending time with the high-energy Little Tigers.

Andy says that some of the most important things he’s learned from Jiu Jitsu didn’t come from the training. The Mat Chats that are part of every Little Tigers and Tigers class have taught him many lessons that he applies outside the academy. One of his favorites was about knowing the appropriate time to focus, and the appropriate time to play around. He also loves being a member of the BJJ family at Easton, and being able to let go of the stress and pressures of school while he trains. When he isn’t doing Jiu Jitsu, Andy enjoys playing alto and baritone saxophone, and this summer he is busy with band camps.

Student Highlight

Nicole Heberle

Since moving to Boulder from Bellingham, Washington, four months ago, Nicole Heberle and her family have become fixtures at Easton Training Center. Nicole frequents the CrossFit and kickboxing classes, and she is usually in the academy for one or the other (and sometimes both) four days a week. Her son Kole is an enthusiastic Tigers Muay Thai student, and her daughter Khloe has recently started Little Tigers. She is happy to have found a place that has class options for her whole family.
Nicole loves the camaraderie of her CrossFit and kickboxing classes. She enjoys the high quality of instruction, and being able to push her body to the limit. Recently, she’s been working on her kipping pull-ups, and is excited about her progress.

Instructor Highlight

James Strater Smith

Coach James Strater-Smith can usually be found on the mat at ETC Boulder. He has been training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at Easton for eight years, and often trains for four hours a day. When he isn’t training, he teaches advanced and intermediate Jiu Jitsu classes, and is the head of the ETC Boulder kids’ program. James is coming off a busy competition season, and has recently placed in a number of tournaments around the country. He won his division and the absolute at the Long Beach Open, the San Francisco Open, and the Boca Raton Open, and he took third in his division at Pan Ams.
Jiu Jitsu is James’ job, but more importantly, it’s his passion. He dedicates all his time and energy to BJJ. James’ game is competition-focused, and he makes a constant, concentrated effort to improve, and to be on the cutting edge of what’s going on in the competition scene. He spends his time watching videos, working on new techniques, and drilling. He also makes an effort to learn about Jiu Jitsu in a broader way so he can individualize his instruction for each student and help them to understand every facet of the game. He studies his students carefully in order to determine the ways they can improve, and the things he thinks will be most useful to them based on their age, ability level, belt, and goals. James is in the academy almost every day, often teaching individual or small-group private lessons, and is always happy to help students and answer their questions.
To learn more about James, check out his bio. For more information about setting up private lessons, you can email him at jmsaviv@gmail.com.