Visiting Megaton Dias' BJJ Academy in Arizona & Meeting BJJ legends Royler Gracie & Mackenzie Dern

In 2015 when I was still a white belt, I had the amazing opportunity to visit the Megaton BJJ Competition Team owned by professor Wellington (Megaton) Dias in Phoenix, Arizona. Megaton is currently a fifth degree black belt under Royler Gracie, and also happens to be the professor of my professor, Ray Quintana.

Carlos, myself and Ray in front of the academy

The reason for our trip was to meet the Megaton competition team there, spend a whole week training with them, and at the end of the week (the cherry on top of the cake), to assist at a Royler Gracie seminar before the yearly Xmas promotions. Carlos and I had met Megaton on his visit to Bocas del Toro, Panama a few months prior, and he kindly invited us to stay at his house during our visit.

Breakfast with Luka and Megaton on Luka's birthday

Needless to say, this was an unforgettable experience. Just to give you some background, Megaton is a four time world medalist and the only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt in history to have competed in every World Jiu-Jitsu Championship since 1996.

We also got to meet his wife Luciana Dias (she prefers Luka), who is also a black belt under Royler, and one of the first female BJJ heroes this world has seen. Just as a reminder, she won 3 times against Gabriella Garcia (2 times by submission), who is no less than 20 years her junior. She also happens to be the stepmother and former BJJ teacher of female BJJ World Champion Mackenzie Dern. If this is not proof that winning lies in the family, I don’t know what is.

We stayed in Mackenzie's old room during our visit

But make no mistake, behind every successful athlete lies great amount of hard work and discipline. Nobody just wakes up one day winning gold. Megaton, Luka and Mackenzie put in hours of training every day, and by spending a whole week with them, my husband Carlos and I got to get a taste of what their daily lives are like.

Megaton’s daily schedule

Conditioning and strength training
Megaton and Luka wake up everyday at 4.00 AM to get ready for Megaton’s strength and conditioning training at 6.00 AM. We were invited to join of course, but we kindly declined the offer LOL. I’m unable to think, let alone do anything physical before 8.00 AM.

Competition training with the team from 11.00 AM to 1.30 PM
We joined this training every time it was available, and got our butts whooped. Luka and Mackenzie usually join this class too, and we got to roll with everyone. We’re talking 2 hours of pure sparring in 10 minute rounds. Taking breaks is frowned upon.

The competition team consists of mostly black and brown belts, a very few purple, and maybe 2 blue belts. Carlos was blue already, and I was one of the only white belts there with the exception of 2 other girls who were students of Mackenzie.

It was quite intimidating for me at first, because in the US people are HUGE in size. Plus, I was not at all used to spar with people outside of my gym in Bocas, so I was pretty nervous. Add to that the fact that I didn’t want to disappoint my teacher Ray Quintana, as we were representing his gym, and of course Megaton himself. But who was I going to impress with my lousy 3 stripes anyway? So I just came to terms with the fact that I would get my butt kicked for the rest of the week, and stopped caring (also my body hurt way too much to care about anything else).

Luka cracked one of my ribs, and Megaton wrist locked me more times than I could count. I still remember Luka yelling at me you fall like a banana! I have never been this sore in my life, but it was so much fun.

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Lunch and siesta
Typically, some of the team members will have lunch at a restaurant somewhere with Megaton after the competition training, and then we headed back to Megaton’s house for a nice cup of coffee and a well deserved nap. Nap time is very important when you are an athlete, as sleep helps the body recover faster. Nap time is taken very seriously at Megaton and Luka’s, and takes place typically between 2.00 PM and 4.00 PM. Then, back to getting ready for the evening class!

Lunch with Megaton, Luka and Ray somewhere in AZ

Megaton’s night class
This is the class during which professor Megaton teaches techniques to all levels (blue belts and up). The class didn’t have any women participating, as Mackenzie teaches her own women’s class right before his. Needless to say, I joined Mackenzie’s girl group before Megaton’s class, so I could sit back and watch the guys afterwards.

Megaton always teaches with a stick in hand

I can’t explain how privileged I felt, learning from the best BJJ practitioner in her category in such a nice, laid back way. Her class is women only, which was a nice change me. Most of my classes in my academy are 8 guys vs. only 1 or 2 girls.

Mackenzie's girls class

Rolling with Mackenzie was far less painful. She flows. She submits you a 100 times in 10 minutes of course, but because of her small size and light weight, she is much easier to roll with for me. She also really enjoys teaching, and her students are also her friends outside of the academy, which makes for a friendly atmosphere during class.

The Royler Gracie Seminar

Royler is a legend, and the son of the great Hélio Gracie. To non-BJJers, meeting him would be the equivalent of meeting Frank Sinatra or Robert De Niro, for example. That’s how it felt to me at least. It was a mix of curiosity and admiration, but also realizing that he’s just a person like everyone else, and somehow I was wishing I could insert a USB drive into the man’s brain and copy all his BJJ knowledge into mine. His seminar was very self-defense oriented, which is perfect for me. I started BJJ to be able to defend myself, and don’t care much about berimbolos which are not applicable in the street.

Posing with Royler Gracie

The Christmas Party & Promotions

On our last day there, we were finally able to relax and just hang out with the team at the annual Christmas party organized by the academy. During the event, Megaton usually promotes the team members that he thinks deserve it. On that particular evening, our professor Ray Quintana received his brown belt, which was even more reason to celebrate.

Professor Ray Quintana receiving his brown belt

We got to spend a bit more time with each person outside of the tatami, and I met some really nice people whom I’ve stayed in contact with, and who also visited us in Bocas earlier this year. That’s the great thing about BJJ: it will allow you to forge friendships all over the globe. Somehow we’re all part of the same family, and have this invisible bond, which is JiuJitsu.

Mackenzie Dern in the middle, posing with us

I had an amazing time at the Dias’ house, and I feel very grateful for the opportunity I had to stay with them and get to know them better. They are wonderful people, and I’m looking forward to our next visit to Arizona in the near future. If you’re ever in the area, definitely pay them a visit and train with them.