Alberto Cruz

Professor Alberto has been involved in martial arts for over 30 years. He began with Judo in 1988 at the Air Force Academy where he was both on the Wrestling and Judo teams under the direction of former Freestyle Wrestling Olympic Coach Wayne Bauchman and former Judo Olympic Coach Paul Maruyama.

He earned his 1st Degree Blackbelt (Shodan) in 1994 and is currently a 3rd Degree Blackbelt (Sandan) in Judo.

Throughout his Judo career, Sensei Alberto has been the assistant instructor or main instructor at 10 different dojos throughout the world. He is an accomplished Judoka (ranked as high as 6th in the nation) having competed at national and international tournaments.

While stationed in the UK, he had the unique opportunity to learn Sambo Wrestling. He quickly burst into the tournament scene winning the 1999 British Sambo Wrestling Championships and the 2000 World Sambo Wrestling Championships after only a few years of training.

In 2006, Alberto officially began studying Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu. He has taught Judo for Jiu-Jitsu players at every Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu Association affiliate in the Hampton Roads area and won 3rd place at the 2013 IBJJF Master World Championships as a purple belt.

In 2018, he was honored to receive his Blackbelt in Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu from Professors Ben Eaton and Scott Oates. What Professor Alberto is most proud of is being an instructor for so many years in so many different grappling martial arts. Wrestling, Judo, Sambo, and Jiu-Jitsu all complement each other and he absolutely loves passing his knowledge to eager students.