Tim Gillette
Tim began his training in Combat Judo, a blend of Judo and Sambo, in 2006 under Paul Petushin in Minneapolis, MN. The instruction focused 50% of the time training in the Gi and the other 50% training NOGI. After 2 years of consistent training, Tim decided he wanted to focus on NOGI Jiu Jitsu and found Eddie Bravo's 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu system.
In 2010 Tim earned his Blue Belt from Eddie Bravo. Around this same time a good friend, Nate Kleinfeld (Black Belt under Eddie Bravo), opened Next Level Combat/10th Planet Jiu Jitsu St. Paul, MN. Tim began helping out with teaching some classes at the school. Then in April 2011, Eddie Bravo promoted Tim to Purple Belt.
Tim decided he wanted to do some training in the Gi again so he joined Gracie Barra Twin Cities in 2011 while he was still teaching and training at 10th Planet. He began his journey in the Gi starting over at White Belt. After training there for 2 years he earned his Blue Belt from Professor Rodrigo Sul and his Purple Belt from Mark Mortensen. During his time at Gracie Barra, Tim participated in the Instructor Certification program and became certified to teach under Gracie Barra. After completing this program, he became the instructor for all of the NOGI classes at Gracie Barra Twin Cities.
Tim continued as one of the head instructors at 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu St. Paul teaching adult classes until November 2015 when he decided to move to Denver Colorado. He started training at Busy BJJ immediately after the move and in February 2017 was promoted to Brown Belt by Professor Mario "Busy" Correa.
It's been a dream of Tim's to open a school and continue teaching Jiu Jitsu so in November 2017 he founded Morning Star Jiu-Jitsu - Denver. The goal is to build one of the most fun environments that is conducive to learning proper Jiu Jitsu concepts and techniques.
After 13 years of dedication to the art, Tim was awarded his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt from Professor Andre Lima of the Rigan Machado lineage in June of 2019.
Lineage:
Carlos Gracie Senior > Carlos Gracie Jr > Rigan Machado > Andre Lima > Tim Gillette
