Professor Ryan Murphy
Ryan Murphy
Ryan's martial arts training began at the age of 12 in Tulare, California, where he studied Shotokan Karate for a few years before starting his career in Wrestling. He wrestled for the Tulare Union High School varsity team all four years and was voted team captain his senior year. Ryan was a semi-finalist at the Central Valley divisional tournament in his junior year.
To prepare for success in his junior year, Ryan spent five weeks at the Vaughn Hitchcock Wrestling Camp, training with some of the top wrestling coaches in the nation in hopes of earning a Wrestling scholarship. Ryan began his senior year confidently with a 12-0 record and was elected MVP in his first tournament of the season. He ended up finishing the season with an impressive 30-4 record.
Ryan enrolled at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo after his senior year to continue his studies and earned a spot on Cuesta's wrestling team. He finished 3rd in the Northern Section Championships. Ryan then transferred to Fresno State University, where he earned his B.A. in Psychology and minored in Criminology.
While in Fresno, he was introduced to Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, which became his new passion. For a couple of years, Ryan studied under the Camarillo brothers, former teammates and training partners of his current instructor, Crosley Gracie.
In 2001, Ryan accepted a position as a youth counselor in Stockton, Ca, and relocated to the area. Looking to further his career in Jiu-Jitsu, Ryan began training directly under Crosley Gracie, where he immediately won his first tournament as a blue belt, submitting all of his five opponents by choke. Ryan competed several times as a blue belt and won all the tournaments he entered.
Ryan has an extensive background of over 20 years of working with children from all backgrounds. While studying in college, he worked in and ran a treatment facility for children on probation. Working in this environment taught him the value of teaching and providing discipline, structure, and consistency.
After earning his degree, he worked with children in the Foster system. Working with these two diverse groups in a home environment taught him a good balance of compassion and discipline, which is something he brings to his classes here at the Crosley Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy.
More recently, Ryan took the Bronze at the 2009 and 2010 Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championships and won the Gold medal at the No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Worlds, held in Long Beach, California, in November 2010. Ryan was awarded his Black Belt from Professor Crosley Gracie in December of 2010 and currently is a third-degree Black Belt.