About
Esteem Jiujitsu was founded in 2010 by Michael Stratton, a BJJ black belt under Megaton Dias. Michael’s been on the mats since 1993 when he joined the JH wrestling team and fell in love with the art of grappling. He participated in folk-style, freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling from age 12 - 18. After high school, Michael gravitated towards MMA and no gi BJJ. He won the only two MMA fights he did in 2007 and 2008 before he decided that he was happier as an instructor. In 2010, with the support of his wife, Rosie, he finally opened Esteem Jiujitsu.
”I couldn’t get enough,” says Stratton, “I always knew I’d end up owning a gym and building a team because I’ve always been driven to teach what I know. Ever since I can remember I would learn something, and then teach it to the first person who showed an interest. Whether it was a grappling technique or a life technique, I’ve always felt knowledge should be shared, and I've always enjoyed learning as much as I've enjoyed teaching.”
The Stratton's are Petaluma locals who have two wonderful boys, Joshua and Jordan. The entire family participates in the jiujitsu training and they all compete.
“My life has become my dream come true." Says Coach Michael. "I have my beautiful wife, sons and an awesome gym family that words can’t describe. I've got all I've ever wanted."
Michael and Rosie plan to grow the new location to full capacity, the same way they have done at the previous 2 locations. The gym has been growing steadily since they were established in 2010, and with the new 4000 square foot location, the future is bright!
Instructors
Michael Stratton
Michael is a Brazilian jiujitsu black belt under Megaton Dias. He’s been on the mats since 1993 when he joined the JH Wrestling team. He prides himself on two things - how he's infused his wrestling into his Brazilian jiujitsu game, and how he's spent decades focusing on the fundamentals of grappling. Michael specializes in both takedowns (fundamental wrestling) and full closed guard (fundamental jiujitsu).
In high school as a wrestler, Michael was a 3X league champion and a section champion. He went to Fargo North Dakota and placed top ten in the Junior Nationals in Greco-Roman wrestling in 1998. He began no gi jiujitsu in 2004 and competed in an amateur MMA fight in 2007 which he won by unanimous decision, and a professional MMA fight in 2008 which he won by first round submission. Michael switched his focus to traditional Brazilian jiujitsu with the gi and placed 3rd, and then 2nd in the world championships in 2008 and 2010 respectively. In 2016, he placed 2nd once again, this time in the no gi world championships.
He plans to continue after his goal of winning a gi or no gi jiujitsu world championship.
His style as a coach is patience and positive reinforcement, but he also takes a no nonsense approach to his classes. He dumps lots of energy in to each individual student, and he genuinely cares about each one of their progress. He demands a lot from his students, but he guides and praises them every step of the way.
Coach Michael teaches all of the youth classes, as well as the adults fundamentals Mon and fri 9am
Brett Bryon
Brett "Blunt force" Bryon is a Brazilian Jiujitsu black belt who was born and raised here in Petaluma. He attended Casa Grande High School, where he tried wrestling for the first time. After falling in love with the sport, grappling has been a part of his life since. In 2005, Brett returned to help coach the wrestling team for high school and junior high for several seasons. He's been training jiujitsu at Esteem since January of 2011, and has been the epitome of consistency ever since. In addition to training and teaching classes at Esteem, he's also a small business owner and has operated Limitless Personal Training since he founded it in 2013.On the mats, Brett is known for his aggressive, submission based style and has earned his nick name, "Blunt force", by compiling a ridiculous amount of tournament victories via submissions over the years. He's competed in everything from the biggest gi tournaments on the planet, to submission only fights and MMA. In 2018, he won a cage fight by putting his opponent to sleep with a brutal chokehold. He's known as a neck collector, and openly prefers to choke opponents rather than joint lock them, because he says, "while tough guys might fight through a broken limb, nobody is too tough to be put to sleep."
As ferocious a competitor as he is, as an instructor, he couldn't be any less intimidating and more inviting. The atmosphere in his classes are upbeat and fun. His approach to instruction is detail oriented and his attitude is that the proof is in the pudding. There's nothing that he teaches that he hasn't accomplished in an actual match at some point or another, so he's able to show his techniques with the confidence of someone who knows their true effectiveness and has done it in action.
Coach Brett teaches Tues, Wed, and Thurs mornings at 9a, and Tues and Thurs evening at 630p.
Jack Coyston
Jack Coyston is a Brazilian jiujitsu black belt. Originally born and raised in England he moved to sunny California with his family in 2001. Shortly after moving to America Jack was introduced to the sport of wrestling and instantly fell in love. After wrestling eighth grade through high school and helping coach the middle school team while in high school, Jack knew that he wanted grappling and coaching to always be a part of his life.
After high school, Jack began to train Judo while continuing to help coach the middle school and high school wrestling teams. Judo was his first introduction to submissions outside of watching MMA and he was hooked instantly. Wrestling taught Jack how to control another person and put them where he wanted them to be, and Judo began to teach him how to finish them once he got them there. Judo was also his first introduction to wearing a Gi and although at first it was suffocating and overwhelming, Jack quickly recognized the value in it and wanted to do more. He trained Judo for three years and then in 2012 he tried jiujitsu for the first time. From his first class, Jack felt like he had found a home that blended everything he already loved. Stand up, judo throws, wrestling takedowns, submissions, gi and no gi. Jiujitsu had everything he wanted. He was hooked and from that day forward he dedicated himself to BJJ and the pursuit, which he's still on, of one day attaining the skills that would earn him his black belt.
Coach Jack is known for his armbars, over attention to detail, and ability to talk for hours on end about Jiujitsu. His goals are to one day be awarded his black belt in BJJ, and also to go back and earn his black belt in Judo as well. He also has plans to continue competing and wants to see how far he can go. Above all else, Coach Jack wants to continue trying to obtain as much grappling knowledge as possible so that he can continue to share it with anyone that wants to learn. He just wants to be the best instructor he can be and enjoys nothing more than seeing a student grow as a person, athlete, and martial artist.
Coach Jack teaches Mon and Wed evening adults gi technique class at 630p.
Rose Stratton
Rosie Stratton is a Brazilian Jiujitsu brown belt who began training regularly in 2013. Being married to Michael, she was around jiujitsu all of the time and knew that once her family was established, she was going be on the mats. After her second son was born, she began training competing almost immediately and enjoyed success at both local and regional tournaments, even earning a bronze medal at the prestigious Pan Ams in 2015 and in 2018 she became the champ.
Her approach as an instructor is gentle and patient. She absolutely loves teaching the kids and treats them all like they're her own. While she admits that she'd prefer to leave the disciplining up to Coach Michael, she also claims to have the best behaved youth classes in Petaluma, so there's not a lot of discipling to do.
Rosie's goals are to continue growing Esteem and progressing in her jiujitsu. She says she considers jiujitsu to be a “ride that doesn’t have to end” and she plans on enjoying the ride.
