Professor Rick Mitchell
Owner and Head Coach of Invictus, Professor Rick has been active and competing in various forms of martial arts from an early age. Starting in Kickboxing when he was 6 years old , later transitioned to wrestling and followed that with MMA/submission grappling and finally into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay-Thai which he has been training and teaching in for over 16 years.
formerly, an Aerospace engineer at a space solar company in Albuquerque, Rick, built Invictus as a passion project with the purpose of creating a welcoming, family environment for students to learn the arts of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai Kickboxing without the intimidating and often dangerous atmospheres common in MMA Fight Schools.
As a career individual himself owning several business ventures, Rick understands the importance of career individuals avoiding injury and has developed a culture at Invictus reinforcing control and ego-free training for all students to grow.
PROFESSOR RICK’S CREDENTIALS AND RANKS:
2nd degree Black Belt under the Fadda lineage in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with over 16 years of Jiu-Jitsu experience.
American Kickboxing Black belt with Over 20 years experience, and dozens of fights.
12 years of traditional Muay Thai training ranked under Kru Chris Buchanan of the TBA (Thai-Boxing Association)
MMA\ submission grappler for 3 years before starting BJJ.
4 years of competitive Wrestling before going into MMA.
Former law enforcement defensive tactics instructor and prison guard.
United States Muay Thai Open advanced class bronze medalist.
Multi-time Jiu-Jitsu champion and tournament finalist in New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, and California.
Coach Edgar Duenez
Coach Edgar, a fellow engineer at Invictus, joined our Muay Thai program over 9 years ago while finishing his mechanical engineering degree at NM Tech.
A San Sho chinese kick-boxer with over a decade of experience, Coach Edgar quickly became one of our better Muay Thai athletes, adapting his highly mobile style to the powerful striking of Muay Thai. A veteran of almost a dozen fights, Coach Edgar now teaches and works out at Invictus, sharing his knowledge and helping train the students of our academy.
Coach Edgar co-heads the Muay-Thai kickboxing program as well as alternates teaching the Muay Thai Classes with Rick and other coaches
Professor Deborah Taylor
With almost two decades of experience in BJJ, Professor Deborah brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience into all of her classes.
Professor Deb’s is one of the nicest and most loyal members of our team, gladly helping and sharing knowledge with all students when she is in,
Professor Clem Narvias
Bringing a high-level Wrestling Background and a championship level of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to Invictus mats,
Professor Clem previously led the Invictus Kids Jiu-Jitsu program as well as currently leads multiple wrestling programs.
Currently, The lead BJJ competition class coach at Invictus the former Head wrestling coach at Sandia High School, Professor Clem utilizes wrestling fundamentals as well as Jiu-Jitsu techniques to teach the kids and adults of Invictus.
Professor Sarah Moya
Having a long history in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA with multiple teams, Professor Sarah now joins our team on the mats as one of our senior black belts and female leaders.
Professor Hannah Narcross
Starting her Jiu-Jitsu journey on the east coast in Atlanta and later moving to Albuquerque, Professor Hannah brings a wealth of knowledge and competition experience including a gold medal at Pan-Ams in her earlier BJJ career.
Professor Jared L’Esperance
a Life-long martial arts starting in Karate before moving into wrestling and now Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Professor Jared brings a lifetime of martial arts knowledge and training perspectives to the mats. A dedicated athlete, you will often find Professor Jared assisting or teaching classes regularly at Invictus.
Professor Jason Cunius
The current head of our Invictus kid’s program, Coach Jason is a former marine who brings discipline and structure to the mats for the kids. A very passionate and commanding leader, Jason has developed a strong kid’s BJJ program that has led to not only a large quantity of competition wins, but even more importantly, some big changes in the confidence, discipline, and behavior of the students in his class.
We very frequently receive comments from grateful parents regarding the behavioral, discipline and confidence changes in kids within our program.
Coach Meaghan Penning
A professional MMA fighter and Jiu-Jitsu competitor, Coach Meaghan currently co-leads our Women’s Only Jiu-Jitsu program. With a passion for women’s empowerment as well as women’s self-defense, Coach Meaghan has helped to facilitate and grow a positive environment to help new women feel comfortable and safe in classes.
Join Her for the Women’s Only Classes Every Wednesday at 7:00 PM, and Sunday Women’s Only Open Mats at 3:00 PM
Gym Manager/ Coach, Liz Gravagne
One of the most helpful individuals that has come to Invictus, Liz started as an assistant coach for the kid’s program before moving into the role of gym manager to help Rick with memberships, gym tours, prospect questions, and a whole lot of other administrative and management duties. Liz is also the co-lead coach for the Women’s only program alongside Coach Meaghan and can regularly be seen involving herself helping the new women in our academy
Liz is often the first person you see when you arrive and with her hard work ethic on the mats, often one of the last to leave after class.
If you have questions when you arrive, she is one of the best people to help you!
Professor Jerry Solis
One of Invictus’ original members, Coach Jerry has spent over a decade in martial arts. Starting out as an MMA fighter under the now-defunct Mean One MMA, Jerry turned to BJJ and started up with Invictus when we were just starting out.
An integral part of our academy’s success, Jerry has spent years helping our students on the mats increase their skills and grow. Many of our students attribute their competition success to the fundamentals and, oftentimes, unconventional techniques professor Jerry has taught them.
Professor Jerry now stops in from time to time to share his knowledge with the team.