Your Instructor

        Peter Pitts-Dilley was born and raised in Brazil and began his Jiu-Jitsu training at the age of 13 in Rio de Janeiro. In 1995, Peter came to the United States with his parents and four years later enlisted in the U.S. Armed Forces. Throughout his decade long career in the Army, Peter served multiple tours of duty including one in Bosnia where he was special liaison to the Portuguese Marine Corp. Peter started his Special Forces training in 2001 and went on to do several tours of duty with 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) out of Fort Bragg, NC. During his last overseas tour, Peter served as the primary combatives instructor for his duty station at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.

        After the military had adopted Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as its primary form of hand to hand combat, Peter sought to increase his training by pushing himself to be the best in this field. Through rigorous and intense physical conditioning with top level instructors of the U.S. Special Forces he is now qualified as an Army Combatives Level I & II Instructor. While in Special Forces, Peter worked extensively with Greg Thompson, owner of Team ROC (Reality of Combat) and one of the foremost practitioners in military hand to hand combat and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Over the years Peter has traveled across the United States to train with the world's most renowned instructors and further master the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

        When he is not training, Peter enjoys family time with his wife: Lori, four children: Amanda, Mark, Kyle and Ethan, and his dog: Charley.

My relationship with Master Rilion Gracie:

        Master Rilion Gracie is more to me than a winner fighter, more than a famous practitioner of the art of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. To me, Master Rilion Gracie is an inspiration, a mentor and great teacher of the art of life. Rilion has imparted to me great wisdom, a wisdom that goes beyond the Jiu-Jitsu he teaches on the mats. Although I am amazed at his extensive knowledge and mastery of Jiu-Jitsu, I have come to realize that his lessons in Jiu-Jitsu are often lessons in life; lessons on how to be a better fighter, how to be a better teacher and how to be a better person. Thank you Master Rilion for showing me that the lessons learned on the mats are best if carried over into life.