Ivan Rios

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The Story: Mr. Rios was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico (PR), and he resided in PR until he was 18 when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. While growing up in PR in the 70s and 80s, Mr. Rios had the opportunity to train in multiple martial arts disciplines like Karate, Tae Kwon Do, and Judo. Subsequently, while in the Active Duty Navy and later in the Navy Reserve in San Diego, CA., Mr. Rios continued his martial arts journey with Tae Kwon Do and Kick Boxing.


In the mid-90s, after watching UFC 1 through 4, Mr. Rios decided that he needed to learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). In 1995, Mr. Rios moved back to PR from San Diego to begin his graduate school studies after graduating from San Diego State University. While in PR, Mr. Rios searched for BJJ schools but could not find a single BJJ school on the island. After several months of search, he discovered a Japanese Jujutsu school with heavy emphasis in Newaza (ground fighting) near San Juan and trained there for several years. Years later, Mr. Rios earned his black belt in Japanese Jujitsu.


Subsequently, in 2000, Mr. Rios learned about the first BJJ School in PR, 1998. Finally, Mr. Rios began his BJJ training under the instructions of Luis Santiago and the many visits from BJJ Master Flavio Behring, who visited the island several times per year. Fast-forward and 12 years later, Mr. Rios earned his black belt in BJJ under Luis Santiago. Currently, Mr. Rios trains under Rigan Machado.


In 2009, and several years before earning his BJJ black belt, Mr. Rios discovered Krav Maga (KM). He attended his first KM Law Enforcement (LE) instructor course. Imminently, Mr. Rios felt passionate about KM and decided to take all the KM LE courses offered. Shortly after that, he began the KM civilian instructor courses and became a KM black belt in 2017 under Sam Sade.


Mr. Rios has been happily married to Rebecca since 1996 and has three wonderful adult children.

Summary: Over 35 years of Martial Arts/Combatives experience plus 24 years in Federal Law Enforcement as a Supervisory Special Agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Mr. Rios was also a DEA Special Response Team (SRT) member and Instructor, a DEA Quick Reaction Team (QRT) Member, Tactical Raids Instructor, Firearms Instructor, Combatives Instructor, and Tactical Emergency Vehicles Driving Instructor. In addition, Mr. Rios is a passionate 3 Gun Shooting competitor.



Combatives Experience:

  • Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – 3rd degree black belt

  • Krav Maga Civilian and Law Enforcement Instructor – 3rd degree black belt

  • Japanese Jujutsu – 4th Degree black belt

  • Tae Kwon Do – 1st Degree Black Belt

  • Certified Law Enforcement Defensive Tactics Instructor

  • Past experience in Kick-Boxing, Judo and Karate

Military Veteran: Mr. Rios served in the U.S. Navy as a Special Boat Team Crewman (Maritime Special Operations) and in the U.S. Army Reserve as a Tactical Intelligence Officer. He is a veteran of the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Academic: Mr. Rios also completed a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Criminal Justice Administration and a Masters of Art degree in Criminal Justice Management.