Andriy Badin

Coach | Blue Belt

Geek in heart, engineer by employment, scientist in the past.

At first, it was my son who started Jiu-Jitsu. A few months later I decided to try it as well, mostly in order to have a moral right to cheer, scream and support him. Another few months later I decided to help run kid’s classes. The decision was driven by my engineering mindset, you know, optimization of the process kind of thing. Since I was at the gym anyway watching my son train, I figured I might as well get on the mat to help keep the kids organized so that everyone in the class would benefit from an even more structured lesson plan. This was back in 2017. Now I run kid’s classes, occasionally run adults classes, and manage our open mat sparring activity. In addition to my son who now is a yellow and white belt, I also have a daughter in kid’s class. She started about a year ago. You can say I am as vested in the Gracie Barra program as one can be.

Curious facts about me – I have a Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics and even published a few papers back in a day. I have yet to meet another physicist on the mat. Will you be the next one? #fightingnerd

My coaching style is driven by my background – lots of focus on levers, balance, the center of gravity, and “why” as prerequisites to “how”. I’m always happy to give quick tutoring sessions on Calculus/Physics/Geometry after class as well!