Fort Erie athlete CJ Grisafi claims national jiu-jitsu crown

CJ Grisafi didn’t have his black belt off for long. After winning gold in the under-85-kilogram division of the 2026 Canadian National Championship, he was back the next day, teaching jiu-jitsu in Fort Erie.

Grisafi is now recognized as the top competitor in the country and has earned a place on Team Canada for the JJIF World Championships in Croatia later this year. The title ends a run of near misses for the lifelong Fort Erie resident, and adds another national result for Academix Academy, a local gym that has expanded rapidly since opening in 2019.

Academix Academy owner Dave Shaw points to the result as proof that high-level competition can come from a small-town base, with more athletes in the region pursuing modern martial arts like Brazilian jiu-jitsu, kickboxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) as opposed to more traditional forms like karate and Taekwondo.

Grisafi told Fort Erie Radio he had tried for nationals for several years and came up short when it mattered most.

“I was starting to doubt whether I was going to make it, but I stuck with it again this year, and it was my day,” said Grisafi.

The national final was a narrow match that ended on points after a long stretch of fatigue. Grisafi held a lead late in the match and worked to protect it until time ran out from his competitor, who was in a dominant top position.

He described the event as nerve-wracking, with the possibility of serious injury in the back of his mind, even if uncommon in the sport. He compared those nerves to other sports he played when he was younger, like basketball and golf, and said the stakes felt different.

Winning the title was more of a sigh of relief than a celebration for Grisafi.

He said the result lifted a weight that had built up over the years. The breakthrough changed what he thinks is possible in his own career because he now knows he can win at that level.

Grisafi started jiu-jitsu at about 15, at first as a means for self-defence, then later as an outlet for competition. He earned his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt in 2022 after roughly 15 years in the sport.

His parents did not let him and his brother watch professional wrestling when they were kids because they worried the boys would fight each other. He said he and his brother fought anyway.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a competitive form of submission wrestling, as Shaw described it, with athletes aiming to force a tap through joint locks or chokes. The sport’s culture is tight and demanding, with advancement determined by performance in live sparring matches.

Adult athletes often spend a decade or more before they reach a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Shaw opened Academix in January 2019 above the Delta Bingo on Garrison Road, and since opening Grisafi has been one of its main coaches, or “professors.”

The COVID pandemic was a test for the gym, with closures that put pressure on both membership and operations. A core group of members stayed through the hardest stretch of the pandemic and helped keep the club alive, according to Shaw.

Academix Academy has now expanded to about 235 members and 10,600 square feet of space.

“We’ve put everything in place for us to be successful, and it’s really starting to pay off,” Shaw said.

Training still pulls Grisafi out of town. He trains with a competitor group in Toronto and makes the drive twice a week.

The reaction after getting home surprised Grisafi. He did not chase the recognition but said the support felt meaningful even if it took time to sink in.

He said he had few local examples to follow when he started in jiu-jitsu, pointing to UFC competitor Alexis Davis of Port Colborne as an early role model.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re from a small town. It depends on your consistency showing up and how hard you’re working,” Grisafi said.

The lack of nearby competitors made it harder for Grisafi to see a clear path in his martial arts journey. He lost to athletes from bigger clubs in Toronto, Buffalo and St. Catharines when he was younger, then later beat some of the same opponents as he gained experience.

He described those years as a long lesson in patience, with steady practice closing the gap.

For Academix Academy, the national title adds to a record of local athletes reaching national teams. Braden Shaw, who trains in Fort Erie, won a national title in 2024 in the Brazilian jiu-jitsu 18-and-under division and later went to Greece, where he placed eighth that year.

Katie Wilson, who lives near the gym, joined Academix as a mother with a young child and began training for fitness. Recently, she travelled to Mississauga for a one-on-one Brazilian jiu-jitsu match in front of about 200 people and won.

Shaw mentioned longtime local coach Sam Pascuzzi as a key figure in the sport’s local roots who competed in Fort Erie’s first MMA competition in 2016.

Team Canada preparations will ramp up as the JJIF World Championships approach. The national team plans to practice about once a month at first, then shift to weekly sessions after June, with the main competition in Croatia scheduled for late October or early November 2026.

Grisafi said he’s looking forward to Croatia as Team Canada will include some of the strongest Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighters in the world, a group that now includes himself.

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