Who teaches you

Instructors

Lineage, rank and credentials matter in jiu-jitsu, and everything on this page is checkable.

The Miyazawa academy crest: the kanji 宮澤 above a black belt, on a red and black roundel

Head instructor

Toshihide “Toshi” Miyazawa

Black belt — Judo Black belt — Ju-Jitsu / BJJ Cross-trains Sambo 2014 NSW light-weight state champion

From: Near Nagano, Japan
Education: University degree in Sports Science
Training under: Professor Mario Sergio Yokoyama since 2008
Black belt: Awarded 2024 by Professor Mario Sergio Yokoyama
Academy opened: February 2026
Team: myBJJ Team

Toshi grew up near Nagano and came to jiu-jitsu through judo, which is where the throwing and the grip-fighting in his teaching comes from. He holds a university degree in Sports Science, and it shows in how he breaks a movement down — the emphasis is always on the mechanics of why something works rather than on doing it harder.

He also cross-trains in Sambo, which feeds into the leg-attack and grip work in his no-gi classes.

In practice that means a beginner gets corrected on position and structure from night one, rather than being left to muscle through and pick up bad habits. It's a slower start and a much faster middle.

Team founder

Professor Mario Sergio Yokoyama

5th-degree BJJ black belt Founder, myBJJ Team

myBJJ Miyazawa is part of the myBJJ Team, the network founded and led by Professor Mario Sergio Yokoyama. Toshi has trained under him since 2008, and the syllabus and standards taught at Carlingford come from that lineage.

Professor Yokoyama received his black belt from the late Ryan Gracie — grandson of Carlos Gracie — on 27 April 2006, and founded myBJJ the following year. That puts the instruction on this mat directly in the Gracie line.

How ranks work here

Adults progress white → blue → purple → brown → black, with stripes in between. It's slower than most martial arts — years, not months — and it's awarded by your instructor rather than by an exam you enrol in.

Kids have their own belt system with additional colours, and convert across when they turn 16.

White · Blue · Purple · Brown · Black

Every class, taught by Toshi

There are no assistant instructors here. Toshi teaches every session himself, so the standard doesn't move between nights and he knows where every student is up to.

Toshi holds a current Working With Children Check. Children train in the same class as adults, so it's worth saying plainly.