After a training accident ended his competitive gymnastics career, Ryan moved to Japan and competed in various martial arts until another injury made him reevaluate his priorities in life.
As Head Coach at GMB Fitness, his mission is to show everyone that you can define your own fitness as a sustainable and enjoyable part of your life.
Head coach and program director for GMB Fitness. With many years of experience in strength and movement coaching, Ryan makes sure that everything we do at GMB puts health first and gets results. He holds black belts in Kendo, Judo, and Shorinji Kempo, a brown belt in BJJ, and practiced 10 years as a competitive gymnast.
He is married with two children and recently moved to the US after having lived in Japan for close to 30 years.
Ryan has devoted his life to coaching others in strength and movement, but always lets his philosophy of “training for a healthy life” lead the way. He is a father to two young children, and the most important thing to him is to be able to play with them without pain or fear of injury.
“For as long as I can remember I’ve been training in one physical discipline or another my whole life. From an early age I competed in gymnastics and I feel in love with learning new skills and training my body to do anything I wanted. My coach during those 10 years was a prominent force in setting the stage for my continued search for better physical autonomy and he is still a major role model for me today.
“While in high school I fell in love with martial art and it was suggested that in order to fully understand the true meaning of budo I should visit and study in Japan. That thought never left me and while in college I transferred to Niigata University to study Japanese and further my pursuit of martial art. At that time I was lucky to meet a man who would become a father figure to me and take me under his wing as a live-in kendo apprentice.
“It was at this time that I also started practicing judo and after graduating college I stayed in Japan moving down south and eventually working for a martial art hall located within one of the largest shrines in Osaka. During the 8 years that I worked there helping to interpret, translate, and assist in teaching classes, I was fortunate to continue my kendo and judo studies as well as train in other arts such as karate, aiki-jujutsu, tea ceremony, and zen buddhism.
“However it was judo that preoccupied the majority of my time and I found myself training and competing more and more. The training at the shrine and other places like Osaka Castle Shudokan and with the Osaka Police was tough training and I realized that I needed to find other modalities off of the mat to help keep me going when on the mat. Never one to do anything half-assed, I dove into the study of Yoga, joint mobility, and weight training and ended up becoming certified in multiple systems. I was lucky to be able to practice my teaching at the martial arts hall and continued to train and compete in martial art as well as teach fitness as my livelihood.
“I soon became very involved within a US-based fitness organization and that is where I met Jarlo and Andy. I quickly rose through the ranks of that organization eventually reaching the top position of program director, traveling and conducting seminars around the world. These teaching experiences and a nasty shoulder dislocation during a judo match resulting in surgery solidified my view on the importance of true physical autonomy and lead the groundwork for GMB.
“I’ve had the incredible opportunity to learn from some amazing instructors in many different disciplines. Gymnastics, kendo, judo, yoga, weight training, tea ceremony, zen buddhism, rock climbing, running, swimming, surfing, free-diving, hand balancing, calisthenics, shorinji kempo, parkour, and my current passion, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
“Just as my gymnastics coach did for me all of those years ago, I hope to be a positive role model and guide for all of us on our path towards physical autonomy.
