Robert Hugus is a 4th Degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a 28-year veteran of one of America’s top-ranked police forces.  Robert is currently the Mixed Martial Arts instructor for Vermont Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu/BJJ Revolution Team.  He is still an active competitor in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and looks forward to opportunities to continue to test his skills.   Robert is now dedicating his time to sharing his background and knowledge of BJJ through teaching.  He is passionate about passing his skills, BJJ philosophy, and lifestyle onto others.

 

Robert began studying Martial Arts at the age of 9 and offers extensive talent and expertise in a variety of fighting techniques including wrestling, Karate, Judo, Boxing, and Muay Thai.  Throughout his early years of training, Robert immersed himself in the fighting realm and became obsessed with finding the best, most effective fighting methods in the Mixed Martial Arts arena.

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Robert’s search ended upon witnessing the World’s first Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1995 as Royce Gracie utilized BJJ to defeat all of his opponents.  At that moment, he was totally committed to learning the fighting art of BJJ and his search for an instructor began.  In 1996, he began his study of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under now, 6th degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt, Julio (Foca) Fernandez.  Julio is from the famed Carlson Gracie family lineage and cofounder of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Revolution Team.  Under the direction and leadership of Julio, Robert has competed at the highest levels of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in addition to submission grappling and MMA.  He has numerous first place finishes in tournaments and silver and bronze finishes in the Pan Americans.  He has also competed professionally in Mixed Martial Arts.  Rob is constantly striving to advance his knowledge as a fighter and instructor through supplemental seminars and trainings. He has traveled to Brazil to train BJJ and MMA and to Thailand to further his study of Muay Thai. 

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Robert recently retired from his full-time job as a police officer where during his 28-year career; Robert served in various capacities including patrol officer, Investigator, Firearms Instructor, Mobile Response Team member, 308 Riflemen, and Defensive Tactics Instructor.  For the past 10 years, he was the Sergeant in charge of Defensive Tactics, Physical Training, and Taser for his agency.   While redesigning and overseeing these programs, he was able to take his Martial Arts experience and design a program adapted to real life survival situations for police officers on the street.  This unique perspective allowed him to design a curriculum based on street defense readiness.