Tony Smith received his black belt under Juliano Prado and is certified under FESP (Federacaeo do Estado de Sao Paulo) which is the 2nd largest Jiu-Jitsu Federation in the World. Tony has been training BJJ 10yrs to date. Tony Smith started training BJJ since 1997-1998 and has truly been fortunate, to have trained with living legends.
In the beginning Tony Smith started with Juliano Prado who was running classes for UFC Legend Joe Moreira. After 2 years, Juliano Pado moved back to California to pursue his fighting career. During this time UFC fighter Joe Moreira would fly up and train his WA students 5 days a week, often sending some his best black belts to teach.
Tony Smith stayed Loyal and flew down to Californina often to train with Juliano Prado paying for airline tickets and private lessons. Over time, this earned him a sponsorship from Freddies Club Casino in Renton. Tony continued to fly down to California for privates and began sharing his knowledge with other students in Seattle.
During this time Alan Goes (Pride Fighting) was sent to Seattle by PRIDE to improve his fighting. Tony Smith hooked up with Alan Goes and asked Alan to take over and teach because of his high rank BJJ Black Belt and incredible reputation in PRIDE Fighting. Alan agreed, and with Juliano’s blessing Tony Smith received his purple belt. Juliano said “make like a sponge”. As time comtinued, Tony Smiths BJJ began to really click and expand. Unfortunately, Alan Goes had to move away leaving Tony with no school, no coach, and a burning desire to train.
With no where to train, Tony Smith went back to his original roots and contacted Juliano Prado asking permission from him and master Moises Muradi (founder of Lotus Club) to open up the first Lotus Club in Washington. Juliano laughed and said “ You know what Tony? I just got off the phone with the master Moises Muradi and he was asking, why hasn’t Tony opened a school yet?”
It was official, the first Lotus Club in Seattle ran by Tony Smith. With the hunger to train and the vision to teach others, Tony Smith humbly received his Black Belt in BJJ from Juliano Prado, under the request of Moises Muradi in Jan 2007. Tony Smith continues to expand his BJJ game and plays a significant role in teaching and mentoring others in the WA area. Thanks for Reading! We will see soon!
Arvin Panlasigui
Born in NY, Arvin “Ace” Caesar Panlasigui quickly became involved in martial arts. At age 12 he earned his 2nd degree black belt in Tung Soo Do. At 13, his family moved to Seattle, WA. At the time he was participating in football, tennis and track and field, but was more interested in wrestling and judo. In 1998, when UFC 1 first aired on TV, Ace immediately saw the value in Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). Referred by a friend, Ace attended his first class in BJJ with Marcello Alonzo under the Carlson Gracie Team. Unfortunately that school closed down the very next day. Through divine intervention, he was contacted and invited to attend a BJJ seminar with (at the time) 8th degree black belt and UFC veteran Joe “The Gorilla” Moeira and (at the time) Lotus Club black belt Juliano Prado. Joe is now a red belt in BJJ and Juliano is now a 4th degree black belt. After a year of training, at age 20, he competed in one of the first MMA shows in WA, “The rumble in the valley” Aug 1999. Held at the Muckleshoot Reservation and the Gracie Family in attendance, Ace dominated a much larger opponent in 7 min by arm bar. With that victory along with others, Lotus Club was on the map in the NW and growing at a rapid rate. After 3 years, head coach Juliano Prado, made a decision to move to California leaving many students behind. Ace continued his training with fellow team mate “Tony Smith”. With the vision of Tony Smith and the loyalty of Ace and others, Lotus Club is alive and continues to grow in the North West. On Nov 28th 2009, Ace had his 3rd amateur MMA fight with AX Fighting, winning his fight in 45 Seconds by arm bar. After 12 years of BJJ and a few years of MMA, on Dec 1, 2009, Ace earned his black belt in BJJ becoming the first Filipino black belt under Lotus Club. Now moving to Miami FL, Ace brings 13 years experience teaching, training, and competing. His dream is to compete in UFC and to add value to others by equipping and uplifting fellow team mates.
