Lake Effect Martial Arts

🔟 Years of Lake Effect Martial Arts 🎆🎇

Yesterday we celebrated a tremendous milestone TEN years of serving the Western New York community.

Over the last decade, we’ve had the privilege of watching students of all ages build confidence, overcome obstacles and fears, grow/ strengthen leadership skills, achieve competition success, and become better versions of themselves overall.
Sure, the medals, belts, and championships are great moments, but the personal growth we’ve witnessed and fostered under our roof will always be our greatest accomplishment.

The celebration started with our children’s program enjoying a fun team building session, followed by a well earned ice cream treat for everyone.

The celebrations continued during our adult classes with two well deserved promotions.

Congratulations to on earning his Blue Belt! Through hard work, a thirst for knowledge, and a relentless pursuit of improvement, Justin has developed into an extraordinary submission specialist. His technical growth and dedication have made him both a valuable training partner and teammate.

Congratulations also to on earning his Purple Belt! Jake put together an incredible run at Blue Belt, consistently testing himself through competition and representing our academy with skill, determination, and class. His constant positive attitude , leadership, and willingness to help others have made a tremendous impact on our team.

To every genuine form of support: student, parent, coach, and friend who has been part of this journey: truly, thank you.

Ten years is an incredible blessing, and what’s been done along with what’s to come continues to be unprecedented for our area.

MartialArts TeamLakeEffect

Consider this your invitation to our upcoming community open mat. On June 5th we’re hosting friends to celebrate our ten year anniversary. We’re offering acai bowls to the first 50 people who walk through the door.
At 5p we’ll have a Muay Thai class ran by from . He’ll be bringing plenty of teammates for what should be an exciting cross training session. We have confirmed our friends from will be joining us as well.
Come join us and bring a friend! Gi, no Gi, sambo style half Gi, it doesn’t matter.

We are closed Monday, May 25th, 2026 in observation of the Memorial Day Holiday.

Congratulations to the ten students who earned new ranks this past Saturday during our 2026 Spring Promotions.

These promotions represent years of detailed instruction, discipline, and commitment to growth on and off the mat.

We are proud and honored to recognize several important milestones within our academy: the awarding of our first green belt, and for the first time in our history, teen blue belts, with three students earning that rank. Notably, one of our teens achieved the highest test score ever recorded in our academy’s testing history. We also celebrate a new purple belt and two new brown belts, including the highest-ranked female in our academy to date.

Most notably, Brian Mroz Jr. was awarded his black belt.

Brian began training in 2006 and has been an instrumental part of the Lake Effect Martial Arts coaching staff for many years. As one of the academy’s first children’s coaches, Brian helped shape the foundation of our youth program and, nearly a decade later, continues to serve our students with the same dedication and enthusiasm.

These promotions are a reflection of perseverance, humility, and the culture of growth that defines our academy. We congratulate each of you on this well-earned achievement and look forward to the continued journey ahead.

Yesterday, once again reached the top by capturing the Middleweight title

What many people don’t see or easily forget is the climb.

Back in April of 2017, Sean spent time an evening with Lake Effect Martial Arts while deep in preparation for a welterweight bout with . He was in the middle of a tough weight cut, focused, and doing the unseen work that future champions are built on. Did a long time in the same sauna so many of us has spent countless hours in. Also on that card was recent inductee to the Hall of Fame .

We had the privilege not only to help during that stretch, but to share a great training session with his coaching camp. It was a glimpse into the discipline, grit, and professionalism that would eventually carry him to championship status.

They say people see you on the mountain, but they don’t see you on the climb.

We were fortunate enough to witness a part of that climb.

May 2026 Newsletter - https://mailchi.mp/84836c090ca7/april2026greengrassandsunshine-17619192

Thank you to for spending two days with us on the mats and sharing a deep look into his craft.

Day one we dove into his creative lasso spider system. Day two built directly from those same positions as he guided us back into tarantula guard and his patented Serpa Spin. The layered level of detail and control he brought to each sequence gave everyone a ton to take back into their own training.

We’re grateful to our supportive team and friends from the wider jiu jitsu community who came out to support the workshop. Your support means more knowing that Sebastian is putting these funds toward his upcoming trip to Brasileiro’s in São Paulo, Brazil.

Seminar Reminder

We’re excited to host Sebastian Serpa for a two-day seminar that starts today!

Friday (Day 1)

* Seminar starts at 5:30 PM
* No Open Mat this evening
* We’ll have rolling time after the seminar for anyone who wants to stay

Saturday (Day 2)

* Seminar begins at 11:00 AM
* No 11:00 AM class tomorrow

60 for one day, 100 for both. Hope to see you on the mats!

This past weekend, three teammates attended three different tournaments. In different corners of the country, with a similar focus on improvement.

They stepped onto unfamiliar mats, faced tough opposition in new environments, and represented our academy with composure and class. They each walked away with invaluable experience and some nifty hardware to show for it.

🥉 Tommy N — Third Place
🥈 Rachel M — Second Place
🥇 Michael B— First Place

Keep climbing team!

Grateful for the way you all carry yourselves and for the standards you uphold.
❤️

Please join in on congratulating Dylan Cookfair on earning his second kickboxing victory with K4 Fighting last night in downtown Buffalo. Dylan represented Team Lake Effect and was able to secure a big win over a previously undefeated K4 team.

Dylan once again showed the level of commitment, composure, and talent that comes from consistent work and focus. Performances like this don’t happen by accident, they’re built through steady reps, coachable character, and an eager to improve daily.
We truly believe our class sizes and community create the ideal environment for learning. Small enough to be comfortable. Focused enough to be personal. Structured enough for real growth.

We’re not here to compete against one another we’re here to share knowledge, sharpen each other, and help every student become better versions of themselves.

Dylan is a terrific example of what happens when that culture meets hard work.

Proud is an understatement. 👊