Lake Effect Martial Arts

🔥 SEMINAR ANNOUNCEMENT 🔥

Join us on Friday, August 14th, 2026, as we welcome Professor Nelson Puentes to Lake Effect Martial Arts!

Professor Nelson is the founder of Inverted Gear, owner of Inverted Gear Academy, an IBJJF American Nationals Black Belt Champion, and a Masters Worlds medalist. With decades of experience, he is passionate about helping others grow in the art and sharing his knowledge with the community.

🥋 Gi Seminar
⌚️530p-730p
💲 Suggested Donation: $40
🎗 100% of proceeds will benefit Tap Cancer Out

Come train, learn from fantastic instructor and competitor and support an incredible cause. We hope to see you there!

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🇺🇸Happy 250th Birthday America 🎆

🙏🏼Thank you to the Crosby family for another amazing year marching in the Lancaster Independence Day Parade.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Independence Day weekend 🇺🇸🎆🧨

Kind Reminder: We are closed for the evening of July 3rd and all day July 4th, 2026.

As you celebrate with family, friends, and community, we hope you take time to enjoy the freedom and opportunities we’re blessed with each day. Enjoy the weekend, stay safe, and we look forward to seeing everyone back on the mats with all their fingers in tact.

Happy Independence Day from all of us at Lake Effect Martial Arts!
#250

Congratulations to our own Dylan Cookfair on an incredible performance Saturday night, capturing the 185 lb title under the Warrior Fight Series banner in North Tonawanda.

Dylan stepped into a tough environment, battling high humidity, a seasoned opponent, and a fast pace from the opening bell. Add in the challenge of fighting outdoors in a ring instead of a cage, under unfamiliar conditions, and once again Dylan showed exactly who he is by rising to the occasion.

A huge credit goes to Coach Earius and Coach Adam for putting together an outstanding training camp that had Dylan more than ready when the moment came. Preparation made the difference.

Thank you to everyone from our community who came out to support, and to Dylan’s friends and family for bringing incredible energy to the Tonawanda Canal. The support was felt all night long.

Dylan now moves to 3-0, capturing amateur gold and adding championship hardware at just 19 years old.

At Lake Effect Martial Arts, we believe quality over quantity, and Dylan’s dedication, our coaches’ preparation, and the support around him continue proving why that mindset works.

Thank you to the International Sport Kickboxing Association for running a smooth and professional event.

Awesome work Dylan and the Lema Fight Team. The journey continues.

Yesterday’s Community Open Mat was exactly what was needed: learning, growing, and bringing people together.
We kicked things off with a Muay Thai class led by Coach , and we’re excited to continue reinvesting into our striking program. We’re looking forward to sharing more opportunities for our students to develop an even more developed skill set in the months ahead.
As the evening rolled on, training partners from all across Western New York came through the doors. Old friends reconnected, new friendships were formed, ideas and techniques were exchanged, and the mats stayed full with round after round of hard work. It’s always inspiring to see athletes from different academies and backgrounds come together with a shared goal of helping one another improve.
Congratulations to long time friend Juan Hernandez on his promotion to second degree! We’re honored to do it under our roof.
The energy in the room was outstanding. There was plenty of learning, laughter, and more than a few people who rolled until they had absolutely nothing left in the tank. After working up an appetite everyone devoured acai. Hopefully that made you all feel appreciated.
We also captured some great footage throughout the night, so keep an eye on our page: more content from the event will be coming soon.
A A huge thank you to everyone who attended, supported, and helped make the evening a success.
‘The premiere of new shirts went over way better than expected. Thank you! We’re getting more, don’t worry.

📢Every Friday Night we hold an open mat that’s free to the community. From 530-730p, gi or no gi, we hope to share the mats again with you soon!

Friendly Reminder!

This Friday June 5th we’re hosting a free community open mat. Doors will open at 445p
A free to all Muay Thai class will be held at 5p with the talented long time Muay Thai coach of . His school has grown leaps and bounds over the short time they’ve been in operation and he’s someone you’ll definitely want to learn from.
We’ll start our open mat at 545p. We’ve been starting around that time anyway of late. Gi or No Gi we’ve got you covered!
We’re having a great videographer capturing your stories so if you aren’t camera shy share your jiu jitsu experiences.
Free acai bowls if you’re interested. Slideshows of many memories, good music and good times guaranteed.

❤️

🔟 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

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.