Nobuo Yagai

Nobuo Yagai is the head instructor at Way of Jiu Jitsu, a Rigan Machado affiliate in Denver, and a fourth-degree black belt in Rigan Machado Jiu Jitsu. He has studied martial arts since age six, beginning with kendo, and at 16 took up full-contact karate under Kyokushin world champion Makato Nakameura. He trained across Asia and became the 1997 Japanese National Sanda full-contact kung fu champion. After graduating from university in 2000 with a BA in law and international relations, karate brought Yagai to the United States, where he spent two years as a full-time apprentice at the Full Contact Karate International headquarters. A challenge match that ended on the ground, plus earlier exposure to joint locks from his university Aiki jiu-jitsu instructor Kiyokazu Maebayashi, led him to jiu jitsu. He is also a certified master trainer and the author of the Warrior in the Garden book series.