Cuyahoga Falls, OH -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/22/2015 -- Starting immediately, residents of the Akron area can enjoy instruction from a certified Gracie jiu-jitsu black belt, Top Level Martial Arts owner and head instructor Bill Jones. Jones has studied martial arts for thirty years and is the only certified Gracie black belt instructor in the region. Providing instruction to everyone from children to senior citizens, Top Level Martial Arts emphasizes the positive, life-enhancing potential of martial arts, seeking to endow students with everything from greater self-esteem and improved fitness to highly effective self-defense skills. Top Level Martial Arts' safe, innovative, confidence-boosting children's programs are detailed at http://toplevelmartialarts.com/bully-prevention.html and the school's offerings for adult students are described at http://toplevelmartialarts.com/jiu-jitsu.html

"We believe that learning Grace jiu-jitsu can be a rewarding, valuable experience for everyone, from children to adults," Jones stated, "I am proud to be the first and only Gracie-certified black-belt teacher in the whole region, and I am honored to be able to offer the benefit of my skills and experience to our students. Getting started with Gracie jiu-jitsu at Top Level Martial Arts is something that anyone can do, as we make sure to provide a safe, supportive, welcoming environment to all."

In the early part of the twentieth century, a Brazilian named Carlos Gracie watched a demonstration by Japanese national Mitsuyo Maeda of the martial art known as judo. Fascinated by what he had seen, Carlos Gracie attached himself to the master as a student, thereby becoming one of the few Westerners at that time to study the martial art in-depth.

Gracie's passion established a current within his family that continues to this day. For nearly one hundred years, the members of the Gracie family have stewarded and developed a unique form of martial arts that is thought by many to be the most effective of all.

In addition to placing highly in international competitions for decades, Gracie jiu-jitsu masters have long emphasized the ways in which the practice can contribute to rewarding personal development in practitioners. Attracted to both the sport's proven effectiveness for self-defense and this other, equally important trait, Bill Jones has studied Gracie jiu-jitsu for many years, practicing primarily under Master Pedro Sauer, a certified 8th-degree red and black belt who was a student of legendary Master Rickson Gracie.

That intensive effort culminated with Jones' attainment of a certified black belt as a Gracie jiu-jitsu practitioner. Unlike with many other arts, the Gracie school of jiu-jitsu is notoriously demanding when it comes to awarding such distinctions, making Jones one of very few Americans to possess this qualification, and the only martial arts teacher in the Akron area to have accomplished this.

Along with the highly advanced, finely honed skills of Jones and Top Level Martial Arts' other instructors, students at the school also enjoy a consistently welcoming, safe, and respectful environment. Committed to ensuring that everyone can benefit from all that Gracie jiu-jitsu has to offer, Jones and the other Top Level Martial Arts teachers make sure that everyone who wants to learn will feel welcome and comfortable.

Those interested in finding out what Top Level Martial Arts has to offer can sign up for a free class at http://toplevelmartialarts.com

About Top Level Martial Arts
Committed to providing the proven, impressive benefits of Gracie jiu-jitsu to all, Top Level Martial Arts creates a safe, welcoming environment where students of all ages and backgrounds can learn, thrive, and grow.