Elias
Elias “Tortuga” Gallegos-Director of Jiu-Jitsu for the Boxing Club /Head coach of the Boxing Club Jiu-jitsu Competition Team “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 Elias Gallegos was born and raised in San Diego Ca. In high school he was a three sport letterman in football, wrestling, and track and field. After Elias graduated he longed for the competition and camaraderie that he found in sports. In late 1995 he saw the UFC and immediately was mesmerized by a skinny Brazilian who seemingly was able to dismantle much larger opponents using Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It was then that he realized he had found his new sport! In his search to find the best instruction available, he met legendary black belt Fabio Santos (7th degree black belt under Rickson Gracie). It was while training at Fabio’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy that he met Dean Lister, who would later go on to become the World Champion in submission Wrestling and a UFC/Pride middleweight contender. In 2002 when Dean left to open his own school in Chula Vista, Elias went along and helped run the weekend classes. Elias is a founding member of the Lister Fight team. When Dean relocated to teach at City Boxing in Downtown, Elias went back to continue his training under Fabio Santos. In late 2004, after many long and hard years of training Elias received his Brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu under Fabio Santos. In 2006 he joined the Boxing Club family and quickly gained the respect of both his students and his co-workers when he fought in the U.S Open of Submission Grappling with a dislocated shoulder and still placed second in his division. In 2007 he was named Director of Jiu-jitsu operations for the Boxing Club, and the head coach for the jiu-jitsu competition team. In every single competition that he has entered, he has never placed lower than 3rd in his division. Elias also has two degrees from Berean College in Poway Ca. The first is in Theology and the second in Counseling. He is also a full time Pastor at Zion Christian Center. He is married to Rosario and has two young boys, Elijah Hunter, and Noah Ryder. Besides jiu-jitsu, Elias has also studied freestyle wrestling, Greco-roman wrestling, judo, catch-wrestling, sombo, and is currently training Boxing. “Remember the story of the turtle and the rabbit? The rabbit was more athletic than the turtle, and he took the turtle for granted. But who ended up winning the race? You should never gage yourself against anyone else; the only person you should gage yourself against is you! You need to be better than you were last week, and next week you should be better than you are now, the most important thing is to never give up! You get so many guys that come into this sport and they act like the rabbit, and eventually after a few months they stop training, slow and steady wins the RACE! BE THE TURTLE!