10th Planet Sherman
Michael West is the chief instructor for 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Sherman. Michael followed his father’s footsteps and began Tae Kwon Do when he was 3 years old. He earned his black belt in Tae Kwon Do and then continued on with Ed Parker’s Kenpo System where he also earned his black belt. He then reached the level of 5th degree black belt in both systems. Michael went off to college and graduated with a B.S. in Exercise Physiology and then returned home to help his father with the family martial arts school. He has taught professional and amateur MMA, boxing, kickboxing, karate and personal training for over 20 years. He fell in love with Jiu Jitsu one weekend when he was traveling with his female pro boxer to St. Louis. During a workout session he met one of the Red Power Rangers who was a guest of the event. He asked Michael if he wanted to roll and Michael was skeptical about this jiu jitsu stuff. Michael was amazed after just a few minutes of rolling and started training with Carlos Machado in Dallas, Texas. Michael received his blue belt from Carlos Machado and continued training but kept hearing the name Eddie Bravo, the rubber guard and the twister. He wanted to know more about it. One weekend in Las Vegas at the UFC, he ran into Eddie Bravo and asked him about coming to Texas for a seminar to learn more about his system. Michael was hooked. He then started training the 10th Planet JJ system and teaching it at his gym, Fight Time Fitness. In February 2010, Michael received his purple belt from Eddie Bravo and launched 10th Planet Sherman. Michael teaches every day to all ages and levels and has a competitive team that demonstrate mad 10th Planet JJ skills at every tournament – just proving how valuable and great the system is.