Meet Owner/Head Coach Justin Bendsneyder

My Jiu Jitsu journey began in the 90’s after seeing the early fights of Jiu Jitsu pioneer Royce Gracie. Knowing nothing about the art, I signed up for a private lesson with a well-known black belt in Southern California. After being submitted repetitively by the much smaller-framed black belt, I was immediately inspired and knew that my lifelong passion was in Jiu Jitsu: I knew I had to learn all I could about it. I continued my quest to learn about Jiu Jitsu during this period before settling down and training in Portland, Oregon. I received my black belt on May 7th, 2017 from Keisuke Andrew after 12 years of full-time training. My passion for teaching Jiu Jitsu lead me to open my own gym on June 21st, 2018. My mission with my gym is to share my experience and love for Jiu Jitsu—to expose new people to Jiu Jitsu, give them a solid comprehensive skillset in BJJ, but more importantly; show people how much more they are capable of.

—Justin Bendsneyder

Coach Tony Nicola

I started my training in Jiu Jitsu in a small town in Colorado in 2011. Since then I've trained under Sidney Silva, Amal Easton, Elliot Marshal, Ethan Snow, Vellore Caballero, Leo Veira, and now Justin Bendsneyder. Life's twists and turns led me through transitions to different states, corporate endeavors, and the joys of parenthood. Through all of this Jiu Jitsu has helped me in numerous ways. Some of those being meeting new friends, staying fit, building confidence, and helping relieve stress. Today, settled in Vancouver, Washington, I find joy and rejuvenation in training under Professor Justin Bendsneyder. As priorities shift with parenthood, BJJ continues to hold a cherished place in my heart. My approach is to make Jiu Jitsu fun and enjoyable for all levels.

-Tony Nicola

Student Testimonials:

“He is an excellent coach with phenomenal communication and demonstration skills.  His ability to scale the intensity and difficulty make it possible for everyone to learn BJJ.”

—Forrest Belmont

”Justin is a top flight instructor, an excellent communicator who is encouraging and invested in his students’ progress. Highly recommended!”

—Michael Ryan

“Inertia Brazilian Jiu Jitsu came highly recommended to me through a friend and longtime student of Justin Bendsneyder. I had been looking to experience some sort of martial art as both a personal hobby and a way to get physically fit--I am so grateful that my first experience ended up being with Jiu Jitsu at Inertia.

In less than six months of training at Inertia, I’m not only the fittest I have ever been in my life; I’ve also found a lifelong passion. After my first class (which was free!) I was instantly hooked. I started training twice a week, which quickly evolved into five days a week. Everything at Inertia has made it easy to train frequently and fall in love with the art of Jiu Jitsu: detail oriented, thoughtful and fun lessons; security in knowing a highly effective form of self defense; amazing energy between teammates; affordable membership pricing, and a variety of class times that fit into my schedule.

Out of all the positive aspects of training at Inertia, I would say the most important has been the teaching. Justin is not only absolutely brilliant, but incredible at Jiu Jitsu; this was apparent after just one class. His ability to translate techniques and concepts to all levels of Jiu Jitsu players is unmatched; working with everyone from brand new white belts (like myself) to seasoned brown belts—he ensures that all of his students, as individuals and not just as whole, are really making sense of the techniques being taught, gaining new skill, and having a good time while doing so. I have never once asked a question that didn’t lead to greater understanding. His patience, sense of humor, and explanations have all been pivotal in my progress and ability to connect the dots in something as challenging as Jiu Jitsu. I really can’t imagine having a better experience elsewhere.”

—Miranda McCarthy

“I’ve gotten to train with, and have had Justin coach at Enso Jiu Jitsu for many years.  Justin is an excellent Jiu Jitsu practitioner and instructor.  One quality that really stands out about Justin is that he really cares about his students progress and well being.  If you are interested in trying out Jiu Jitsu, definitely try out one of his classes.  I’m sure you will find a great learning environment and a great Jiu Jitsu community at Inertia BJJ.”

—Keisuke Andrew

“Justin has a very effective way of teaching new and seasoned bjj practitioners. He thoroughly breaks down moves so newer students understand them correctly and upper belts have the opportunity to sharpen their technique. A positionally dominant style that is both useful in MMA and sport bjj. Would highly recommend.”

—Rodion Pustoshilof

“I’m a Bjj beginner, but I proudly say that I learned from the best! Justin is not only a professional expert in self-defense but also a friendly person. Members at the gym are also respectful and welcoming. I went for a free trail and got into it straight away. Even though I was the only international member at the class, everyone was so supportive for me so I felt comfortable. I learned so much about self-defense and I improved my Jiujitsu skills. I totally recommend this place. You will earn what you wanted to get here!”

—Eonie Cho

“Justin is awesome! His teaching is great for all levels of Jiu-Jitsu and Fitness!  Go see him!”

—Nick Jackson

“Justin Bendsnyder is a stellar athlete and jiu-jitsu practitioner.  He’s always been a natural fighter and his knowledge of BJJ and strength conditioning goes back to over two decades.  I’ve trained with Justin on and off since 1998 and he’s been an excellent instructor and coach to me.  I owe a great deal of my jiu-jitsu foundation to Justin as well as my motivation to keep training in my 40’s.  He’s also taught me many advanced techniques along the way to sharpen my game even further.  His teaching style is extremely comprehensive and encouraging.  He patiently breaks down each technique in great detail and provides context to each move that helps his students to understand what is happening and why.  This accelerates the learning process a great deal and is very effective.  Because of so many years of nothing but positive results, I highly recommend Justin as an instructor and coach. He’s all around just a great person and I’m excited for him to spread his deep knowledge of BJJ, conditioning and combat even further with the opening of his new academy.”

—Matt Juarez

“I started working with Justin about two years ago for Jiu Jitsu- totally unfamiliar with the sport but with a desire to learn, and in my late 30s. Literally no clue what I was doing. Within a couple months he had me up to speed about every position and pitfalls to avoid so that when I went to class with other white belts, I was totally comfortable and proficient. We continued to work together through the next couple years. I have never known a teacher to be so focused on a student’s strengths and areas to improve, knowing every little detail of a session we would have even to the point of being able to discuss what seemed like minutiae of some blindingly quick reversal a week after it occurred, with probably dozens of rolls occurring for him since then. Even through a significant shoulder injury he was able to keep things safe and enjoyable for me on the mats (much more than when I went to class with other students!). Through his teaching of me, I, a psychiatrist, discovered not just a teacher and a friend, but also a sort of therapist for myself, where I could go and have my weekly sessions and feel totally relaxed, a sense of calm washing over me by the end of the lesson. I can’t speak highly enough of Justin’s ethics as a teacher and value as a friend.”

—James Peykanu, MD

“Justin is a phenomenal coach for Jiu Jitsu, strength, conditioning, and just life in general.  His program approach was very personalized to my specific needs and struggles. One of the main things I struggled with from a few years of training jiu jitsu was long lasting and re-occurring injuries. After working with Justin on a customized strength and conditioning program I became significantly more durable and strong within just a handful of sessions. I could train harder than ever before, and most importantly have remained injury free on the mats.  His strength program gave me proper body mechanics, using movement patterns to strengthen my specific weak points in the body. He's super cool to work with and the results were amazing. Justin's jiu jitsu lessons really took my game to a whole new level. There are so many "invisible" details within techniques that are hard to see, but easier felt and learned through becoming sensitive to them and practicing those small details that can make or break the technique. He's able to break down even the most complex moves into simple steps that anyone can understand and learn from, and become proficient.”

—Josh Manfredi