Larry Keith is a Husband, Father, Martial Artist, Author, and Entrepreneur

Larry is a Kodokan Judo and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Black Belt. He has over 40 years of martial arts experience and has been a school owner for over 20 years.

Larry began the formal study of martial arts in his hometown of Roseburg, Oregon. Several of his middle school teachers suggested that he become a schoolteacher himself someday. He had zero desire to follow these suggestions. Instead, he chose to pursue writing as a potential career.

Larry began studying Kodokan Judo under Yuzo Kato and Duane Alexenko for a P.E. credit at the community college. He fell in love with grappling arts and has never stopped. Kato had grown up training at the Kodokan in Tokyo, Japan. Alexenko had been practicing Judo since 1965. Both instructors were passionate about Judo and had been part of the college Judo program for nearly 30 years.

Alexenko retired from the college and Larry reluctantly became assistant instructor under Yuzo Kato. After spending a couple of semesters teaching Kodokan Judo, Larry discovered that his middle school teachers were right. He did have a passion for teaching. However, it was martial arts that he enjoyed sharing.

Olga signed up for the Judo program in 2000 and this is when she and Larry first met. The two were engaged in 2001 and married in 2002. 2002 is also when the college decided to phase out the long running Judo program to make room for other programs. Larry and Olga opened their own dojo that same year. They have been life partners and business partners ever since. Together they have two wonderful children, Malcolm 16, and Vera 12. Both kids began training in Judo and Jiu-jitsu when they were fresh out of diapers and now help run the family business.

Larry hosted The Takedown Confidence Summit, an online webinar wherein he interviewed 30 experts in BJJ, Judo, Sambo, and Wrestling to discuss why BJJ athletes hesitate to include takedowns and what they could do to overcome the hesitation. Throughout all the interviews, it came down to two primary reasons. 1-The fear of injury and 2-The fear of looking foolish. This served as a motivation for Larry to seek out a solution to these fears and method of offering it to grapplers around the world. This was the inspiration for The Takedown Confidence Coaching program.