Coach Kyle Winter’s Martial Arts History

The Short Version:

I’ve been doing martial arts my entire life, and it’s one of the only things I’ve ever been talented at. No, really. I suck at a lot of stuff.

The Long Version:

I suck at sports. Always have, always will. My lack of strength, speed, and coordination made me the last pick on any sports team growing up. Team sports were disappointing because not only was I the last person everyone wanted on their team, but my poor performance ruined the game for everyone else. This, plus my awkward formative years, made me the target of a lot of bullying. I’m not sharing this to garner pity, it’s just a fact.

Because of all this, I found martial arts early. I joined National Karate around the age of eight and earned my black belt in 2012. Not to brag, but it was the first athletic skill that really came naturally to me. The fact that I could practice alone and only disappoint myself with poor performance made it a perfect match for me. Eventually it gave me confidence to stand up to my bully’s as well and gave me something to be proud of.

Due to some problems at home, I quit shortly after getting my black belt. Towards the end of high school, I discovered aikido at the local YMCA and immediately wanted to become Steven Seagal. This was before I realized he’s kind of a tool.

For financial reasons, I could not practice aikido for too long, and then I moved from Minnesota to California and was a broke ass college student for a few years. I dabbled in a bit of aikido in LA, but ultimately quit in favor of jiu-jitsu.

It’s kind of a funny story. I was watching Fight Quest on Netflix and the two hosts, beefy MMA fighters, went to Brazil to try out jiu-jitsu and test its efficacy. The techniques looked so dynamic and fun; they intrigued me. At eight minutes into the episode, one host gets throttled by a woman half his size. It was magical. I Yelped classes in my area and found a gym called Valley Martial Arts Center that I could afford, then started without even trying a class first.

At the time, we only had about eight students and most of them had ‘big’ before their first name when referred to in the gym. I’m reasonably tall, but even the next smallest guy there had twenty or thirty pounds on me. I got obliterated for a good six months before I saw any genuine progress. That didn’t matter though, because the techniques my coaches were showing fascinated me. I saw potential.

Eventually, I gained the courage to compete, and earned my way onto the podium a few times. After a while, I really excelled. I earned my blue belt, stood atop a few more podiums, got my purple belt and took a bit of a break from competition. My struggles with anxiety (more on that later) made it difficult for me. I never stopped training, though.

Kyle Winter blue belt victory at Big John McCarthy's sub only tournament in 2014.

After almost ten years I earned my brown belt in December 2019, just before the world shut down for COVID-19. As things calmed down, I transitioned into an instructor role at VMAC and started training at Jean-Jacques Machado headquarters. The number of black belts there is just too good an opportunity to pass up at this stage of my journey.

After quitting my Hollywood job in 2024 I spend most of my time at Jean-Jacques Machado Sherman Oaks.

To this day, I’m not the fastest or strongest at my gym. I feel like my only real advantage is the way I think about the sport. I’m not a phenom, or a world champion, but I’ve always viewed jiu-jitsu as a puzzle instead of a fight. I value concepts over specific techniques.

Eventually my passion gave me opportunities to teach, and now I have people asking me for private lessons. It’s humbling and exciting. I love the mats, and I love to teach.

Fun Fact: I bumped into Jimmy Smith from Fight Quest at the Gracie Nationals event in 2012. I did a bro nod to him, as if he had any idea who I was, but didn’t have the courage to tell him he was one of the reasons I was at the tournament to begin with. Damn you anxiety!