Julio Angel Rivera

Building my body and fighting skills did little to calm the inner turmoil I felt my entire life. After conquering fear on the martial arts mat, I realized external opposition wasn't what was holding me back. From winning a national bodybuilding title as a teen to earning a gold medal at the world masters Jiu Jitsu championships twenty years later, my attempts at cultivating a protective layer through physicality ignored the deep beliefs I held that kept me in survival mode. Self discovery became the purpose of all my training, and my body became a tool for controlling my mind. Today, my life and teaching are dedicated to understanding my own thoughts and actions in order to better relate to the world around me. I enjoy helping my students navigate through their own lives. After graduating from NYU's journalism program, I was a freelance writer before beginning my teaching career and opening my own academy. Since divorcing and selling my business, I've focused on writing and intensive one-on-one coaching, as well as small group/corporate workshops.