Hannah Chatterton - The Forgottonia Times™

On the mats at the Royce Gracie Academy of Macomb, the first lesson is rarely about fighting. It’s about orientation: where to put your hands, how to move without panic, how to breathe and stay calm in situations and positions in which others would begin to panic. Andy and Michelle Cassady are the power couple who own the gym and direct its training. The school is built around self-defense and composure, not trophies, and around the belief that confidence is something you can practice into your body, one controlled repetition at a time.

The Royce Gracie Academy of Macomb opened on Sept. 9, 2014, after Andy Cassady walked away from his family business the year before and spent months putting the school together. He was 40 then and intent on building a place where training was a foundation for life. And now, eleven years later, Andy and Michelle have together built the academy into a steady presence of growth and support for all ages.

Both speak about self-defense less as an abstract virtue than as a response to harm. Andy began training roughly 29 years ago, after being assaulted in a parking lot and realizing he did not know how to handle what was happening. Michelle’s motivation is similar, having faced a violent attack without any training or idea on how to react– an experience that made her especially passionate about training women.

“We were both in bad situations,” Andy said, and the academy, as they run it now, is built around the premise that preparation should be practical, repeatable, and accessible– not performative.

Andy and Michelle both bring strong educational backgrounds to the Academy. Andy holds a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education, and Michelle holds a Bachelor of Arts in Child Development, a Master of Arts in Early Childhood Education, and is a Certified Personal Trainer through the American Sports and Fitness Association. Combined with their extensive martial arts experience– Andy’s Black Belt under Royce Gracie, 3rd Degree Black Belts in both Tae Kwon Do and Kenpo Jutsu, and martial arts training history starting in 1997, along with Michelle’s Black Belt under Royce Gracie, 2nd Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Jutsu, and training experience since 2014– the Academy and its students are truly in extremely capable hands.

A School Built for Real Life

The academy is officially licensed under the Royce Gracie system and aligned with the curriculum associated with that lineage. The distinction the Cassadys want newcomers to understand is simple: “Know the difference between sport and self-defense jiu jitsu.”

At the core of the Royce Gracie system is a simple but transformative idea: technique matters more than size or strength. Originating in Brazil in the early 20th century, the style evolved when Hélio Gracie adapted traditional Japanese jiu-jitsu to work for smaller bodies, emphasizing leverage, timing, and positioning over brute force. That philosophy was proven on a global stage by Royce Gracie, who repeatedly defeated much larger opponents in the first ever UFC event and several to follow. By staying calm, controlling movement, and using an opponent’s own energy against them, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was so effective in its UFC debut that many fans believed it must have been staged. His success reshaped modern martial arts and demonstrated that physical dominance isn’t everything. Designed for real-world self-defense rather than sport alone, Royce Gracie Jiu-Jitsu teaches control in vulnerable situations and the ability to remain composed under pressure– reinforcing the belief that bigger does not mean better, and that even a smaller person, properly trained, can prevail through technique and understanding.

That difference shows up in how the classes are structured and in what the school emphasizes. Their program is self-defense focused– including work that addresses threats on the ground, standing up, and incorporates striking and weapons awareness. The belts worn around their gi also separate them from other types of jiu jitsu. The blue bar shown on their logo and gis signifies that they follow and are approved by the teachings of Helio and Royce Gracie’s style of jiu-jitsu. This blue distinguishes them as a certified Royce Gracie Academy, rare amidst the world of jiu-jitsu practiced as a sport which uses red bars. The goal of the Royce Gracie Academy is not to produce competitors, but to cultivate calm under pressure and competence in uncomfortable situations.

The phrase they return to, again and again, is– It’s not “winning.” It’s control.

Adults, Andy said, often arrive with a familiar set of hesitations: they’re worried they’ll get hurt; they think they’re too old; they don’t believe they have time. The Cassadys respond by making structure part of the pitch. Classes, they say, are “very structured and controlled,” designed around good movement and careful instruction– “work position by position.” The message is that safety and intensity do not have to be opposites, and that learning to protect yourself doesn’t require turning your life into a fight camp.

And for those who insist they can’t fit it into their busy schedules, Andy’s answer is more human than heroic: do something for yourself. Make room for the practice and, with it, “a new group of friends”– a change that can “better yourself,” as he put it.

Motivation Behind the Mat

At the youngest ages, the academy takes a slower approach. Children ages three and four start with private lessons only; group classes begin at age five. The idea, Michelle said, is to meet kids where they are developmentally– and to keep the atmosphere welcoming enough that they’ll want to return.

“What would you say to a kid to get them started?” we asked.

Their answer is uncomplicated: Have fun. “If they’re not having fun, they’re not going to want to come back,” Michelle said. “There’s no competition– come in, have fun, do well.”

Underneath the levity is a serious purpose. “Our goal is to create better people who can defend themselves,” Michelle said– not to replicate “traditional sports,” but to help kids become “well rounded” and able to succeed in life. “We believe in respect and discipline,” they added, “but we have fun.”

Student Tracen Bainter has been training at the Royce Gracie Academy for five years, beginning online during Covid, moving to in-person group classes, and now enjoys his private one-on-one classes. "I've definitely gained a lot of confidence" he said with a smile. His mother Tiffany echoed this, saying too that Andy and Michelle "do so much in a well-rounded way to support kids and build self esteem while having fun."

*Tracen practicing his favorite submission, the "Americana"*

The Cadence of Training

The academy runs classes Monday through Thursday and operates year-round. New students can join at any time. The curriculum rotates through a set sequence of lessons, with different material for each age level. The rotation is intentionally beginner-friendly: if you miss something, you’ll see it again– and repetition is how the learning sticks.

The academy also does extensive private instruction: 30-minute sessions that run all day, every day, every week. The Cassadys say private lessons are a major component of how many students build confidence quickly. Those interested in pursuing private or group lessons can use the Academy’s website messaging system to set up a date and time at www.roycegraciemacomb.com.

The academy also often hosts private classes and seminars for local institutions, clubs, and businesses as a team-building event. Seminar attendance can range widely– from about 25 people to as many as 200, depending on whether the event is public or private. One notable group is a women-only self-defense class that Michelle started in January 2025. This group meets once a month and focuses on equipping women to face real-world, street-based scenarios with heightened confidence through situational awareness and practical drills. Once the training wraps up, the group heads out for a fun, laid-back lunch at a local restaurant—an opportunity to unwind, laugh, and strengthen friendships. Women are welcome to sign up at any time to join this confident, prepared community that builds skills and camaraderie on the mat.

The Academy’s law enforcement involvement is more formal. The academy is verified by the State of Illinois to partner with law enforcement officers, and offers a Tuesday class at 3 p.m. specifically for them. They also provide yearly training with the full police department.

Even as they teach, they keep up their own training– a reminder that the job is not merely to demonstrate competence, but to maintain it.

More than Strength

With martial arts, the question of how to teach people to be capable without teaching them to be cruel is important. They hold what they call “mat chats” with the younger students– informal talks meant to reinforce humility, kindness, and perspective. The message is that self-defense is not a license for aggression; it is, ideally, an antidote to fear.

A Milestone that Echoes Beyond Macomb

This fall, Michelle Cassady reached a milestone that, even in a world thick with belts and titles, carries particular weight: on Oct. 19, 2025, she earned her Royce Gracie Jiu-Jitsu black belt directly from Royce Gracie. She is the first and only female Royce Gracie black belt in Illinois, and one of only nine women worldwide with that distinction. Andy also earned the same credential in 2023, and was further awarded his black belt blue bar in 2025.

The Cassadys are careful not to turn rank into the point. In their telling, the meaning of the work is what happens to people after they leave the mat: the kid who stands taller in the school hallway; the woman who walks to her car with less dread; the adult who discovers that doing something difficult, regularly, changes how everything else feels.

They have more than 100 students now, they said, and they’d like to grow. Their hope for the next few years is not flashy expansion but wider reach: “Reach and help as many people as we can and teach as many people as we can– we want to educate.”

Or, as they tell their students all the time: “Be good humans.”

Calm Under Pressure: Inside Macomb’s Royce Gracie Academy

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