Meet Our Team

Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Dancy emigrated to New Jersey at the age of 16 with his family in pursuit of the American Dream. He began training martial arts shortly thereafter, starting first with Tae Kwon Do and boxing in Trenton, NJ. He ultimately started training jiu-jitsu and MMA in 2007 at Ricardo Almeida Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Dancy currently works as a Law Enforcement Officer.

He is a black belt under Ricardo Almeida, who is the first American to receive a black belt from the legendary Renzo Gracie.

Dancy also received the first degree on his black belt from John Rallo, the founder of Ground Control and a long-time pioneer in the Maryland Mixed Martial Arts scene. John is another one of the earlier black belts under Renzo Gracie.

Dancy is fluent in both French and Haitian Creole, and speaks some Spanish. He comes home to a wife and two beautiful daughters.

One day in the late spring of 2019, Mike was working out at Exile Fitness and decided to pop in to Ground Control next door out of curiosity. Having heard some of the amazing benefits of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, he enrolled in his free trial week. That's where he was bitten by "the jiu-jitsu bug", and he ended up doing over 12 hours of classes in the first week alone.

Mike started out with his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, and has enjoyed successes working Sales Engineering and Technical Sales careers ever since.

Mike received his Blue Belt from John Rallo, and is now a Purple Belt under his dear friend, business partner, and mentor, Dancy Debrosse. As for why they call him "Starfish"...you'll just have to ask him!

Mike speaks intermediate Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, and Spanish. He is also learning Haitian Creole!

Tim began training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in February of 2018, and immediately fell in love with the technicality and puzzle-solving nature of the art. His dedication and diligence led him to receive his blue belt in April of 2019, and he continued training until joining the Ground Control Hunt Valley team in 2023 with his whole family. He was promoted to the rank of purple belt by Dancy Debrosse in December 2023.

During his eight years of BJJ training, Tim has competed in and won at several Jiu Jitsu organizations including IBJJF, PBJJF, NAGA, and more. He currently focuses on teaching BJJ to all ages at the academy, coaching and mentoring students for competitions, and working alongside Dancy and Mike to oversee the growth and development of our facility.

Tim's wife Vivian is a staple at our academy, and his children, Arianna and Chase, are both active BJJ athletes and competitors. Tim is employed as a Law Enforcement Use-of-Force Instructor, and is a firm believer that both police officers and civilians alike should learn grappling skills to build confidence in stressful situations and prevent avoidable injuries.