Train Smart.
Stay Humble.
A Simi Valley Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy built on pure Carlos Machado lineage, real self-defense, and a room that has no use for ego.
- 9
- Years on the Mat
- 100+
- Members
- 4.6
- Yelp Rating
Pure Machado-lineage Jiu-Jitsu, taught at your pace, in a warm and drama-free, family-style community with a real-world self-defense focus. Train smart. Stay humble. That is the whole academy in four words.
From One White Belt to a Whole Academy.
805 Combat Sports opened in 2016 in Simi Valley, CA. The headline story is also the owner's story: Joshua "Cowboy" Ruiz walked in as a white belt that same year, fell in love with the art, and earned every belt on this mat, all the way to black belt and ownership.
In 2023 the academy became an official Carlos Machado school, putting it directly in the Machado family lineage that traces to Carlos Gracie. That is not a logo on the wall. It is the actual standard the curriculum and the ranks are held to.
What keeps members here is not the building. It is a room where a nervous beginner is protected, where parents train alongside their kids, and where the worst thing you can bring to the mat is an ego.
Carlos Machado Black Belt
Trained here from his first white-belt class in 2016 to black belt and owner.
Joshua "Cowboy" Ruiz
Owner & Head Instructor
Joshua "Cowboy" Ruiz walked into 805 as a white belt in 2016 and never left. He earned every belt on this mat and now owns the academy and leads instruction. Off the mat he has worked as a bounty hunter and executive-protection specialist since 2011, which is where his self-defense teaching comes from: real situations, taught plainly, with no ego. His standard for the room is the one in the name on the door: train smart, stay humble.
Affiliations & Recognized Membership
805 Combat Sports is led by nationally certified instructors. We train in alignment with the standards of the organizations below.
Decades of Real Mat Time.
Black belts and brown belts who teach the way the room is meant to run: technical, patient, and ego-free.
- [Photo Pending]
Ric Prete
Machado 2nd-Degree Black Belt · 37 Years
Teaches: Self-defense, combatives, and adult BJJ
37 years in martial arts, 27 of them in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, with a lineage that runs through Jean Jacques and Carlos Machado, Joe Moreira, and Bas Rutten. Also a Thai Jitsu black belt with a 3-0 Muay Thai record and a Krav Maga background. Ric teaches self-defense the way it actually has to work.
- [Photo Pending]
Chase Lovejoy
Brown Belt · 10 Years
Teaches: Kids and youth Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (ages 4 to 12)
Coach Chase leads the kids and youth BJJ programs. Ten years on the mat and a knack for keeping ages 4 to 12 engaged, listening, and learning real technique.
- [Photo Pending]
Jason Travers
Brown Belt
Teaches: Assists across all classes
A brown belt who assists across every class on the schedule, from the youngest kids to the adult evening sessions. The steady extra set of hands that keeps a busy mat running.
Four Things. No Exceptions.
- Train Smart
- Hard training that keeps you healthy. Technique before intensity, control before competition. Smart training is what keeps people on the mat for years.
- Stay Humble
- No ego in the room. Black belts and white belts share the same mat and the same respect. Nobody proves a point on a beginner here.
- Real Self-Defense
- Jiu-Jitsu and striking that actually work when it matters. Taught by people who have used it in the real world, not just talked about it.
- Family on the Mat
- A warm, drama-free community where parents train next to their kids and members look out for each other. That is the whole point.
What We Are Not.
- Not an Ego Gym.
- If you are looking for a room where people smash beginners to prove a point, this is the wrong place. Hard training, yes. Ego, no. That culture gets people hurt and pushed out.
- Not a Belt Mill.
- As an official Carlos Machado academy, our ranks are held to the Machado standard. Belts are earned on the mat, not handed out on a schedule. That is exactly why they mean something here.
- Not Only for "Fighters."
- Most of the people on this mat are not competitors. They are parents, kids, professionals, and beginners who want skill, fitness, and real self-defense. You do not need to want to fight to belong here.
What Members Say
The members who recommend 805 loudest are the ones who have been here longest: parents of kids in the youth program and adults who walked in with zero experience and stayed for the community.
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Questions About Who We Are and How We Train.
Who owns 805 Combat Sports?
805 Combat Sports is owned and run by Joshua "Cowboy" Ruiz. Cowboy started here as a white belt in 2016, earned every belt on this mat, and now leads instruction and owns the academy. His standard for the room is the one on the front door: train smart, stay humble.
What is the Carlos Machado affiliation?
We are an official Carlos Machado academy, which we joined in 2023. It means the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu we teach traces straight through the Machado family to Carlos Gracie. The lineage is real, the curriculum is the real thing, and the ranks mean what they are supposed to mean.
What do you teach?
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in gi and no-gi for kids, teens, and adults; Muay Thai kickboxing for kids and adults; a women-led self-defense program; and martial-arts fitness and conditioning. Private lessons cover BJJ, Muay Thai, self-defense, Krav Maga, and wrestling.
Is this a competitive, hard-sparring gym?
No. We are not an ego-driven, "smash everyone" room, and we are upfront that a purely competitive smash culture is not who we are. We train hard but smart. Beginners are protected, technique comes first, and the community is family-style and drama-free.
How experienced are your instructors?
Senior instructor Ric Prete alone has 37 years in martial arts and 27 in BJJ as a Machado 2nd-degree black belt. Owner Cowboy Ruiz is a Carlos Machado black belt. Coach Chase Lovejoy is a brown belt with 10 years on the mat leading the youth program. Jason Travers, also a brown belt, assists across every class.
I have never trained. Will I fit in?
Yes. Most members started with zero experience, and the whole point of the room is that you start where you are. Claim your free week and see for yourself before you commit to anything.
How long has 805 Combat Sports been in Simi Valley?
We have trained out of 1407 E. Los Angeles Ave, Unit J, Simi Valley, CA 93065 since 2016. Most of our roughly 100 members come from Simi Valley and the surrounding communities, and a lot of them have been on this mat for years.
You've Read the Story. Come Feel the Room.
Pick a class time. Show up. Train. See for yourself whether this is the right fit before you commit. No contract, no pressure, no experience needed.
FREE for one week · · No long-term contract · Walk-ins welcome