Paul Solbos Chief Executive Officer / Co-Founder

Paul envisioned a program dedicated to increasing survival while mitigating risk of injury both physical and mental. He served in the US Army, Federal Bureau of Prisons and currently as a Deputy Sheriff. While serving Paul obtained a degree in Criminal Justice. Paul’s life experiences exposed him to the need for additional training and support for the individual. Once Paul found Jiu Jitsu, he discovered the missing piece. His dedication to the community and the persons he serves alongside coined the C3BJJ concept.

Code 3 is the denotation of lights and sirens utilized while responding to a priority call, often one that has potential for loss of life or serious injury. This exigency paired with providing free or nearly free training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is Paul’s goal. Unlike other programs, C3BJJ seeks to be inclusive of all first responders. Making sure our Law Enforcement, Corrections, Firefighters, Paramedics, Trauma Doctors and Nurses have a place to train. Paul sees a community of persons coming together in the name of mental and physical wellbeing.

Kevin Brady Chief Operations Officer / Co-Founder

Kevin’s background ranges from roofer to Army Special Operations. Serving with the Sheriff’s Department for 14 years while simultaneously serving a combined 20 years with the Reserves, National Guard and Active-Duty Army Components. First experiencing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu 20 years ago, he has continued his reign as the longest holder of the white belt. He enjoys coaching youth sports, photography, psychology and family time.            

Kevin’s military experiences have taken him around the world, affording opportunities to train by, with and through foreign counterparts. Travelling revealed to Kevin a foundational human need to belong to a tribe. He believes we are just beginning to unravel the misnomer of mental strength through isolation. His goal of connecting first responders through BJJ looks beyond the physical aspect and leans heavily on the psychological benefits. He strives to foster a tribe that ignores job classifications, jurisdictions and titles and builds back a collective mindset of survival and wellbeing for first responders.

Jacob Gewerth Chief Financial Officer

     Jacob has 7 years of Law Enforcement experience and 6 years of service to the California National Guard. He started BJJ in 2015 currently holds the rank of brown belt and competes as time permits with work. In addition, he teaches children Jiu Jitsu from ages 4 to 15 years old in between his training sessions.

     Although not an easy task, Jacob has stepped into his CFO role by implementing his knowledge obtained from his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He continues to learn and sharpen his skills as he enjoys growing with the organization. Jacob looks to provide first responders and veterans with opportunities to decompress while learning how to deal with life through the concepts of Jiu Jitsu.

Christopher Sutherland Chief Program Director

Christopher enjoyed watching and learning about MMA since his youth. In 2007 Christopher started training MMA and entering amateur bouts transitioning to professional career in 2009. Early on in his MMA training he gravitated towards BJJ. He has since focused on BJJ by competing, teaching and training others while currently holding the rank of brown belt.

Christopher further pursued his passion to help others in 2012 becoming an EMT. In 2016, Christopher joined the Sheriff’s Office as a Correctional Officer and in 2020 transitioned to Deputy Sheriff. Throughout his time in public service, he has recognized the need for physical and mental outlets. Utilizing his love of BJJ, Christopher has continued to train and encourage others to do the same. Leveraging his love of BJJ and training he has created programing for individuals and groups. His focus remains on helping others achieve a greater sense of mental and physical resilience.

Corinne Mathiopoulos Marketing Manager

Corinne has been working with the public since she was thirteen years old when she got her first paying job at the Folsom Chamber of Commerce. Throughout the years, she has had a variety of jobs that have given her an ever-expansive knowledge base that she has been able to apply throughout her adult career. From baking to bookkeeping, she considers herself a jack of all trades and has taught herself quickly what she needed to know to get whatever the job was done. Constantly striving to learn new things, she has an associate degree in business and psychology and soon will have degrees in marketing and advertising.

Corinne had a large Kenpo background growing up, but she always favored Jiu-Jitsu. After having her two sons and completing three gestational surrogacy journeys for other families, she decided to get her family back into the jiujitsu lifestyle and re-enrolled in 2020. She now helps out her dojo however she can and will assist with the children’s jiujitsu classes as needed and eventually hopes to get comfortable with competing in tournaments. She very much looks forward to helping foster Code 3 BJJ to reach its maximum potential and holds its mission statement dear to her heart.

John Tannarome Business Development

John’s career in community service began 17 years ago as a Firefighter. He eventually parlayed that into a career as a Deputy Sheriff. John recognized a need for all first responders to have a way to mentally and physically decompress due to the taxing nature of being a public servant. While working patrol with Paul Solbos, he realized Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was the best way to deal with the stressors that came with his career.

Since its C3BJJ’s inception, John has been working on the mats and behind the scenes in an attempt to make Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu available to all veterans and first responders. His vision is to build a strong community where all the members are supported and receive potentially lifesaving training.

Anthony Kuehn Coach

Anthony Kuehn is a coach and advisor for Code3 BJJ, currently holding the rank of Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. With 9+ years of grappling experience Anthony utilizes his skillset to help develop teaching and training methodologies. Partnering with active law enforcement officers, Anthony is responsible for helping cultivate opportunities for first responders and veterans to have access to Brazilian jiu-jitsu.