Meet the Team
David Marinakis
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Coach (Black Belt 1st Degree)
“I got introduced to BJJ back in 2003 after watching the early UFC’s and Gracie in Action tapes (you can still find some of these on YouTube). Basically these tapes showed these smaller statued Jiu Jitsu guys defeating all these larger opponents from other martial arts backgrounds. I felt like I had stumbled upon the holy grail of martial arts! I was looking for something to train in and wasn’t interested in doing Kata’s or ‘Forms’. I wanted something more real, practical, challenging, and Jiu Jitsu met that need for me. In 2005 when I found the right training environment, I fell in love with Jiu Jitsu and never looked back.”
BJJ Accomplishments:
“My proudest accomplishments to date have been representing Australia twice at the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships in both Barcelona, Spain (2009) and Nottingham, UK (2011) where I got to compete with 2 of my idols, Rubens ‘Cobrinha’ Charles and Leo Vieira.
I have also qualified twice to represent Australia at the World Pro Jiu Jitsu Championships held in Abu Dhabi, bringing home a bronze medal in 2011, Brown & Black belt division.
In 2015, I completed a 10 year goal of winning a State and Pan Pacific gold medal at every belt level when I won the Victorian and Pan Pacific Championships at Black Belt.
Coach Lee and myself both teach the BJJ classes at Immersion meaning there’s 2 black belt coaches on the mat every night! We’d love to have you join us so we can share our Jiu Jitsu with you.”
Lineage:
Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie Sr. > Carlos Gracie Junior > Rigan & Jean Jacques Machado > John Will > David Hart & Cam Rowe > David Marinakis
Lee Ting
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Coach (Black Belt 1st Degree)
Lee started his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training in 2005, after extensively training in many other forms of martial arts such as Karate, Wing Chun Kung Fu, Kick Boxing and Muay Thai.
Lee was awarded his Black Belt after 8 years of training and has competed and won nearly all major events with in Australia.
Lee has also travelled overseas to train with the worlds best competitors and is always looking at ways to improve his techniques and find new innovative ways to defeat opponents. Which can then be passed on to our students.
‘Competition to me is pure, you can’t fake your skill or talk it up. It is what it is. It also teaches you how to handle pressure and how to deal with defeat and success, it will make you stronger’. Lee Ting
Lee has a dynamic teaching style bringing serious training with a bit of play and laughter. Lee is always trying to bring out the best in his students, both mentally and physically. This also transcends through other facets of their lives also.
‘Jiu Jitsu can only change people for the better, Jiu Jitsu changes peoples lives’. ~ Lee Ting
BJJ Accomplishments:
Black Belt:
2015 PAN Pacific Championships – 1st Place
2015 BOA Super 8 Invitational – 3rd Place
2015 BOA Super Fight Winner – 1st Place
2014 PAN Pacific Championships – 2nd Place
2014 BOA Super 8 Competitor
Brown Belt:
2013 Pan Pacific Champion
2013 Machado National Champion
Lee & Dave both teach the BJJ classes at Immersion meaning there’s 2 black belt coaches on the mat every night!
Lineage:
Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie Sr. > Carlos Gracie Junior > Rigan & Jean Jacques Machado > John Will > David Hart & Cam Rowe > Lee Ting
Keith Grant
Muay Thai Coach
Keith has been involved in Muay Thai for over 20 years now. Originally from Scotland, he begun training when he travelled to Thailand for the first time and has been hooked since. Over the years he has fought in both Scotland and England and proudly represented his country twice on the world stage. During this time he was ranked #6 in the U.K.
Drawing from his large amount of experience Keith also holds his judging licence in the U.K. and Australia and you’ll see him judging on many of the countries biggest shows.
Rung Samanthong
Muay Thai Coach
Rung is a professional Muay Thai Trainer and Boxing Coach, recognised and licensed by the Board of Boxing and the Sports Authority of Thailand.
Rung has been fighting professionally for 30 years and has had over 150 Muay Thai and Boxing fights. He started fighting at the age of 8 and was the Sumrong Stadium Champion at the age of 16. Rung has fought at the famous Lumpini and Radjadamnern Stadiums in Bangkok, winning 39 out of his 50 fights there.
Rung then spent 8 years in the Thai Navy’s Elite Special Forces and fought as an amateur boxer.
Rung has worked as a trainer for over 15 years and has trained Thai and Western students across Thailand and overseas.
Muay Thai is Rung’s passion and he enjoys passing on his wealth of knowledge to his students!
Benjamin Tran
Kids BJJ Coach
Ben started training at Immersion in 2012 with the goal of losing some weight, quitting smoking and making healthier lifestyle choices. He has done all 3! Since then he has actively represented Immersion in competition at home and abroad (IBJJF Worlds 2014). Benjamin believes that there are many skills in Jiu Jitsu that can be translated to everyday life and are beneficial for self-development; focus, patience, discipline, and respect. Benjamin loves being pushed by his coaches and teammates, and also loves teaching kids Jiu Jitsu. As a Myotherapist who specialises in treating athletes, when Ben’s not on the mat he’s treating our fighters, helping them recover from hard training and preparing them for competition.
Competition Accomplishments:
3rd place – blue belt 76kg African Open 2017
2nd place – blue belt 76kg Tasmanian State Championships 2015
3rd place – blue belt 76kg Grappling Tournaments Australia 2015
Tina West
Kids BJJ Coach
Tina begun her BJJ journey at Immersion in 2012 with the intention of competing and removing herself from bad unhealthy habits such as smoking. 5 years later, Tina has now removed all unhealthy habits that interfere with her training and goals and is now a sponsored athlete. She came 4th at the IBJJF Worlds in 2014 after 1.5 years of training and continues to compete in tournaments around Australia. Tina along side Ben is a Kids BJJ coach and receptionist at Immersion in which she enjoys emmensely.
“I love seeing the next generation rise to be strong, empowered and confident individuals.”
Tina brings her hard training on the mats outside the gym as well with many other individual projects.
Recent Competition Accomplishments:
2nd place – Abu Dhabi International Pro 2017 (Blue)
1st place – Victorian State Championships 2017 58.5kg (Blue)
1st place – Victorian State Championships 2016 58.5kg (Blue)
1st place – Bisbane open 2015 (Blue)
1st place – Tasmanian State Championships 2015 58.5kg (Blue)
Talgat Ilyasov
Wrestling Coach
Talgat is an amazing wrestler who ranked #6 at the World Championships. He was also a competitor on the Australian Olympic team and is recently coming off a huge win at AFC.
We’re extremely excited to have Talgat at Immersion teaching our Wrestling Fundamentals class!