Staniszewski (Rt) w/ the legendary Renzo Gracie Garden City resident Mark Staniszewski recently competed at the 2008 Pan American Games for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and returned home with two gold medals. The tournament, which is traditionally the largest and toughest of its kind in North America, was hosted for the first time ever in New York City on October 5th. International competitors from around the world including teams from Brazil, Puerto Rico and Canada were on hand to participate in this prestigious event. Staniszewski, who is known by Serra BJJ teammates as "Judo Mark", won five consecutive matches without yielding a single point to win both the Ultra Heavyweight and Absolute divisions. Staniszewski, a local police officer and co-owner of the Combat Judo Academy in Massapequa, is a USA Judo black belt and ranking Gracie Jiu-Jitsu practitioner under childhood friend UFC Veteran Matt Serra. The Combat Judo Academy in Massapequa, New York is the areas premiere Judo school and a Serra Brazilian-Jiu-Jitsu affiliate. You can read more about them at: www.CombatJudo.us

Mark Staniszewski with Pan American medals.