Elliott Bayev
Elliott Bayev built OpenMat from folding-mat classes into a teaching community and developed spider-guard instruction with Stephan Kesting.
Biography
Sources for this profile
OpenMat MMA, Elliott Bayev instructor biography and competition highlights(opens in a new tab)
Bayev left corporate work in 2004 to start the precursor to OpenMat.
Where in the source: Bio, Gi & NoGi BJJ, sentence about leaving corporate life in 2004.
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OpenMat identifies Bayev as its founder and head Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor.
Where in the source: Bio, Gi & NoGi BJJ, opening sentence.
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Bayev is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Shawn Williams.
Where in the source: Bio, Gi & NoGi BJJ, opening sentence naming Professor Shawn Williams.
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Elliott Bayev, 10 Years of OpenMat, January 27, 2019(opens in a new tab)
In his January 2019 anniversary account, Bayev described founding kimonogirl Jiu-Jitsu with Steve Gilbert four or five years before OpenMat, as a women-only school.
Where in the source: Opening school-history paragraph after the three black-belt promotions.
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Bayev recalled OpenMat beginning with folding mats that were laid out and put away at each class in a small room inside a GoodLife fitness club.
Where in the source: School-history paragraph: folding mats and a small room inside a GoodLife fitness.
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He was a purple belt without his own space when OpenMat began, while other Toronto schools were bringing in black belts and establishing larger facilities.
Where in the source: Paragraph beginning I was a purple belt without my own space.
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Bayev credited Kyle Norton’s investment with helping OpenMat secure a location of its own.
Where in the source: As OpenMat grew paragraph about Kyle Norton’s decision to invest.
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In January 2019 he awarded black belts to Josh Acosta, Taro Kurita and Carlos Quiñonez, and described the practical roles they had played in the school: Josh supporting competitors, and Taro and Carlos enabling its lunchtime and morning programmes.
Where in the source: Opening promotion paragraph and later paragraph beginning Whether competing himself or not.
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Bayev described Dan Davis as OpenMat’s first black belt and credited both Davis and Ostap Manastyrski with shaping the school’s competitors and teaching.
Where in the source: Final substantive paragraph, Josh’s thanks to Dan Davis and Ostap Manastyrski.
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BJJ Eastern Europe, interview with Ostap Manastyrski, March 6, 2013(opens in a new tab)
Manastyrski recalled returning to Toronto at the end of 2011 and joining OpenMat to train and teach after an extended training stay with Ryan Hall and Seph Smith; he described Bayev as one of his earliest BJJ instructors.
Where in the source: Jiu-Jitsu story answer, paragraphs about 50/50 and returning to Toronto.
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In 2013 Manastyrski praised Bayev’s open-minded coaching, saying he encouraged students to build their own games instead of imposing only his own ideas.
Where in the source: Game and admired BJJ players answer, paragraph beginning firstly my coach Elliott Bayev.
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Grapplearts, Spider Guard Masterclass, curriculum and instructor biographies(opens in a new tab)
Bayev and Stephan Kesting created Spider Guard Masterclass, a five-volume instructional organised around grips, attacks, transitions and guard retention.
Where in the source: Title and curriculum introductions to volumes1–5.
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Its progression moves from basic grips and triangle and omoplata attacks to double-biceps, lasso, Spider X and collar-sleeve variations, then to defending and recovering the guard when an opponent tries to pass.
Where in the source: Volume1–5 descriptions and chapter lists.
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In the instructional’s biography, Kesting describes Bayev as a smaller grappler who developed his spider guard to deal with larger training partners and stronger opponents.
Where in the source: About Elliott Bayev paragraph about the smaller player and guard game.
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ElliottBayev, My Black Belt Intro, r/bjj, June 10, 2020(opens in a new tab)
In his 2020 public introduction, Bayev reported a silver medal at the 2013 black-belt masters no-gi Worlds and double gold at the 2017 Rickson Gracie Cup.
Where in the source: My Black Belt Intro, opening competition paragraph.
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He wrote that he encouraged students to try competition without requiring it, regarding competition’s intensity as useful preparation for self-defence.
Where in the source: Main post, competition and self-defence paragraphs before As an instructor.
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Bayev said that his first school was women-only and that he started FightLikeAGirl.org in 2013; he reported that the two projects had offered more than one hundred free workshops to over two thousand women.
Where in the source: Main post, paragraph beginning My first school was actually a women-only school.
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During the 2020 shutdown period, Bayev described beginner and blue-belt online courses and a new VirtualProfessor project with Dan Davis offering remote private instruction.
Where in the source: Main post, final project paragraphs about BJJ101.tv and VirtualProfessor.com.
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Hayabusa Academy, About and Our Coaching Team(opens in a new tab)
Hayabusa Academy lists Bayev as the founder of its OpenMat affiliation and a third-degree BJJ black belt.
Where in the source: Our Coaching Team, Elliott Bayev name followed by OpenMat Affiliation Founder and 3rd Degree BJJ Black Belt.
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TrickyBJJ Academy, Our Instructor Team, Professor Kyle biography(opens in a new tab)
TrickyBJJ’s founder Kyle describes training at OpenMat from 2013 and opening his own affiliated academy in 2016 with Bayev’s guidance and mentorship.
Where in the source: Meet Our Coaches, Professor Kyle, first biographical paragraph.
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Gustavo Dantas, The BJJ Mental Coach, episode 31 introduction, December 23, 2018(opens in a new tab)
The December 2018 BJJ Mental Coach introduction described Bayev as running Mastermind BJJ, offering private training and retreats for entrepreneurs.
Where in the source: Written episode introduction before the subscription information.
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Stephan Kesting, Grapplearts, Jiu-Jitsu: The Art of Facing Challenges, January 25, 2021(opens in a new tab)
Kesting’s January 2021 article identifies Bayev as co-author of Sales Jiu-Jitsu with Daniel Moscovitz and points readers to his BJJ teaching progression.
Where in the source: More by Elliott Bayev, paragraph naming Sales Jiu-Jitsu and Daniel Moscovitz.
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The Portal, Impact Jiu-Jitsu: Systems Change Through a BJJ Lens, event listed for June 26, 2025(opens in a new tab)
The Portal advertised Bayev’s Impact Jiu-Jitsu workshop in Austin for June 26, 2025, using basic jiu-jitsu exercises to explore approaches to business, investment and systems change.
Where in the source: Event title/date and Description paragraphs.
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The workshop’s facilitator biography identified Bayev as founder of GlobalUnity and the Transformative Impact Summit as well as owner of OpenMat.
Where in the source: Introduction and Your Facilitator biography.
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Elliott Bayev, A Week of Jiu-Jitsu Inspiration: Ryan Hall, Dan Davis and John Danaher, February 13, 2019(opens in a new tab)
In February 2019 Bayev described hosting a Ryan Hall seminar at OpenMat and then flying to California to coach Dan Davis at the ADCC West Coast trials.
Where in the source: Opening Hall seminar paragraphs and paragraph beginning Friday, I flew to California.
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On that trip he attended John Danaher’s seminar at Shawn Williams’s academy and wrote that small armbar adjustments immediately improved his understanding, especially the systematic links between arm attacks and leg attacks.
Where in the source: Paragraphs beginning At the tournament I saw and I’ve been training for more than twenty years.
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Bayev acknowledged that running a school and other projects had reduced the attention he gave his own jiu-jitsu beyond his students and competition team; he described exposure to Hall, Davis and Danaher as renewing that interest.
Where in the source: Final reflective paragraph beginning Frankly, with the obligations of running a martial arts school.
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Lineage
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