Erik Paulson

Erik Paulson's formal entry into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu came in 1990, when Rickson Gracie — one of the most revered figures in the Gracie lineage — awarded him his blue belt. Training within the Gracie academy system through the early-to-mid 1990s, Paulson sharpened his ground game against one of the art's most demanding standards, absorbing the technical rigor and competitive pressure that defined that era.

The depth of his commitment surfaced at the 1996 IBJJF Pan American Championship, where Paulson claimed first place as a blue belt — a significant result given the competitive caliber of the field. That same year, however, his path under the Gracie banner came to an abrupt end. Following his appearance at WCC 1 in 1995, Rickson Gracie expelled Paulson from the academy without explanation and barred him from training within the Gracie system. The departure was not a matter of personal choice — he was removed directly by Rickson Gracie himself.

In the wake of that expulsion, Paulson transitioned to the Machado Brothers, continuing his grappling development under a different but closely related lineage. That move marked the beginning of a new and expansive chapter in his martial arts career.

Throughout the 1990s, Paulson assembled one of the most comprehensive personal training schedules in Southern California's martial arts community. Investing approximately $650 per month in instruction, he built a daily routine spanning multiple disciplines and drawing on some of the region's most capable coaches.

A Structured Approach to Cross-Training

His wrestling development came through work with Rico Chipperelli, while his boxing education rotated among coaches Nikolai Sonia, Charlie Gergen, Marvin Cook, and Battalia. For Muay Thai, Paulson trained under Rob and Lucy Aker and Ajarn Chai, dedicating his mornings to sessions at North Hollywood Muay Thai. He also trained regularly at the Inosanto Academy — one of Los Angeles's most historically significant martial arts institutions — under Dan Inosanto, whose philosophy of cross-disciplinary study aligned closely with Paulson's own approach.

Evenings were devoted to grappling at the Machado school following his departure from the Gracie academy. Sparring sessions at Boxing Works placed him alongside Chad Stahelski, who would later become the director of the John Wick franchise. Pursued during a period when systematic cross-training in striking and grappling was still being pioneered, this circuit directly shaped the hybrid combat philosophy that would come to define Paulson's instructional work. The CSW system is, in many respects, a codification of the education he assembled across those years of Los Angeles mat time.

Paulson's early competitive career as a mixed martial artist unfolded primarily in Japan, where some of the most significant professional MMA organizations of the 1990s operated. Japan served as a central hub for the sport during that era, hosting events and promotions that in many cases predated or ran parallel to the UFC's rise in North America.

A meaningful portion of Paulson's bouts from this period went unrecorded or untelevised — a documentation challenge common to early-era MMA across Asian markets. Reconstructing a complete competitive record from this time remains difficult. What the experience provided, however, was invaluable: competing in an environment where the sport was still defining itself, against opponents who brought unpredictable combinations of traditional martial arts and combat sports backgrounds, instilled the practical, fight-tested character that would become the hallmark of the system Paulson later developed and taught.

Paulson founded Combat Submission Wrestling — known as CSW — and established its headquarters in Fullerton, California. The system integrates Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, catch wrestling, Muay Thai, and additional grappling disciplines into a unified combat framework, reflecting directly the cross-disciplinary training approach he developed during his 1990s Los Angeles years.

A System Built for the Real World

CSW has grown into a substantial international network. As of January 2026, the organization includes approximately 150 affiliate schools worldwide — a testament to decades of sustained expansion since the system's founding. The affiliate network spans multiple countries and has produced competitors and coaches operating at high levels across both MMA and submission grappling. Rooted in Paulson's own experience training with elite partners across wrestling, boxing, Muay Thai, and grappling, CSW carries a reputation for producing well-rounded, combat-applicable practitioners.

After a period away from active coaching, Paulson returned to the high-performance arena to work with Kade Ruotolo and Tye Ruotolo for ONE Championship. As of January 2026, the coaching arrangement was underway, with Paulson discussing the role on The Fight Guys podcast in an episode released shortly before January 9, 2026.

The Ruotolo brothers rank among the most prominent submission grapplers of their generation, competing at the highest levels of no-gi grappling and MMA. Paulson's engagement with their preparation connects his decades of hybrid grappling experience — spanning the Gracie and Machado lineages, catch wrestling, and the full cross-disciplinary circuit of 1990s Los Angeles — to the contemporary submission wrestling landscape. The collaboration reflects the continued regard within elite grappling circles for Paulson's technical depth and coaching acumen.

One of the more distinctive threads in Paulson's career history is his training relationship with Chad Stahelski, forged during their shared sessions at Boxing Works in Los Angeles in the 1990s. At the time, both men moved through the same Southern California combat sports circuit that defined the early MMA era.

Stahelski went on to direct the John Wick franchise — a series widely regarded as among the most influential in modern action cinema for the quality and authenticity of its fight choreography. The paths the two men took diverged significantly: one toward elite combat sports coaching, the other toward filmmaking. Yet their shared foundation in serious martial arts training at the same Los Angeles gyms during the same era illustrates the unusually broad reach of that 1990s training environment. The verified connection between Paulson and Stahelski stands as a reminder that the grappling and striking community he helped build in Southern California intersected with figures who would go on to shape both combat sports and popular culture in distinct ways.