Paul Schreiner is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Claudio França who worked extensively with Garth Taylor, Marcelo Garcia, Dave Camarillo among others. Co-founder of the Kaijin Academy in Santa Cruz, California, Schreiner also gained notoriety in BJJs community as a coach at the Marcelo Garcia Academy – Alliance New York, where he helped develop the games of several high-end athletes produced by this prestigious training ground.
Paul Schreiner Jiu-Jitsu
Full Name: Paul E. Schreiner
Nickname: N/A
Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Francisco Mansor > Claudio França > Paul Schreiner
Main Achievements:
- IBJJF Masters World Championship 2nd Place (2012 Master 1)
- IBJJF World Championship 3rd Place (2006 brown)
Favorite Position/Technique: Well Rounded
Weight Division: Peso Médio (82,30 kg / 181.5 lbs)
Team/Association: Alliance
Paul Schreiner Biography
Paul Schreiner was born on December 15, 1977, in Santa Cruz, California, United States of America, where he was raised. As a child, influenced by his grandfather (Jim) a former surfer and surfboard maker, Paul started surfing, a sport he continued to practice into his adulthood.
Schreiner first interacted with grappling sports during his senior year of high school, when he wrestled for a few months. Although enjoyable, this was a shortlived experience as Paul would interrupt his training and choose to pursue his nomadic tendencies that year, finishing his secondary education in New Zealand. While in Kiwi Land the Californian started running track-and-field to occupy his time, in doing so, he was spotted and scouted by his school’s rugby coach who recruited Paul for the team.
Due to his non-residency, Schreiner never played for his NZ high school, though he did get a few games in with a local professional team, whose workgroup played regionally, before leaving to spend time in Australia, and later back to California.
Upon his return, it was Paul’s intention to pick up where he left off in wrestling, although a knee injury picked up during his trip postponed that thought. Instead, while recovering, Schreiner started working out at a local gym. There he met a jiu-jitsu blue belt who got him indoctrinated to the benefits of jiu-jitsu and once his knee felt a little better Paul decided to try out his first class (1996), doing so at a local BJJ gym led by Claudio França.
Although França was the head instructor, most of the coaching done at the academy was performed by Garth Taylor, a historic figure in American BJJ. Garth’s teachings captivated Paul who then became a ‘Mat-Rat’, training nearly every day.
Seven months into his training and Paul injured his knee, this time the opposite side to the one he had hurt during his New Zealand trip. From this moment on, the knees of Schreiner became a big impediment to his competitive career. He had torn his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) on both knees, one playing rugby (NZ) and the latest one while surfing. The one he tore while surfing got repaired first and it healed well, but when it got time to repair the other, big problems emerged.
Paul was infected by the staphylococcus bacteria, the dangerous and dreaded “staph”. The infection went all the way into his femur and Paul’s life was then threatened. He lost 45lbs in two weeks and had multiple surgeries in an attempt to clean it up. As a result of the many surgeries, Paul’s knee became “frozen” and could no longer bend. Schreiner managed to convince the doctors not to fuse his knee together, which would mean he could never surf again, and in the months that followed he slowly worked his way back on top of a board.
A few years later (2000) Paul stopped by the França academy. Garth was then training with BJ Penn in preparation for the World Championship in Rio de Janeiro – which Penn won that year, becoming the 1st non-Brazilian to achieve the deed. Watching Garth and BJ train inspired Schreiner to return to the mats.
Although Paul’s path in BJJ was supported by many noble names of our sport/martial art such as Roberto “Gordo”, Rilion Gracie, João Rangel, and Dave Camarillo, Schreiner earned all belts from Claudio França and Garth Taylor, this included his black belt which was granted on December 2007.
The Taylor-Schreiner coalition also materialized in an important Santa Cruz academy, developed at the turn of the century, the Kaijin Academy, which was launched prior to Paul’s involvement with the Marcelo Garcia Academy (Alliance NYC) in the mid-2000s.
Paul met Marcelo Garcia at a BJJ workshop in 2004. The two maintained a cordial relationship and in 2007, after a lively chat at a tournament, Garcia invited both Paul and his friend Dave Camarillo to come and train with him in New York. From this interaction, Schreiner and Garcia became good friends, with many more training sessions taking place in the months that followed. In 2010, as Marcelo was in need of an assistant instructor for his New York gym, he invited Paul to fill in that vacancy, an offer accepted by the Santa Cruz native, who then became a full-time member of the acclaimed jiu-jitsu stable of talent.
Paul Schreiner Armbar Tutorial
