“With great power comes great responsibility.”
This iconic line, popularized by Spider-Man is widely known, and rings even more true for members of the Los Gatos Heroes Martial Arts Studio, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu school that equips students with their very own “superpowers.”
And with every great hero comes the battles.
Heroes Martial Arts, which opened its doors in 2024, has now closed. In a post shared via Instagram July 11, the Los Gatos location, headed by Sean Whitmore, announced classes would wrap up by the end of the month.
Fortunately, there are still multiple locations throughout the South Bay, all of which got their start thanks to Alan “Gumby” Marques.
After receiving his black belt in 2006, Marques founded the Heroes Martial Arts studio located in downtown San Jose. This location has been welcoming members since 2009. The school has gone on to teach thousands of students, one being Whitmore himself. He received his black belt from the studio.
In 2020, Heroes Martial Arts expanded to a second location on the Eastside of San Jose, followed by another one in Campbell in 2023. Just a year later, Whitmore became head coach of an additional Heroes Martial Arts studio here in Los Gatos, after being offered the role by Marques.
The power of jiu-jitsu
The school teaches its students Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a type of martial arts that centers around grappling. While this style is considered a “soft” martial art, it is anything but weak. Instead, it focuses on redirecting an opponent’s force against themselves, rather than solely unleashing it.
Anna Bhogra, who started her Brazilian jiu-jitsu journey at Heroes Martial Arts back in April of 2025, described the martial art as being “all about time and patience, and uses a lot of brain strength.”
The practicality of this sport is what enables students to develop their own “superpowers.” In place of blind brute force, members learn to defend themselves with concentration and control (a fundamental concept seen in classic comic book heroes everywhere).
It’s this foundation that allows students to grow beyond the studio.
“Martial arts is a vehicle for self-discovery,” Whitmore stated. This studio was a third space—outside of school, work and home—where students could learn from the challenges presented by the sport and through the community they cultivated, he explained.
“Being a woman in martial arts, jiu-jitsu really empowers you to learn how to take up space in ways I didn’t know before,” said Lynnia Tuckfield, who has 11 years of experience under her belt, and has been training at the studio for a year and a half.
(Photo Courtesy of @heroeslosgatos)
An on-going story
It’s this kind of impact that has made saying goodbye to the studio so difficult.
“I felt like I was losing access to the training and the technical aspects,” Tuckfield said, “but also losing friends and community.”
Tuckfield explained that, in addition to creating a very welcoming environment, Whitmore taught in a way that allowed anyone to learn, from beginners all the way up to experienced members, such as herself.
However, the benefits couldn’t outweigh the struggles involved in keeping the location going.
“For a lot of small businesses, you end up wearing a lot of hats,” Whitmore said. “There’s a lot of invisible labor that accumulates over time.”
Many factors led to the closure, from a lack of marketing opportunities, to natural student attrition, to maintenance issues in an aging building, the challenges stacked up, Whitmore said.
“My body asked me to stop a long time ago,” Whitmore explained as he listed off the various health issues, such as an MCL tear that resulted from teaching a demanding sport while operating a business.
While some interest has been expressed in opening another jiu-jitsu school in Heroes Martial Arts’ place, no deal has emerged. Fortunately for students, other locations throughout the South Bay offer various opportunities to keep practicing the sport.
Furthermore, Whitmore’s love for teaching is still strong, and he hopes to one day return to passing along the techniques of his sport again.
“Maybe the opportunity is in the deck,” Whitmore said as he described his openness to coaching, “—but not in the hand.”
While this chapter has closed, the impact of Heroes Martial Arts Los Gatos will be remembered by its community.
For Whitmore and his students, their superhero journeys will continue to be written—just in a new setting. And maybe one day, their paths will lead back to where they started.
