Ashur Darmo grew up in Chicago without a father in his life. His mother and grandmother—both immigrants—were the ones who held his life together. In a neighborhood dominated by gangs and unstructured free time, he discovered something at the age of 15 that changed everything: Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
What began as a last resort turned into a calling.
Today, Ashur Darmo holds a second-degree black belt, is a Pan-American Champion, and is ranked among the world’s best in the IBJJF. But it’s not the titles he talks about most when describing what he does. What he has built in Glenview, Illinois—The Academy Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu—is something else. Something bigger.
More than just a gym
The academy on Waukegan Road in Glenview is Chicago’s only Assyrian-owned BJJ academy. Behind the entrance, you’ll find not just a world-class training facility—you’ll discover a philosophy.
“The first thing the children learn here is how to socialize,” says Ashur. Community comes before technology. They learn to greet others, introduce themselves, help one another, and grow together.
It’s a perspective that reflects his own story. Jiu-jitsu didn’t just give him a way to compete. It gave him structure at a time when structure was lacking.
– Even if you feel lost, you know that there’s a workout at eleven or six. You keep showing up, and over time, that routine builds momentum, discipline, and direction.
The Assyrian behind the academy
Ashur Darmo is open about his Assyrian heritage and sees academia as a way to represent his people—not through words, but through action.
– Being Assyrian is something to be proud of. But true representation comes through discipline, professionalism, and by building something meaningful for the next generation.
Ashur Damo’s journey—from growing up without a father in a tough Chicago neighborhood to becoming a Pan-American Champion and founder of his own academy—is the kind of story that can mean something special to Assyrians in the diaspora. Seeing one of their own build something from the ground up, with discipline and hard work as his only assets, is concrete proof of what is possible.
