Professor Gay Cobham was born in 1961 and is a retired New York State Trooper with 20 years of law enforcement experience. During his career, he served as a full-time Defensive Tactics Instructor at the New York State Police Academy in Albany, NY, and was also a member of the elite Mobile Response Team.
In addition to his law enforcement career, he served in the United States Army, later becoming a U.S. Army Ranger assigned to the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.
His martial arts journey began at age 7 and includes Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Japanese Jiu Jitsu, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which he began at age 40.
Professor Cobham’s BJJ journey started under Professors Gene Dunn and Brian Glick of Team Renzo Gracie, along with John Danaher, at Brooklyn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He trained there from white belt through brown belt. While a blue belt, he traveled extensively to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for work and began training at the De La Riva Academy HQ under Master Ricardo De La Riva. He continued training with Master De La Riva in Brazil and through his affiliates in the United States, eventually receiving his black belt from Master De La Riva in Brazil.
Since beginning BJJ at age 40, Professor Cobham has remained an active Masters competitor. After earning numerous titles at the lower belt levels, he continued his success at black belt, becoming a **3-time Masters World Champion, 2-time No-Gi World Champion, and 2-time European Champion**.
When he is not training or teaching at **Danger Room Athletics / De La Riva NY**, he continues to travel domestically and internationally for work, training, teaching, and competition.
Tony Belizaire — Founder & Head Coach, Danger Room Athletics
Tony Belizaire is the founder and head coach of Danger Room Athletics, a community-driven wellness and martial arts organization serving Deer Park, New York and the broader Long Island region. As a lifelong athlete, coach, entrepreneur, and dedicated father, Tony has built more than a gym he has built a movement rooted in access, belonging, and lasting personal transformation.
Danger Room Athletics was founded on a straightforward belief: every person, regardless of background or income, deserves access to quality coaching, physical activity, and a supportive community. That belief guides every decision Tony makes. Through scholarship memberships, youth outreach initiatives, and community-centered programming, Danger Room Athletics actively removes the financial and social barriers that too often keep people especially young people from participating in wellness and athletic development.
The community that has grown around Danger Room Athletics reflects Tony's vision in action a place where individuals from all walks of life come together to grow stronger, not just physically, but as people.
Tony’s work is powered by a simple but powerful mission: to use fitness, martial arts, and mentorship as tools to build stronger individuals, stronger families, and stronger communities. Every program, every scholarship, and every coaching session at Danger Room Athletics is a step toward that goal.
Coach Brandon Tasso
Brandon Tasso’s story has always been about hard work, resilience, and refusing to quit.
Born in 1988, Attended Brentwood School District where he wrestled from 6th through 12th grade and competed at the county championships every year. After high school, he traded wrestling mats for work boots, becoming an alarm technician.
In 2013, Brandon found his competitive side again through CrossFit, competing in several local events and taking gold in his very first competition. In 2016, he stepped out of the gym, onto the Jiu Jitsu mats and never looked back. He received his brown belt in 2023 from De La Riva black belt and multiple-time World Champion Gay Cobham.
In 2019, Brandon left his job and took a chance on himself, starting Islandwide Alarms just before COVID. The timing couldn’t have been much worse, but pushing through those difficult early years helped shape the mindset he brings to everything today. Islandwide Alarms has since grown to serve thousands of customers across Long Island and the five boroughs.
Brandon has been part of Danger Room since its inception in 2020 and shared the team’s dream of turning the small club into a full-fledged academy. In early 2026, he officially joined the Danger Room team and put his business and construction experience to work helping bring Danger Room 2.0 to life.
Now, his goal is simple: help build Danger Room Athletics into one of the best Jiu Jitsu academies on Long Island and, eventually, the East Coast.
Brandon believes that talent only gets you so far. Keep showing up, push through adversity, and never quit.
That mentality has served him well in business, on the mats, and in life… and it’s the same mentality he’s bringing to the future of Danger Room Athletics.