Coaches
Ben Langford
Ben is the founder, co-owner and head coach at Elements Fitness.
Specialising in skill acquisition and performance enhancement, Ben has a Bachelor of Coaching Science from the University of Canberra and is also accredited by the Australian Sports Commission as a qualified Sports Coach, Assessor and Mentor.
He has more than 30 years experience in the martial arts and holds a Third Degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Ben instructs the BJJ and Striking Programs and is available for private training in BJJ, Boxing, MMA and Self Defence.
Eugene Van Leest
Eugene is the co-owner of Elements Fitness, and a Second Degree Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt. Beginning his BJJ training in 2002, and having received his Black Belt in 2016, Eugene is one of Canberra’s most experienced, highly regarded, and sought after Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructors.
With more than twenty years of sports coaching experience, Eugene is adept at communicating the seemingly complex concepts of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to students in a fun and engaging way, which results in rapid improvement regardless of age, gender or athletic ability.
Eugene is available for private martial arts training and instructs both the BJJ Fundamentals and Women’s BJJ programs.
Simon Le
Steve Rudic
Steve is one of Australia’s most accomplished boxers with over 65 fights, two Australian Super Heavyweight Championships and having earned a bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
He has over a decade of coaching experience and has worked with people of all levels from outright beginners, to high end boxers and even several UFC athletes.
In addition to his boxing accolades Steve is also a former professional basketball player for the Canberra Cannons and currently holds a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Steve is available for private and semi private boxing training.
Nick Delatovic
Nick is a fully qualified Personal Trainer, Strength and Conditioning Coach and Wrestling Coach.
His primary expertise is in sport-specific strength training and programming with a focus on technical excellence and movement patterns. He is experienced in the power-lifts, kettlebell training, bodyweight strength training, combat sports conditioning and freestyle wrestling. He has competed at a state level in power-lifting and currently competes at a national level in Freestyle Wrestling.
Nick is available for Personal Training and instructs the Freestyle Wrestling and Strength & Conditioning programs.
Charlotte McBride
Charlotte is a Brown Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and is one of the instructors for the BJJ Fundamentals Program at Elements.
Charlotte James
Charlotte is a qualified and experienced Wrestling Coach who enjoys building people up, bringing people together and unnecessary physical exertion.
After years of obsessively training wrestling at Elements and other gyms across Canberra, she wanted to create a space for more women to try wrestling – partly because she selfishly wanted more training partners – giving birth to Elements’ Women & Queer Peoples Wrestling Intro course.
Charlotte loves sharing the playfulness of wrestling with others and instructs the Freestyle Wrestling Program at Elements.
She is also available for personal training.
Louise Fox
Louise is a Brown Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a Yoga For BJJ Level 1 Instructor and the primary coach for the Yoga For BJJ program at Elements.
If you would like to know more, it is rumoured that wherever you are in the world if you tune your radio to 88.4FM you can hear her thoughts.
Jadd Sanson-Fisher
Jadd is a second degree Black Belt in Judo and the head coach of the Elements Judo program.
Jadd began learning Judo with Olympian Martin Kelly before moving to Japan where he continued to train. He was awarded his Black Belt and subsequent degrees at the Kodokan before returning to Australia.
Beyond this small amount of information, he is a man wrapped in mystery. Some say that he was raised by a band of itinerant middle managers and that his sweat can be used to clean precious metals.
Legend has it that if you can trap him using only his own hair he’ll grant you three wishes and that if he’s startled by his own shadow when he emerges from his barrow we’ll get six more weeks of winter.
Zev Aviv
Zev has a background in roller derby, rock climbing and trampolining and won like a bunch of ribbons at their primary school athletics carnivals.
These days they care most about physical health being accessible to everyone and want to help people overcome their fear of the gym.
Their history as a child athlete has left them with a broad understanding of the many ways a human being can injure themselves and how to rebuild.
Zev is particularly interested in working with other members of the Canberra queer and gender diverse community and is available for personal training.
Jake Marusich
Jake began training in martial arts in 2002 after becoming enthralled by Bruce Lee movies and the mythology of the ninja. Diving headfirst into training he now holds black belts in Judo, Jissen Budo and Moo Duk Kwan while also training in numerous other grappling, striking and weapons-based systems.
As a testament to his passion for teaching, Jake opened the first BJJ academy in Solomon Islands in 2017 to promote the gentle art’s expansion in the Pacific.His approach to teaching focuses on supporting students to actively work through obstacles and fostering self-directed learning, while motivating them to achieve more than they expected.
Jake is one of the instructors for the Elements Judo program and is available for personal training.
Adrian Craft
Adrian is a certifed boxing coach with Boxing Australia, is Punchfit certified and has a Certficate 3 in Fitness.
After a 30 year career in the public service (15 of which he spent as a defensive skills instructor) Adrian returned to his childhood passion of boxing and has since coached many people to enjoy the sport from the recreational to the national competitive level.
He is also one of Canberra’s most experienced boxing referees, supervising fights at the local, national and international level.
Adrian is available for private and semi private training boxing training sessions and, as a brown belt in BJJ, is one of the instructors in the BJJ Fundamentals program at Elements.