Luigi Mondelli

Luigi Mondelli began competing in Brazil during his teenage years and progressed through the ranks in a tough and competitive environment in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, first winning the Masters Purple Belt Category in 1999 and later the brown belt division, before winning the Panamerican Championship five times. Mondelli is also a three-time world champion as a black belt in the Senior division in both the gi and no-gi categories.[6]

Mondelli has been a guest instructor and coach at The Pit (mixed martial arts), a martial arts and MMA camp started by John Hackleman in 1986. The prominent camp has produced several prominent fighters such as Chuck Liddell and Glover Teixeira among others. Mondelli credits John Hackleman as being one of his mentors and a valuable source of knowledge in the course of his development.

Additionally, Mondelli provides self-defense and combat training to a broad range of military and law enforcement personnel.[7] Mondelli has performed hundreds of seminars and demonstrations and continues to be active in the education and assistance of safety and self-defense training for veterans, active duty personnel and law enforcement across the United States and around the world.

The Danbury location of American Top Team serves as the headquarters for KORE BJJ and is where Mondelli spends much of his time developing his students. The location offers programs from children ages 4 and up, all the way through competitive and professional world-class Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instruction. It is not uncommon for wrestlers and judoka (judo practitioners) to spend time in the program to round out their skill set, since the KORE curriculum is geared towards proficiency in all types of grappling. Classes are offered every day of the week, with the exception of Sundays, and are almost universally led by a black-belt level instructor, very often including Luigi Mondelli, himself.