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Co-Founder & Curriculum Lead, Elite You
Clear instruction. Purposeful practice. Better judgment.
Michael Donvito is a teacher and curriculum developer whose work connects martial arts, personal protection, and the practical demands of learning.
He is a civilian close-combat and personal-protection subject matter expert, a 6th Degree Black Belt and Professor in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Master Carlos Machado, and Head Instructor at Martial Arts of NC.
At Elite You, Michael's focus is turning complex subjects into clear training: understanding the problem, knowing why an approach matters, and giving people a useful way to practice and judge their progress.
Experience that informs the teaching
Michael began martial arts at age four and earned his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Master Carlos Machado in 2005. He was awarded his 6th Degree on May 21, 2026. That continuing relationship with training shapes a central principle of his work: experience should deepen your understanding and improve what you can pass on.
His professional background includes civilian instructional support for the U.S. Army Special Forces Qualification Course from 1998 to 2007, including seven years as primary instructor. He also performed contracted close-combat and force-protection work supporting Air Force Special Operations Command from 2003 to 2023.
Those settings required instruction to account for the people being trained, their responsibilities, their equipment, and the conditions they could face. Michael brings that same attention to context to his work with individual students, instructors, and organizations.
His experience also includes training-system development and edged-tool design. Across those disciplines, the question remains practical: what is the problem, what are the constraints, and what can a person learn to do reliably?
How Michael approaches training
A technique is only one part of learning. Students also need to understand when an approach fits, what can make it fail, and how to improve it through practice.
Context before technique
Start with the problem and the objective. Environment, position, time, physical ability, and consequences all affect which answers make sense.
Mindset → Skill → Drill
Explain the decisions first. Teach the relevant skill clearly. Then turn that skill into repeatable practice with a purpose and useful feedback.
Prevention → Escape → Tactics
Personal protection begins with recognizing problems and making sound choices. Prevention and escape come before physical tactics.
Test, adjust, and improve
Progress from safe learning toward appropriate resistance. Identify what breaks down, change what needs work, and test again. A successful demonstration is a starting point.
A developmental view of Jiu-Jitsu
Michael's work in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu asks more of students than collecting techniques. It emphasizes understanding positions, recognizing problems, connecting decisions, and developing skills that remain useful against resistance.
Learning, practice, thinking, and training remain part of that process as experience grows. Continued development also means revisiting fundamentals with greater understanding and taking responsibility for your own progress. Rank does not remove the need to learn.
Why Elite You
Elite You gives that teaching philosophy a broader home: clear explanations, structured learning, purposeful practice, and equipment considered in context.
Gear supports training. It does not replace training.
A useful tool should fit a real need. Understanding it, practicing with it, and recognizing its limits matter more than owning it. The same standard applies to instruction: the goal is usable understanding and responsible capability.
Take the next step
Learn how the company puts these principles into practice, or contact Elite You about instruction, a seminar, or a curriculum question. Include your goal, your experience, and the setting in which you plan to use the training.
