Hillcrest Academy of Goshin jujitsu
Goshin JuJitsu | Combat JuJitsu
EST. 1976
FOUNDING Instructors
Master Sylvester Meola
7th Degree Black Belt (1924-2005)
The late Master Sylvester Meola is the founder of Hillcrest. Hillcrest Academy started in a room above the boxing ring at the Alta House in Little Italy in 1976, and is now recognized as one of the largest schools for Jujitsu in the Cleveland area. All told, thousands of people (civilian, military, police) have been trained by Hillcrest Academy instructors through the years. Master Meola was promoted to master-level by Dr. Tetsuya Higuchi. Master Meola held a Doctorate in Law and was a practicing attorney.
Master James Meola
9th Degree Black Belt
Master James Meola is also the founder of a system of fighting called Combat Jujitsu. This system was created especially for one of the US Army Special Forces (Green Beret) training teams and taught personally by Jim and his select group of instructors. Jim was the recipient of the Adjutant Generals award for designing as well as teaching this program to the Special Forces Unit. The group of Hillcrest Academy instructors who taught the this system for 20 years are called the M.A.L.E.T. team (Military and Law Enforcement Team). Jim is an internationally recognized master and holds the distinction of AJJIF BUDO MASTER by the All Japan Ju-Jitsu International Federation; the largest governing body of JuJitsu practitioners in the world spanning more than 100 countries. Jim was promoted to master-level by Dr. Tetsuya Higuchi. Jim also holds a double Masters Degree in Homeland Security and Emergency Management from Eastern Kentucky University.
Instructors
