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Built by three. Run for hundreds.

One school,
four owners,
one mission.

IJS opened its doors in Paphos, Cyprus in 2023. Today it's a working academy with two locations, six coaches, and members from twelve countries. Here's how it got there — and who runs which part of it.

✓ Founded 2023 · Paphos, Cyprus
✓ Two locations · Paphos & Peyia
✓ 4 owners · 6 coaches
✓ 200+ active members
The short version

A school that grew up twice.

The International Jiu-Jitsu School was founded in Paphos, Cyprus in 2023 by Roman Gorval and Vitaly Stasiv — two competitors who wanted a serious training environment for the next generation, not just a place to drop in for a roll. Vitaly brought a decade of coaching experience from his earlier project in Ukraine; Roman brought the long-term vision and the operational discipline to make a school that lasts.

A year later, in 2024, Vladimir Boiko joined as the third owner, bringing the marketing, sponsorship, and community-building muscle that turned IJS from "a great gym" into a real local institution.

In August 2025, Ivan Tomasetti — IJS's adults head coach and a black belt with two decades on the mat — became the fourth owner. With Ivan on the ownership team, the adults program and the technical leadership of the school now sit directly inside the table that decides where IJS goes next.

Today the four of us run the school together. Each one owns a clear lane — coaching, strategy, growth, technical leadership — and we sit at the same table when it matters. That's the whole story. The longer version is below.

From a single mat
to a two-city school.

Ten years, two countries, one curriculum that survived the move. The milestones that mattered:

Pre-IJS
Ukraine · Background
Vitaly's coaching years
Before IJS, Vitaly spends nearly a decade building and running an academy in Ukraine — the coaching foundation that later shapes the IJS curriculum.
2023
Cyprus · Founding
IJS opens in Paphos
Roman Gorval and Vitaly Stasiv open IJS on Ellados Avenue. A competition-focused academy with serious standards from day one — small group, big plans.
2024
Cyprus · Third owner
Vladimir Boiko joins as owner
Marketing, sponsorship and member experience get a dedicated lane. The school doubles in active members within twelve months.
2025
Cyprus · Fourth owner
Ivan Tomasetti joins as owner
In August 2025, the adults head coach steps into ownership. Technical leadership and the adults program now have a seat at the ownership table.

Meet the
four of us.

Most BJJ academies are run by a single head coach who also does the books, fixes the lights, answers the WhatsApp messages, and somehow still teaches every class. IJS is run by four owners with four different lanes — so the coaches can coach, the strategy stays sharp, the technical standards stay high, and the school grows on purpose, not by accident.

Roman Gorval — co-founder of IJS
Co-founder · 2023
01 Co-founder · 2023
Roman Gorval
StrategyLocationsLong-term plan

"A school is a ten-year project. Every decision we make has to make sense ten years from now."

Roman is the half of the founding pair that thinks in years, not in weeks. He's the reason IJS has a structured curriculum, a mat-time-per-age-group plan, and a standard for what a class should feel like — whether you walk in on a Monday in Paphos or a Saturday at a seminar.

Day-to-day he runs the things that don't have a quick payoff: opening new locations, planning the academy roadmap, partnerships with other schools, and how the IJS brand shows up in the world. If you've ever wondered why IJS doesn't feel like it's chasing the next trend, that's him.

Owns this
Strategy & Roadmap Location Expansion Marketing & Brand Affiliations Curriculum Oversight
Vitaly Stasiv — co-founder & head coach
Co-founder & head coach
02 Co-founder · 2023
Vitaly Stasiv
Head coachCurriculumCompetition team

"Technique is what we teach. Discipline is what we actually build."

Vitaly is the head coach. He's the one most members will tell you they "trained under" — because he runs the room. Black belt under a recognised lineage, decades on the mat, hundreds of students through his hands.

His lane is the training product itself: the age-group curriculum, the technical progression from white-to-blue, the competition team, and the coach standards that every IJS instructor has to clear before they teach. He's also the one who says "no" to bad shortcuts in the curriculum — and that's why parents trust their kids on his mat.

Owns this
Head Coach Curriculum Competition Team Coach Certification Belt Progression
Vladimir Boiko — owner since 2024
Owner since 2024
03 Owner since 2024
Vladimir Boiko
MarketingSponsoringCommunity

"A great gym that nobody knows about is just a private club. Our job is to make sure the right families find us."

Vladimir joined IJS in 2024 — first as a member, then as the third owner. He brought what most BJJ schools never get: a serious operator who knows how to put a story in front of the right audience, and who isn't afraid to do it.

He runs everything that happens off the mat: marketing and brand, the sponsor and partner network, the seminar and event calendar, and the way new members find us in the first place. The Max Carvalho seminar, the Balaton training camp, the Paphos Winter Open — those happen because Vladimir books, packages, and promotes them.

Owns this
Marketing & Brand Sponsoring & Partners Events & Seminars Community Growth Member Experience
Ivan Tomasetti — owner & adults head coach
Owner since Aug 2025
04 Owner since August 2025
Ivan Tomasetti
Adults head coachTechnical leadershipStandards

"There are no shortcuts in this sport. You can either earn the position, or pay for it later."

Ivan is a black belt with over three decades on the mat — a multi-discipline grappler with European and World podiums in BJJ, grappling, judo and sambo, and the head coach of the IJS adults program. He's also the founder and owner of Kano Kimonos, one of the biggest BJJ brands in the EU. He joined the school as adults head coach and, in August 2025, stepped into ownership as the fourth owner.

He's in charge of setting the curriculum, maintaining training standards on the mat, running the no-gi program, and bridging the gap between recreational members and competition-track athletes. He also ensures IJS members have access to gear that holds up to serious training and competitions. With Ivan on the ownership team, the technical voice of the school sits directly at the decision-making table.

Owns this
Adults Head Coach Technical Standards No-Gi Program Premium Gear (Kano Kimonos) Adult Curriculum Sparring Culture
How we split the work

Four lanes.
One scoreboard.

Each owner has clear authority over their lane. On anything that touches the whole school — pricing, hires, new locations, big partnerships — all four sit at the same table and we don't move until we agree.

 
Roman
Vitaly
Vladimir
Ivan
Training & Curriculum
Support
Lead
—
Support
Strategy & Long-term Planning
Lead
Support
Support
Support
Marketing & Brand
Lead
Support
Support
—
Sponsoring & Partnerships
Support
Support
Lead
—
Coach Hiring & Development
Support
Lead
—
Support
Events & Seminars
Support
Support
Lead
Support
Competition Team
—
Lead
Support
Support
Adults Program & No-Gi
—
Support
—
Lead
 Lead — owns the decision Support — contributes & reviews

Why we do
it this way.

Not a manifesto. Just the rules we actually use when we're deciding something — about a class, a hire, a price, a new program.

01

Structure beats charisma

Charismatic coaches retire. A documented curriculum, age-group plans, and clear coach standards survive any one person leaving the school.

02

Beginners are the product

Most schools optimise for advanced students. We optimise for the person walking in on day one. Get that right and the rest follows.

03

Compete if you want to

Tournaments are a tool, not the destination. We build a clear pathway for kids and adults who want them, and we make hobby-only just as respected.

04

Honest feedback, every time

Coaches give parents an honest read after class — the good parts and the parts that need work. No spin. No upsell.

05

Two cities, one school

Whether you walk into Paphos or Peyia, the curriculum, the warm-up, the language, and the standards are the same. One school, two doors.

06

The mat doesn't lie

Marketing can sell a class once. Only what happens on the mat keeps members for ten years. We invest in the room before we invest in the campaign.

07

International by default

Members from twelve countries train at IJS. Classes are taught in English. Nobody is the "outsider" — that's why it's called the International Jiu-Jitsu School.

08

Four keys, one door

Big decisions need all four of us in the room. It's slower, but it's the reason we don't make decisions we regret six months later.

2023
The year we began
operating IJS in Cyprus
2
Locations
Paphos & Peyia
200+
Active members
across all programs
30+
Nationalities
on the mat
"
We didn't move IJS to Cyprus to run a gym. We moved it here to build a school the island didn't have yet — and to keep building it for the next ten years.
Roman, Vitaly, Vladimir & Ivan · Owners
Come see for yourself

The first class
is on us.

Reading about a school only gets you so far. Step on the mat for a free trial — kids, teens, or adults — and see how the room feels in person.

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