Phillip Thai was born in LA but raised in the Richmond area. He began training martial arts as a teenager, exploring BJJ, boxing and Muay Thai. A veteran of the US Marine Corps, Phillip was deployed once and was able to get a bit of BJJ in during his time enlisted. After serving, he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and has worked as a software engineer for over three years. Since joining Upstream BJJ in 2016, Phillip has been an avid and successful competitor with IBJJF gold medals from the Charlotte and Atlanta Open at white belt and blue belt respectively. He has also conquered gold and silver medals from local tournaments in his weight and absolute divisions. Phillip received his purple belt in December 2018 from Seph Smith and has since gone on to win his division at the Copa Virginia, Grappling Industries, a super fight at Toro Cup 13 and most notably the 2020 IBJJF Pan Americans and 2021 IBJJF No Gi Pan Americans at purple belt master 1 light feather weight. He was promoted to brown belt in July 2021 by Seph Smith, and his black belt in March of 2023. Phillip is a dedicated student of grappling, always exploring new concepts and strategies with great attention to detail. He is also a realtor and real estate redeveloper, so catch him at the gym to learn jiu jitsu and buy a new house.