Mr. Dean Heileman

Mr. Dean Heileman is a very special Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu contributor to The Fighter's Arsenal. Even though Mr. Heileman is no longer with us, his memory and legacy lives on through all the people he touched in his life. Mr. Heileman shaped the lives of many in the mixed martial arts community, so we felt it was only fitting to dedicate a page to his extraordinary life. Please take a moment to read his inspiring story.

Mr. Heileman started his Jiu-Jitsu journey in 1994. He was taking kickboxing lessons when a friend stopped by with a tape that would change the course of his life. That tape just so happened to be the first two UFC's. Mr. Heileman was so impressed that a man close to his size, Royce Gracie, was able to beat much larger opponents. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was new on the scene and Mr. Heileman had to learn more.

Shortly after watching the tape he began to hunt for a place to learn Jiu-Jitsu. Unfortunately living in Twin Falls, Idaho did not provide a local school in which to learn Jiu-Jitsu. Through a kickboxing buddy Mr. Heileman became aware of Pedro Sauer, who just so happened to have a school in Salt Lake City, Utah. Although it was a 4 hr drive to Salt Lake City, he felt lucky that a quality instructor had a school that close. Mr. Heileman and some friends would to make the journey to Salt Lake City at least once a week and then bring home the knowledge they learned to share with others eager to learn this growing fighting technique. Slowly Mr. Heileman developed a following of dedicated students, whom he would often just refer to as his friends, and he believed that teaching the techniques he learned made his game grow much more quickly.

In 1996 Mr. Heileman received news that would once again forever change the course of his life. At only 26 years old he was diagnosed with malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer. His doctor informed him that this disease was extremely serious and kills one person every hour, each day of the year. Mr. Heileman was shocked, but vowed not to let this horrible disease keep him down. He started his treatments straight away and underwent several surgeries to remove the cancerous areas. While on the treatments, namely interferon injections, he was unable to train. During this time Mr. Heileman had a lot of time to think and reflect on his life as well as on how much Jiu-Jitsu was playing a role in giving him the strength to fight the cancer. He truly believed that Jiu-Jitsu gave him the strength to make it through the horrible treatments and the fears of what lie ahead.

Toward the end of his treatments he began to get back into his training. Even though he could only train for a short time before become exhausted and ill he knew he needed to train in order to escape from harsh reality the cancer had imposed on his life. It was at this time that he tested for and received his blue belt from Pedro Sauer. Even though he was not able to roll at 100% he had all the knowledge necessary and there was no way Mr. Heileman was going to let is treatments or cancer stand in his way.

It was thought after the treatments that the cancer had been controlled, but unfortunately during a surgery meant to repair the scarring from the cancer extractions more melanoma was found. At this stage it was recommended that Mr. Heileman seek treatment from John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, California. In 1998 he began treatments and started making regular monthly trips from his home in Twin Falls to Santa Monica. He did not enjoy all the traveling, but leave it to him to find the silver lining. He knew that there were some great Gracie schools in the area and was determined to take advantage of this. After a brief search he found Rodrigo Medieros' school. He would attend Rodrigo's school whenever he was in Santa Monica to keep his Jiu-Jitsu fresh. It was here that Mr. Heileman received a dream come true private lesson from one of his Jiu-Jitsu heroes, Rickson Gracie. Even though Mr. Heileman was fresh out of another surgery, he could not pass up the opportunity of rolling with Rickson. His wound ended up opening up and began to bleed. This would have stopped most from risking further trauma, but not Mr. Heileman. He merely wrapped a bandage around his head wound and went back to rolling. Needless to say he couldn't help but leave an impression on Rickson Gracie.

In 1999 Mr. Heileman decided to try his hand at NHB fighting since his good friend and training partner Jacen Flynn had already fought and was training for a second fight. Even though Mr. Heileman was still on treatments he never let them slow him down. He ended up winning his fight with an armbar and Jacen won his with a rear naked choke. One fight was enough for Mr. Heileman, but Jacen was hooked and continued fighting. However Mr. Heileman stayed close with the fight community, training fighters and cornering many of Jacen's fights.

In 2000, during a routine chest X-ray, Mr. Heileman received more bad news. A spot was seen on his lung and after a CAT scan it was confirmed that the cancer had spread. Doctors removed a small peice of his lung and sent him home to recover. Mr. Heileman was now more concerned than he had ever been before because doctors had no real plan of attack for the newly spreading cancer. He was not afraid for himself, but for his wife and young daughter.

Even with this grim prognosis, Mr. Heileman continued training in Jiu-Jitsu and just six weeks after his surgery decided to enter the Joe Moriera tournament in Southern California. He did not want to let the cancer keep him from achieving his dreams, even if it meant he may not be at a hundred percent for his matches. Mr. Heileman ended up getting a gold medal in his weight class and a silver medal in the absolute class. Not bad for someone with advanced cancer and 6 weeks post surgery.

Mr. Heileman opened and ran his own Jiu-Jitsu school called Precision Jiu-Jitsu. Even with the cancer ravaging his body he continued to travel to different experts and bring back the knowledge he learned to his students. All of Mr. Heileman's training and unwillingness to let the cancer keep him down paid off when he received his Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Pedro Sauer in December of 2004 . This was one of his proudest moments and he said next to his wife and kids it was the thing he was most proud of.

Mr. Heileman never minded talking about his cancer with others. Not because he wanted their pity but because he wanted people to understand the disease and to let them know that he felt the cancer was actually the a wake up call that caused him to focus on the important things in life. This focus gave him the ability to train with many great practitioners and touch many peoples' lives.

On June 8th, 2005 Mr. Heileman lost his battle with cancer. On that day the world of Jiu-Jitsu lost a true champion of the sport and we all lost a great human being. Everyone who had the privilege of meeting Mr. Heileman will forever miss his selfless nature and kind heart.

We have made available several instructional videos which Mr. Heileman recorded for his students. There is some great content contained in these videos which will benefit all Martial Arts practitioners. One of The Fighter's Arsenal  goals  is to serve as a tribute to Mr. Heileman and give people who knew him a place to see his contributions. A portion of The Fighter's Arsenal revenue will be donated to a trust account for Mr. Heileman's widow and two children.

If you would like to add a note to Mr. Heileman's family, click here to sign his guest book.