How Tanuki Martial Arts Made Toronto's Greektown a BJJ Home
Starring
Seiji Sugiman-Marangos holds a PhD in biochemistry and ran a campus BJJ club for seven years, coaching from white belt through brown. He left a research position at SickKids hospital to open Tanuki Martial Arts full-time, bringing a background spanning Shotokan Karate, Taekwondo, Wing Chun, Capoeira, Wushu, and seven amateur MMA fights.
Marianna Zafiroudis is a BJJ black belt and former competitive boxer who won gold at purple and blue belt and earned silver at Pans at brown belt. She brings a background in child and youth work with high-needs kids to co-lead Tanuki's kids program alongside Seiji.
About the Gym
Tanuki Martial Arts opened in April 2022 in Toronto's Greektown neighborhood, co-founded by Seiji Sugiman-Marangos and Marianna Zafiroudis. Seiji holds a PhD in biochemistry and ran a campus BJJ club for seven years; Marianna competed internationally in boxing before transitioning to jiu-jitsu, winning gold at purple and blue belt and earning silver at Pans at brown belt. Both are BJJ black belts.
The gym offers adult and kids BJJ, adult boxing and kickboxing, MMA, wrestling, after-school programming, and kids boxing fitness, with both founders personally teaching the majority of kids' classes.
The gym is built around a community-first philosophy, welcoming all skill levels, from beginners to regional and national-level competitors. Membership pricing is transparent and publicly listed on the website, with equity-deserving memberships available on request for those facing financial barriers.
📍 475 Danforth Ave, Toronto, ON M4K 1P1
Summary
This episode tells the story of Tanuki Martial Arts, a BJJ gym in Toronto's Greektown neighborhood co-founded by Seiji Sugiman-Marangos and Marianna Zafiroudis.
Both are black belts with backgrounds in competitive fighting—Seiji in MMA, Marianna in boxing—who deliberately chose to build a community-first gym instead of a fight gym. They signed a lease during Ontario's last COVID lockdown in 2022, renovated during it, and opened a month later.
Four years in, they've grown entirely through word of mouth with no active marketing.
