Seems like only a short year ago I blogged on here about receiving my brown belt.  It was a bit of a surprise then, then I received my Black Belt last week from Ralph Gracie.

Those feelings and emotions I described in the earlier post about getting my brown belt?  Times that by about a million in getting my black.  I really can’t put it into words.  I was actually a bit choked up when I got it, more so, because Ralph actually gave me his own belt (the belt he always wore when teaching in Mountain View).

So I should talk about what it means to me get the black belt from Ralph.  It’s been discussed that Ralph’s promotions are fairly rare, so when they happen, they are definitely earned.  More so I know the man as someone with a huge heart that he wears on his proverbial sleeve.  Ralph is known for his insistence on mastering the basic techniques, and for his aggressive style, but the most important lesson I have learned from him over the years is BELIEVE.   No technique can be pulled off, no fight can be won unless you believe.  If Ralph says or does something he has the same confidence in it as he does that the sun is going to come up in the morning.  That belief is a powerful thing, especially in Jiu Jitsu, I’ve seen that belief countless times literally transform people’s lives, let them get in shape, transform their lives, be an example to others and even (in my case) take a skinny, uncoordinated guy and make him a black belt in Jiu Jitsu.

Ralph gave a speech about the belt meaning nothing unless you can back it up and have confidence in yourself.  At the Dublin promotion ceremony he also added, but “if you get a black belt from me, you could walk through hell and know that the devil himself would be scared of you.”

That night William Dias also received his black belt, and I couldn’t be happier for him.  We both started training about ten years ago and received our brown belts together.  Since that day I have to say that William has shown one of the most dramatic elevations in his personal game I’ve ever seen, he’s taken everything to another level and it’s pushed me that much more this past year also.

The man in the center is none other than BJJ.org’s Don Geddis, who finally got his brown belt (Ralph actually used the words long overdue, which I’ve NEVER heard him say).  Don was actually supposed to get his brown belt last year with William and myself, but missed to promotion ceremony and consequently waited another year to get his brown.  Don has done as much for the BJJ community as anyone in this sport, so I’m really happy for him as well.

Ralph has given a total of five black belt so far in the last week.  A little later on, Kelly Paul, Yugi Uchida, and Ben Zara all received their black belt as well at the Dublin/SF promotion ceremony.  From left to right in the picture is Alexander Crispim, Yugi, Kelly,  Ben, Ralph, Kurt Osiander, Joao “Jerry” Oliveira, Ratinho and myself.

Most days you will find me at the Mountain View Academy, trying to make it the best place I can possibly make it.  Having been there for ten years now it’s my home as much as any other place is, and I really do consider the people there and who have been through there as family.

The novelty of getting the black belt definitely hasn’t worn off or even completely sunk in yet.  The next morning I showed up to practice for the first time ever with absolutely no intention of training, rather I just wanted to sit around in my black belt.  Fortunately I snapped out of that mode in about two days and it’s now business as usual.

The other day my family (parents and siblings) were Google searching each other and came to the conclusion that I was the most famous person in the family.  Possibly, in the world of BJJ and MMA maybe, one brother is far more well known in the world of tax attorneys, and my sister is on a first name basis with Gary Larson and can use Jeffery Katzenberg as a reference.  At any rate, it prompted me to do some searching to see where else my name would come up:

I get a brief mention on Sherdog’s Beatdown Radio Show, where Sherdog’s editor Josh Gross mentions a conversation we had at Submission X in which I stated that I believe Roger Gracie is the best submission grappler in the world right now.  He goes on to call us (OntheMat) the world’s leader when it comes to Submission Grappling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  Thanks Josh!  I always thought he was alright, even if he is a Dodger fan.  (It’s a NorCal thing again, but the Dodgers pretty much represent the epitome of sports evil to me).

Next, I was asked my opinion of Rickson Gracie in Gracie Magazine.  This item actually came out awhile ago (and I don’t even remember how long ago I actually gave my reply), but was only made aware that it actually came out in the last week.  There I am in between Fabrico Werdum and Amaury Bitetti, among other heavy hitters on the scene.  Of course, the post reads like it was translated into Portuguese and back to English, but the gist of my point is still there.

I was also recently quoted in USA Today on a article on the rise in popularity of the UFC. We actually had about a fifteen minute conversation on the popularity of the UFC and MMA in general around the world, and I managed to get the conversation about my true passion, jiu jitsu.  The part that made the article is:

An outlaw air is fuel to any fiery lifestyle trend, says Alan Marques, co-owner of onthemat.com, an MMA fan site that recently expanded into retail stores.

“A lot of our shoppers just want to look the part, the same way people are lured to skateboarding and surf wear,” Marques says. “Wear a T-shirt with a tie to mixed martial arts, and instantly you’ve got this tough, in-your-face image.”

I just noticed I’m quoted as suggesting to “wear a T-shirt with a tie”, which looks kind of odd.  Ah well, getting quoted by USA Today certainly ups the fame factor among my siblings….

Here are a couple of blogs I think you should check out (also linked on theright hand column):

First of all, good friend Adisa Banjoko’s Blog has moved, and is attracting a wide audience on the San Francisco Chronicle website.  Adisa talks about martial arts, politics, race relations, hip hop music, religion, chess and whatever ever else strikes his fancy, but he does so in a way that he sees both the connections between all and the light.  Check it out.

Secondly, and this is a relatively new discovery for me, check out Valerie Worthington’s BJJ Vision Quest.  Actually, the story begins here on her personal website.  In short summary, Valerie decided to sell her condo, buy a car and travel the United States to discover Jiu Jitsu around the country.  A very cool trip indeed, and one I can relate to.  I finally got the chance to meet her formally at the East Coast Grappling Championship Tournament, I think we hit it off like old friends immediately.  Her Blog is a good read, and she posts, REALLY frequently, so do check it out.

Hi there,

I write the national entrepreneurship column for the Globe and Mail (Canada’s National Newspaper). I thought you might get a kick out of my latest column as it talks about Brazilian jiu-jitsu techniques being applied to small business.  Hell, maybe it is even blogworthy (love your blog)?  Anyway feel free to do with it as you please, but I would be fascinated to see if you agree with my findings:

Sean’s Article 

So I got into a bit of a conversation this weekend that began with the discussion of a teammate and friend Kelly Paul.  Kelly recently won the ADCC Trials Ladies Division and in my opinion she is among the elite female grapplers on the planet.  There was some speculation (both brought up in the conversation and on the internet) about what makes Kelly such a good competitor.

Speculation I can understand, the cattiness of some of the contributors I cannot.  Of all the theories and posits made about Kelly, the most obvious truth was never mentioned:  Kelly has been training at nearly twice as long as any other competitor in that field and has worked her ass off on the mat the entire time.  As a teammate I know this for a fact, I’ve seen her take her lumps (and helped dished them out) for years along side some of the most celebrated athletes in the sport.  Furthermore, she has the advantage of having as a regular training partner Jen Locke, who is also one of the most accomplished female competitors in the sport (more why this is an advantage later).

Although I know it is done all the time, I also find it more the somewhat ironic that any female in this sport should be singled out by her appearance and/or lifestyle choices, particularly by other women in the sport.  To a certain extent they should aware that there are certain views and perceptions of all females in the sports in general, whether they are from inside or outside of our sport.  Some people who are leveling criticism are themselves wide open to the same criticism by someone on the outside looking in.  To be fair EVERYONE in this sport deserves to be critiqued and discussed in a matter strictly dealing with the on the mat abilities, not their off the mat lifestyles.

To be fair, women are obviously in a more unique space in this regard then the men are.  Although the opportunities and pay/rewards for women athletes in our sport are far, far below the opportunities for men, in some ways they are a large draw to our sport –for reasons other than their abilities.  Were you aware that one of the top selling MMA DVD’s of all time is the HooknShoot Revolution (All Women’s MMA Championships)?  A very low percentage of the customers seem to be people who are into the sport as well.  Who then is the audience for this show?

(Mind you, the success of this DVD came as a great surprise to promoter Jeff Osborne as well, who certainly was looking to help the female athletes of MMA the recognition and rewards they deserve, but was seen as taking a GIGANTIC risk to feature an all female fight card)

The bottom line is however is that sex sells, and plenty of women in this sport, intentionally or not will use their sex appeal to help promote themselves.  Whether or not this is “empowerment” based on who is exploiting who and for what purpose is not a debate I want to get into at this time, but be aware that whatever contributes to the perception of women in the sport, in a positive or negative light should be of interest to everyone interested in the sport as a whole.

A few questions were raised the fairness to other women competitors in the sport, and the number of women in competition in general.  To me these questions are part of a larger concern; how do we recruit and retain more women in the sport in general (which again, is a subset of the question how do we bring more people to the sport in general)?   My personal belief is that I love Jiu Jitsu and I think it has something to offer everyone, men, women and children, old and young alike.  (Again, a subject I can go on about for pages upon pages, but am not at this time).

We must recognize there are certainly unique issues regarding the recruitment of any of the aforementioned groups into Jiu Jitsu, women probably present the most unique challenges in this regard.  To skip to the universal truth, everyone deserves a place to train Jiu Jitsu in an environment that is both safe and secure, and a good program that will both test and push one’s boundaries.  The first part, making new recruits feels safe and secure, is the first challenge, because introductions to Jiu Jitsu, a very close contact sport, are often awkward for any newcomer, much less a woman walking into the sport.  Although I’m sure that it seems perfectly natural right now, imagine how you felt the first time he found yourself either in or using the guard position.  Now imagine if you that first experience with someone of the opposite sex.  While I believe these concerns are very quickly overcome by most, this is still a large hurdle to overcome, and I’m willing to bet this keeps many from trying the sport in the first place.  However, with patience on all sides and a guiding hand, I’m confident this can and usually is overcome rather quickly.

The second issue, of testing and pushing one’s boundaries is also an issue of retention and again women are in a unique situation for a number of reasons.  Firstly women are usually (not always) smaller and physically weaker than the average male in the class.  Particularly in the early stages of a Jiu Jitsu Career before technique is really refined, this can be a major issue.  Ultimately Jiu Jitsu is learning how to use technique and leverage as opposed to brute strength (right) in order to gain an advantage over an opponent, but it takes time to develop these skills and the initial stage can be frustrating to say the least, thus leading to the drop outs that are common in this sport (men and women).  Furthermore, I believe many women grapplers who train the majority of their time with men might never experience this, because a lot of men (consciously or subconsciously) often treat their male and female sparring partners differently for a myriad of reasons.  I personally like to think I adjust my game and pressure based on the level of skill and relative strength of my opponent alone, I realize the fact that on some level I probably do adjust my game when I roll against women as well (although I really, really try not to).  This creates an unfortunate situation in which women may not have the opportunity to be pushed to their full boundaries.

The most obvious solution to this, is have women train with other women, as the (for lack of a better term) sexual awkwardness issue is then a moot point.  Of course, any school is lucky to have one exceptional female athlete on the team, much less two, here explains one of the reasons I’ve mentioned that Kelly Paul is such an outstanding competitor, in that she has an equally skilled, tough teammate in Jen Locke to push her.  Although they are certainly pushed to a higher level by their teammates, either lady will be quick to point out that the other is has a large part for their combined successes.  Once again, the same holds true for any athlete in our sport, they rarely develop in a vacuum, they are a result of hard work and how hard the team they surround themselves with is capable of pushing them.  As an old saying in wrestling goes (but was most famously articulated by Randy Couture) “Iron sharpens iron, and so one man must sharpen another).   Or I suppose we could and should make this statement gender neutral.

I’ll end this essay with a question to the women out there.  Do you want to be known for being good in Jiu Jitsu, or do you want to be known as being good in Jiu Jitsu for a girl?  If you want the former, then realistically what are you expecting to accomplish in this sport, and how do you plan on getting there?  Think about that answer for a second or longer; your personal journey is a long and windy one, but we all have more in common than not.

Nice work in capturing the moment Jeff….