BJJ check in........

[Cliff Hargrave]

Let's hear it, time, rank, instructor, orgnaization, website, whatever........

Time: 9 years (off and on)
Rank: four stripe blue belt
Instructor: Pat Hardy (black belt)
Organization: Royce Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Network
Website: http://www.tpcjiujitsu.com/

When I started Pat was a blue belt and a Gracie Academy Training Association. I think I am the lowest ranked out of the orginal crew that is still around

[moogong]

Time: 4 Months
Rank: White Belt
Instructor: Chris Mahan
Organization: Team Gustavo Machado
Website: www.gmbjjteam.com

[Erik]

Time: 9 months BJJ
(4 years including Submission Wrestling, Judo, and non-Brazilian sport jiu jitsu)
Rank: dirty, ragged white
Instructor: Sandro "Batata" Santiango, Cameron Earle, and Ralph, of course
Organization: Ralph Gracie Jiu Jitsu
Website: http: http://www.ralphgracie.com/AcademiesMV.htm

Well known guys from our club: Cameron Earle, Justin "The Machine" Holder, Mike Prudencio, Dave Camarillo, Gumby (www.onthemat.com), Tom Cissero, up-and-coming Hank Hu, and a bunch of other great guys!

[TonyU]

Time: 9 months
Rank: Pond scum (white belt)
Instructor: Edson Carvalho (5th degree black belt)
Organization: Tri-State Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy
Website: http://edsoncarvalho.com/

Well known guys from the academy; me.

[Cliff Hargrave]

Well known guys from our club: Cameron Earle, Justin "The Machine" Holder, Mike Prudencio, Dave Camarillo, Gumby (www.onthemat.com), ......

Scotty from onthemat.com, the guy that lives in Rio, is orginally from Beaumont, TX. He came by our school when he was visiting his parents and rolled with everyone. I wasn't there that night but everyone said he was a cool guy.

[Erik]

I forgot to mention Don Geddis who made the www.bjj.org website.

That's him choking someone out with a triangle while the guy is hitting away.

I'm so sick of driving an hour every time I practice (after a full day of work) when there is another BJJ club within walking distance of my apartment and one more 9 miles away.

But some of the guys at the MV academy I like rolling with so much that I simply cannot imagine leaving them. Call me sentimental.

Sports buddies are the best ones.

[Tony Dismukes]

Time: 7 months BJJ (quite a few years assorted other arts)
Rank: White belt
Instructor: Mike Patt
Organization: Team Jorge Gurgel
Website: http://www.beavercreekmartialarts.com/

Mike has only had his own school open for about 7 months, so we don't have any big names yet. However, we are an offshoot of Jorge Gurgel's school (and many of us will drive down to work out there on Saturdays.) There are some notable names out of Jorge's school, such as Jorge himself, Jon Stutzman, and Rich Franklin.

[KIT]

Training:

Submission grappling with an unranked guy named Ed Pearson who trained with Relson Gracie in Hawaii as well as a couple Gracies off and on since 1996.

3 mos. formal training with Gudo Prado - younger brother of Juliano Prado.

Seminars with Juliano Prado and Fabio Santos (years ago).

Drop in training with Robin Gracie's place in Barcelona, Spain (Robin wasn't there) and a few others here and there, including Tevor Burnell, a local MMA fighter who is now a brown under Romolo Barros.

Regular cross training with a blue belt under Pedro Sauer and Royce Gracie, and a couple other blue belts from different orgs that I have rolled with or trained with over the years.

Other cross training with guys who train at Team Quest.

Rank: None.

[Tony Dismukes]

Oh yeah, if we're going to mention seminars & such. I've attended BJJ seminars and visited BJJ classes for years previous to actually signing up for regular training at a BJJ academy.

[Jeff C.]

3 years or so, off and on (in addition to the other stuff I do that you already know about).

Purple belt.

Charles DosAnjos, black belt, former instructor of Barra Gracie, now at Wolfpack BJJ, Sarasota, FL, member of the Royce Gracie network too.

Jeff Cook
Wabujitsu

[Cliff Hargrave]

Rank: None.

The BEST rank to be......no pressure.

[KIT]

Its fun with some people when after rolling I tell them I do judo, not BJJ....

[AndrewSimonsen]

Time: two classes
Rank: the weird wrestler who had his shoulder dislocated his second class

[Fletch1]

Time: Since September 97
Rank: Purple (12-03)
Instructor: Luis Gutierrez (SBG VP & BJJ Brown Belt)/ Marcelinho Pereira- (Nova Uniao Black Belt)
Organization: Affiliated Training Group of the Straight Blast Gym
Website: See my signature. Also check out www.straightblastgym.com & www.onedragon.com.

[Antares33]

Time: A little under 1 year total training time.
Rank: White
Instructor: David Ruiz (black belt)
Organization: RCJ Machado
Website: http://www.coloradobjj.com/

Some days I feel like I'm almost ready for a blue belt, others I feel like I should take up macrame instead :P

[ssenniug]

Time: about 9 months
Rank: White belt
Instructor: William Vandry (black belt)
Organization: Machado Jiu Jitsu (Carlos)
Website: http://www.austinbjj.com/

[Gae-Bek]

Time: Started in March of 2004 (about 15 months)
Rank: three stripe white belt
Instructor: Mark Plavcan (purple belt)
Organization: Jorge Gurgel
Website: http://madisonbjj.homestead.com/index.html

Hey Tony! I didn't know that you were a Gurgel affiliate, too. Awesome! Did you make NAGA (Chicago) this year?

[Tony Dismukes]

Hey Aaron. No, I didn't make NAGA. I just started competing a couple of weeks ago at the Battle of Columbus. I won first place in the geezer's, er, master's division, but was so sore afterwards that I skipped the regular adult division. Now I'm hyped about competing and am working out diligently so that when I attend the Ohio Valley Grappling Championship on July 30, I'll be in good enough shape to compete in the masters and adult divisions.

I actually met Jorge some years ago when he was a blue belt and had just started teaching a BJJ class out of someone else's dojo. I was at that time taking muay thai and American jujutsu at a different school. I felt I was getting better stand-up training where I was, so I stayed where I was and periodically visited Jorge to get tips on groundwork. Then I went through a slow spell in my training for a few years due to school & other commitments, where I was only working out a few times per month. Meanwhile, Jorge was training like crazy, moved to his own school, worked his way up to black belt, and developed a whole stable full of top-notch professional fighters. Just goes to show what fanatical devotion to training can do for you, I guess.

[Tony Dismukes]

It's interesting to note the number of BJJ white belts in this thread who seem to have significant experience in other arts. (I see that at my dojo too, where I know of at least 5 white belts who have black belts in previous arts.) How about a run-down of how many years previous martial arts experience folks have had before starting BJJ? (For me, it's about 24 years in various arts, particularly ninpo taijutsu, muay thai & american jujutsu.)

[Gae-Bek]

I've got 11 years in Taekwondo, and about 8 years in Karate (variation of Go Ju).

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention some of the more noteable guys from my school. Basically, what Tony said (about Jorge and his crew). We (in Madison) also have a lot of seasoned MMA pros working-out with us...Pat O'Malley, Ron Faircloth, and Nick Thompson.