I received my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu purple belt from Professor Vanderson Pires at Combat Room, New Zealand on November 28th, 2015.  Why is that a big deal?

Let’s start with a general statistic – most people quit training after blue belt.  Only 25% of people who begin BJJ make it to purple belt.   I think it’s something like 8-10% make it to black belt.  I’ve been a blue belt for 7 years.

When I still lived in Los Angeles, there was a period of about a year that my training was inconsistent – almost non existent.  Life demanded other priorities, so I had to give up training to save some money.  Other than that dark time, I’ve been training a lot.

Never in my life had I intended to be a martial artist until one day at the gym, I ran into a very large and scary looking individual who invited me to come down to his gym.  To begin my BJJ days, I had the privilege to train 5 1/2 years in Los Angeles with a legendary Carlson Gracie black belt, my friend Rey Diogo.

Rey Diogo (left), Dan Inosanto, Carlson Gracie Jr, and me

In 2009 I got to go to Brazil with Rey and train at the original Carlson Gracie Academy in Copacabana.  There I met Professor Alan Goes, Marcelo Saporito and Dennis Kang.  What an experience that was.

I returned with my eyes open to a whole new world of BJJ (and a few moves those guys taught me).  I’ve trained with friends on various travels.  A few trips to Oahu and Kauai, some Northern Cali friends, and now New Zealand.

Before coming to New Zealand 2 1/2 years ago, I had a friend who I worked and trained with who used to live in NZ.  He recommended Combat Room and to train with Vanderson and Alex when I got to NZ.

Being that Vanderson received his black belt from Rocian Gracie, who is Carlson Gracie’s brother and good friends with Rey Diogo, I felt like training there would still keep me in the family.  Loyalty is a big deal with me and with a lot of old school Jiu Jitsu guys, so it’s all good ;).  A month after arriving in Wellington, I happened to live upstairs from Combat Room, so I mosey’d down to class one day and introduced myself.  I was a warm welcome, and I was fortunate to roll with 4 black belts that night.  I immediately felt at home.

Because of an intense work schedule, I didn’t want to commit myself to the gym just yet, so I didn’t feel it was the right time to sign up.  I still wanted to train though, and met a few guys at work who trained BJJ.  So we would get together at lunch and train at the local fitness gym.  At the time, there was a brown belt who was running a once a week class at the gym, but he ended up leaving.  The guys took a vote and asked if I would teach them, since I was the senior belt and had most experience.  I took on the role and started teaching my 1st BJJ class!  Now.  I’m a traditionalist, so I did not overstep my boundaries.  I made it clear I would not be promoting belts or stripes – this was just an informal class that would resemble a real BJJ class.  Everyone was fine with that so we trained.

That 1st year I ended up getting a divorce and had to restructure my life.  I had to go back to LA for a month to take care of things and then come back to NZ to start fresh.  I began to hit the gym intensely and dropped about 25 kg’s in the span of 6 months, on top of teaching BJJ once a week.  During that time, I would always stop and chat with Brian (BJJ black belt at CR) outside Matterhorn to have a chat about movies or martial arts.  Seeing him kept training at CR in the back of my mind.  I think it was June 2014 I signed up  and started formerly training there.

2 months into training, I ended up popping a ligament in my foot and was out for 2 months on crutches.  1 of many injuries I’ve dealt with over my training years.  I persisted, on crutches, up about 100 feet of stairs everyday to get home, and I came back to train at the academy.  I was determined to get better.  I only focused on my guard game, feeling that’s what I needed to work on the most (and STILL need to work on).

In May 2015, Vanderson said he wanted me to grade for purple belt in November.  At the time, I was just coming off the Gallipoli project and starting back at Digi on The BFG and planning an ambitious music video shoot.  As soon as I finished working on the Pacific Heights – Airborne video, I began training for my purple belt exam and demonstration.  It was an intense month of practice with an amazing training partner – my buddy Dale.

Dale and I during my purple belt demonstration. Applying a baseball bat choke from knee on belly.

My goal with this demonstration was to tell the story of Jiu Jitsu – perhaps more of MY story WITH Jiu Jitsu.  I had to go back to my roots in Los Angeles, and review what I had learned with Rey Diogo.  Then I thought about the seminars and other training sessions I’ve had and implement the techniques I picked up along that path.  Dale had some really good input and suggestions to make the demo that much as well.  Vanderson made some suggestions to help guide me, as well as Adrian and Brian, so I had a lot to think about to put something together that was coherent and practical to my style.

Starting it’s base as a self-defence, I began my routine with 3 basic self-defence moves.  1. Someone grabs you from the front, 2. someone grabs you from behind, 3. someone grabs you from behind with a roll out.

The next bit was a Judo throw called Ippon Seoi Nage, to a side control called Kesa Gatame, with an arm lock from Kesa submission (some of you may not know what these are).  The remaining parts of my demonstration included a variation of throws and take downs, followed by common positions a BJJ practitioner will find themselves in, each to end with an assortment of submissions.  Everything I did was an homage to every instructor I’ve trained with or who has shared knowledge with me.  Dale was an incredibly training partner, and I couldn’t have been more please with both of our performances that day.

I’ve met so many great people and amazing Jiu Jitsu Masters over the years.  Life long friendships have been forged.  Jiu Jitsu is more than a martial art.  It’s a life style, a culture, a family.  No other martial art in the world brings people together like BJJ does.  In my travels, I’ve been out wearing one of my Jiu Jitsu t-shirts, and people come up to me to see if I train and invite me to train at their academy.  Instantly I have new friends – it’s incredible.  It’s so much more than fighting, fitness and sweating.  Everyone who trains knows this feeling.  The level of trust it builds between people is unlike anything I’ve experienced.

These last 2 1/2 years have been a blur.  I’ve worked A LOT.  I’ve trained a lot.  I went through a divorce.  I’ve been away from my family.  I’ve been away from my daughter who is the love of my life.  Many things have happened, and practicing for my purple belt was a great time for me to reflect on all of those things.  My purple belt not only means I’ve graduated to the middle of the class, but it also means a new beginning.  New friendships.  New travels.

When I go back 9 years: when I was working on Avatar, starting a new relationship, when my little girl was only 4, my apartment in Hollywood, my travels, etc. and how I never saw Jiu Jitsu coming, I get excited thinking what these next 8 1/2 years are going to bring.

All the purple brothers

It’s a big