Paul Kindzia describes himself as a "homeschooled, non-denominational, it takes a village black belt" and had a very unique route to getting his BJJ black belt. He was a ronin, training at different schools and did a lot of his training in his home dojo. This paid off because he was a top IBJJF Masters competitor at blue, purple, and brown belt, before being awarded his black belt by a … [Read more...]
Black Belt
Can You Learn Good Jiu-Jitsu from Bad People?
Imagine going through the expensive teacher training process to become a Bikram Yoga instructor. Imagine investing every penny you own to open your own studio, then slaving away at 105°F (41°C) with 40% humidity in class after class to make it financially viable. Then you find out that the founder of your system, Bikram Choudhury, has a warrant out for his arrest and has fled the country … [Read more...]
So You Just Got a BJJ Belt Promotion?
So you just got promoted? First of All, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! By the simple act of training you’ve set yourself apart. You’re doing something that 99% of normal people would never do. Armchair quarterbacks sure talk tough, but when it comes to actually putting it on the line and having skin in the game, well, nobody back-pedals faster. But that’s not you. You’ve trained, strained, sweated, … [Read more...]
Should You Compete in BJJ Tournaments?
I often get asked whether competition is essential to BJJ, and if you need to have competed to get promoted to black belt. (If you prefer to watch or listen to me talk about this this topic then just scroll to the bottom of this blog post and look for the video called "Do you need to compete to get your black belt"). The quick answers are: no, you don't necessarily need to compete. And no, … [Read more...]
The Secret to Getting Your Black Belt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWcbLgxANFo Pssst, want to become a BJJ black belt? The 'secret' is simple: just don’t quit! Of course, the devil is in the details, which is why this article is more than two lines long... I want to start with the fact that almost everybody can eventually become a black belt, so if you just keep training hard then you’ll probably make it. One my … [Read more...]