Hey. My name is Eric. I have been training for about 9 years now. Did some no gi for 3 years and then we started training with Gi. I fell in love with the sport and can not imagine ever quitting. Can't wait to start training again. I train in Rotterdam at Satsang BJJ. I try to compete as often as i can.

Hey All, my name is Jeff and I'm from Erie, PA. I started training in 2006/07 in Charlotte, NC for close to 2 years but I've been with my current school and instructor since I moved back to Erie in the summer of 2009. I took a bit of time off after I got my purple belt to concentrate on grad school (as well as have a few kids and work on my career), but I was able to make a comeback and train my balls off the past 2 years to finally get my brown belt from my instructor Mike Rooney about 2 months ago. As with everyone else on here, I'm pretty frustrated without being able to train right now especially since I JUST got my brown belt. My biggest training goals once we get back are to get my black belt by 40 (I'm 38 now) and to take a deep dive into improving my standup game through more Judo and Wrestling. I'd love to eventually get a Judo black belt as well, but my brain is focused on BJJ first and foremost.

On a personal note, I have a wife and 2 kids (6 and 3). My 6-yr old son also started training this past summer and my 3-yr old daughter talks about jiu-jitsu constantly, so she'll be starting pretty soon as well if it's up to her. I have a master's degree from WVU in Integrated Marketing Communications and I work as a digital marketing strategist for several marketing agencies, although business has slowed down considerably the past few weeks with the shutdown. I also own a small commercial pick-your-own blueberry farm, I raise pigs, chickens, and ducks, I love to hunt and fish, and I'm a pretty big Pittsburgh Penguins fan.

A great example of a true martial artist..
Always looking to improve whilst always helping others

I'm Pedro Asencio, from Guatemala, i train at Gracie Barra Guatemala, i been training 10+ years, i recieved my black belt at the end of 2019

Hey all! I’m Markus Nylander and live in Sweden. I started training bjj in 2000-2001. Back then we didn’t have any black belts in Sweden. My main coach was a purple belt and I remeber he had to go to Brazil to get promoted. Anyhow I only trained for about a year, and then I had a loooong break. I started training again for about 3,5 years ago and I recieved my purple belt in the end of last year. I coach the kids class at the academy three times a week and my three daughters all train. They all started before they turned five and the oldest is turning 12 this year. Beltchecker is a really cool idea and I’m happy that I made it here. Found a picture of my youngest daghter winning her first match...

Hello everyone!

I have been training for a little over six years and have the privilege of being the instructor for my academy's women's class. I try to emulate the excellent example set by Jess Fraser of Australian Girls in Gi, so my classes are all about good technique but while having a laugh.

I hope that you are all doing ok, especially considering the almost worldwide gym closures. I'm lucky enough to have mats and my husband, who holds a brown belt, to train with at home. If we don't get mad at each other!

Welcome Melanie,
Trainjmh with your spouse will inherently lead you to take your chances with covid

Hi folks, my name is Ben and I've been training for just over 10 years around Brisbane, Australia. I have a brown belt in BJJ.

Ive had the pleasure of training at some great gyms with awesome people. After moving house to "the country" (rural south east Qld Australia) I feel like I value training more, given it is 45 minutes / 50km away!

Pre covid, I'd just started teaching the morning classes, which has been an awesome learning experience.

I hope everyone is not going too crazy in these crazy times. It's going to be awesome and weird to be back in the gym, when it happens eventually.

Welcome to all the newcomers!

Hi Guys, my name is Alan Kavanagh and I'm a brown belt under Bruno Alves in Sydney, Australia. I began BJJ in earnest in September 2014 under Professor Darragh O'Connaill in Dublin after getting a taste for it during my Tapout years (16-18) when doing MMA in a kickboxing gym. I quickly fell in love and obsessed with the art and was awarded my blue belt the following May. Years flew by as I'm sure was the case with many of you and after continuing to train consistently and competing sporadically I was awarded my purple belt in 2018. I then decided to migrate to Australia the same year to get a different perspective on life and Jiu jitsu played a key role in helping me establish myself in a new city and gaining new friends and training partners. I was fortunate enough to join a great school led by Professor Bruno Alves, a ferocious competitor and genuine nice person. Bruno saw fit to award me my brown belt on December 2019. I continue to train under Bruno though due to the quarantine the only person I get to grapple with is my partner. Glad to be a part of the community.

Hey guys, My name is Dominick. I’m a brown belt under CTA but due to being in the Army, active duty, I’m now under GFT in Fort Hood Texas. I’ve been training for close to ten years. Still trying to get verified. If anyone can help that’ll be great!

Hi everyone,

I am a 2 stripe blue belt at Gracie Barra Barnsley under professor Oliver Lovell, a Victor Estima black belt who took silver at the 2019 Abu Dhabi World Pro after beating Levi Jones on route to the final.

I have trained since August 2016, competing 3 times at local comps, 1st comp at white belt, took silver (BJJ247 Manchester 2017), I then competed at BJJ247 Liverpool 2017, lost first match and that was comp over. Competed again in 2018 at the Empire Grappling Yorkshire open, took silver, first comp after receiving my blue belt in January 2018.

If anyone can help verify my rank I would really appreciate it.

Great to be part of this community
First stripe on blue was in September 2018, second stripe was July 2019.

Hi guys, my name is Anthony, I'm a 25yr old school teacher, i mainly teach kindergarten kids to primary school kids, I've been training for 5-6 years, recently got my bluebelt, registered under GFTeam international. I train in Semarang city, indonesia (middle of nowhere basically lol) my coach is a purple belt, my professor is a blackbelt also under GFTeam but he's based in Jakarta, so i have to travel back and forth if i want to train with him,but i guess my coach is very decent and can beat me up pretty well lol. My first tournament was back in 2014 i think,been competing since then but only win few matches. I'm into leglocks for the last 2 years haha i love the dark side lol. If by any chance anyone of u r traveling to my city, don't hesitate to contact me through my Instagram @anthony.candrasaputra

Thanks guys. Osssss

Hello all and welcome

Hi, Nate from the Sunshine Coast , Queensland, Australia. I am a father of 3, have a very understanding wife & a terminal Jiu Jitsu addiction.

I did the usual traditional martial arts growing up & watched in awe when Royce won UFC 1. It wasn't until 2007 after leaving the Army that I found the opportunity to train Jiu Jitsu. I trained very sporadically until in 2009 I found Isohealth BJJ in Adelaide, where I was fortunate to train under Matt Jones (Literally under him - That guys top game is HEAVY). I was lucky to be able to stay with Matt at Isohealth through to Purple.

In 2017 I moved back home to the Sunshine Coast & was fortunate to already have somewhere lined up to train. In 2018 I was promoted to Brown by James Woodfield-Jones of Sustainable Jiu Jitsu Perth, at the conclusion of an amazing weekend of very challenging training. Continuing in 2018, my close friend & best training partner & I opened Forge Martial Arts. For the last 3 years I have had the great honor to coach & train with an amazing group of individuals & sincerely hope we can get out of these times of social isolation & get back to training ASAP.

Hey all, I’m Michael. I’m 45 years old and have trained Bjj since 2002 or maybe 2003, I can’t remember exactly. I’m a black belt and live in Singapore where I train at Move2Live and FaMA.

I’m originally from Canada and started training at a Gracie Humaita school, then Gracie Barra, moved to Singapore in 2009 and trained at Evolve for around 6 years, took some time off to heal a herniated disk, which turned into a 3 year break, started training again in 2016 and got my bb mid-2018.

You can find pics of me sometimes almost winning grappling tournaments @onmyasana

Hello Jiu Jitsu family!

My name is Virg.

First, I’d just like to express my sincere gratitude to Christian for creating BeltChecker.

I’ve been training since 2008. After about 18 months training with some friends (the most competent of which is now a black belt under Cyborg Abreu), I decided it was time to join an academy full-time. In 2009, I joined Renzo’s. I’ll omit the specifics, but after training there for several months I decided that a different academy would be a better fit for me, leading me to begin training under Ailson “Jucão” Brites in 2010. I stayed with Professor Jucão from white to brown belt, when we respectfully parted ways in 2019. Since then, I have been training under Professor Jose Luis Becerra (2nd degree black belt under Octavio Henrique Couto da Silva Jr).

IG: @virgminervini for anyone who’d like to see time-stamped photos. It’s a public profile so you don’t have to follow to look! Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this or vote on my verification.

Hi everyone, my name is Adam. I have been training for about 9.5 years under Vitor Shaolin in NYC. Currently a brown belt. I started training a few years after graduated from law school and working at a law firm. I wanted to get back into martial arts and my friend Fernando convinced me to try BJJ. Haven’t stopped since. Really missing the mats during this quarantine. Tried out a new gi on my last training day before NY closed down so I have a shot of my last day on the mats.

Hi my mates!
My name is Domov Alexander , I am a purple belt under professor Kristian Cestaro who moved from Brasilia to Moscow many years ago to teach Russian students from scratch. I started bjj in 2012 from two trainings a week and I even didn't know why this jiu-jitsu is Brazilian. I thought it was kind of sambo and the only difference is a gi with bright patches. I never grappled a day in my life except a few months MMA trainings in Alexey Oleynik UFC fighter. So I started training to improve my wrestling skills and fell in love with BJJ.
I am running the FB public for adult jitsers sharing my training experience and my mate’s stories.

Privet! :)

I'll do this one properly now.

Dad of 2. 40 years old, roughly 35 of those were spent doing martial arts (judo, japanese jiu jitsu, karate, capoeira, wing chun, muay thai, wrestling and finally bjj).

Started formal instruction in bjj at the end of 2000. Lived in the states & got my blue belt there, then moved back to Amsterdam and started with my current teacher, who built me up until black belt. Corona messed up my second degree promotion by a few weeks.

I am a Carlson lineage guy, but I'd like to think I'm pretty fun to roll with. Although (if you're able bodied and my size or bigger) I will most likely put the presh.

Got involved with BJJ Globetrotters since pretty much it's first or second camp, and have been in the Council of Travelling Black Belts ever since.

Hi everyone! I started in 2010 at a small MMA school in Norman, Oklahoma. I moved to Seattle 7 years ago and have been at Brian Johnson's Northwest Jiu-Jitsu Academy since.

I've competed a few times per year for most of my time practicing, and haven't ever had a lot of success in terms of wins. However, I think competing has always been a huge part of my personal growth, both on and off the mats, and I plan to continue in the future.

I've only been to one camp: 2018 Zen Camp. I had a great time, met some great people, and am looking forward to attending more in the future.

I'm currently in a coding bootcamp, with the goal of being able to support a more independent lifestyle that would allow me the ability to travel more. I would love to float around training and meeting new folks through jiu-jitsu while working remotely.

Thanks for reading! :)

Hi Everyone I’m Craig,

I just started using this so thought I’d introduce myself and tell a bit about my bjj Journey as it may be a bit different to others.

I’m currently a brown belt from Scotland and started training in 2009 at an MMA/Judo club called The Dojo. Soon after I started traveling to learn BJJ in Glasgow from Scott Mcveigh as there were very few BJJ instructors in Scotland at the time and was promoted to blue belt after some time. As I focussed more on my MMA career I moved to Higher Level MMA where I have trained ever since under James Doolan and was graded to purple and brown belt after many years.

In March 2013 I made the trip to California to train at 10th Planet Corona with Jeremy Fields and Sean Bollinger studying the 10th Planet system. I’ve made several trips since staying for long periods at a time and also have been graded to brown belt in 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu.

This may seem a bit strange to some but I’ve never been an us and them person which seems to be common in martial arts. I’m a big believer in studying all grappling styles and I’m fortunate both coaches have never had an issue with it.

I now coach my own students who are starting to have some competition success in grappling and MMA. Our team name is The Submission Factory. If you’re ever in Scotland check us out.

Hi all. I'm an Army Brat who grew up moving around the world. Loved it so much I joined up and have served in the U.S. Army for the past 18 years. I started formally training BJJ about 3.5 years ago at Ribeiro Jiu Jitsu NOVA in Springfield, VA and since moved to Fort Bragg, NC where I train at Cornerstone BJJ, a Fight To Win affiliate. However, I've grappled, wrestled, boxed, and done various forms of martial arts most of my life. I'm pumped to move to Europe in the next few months and check out the Jiu Jitsu scene in Italy. Hope to see you on the mats!

Hi my name is Pär Berg im training with Peter Blackwell (first scandinavian blackbelt) in Malmö Sweden att MMA Alliance. I have trained and competed MMA and BJJ since 2007 but i have had many Injuries.
right now im recowering from a knee surgery. I love Martial Art and traveling with my wife

Hello!

My name is Ryan Lawzano. I begun training BJJ almost 2 years ago and have been hooked ever since. My first exposure to jujitsu of any kind was during Army basic training, which was just enough training to not know anything about BJJ. I was in the military for 8 year and have been in law enforcement for 11 years.

I am currently training at Gracie Barra in Hannibal, Missouri. When not in a pandemic, I train a few times a week....or as much as my wife will allow me to get away!

Hello,
I am Brian Cronmiller. I started BJJ in Woodbridge, VA outside of Washington, DC with Master Leo Dalla (1) in January 2011. I started because my son wanted to try BJJ so he could do better when wrestling the neighborhood kids. I was 38 when I started but I wanted to try it since I started watching UFC.

I ended up having to move to Vermont for work in June of 2013 and I was lucky that Julio "Foca" Fernandez's school was across the street from my new job. I trained there until I moved back to Washington DC in July of 2018. Since I returned to Woodbridge, I have trained at VanGuard Gym that is run by Leo Dalla Black Belt - Coach Doug Esposito (3). I recieved my Blue Belt from Dalla, my purple and brown from Julio and I will get back to training 2 to 3 times a week after the pandemic and my knee surgery.

I am from Philadelphia originally but I ended up in Washington DC after my USMC enlistment ended in 1999. When I worked in Vermont, my job allowed me to travel to a lot of great locations. I always drop in on a local BJJ class when I visit a town and I am amazed at how fast we are to treat a stranger like an old friend. I have visited schools in LA, NYC, Orlando, Omaha, Anchorage, San Antonio, Philadelphia, and other places I cannot remember. I look forward to getting back in the gym and on the road when life returns to something like normal. I hope to run into you out there.

1. https://www.bjjheroes.com[...]/leo-dalla
2. https://www.bjjheroes.com[...]-fernandez
3. https://www.youtube.com/c[...]u0A/videos

Hello everyone!
I’m new on the site, trying to figure out how to obtain the proper verification and approval votes and while surfing in the forums I’ve seen someone recommending to introduce myself here....so here we go :)
I’m 40 yo, (actually hitting the milestone on the 29th of May), started BJJ in 2007-2008, my first competition in Gi was in 2009 (Hungarian Open Championship), winning my first medal (silver) and later on the same year the blue belt.
Due to life’s various challenges I had a gap in practicing, so the purple came much later on, restarting more seriously the competitions as well.
Nevertheless the main “competitor” period came once promoted to brown.
Couple of my relevant achievements are ADCC Europeans bronze, Combat Wrestling Europeans gold & silver, IBJJF Europeans Lisbon bronze and Barcelona silver (masters).
My other hobbies are my bike (Suzuki M109R), spending time with kids & family.
That’s it in a nutshell, hope to obtain couple of your votes so I can vote as well, adding value and members to this community.
OSS

Evening guys and gals.

Pleasure to join this website my name is Charles and I am a black belt under Neil Simkin of Gracie Barra WS1(Neil is a black belt under Braulio Estima and is heavily influential in the growth of children’s BJJ and the competition scene for them here in the UK).

I began training after being involved in a scuffle on the street where I got my ass handed to me :) I vowed like in any good karate film that I would never let this happen to me again so I trained with vengeance on my mind in traditional art of MMA ;). After about 3 months of that I realised I was too pretty to be punched in the face and I bought my first gi. I remember Neil teaching me to tie my belt and then me rolling with one of the team, to this day I have no idea how he tapped me as he was on my back and I could see both his hands and feet and they were not holding anything... from that moment I was hooked.

Since then I have had the pleasure of training with many great athletes and professors to name a few... Braulio Estima, Victor Estima, Ze Radiola, Roger Gracie, Kyra Gracie, Romulo Barral, Charles Negromonte, Draculino, Garry Tonon and then some of our homegrown talent here in the UK like Bradley Hill, Oliver Lovell, Jamie Paxman, Garry Christie, Paul McVeigh and Ash Williams. I have been able to travel and train in some great academies from Marcleos in New York to schools in Portugal, Scotland, Wales etc.

I help teach across a few of the GB schools in the midlands GB WS1, GB Cannock, GB Lichfield and GB Telford.

I have loved and hated my journey and even when I hated it, it was really frustration at myself rather than the art.

Anyway nice to meet everyone.

Hey all, Jake Sevits from Northeast Missouri. I've been training since June of 2017. I haven't had a place to train in my town and have had to travel a lot to train. It has been very fun to drop in to other gyms and meet new people. About a year ago I started a club in my town for people that wanted to train. A gym that I had previously been affiliated with told me that I could not be affiliated with them if I started the club, since I was a white belt. I chose to forgo their affiliation and start the club anyway as we were providing an opportunity for several people to train that otherwise would not travel to do so. At the same time, a black belt 3 hours from my town reached out to me and told me he supported what I was doing. His name is Josh Littleton, head instructor and owner of Cast Iron BJJ in Liberty, MO, a Renato Tavares affiliate. I try to get there once a month at the very least to train and make sure I am learning from a black belt. I have friends that train with me in my shop, and I travel to Des Moines once a week (in non-pandemic times) for work. When I am there I drop in at No Coast in Waukee, a CSW affiliate owned by head instructor Jared Bahr. The past three years have been full of ups and downs, at times feeling like I had no home, but I feel now like I am where I belong. On Saturday I got promoted to blue belt, and everyone that was there was very encouraging and told me they were very proud to have me on their team. A few of them I had only met once or twice. It felt great to feel appreciated! If you could help me get verified I would appreciate it!