Hello, my name is Thomas Kohlrausch. Some may know me by my nickname "Rambat".
I am from Germany. I am 57 years old and I started my way on the mat at age 6. I've been on the mat (judo) now for 50 years and started BJJ 10 years ago. I wear the brown belt (4 stripes).
My BJJ teacher is Raimar Mohrdieck from Hamburg.
On the photo below this post you can see my teacher Raimar Mohrdieck (BJJ Blackbelt 3 stripes) from the gym "Tensho Hamburg" (Germany). Next to it, the little fat one with the glasses, that's me... :-)

I'm Mark Gilston, I began training in judo at age 5 at the Jerome Mackey Academy in New York City and was promoted to black belt in the early 1980s. I competed actively up to my early 40's and then "retired' from competition after winning double gold at the Gay Games in NYC.
I began BJJ about 20 years ago after recovering from knee surgery (not from judo injuries) because the emphasis on matwork was a lot easier on the knees than standing. I was promoted to 4 dan in judo in 2015 by Stan Seidner and received my BJJ black belt in 2017 from Cleber Luciano. I've been teaching judo for over 40 years and BJJ for 5 years. As part of my response for my last judo promotion, I initiated a YouTube channel to give back to the community some of the knowledge I've absorbed over my many years of learning. At 69 years old, I currently teach and roll at CooperMMA in Austin Texas, and I plan to continue active BJJ well into my 70s and beyond. https://www.youtube.com/@[...]o/featured

Hello I’m joe thought I’d introduce myself and I’m not verified yet.

What’s your training / competition career been like?

I’ve been training for a while now. When I was a white belt I won’t agf nationals in nogi (can take pic of metal if needed?) can’t remember what year. I trained in Joplin mo starting out under an affiliate of Andre montario then got my blue from him in Wichita,ks. Was a forever blue for a while. Then Got my purple a year from my current instructor Matt T. or so ago and now. Was recently promoted to a two stripe! I work in law enforcement and think all law enforcement should train bjj.

Any questions just ask!

Hi, I'm Djóni from the Faroe Islands, I'm 43 years old. I have been training Jiu-Jitsu for a little over 5 years at Tórshavn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

I usually do an annual one month migration to Rio Grande, RS, Brasil where I train at Julio Secco academy, I try to bring as much of the Jiu-Jitsu I learn there back with me to the Faroe Islands.

I was promoted to purple belt on February 9th, and had my first competition ever on February 26th in Porto Alegre where I lost my first match by an advantage

Howdy!

My name is Dayron, I started training Jiu jitsu on 2010 and bounced around a couple of academies until I settled at Streamline under then Proffesor Dean Zaino who currently runs Lonestar BjJ. In 2013 I transitioned into MMA until 2016 when I had to take a few years off. 2021 I started training again under proffesor Dean and I received my brown belt from him September 10 of 2022.

Fast forward to to March of this year and I had the opportunity to purchase the original academy that I had settled in back in 2011/12.

Hi everyone! I am Andre Prins, 37 years old, originally from South Africa, but currently living in Germany.

I started my martial arts journey with Shotokan Karate while I was in kindergarten, but started trying out other martial arts as I got older. In high school I was introduced to Kawaishi Ryu Ju-Jitsu under the tutelage of Vincent Roberts in Pretoria, South Africa. In 2003 my Instructor moved to Cape Town and I had to move to a different dojo. I then trained under Jonathan Thomson and later Anton Pienaar. I was awarded my 2nd Dan in 2009 by the South African Ju-Jitsu Federation. I enjoyed both the self defense and the sports aspects of Japanese Jujitsu and competed every in every tournament I could, eventually representing the South African President's Team on the international stage (1 gold, 2 bronze at the 2006 United Nations of Ju Jitsu Annual Congress and Championships).

Besides for being exposed to BJJ to a lesser extent since 2004, I only formally joined a BJJ group in 2011. Here I found a home with Rio Grappling Club, under Jurgen Putter. Alan Harrison started a Rio Grappling Club branch in Pretoria under the guidance of Jurgen Putter, which I took over when Alan moved to Scotland. Our team was greatly involved with competitions, although injuries started preventing me from competing after I was awarded my purple belt. I was awarded my brown belt by Jurgen in 2020.

I moved to the USA in 2021 and soon started training at Four Seasons Martial Arts (Carlson Gracie Kentucky) and started competing again is some of the FUJI BJJ tournaments in the area. Here, I really liked being able to put some focus on the self defense aspects of Jiu-Jitsu and while sharing ideas with and learning from a variety of instructors. After a shoulder injury in early 2022, I again retired from competition. In June 2022, I was awarded my BJJ black belt by Michael O'Donnell and Tony Dismukes.

After a very short stint back in South Africa, during which I caught up with some old team mates, coaches and students, my wife and I moved to Germany in February 2023.

To this day I still try to maintain good relations with all my coaches (past and present), students and training partners. I sincerely hope that I will be able to continue training this wonderful martial art and share the mats with many people for many decades to come.

My name is John Vold, I’m 46 and I live in San Diego CA. I train at Ribeiro La Mesa and previously at the University of Jiu Jitsu under Saulo and Xande Ribeiro.
I started training in martial arts (tae kwon do) after seeing karate kid when I was 10, trained 5 years, then wrestled 2 year in high school with some Greco Roman style as well. Got into kickboxing, Muay Thai in my 20s, then MMA in my 30s. Was getting wrecked on the ground, so I went to Relson AZ, bought a Gi and paid for one year in advance cash. Decided I would go until blue belt (didn’t love it at first), but here I am 13 years later!
I train mostly for self-defense, point style competition doesn’t interest me, submission only is where it’s at. I like to train technically and efficiently, and I believe in tapping early and often for longevity in this sport. No sense in ripping out of submissions or struggling in a choke outside of competition when the mistakes have already been made. Just tap, and learn from it. Looking forward to meeting interesting people and connecting with familiar faces. I love the concept of beltchecker, and hopefully IBJJF dies sooner than later. 🤙🏼

Hello there,

I'm Alessandro committed and unwavering 39 year old blue belt. I was told I could finally get promoted if I logged back in to beltchecker and got verified for my current belt. Jokes aside, I started training in 2018 under Alex Ecklin, Van Allen Flores, and Jemssix Ayala at Masterskya in Brooklyn NY.

In 2020 during the pandemic the school closed indefinitely and after almost a year without a school, in 2021 I moved to Unity Jiu Jitsu under Murilo Santana, and Junny Ocasio to learn how to apply crushing pressure with my rooster/light-feather frame. Been there ever since getting my ass kicked in daily.

I updated my profile recently with some photos and more recent competition experience, all verifiable on the IBJJF website as well as Soothcomp. I come with receipts y'all.

Comment, Like and Subscribe.

(below in the photo is me with some teammates at a competition, I'm the one without boobs)

Waddup,

Originally from The Bronx, NY, I lived in Los Angeles for about 14 years. I started training in 2004 under Renato Magno
(Street Sports BJJ) ultimately earning my black belt in 2010. I competed in several IBJJF tournaments taking gold at brown belt middleweight masters in 2009 Pan Ams and bronze at black belt middleweight masters in 2012 Pan Ams. I currently reside in Atlanta, GA. I instruct several gentlemen privately in bjj and train judo under 5th degree black belt Josh White (Black Ice Judo). My martial arts journey has included, kung fu, wrestling, capoeria, judo, and pistol. Thank you all for welcoming me here and look forward to meeting many of you.

Hi All!

Long time listener, first time caller!

I’m Chris from Scotland & picked up the gentle art 4 weeks ago! I’ve always been put off of BJJ gyms because I travel a lot for my work as a touring sound technician.

There was always a new gym, new trial class, memberships, one off payments. It just never felt like I was gaining anything from being the new trial guy at every gym I went into.

I went to a Gracie Barra in Birmingham UK & they let me know if I signed up with them I could train at their facilities world wide & progress in my learning. So that’s what I’ve done!

I’m currently on tour and I’ve had 6 different Gracie Barra schools around the UK. Signed up for my first BJJ Gi competition & a BJJ globetrotter camp in Estonia which I’m matsurfing my way to!

Fallen head first into the world of Jui Jitsu! Always travelling & always training! Might even pop by your gyms one day!

Osss!

Good day, all. I'm happy to finally be a part of the nomad tribe 🤙🏿.
I've been training for 14 years, under Kristan Magers (Xande & Saulo black belt). I'm currently teaching at 10th Planet Detroit with my black belt cousin Tracy.

I've never been a fan of the cultish and tribal aspects of our Jiu Jitsu collective, and am so excited to finally be in the presence of other free minded practitioners.

Also, I added a pic of me force-feeding my 10p students, gi classes 😈 🤍🥋🖤

Yo!
My name is Noel Min. Ex-pat living and working in Germany. Retired US Marine that recently fell back in love with Jiujitsu after a 10 year (🤣) layoff. Compete regularly around Europe. Did the Heidelberg Globetrotter summer camp last year and loved it. Got my wife into jiujitsu and really psyched for her first comp next month as well as the Faroe Islands Camp this summer.

I spam wristlocks because of how funny they are, have the worst case of imposter syndrome and can teach anyone how to say the alphabet backwards in five minutes or less.

Please vote on my profile. 🙏🏼

Hi guys,

I'm Will - from Wales here in the UK.

Started BJJ in 2011 and by all accounts should have probably made it to Black Belt by now but life got in the way a bit through the years (job, family) aswell as injuries.

I love to compete as much as I can, tournaments etc and also really enjoy sub-only rule set, invitationals/superfights etc. Feel this is doing great things for the sport.

I love to train/compete no gi, but I am definitely a "gi" guy in terms of strengths ;)

I train out of the MAT Academy in Wales which has lineage under Braulio Estima. Couldnt ask for a harder working team and a better coach.

Currently suffering a recurring neck injury so figured i'd use my time to creat my profile on here :)

If anyone can please vote on my profile, that'd be great!

Hi,

I'm from Cronulla, in southern Sydney, Australia and got my black belt from Master Andre Pederneiras all the way back in 2005!

My claim to fame is that I flew all the way from Sydney to Barcelona to almost last a minute against Marcelo Garcia in ADCC of 2009 (video of the match is on my profile).

If you're interested, my full bio is up on my academy website here - https://scjja.com/Coaches/Rodney and it would be awesome if I could get a few more verification votes!

Thanks in advance,

Rodney
ps photo is with my long time coach and friend, Mr Larry Papadopoulos (former Shooto #1)

Hey everyone, my name is Mitchell Tanner and I'm a purple belt under Peter Martell. I've been training since February 2015 and I currently live in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada. Despite living in a small rural town, I train at a great little club called "Fortitude Brazilian jiu-jitsu". I'm excited to connect with other BJJ enthusiasts.

Hi all, my name is Damir Galović. I'm coming from Velika Gorica, a town near Zagreb, Croatia. I've been training since 2012 under Marko Bošnjak in the Mixed Martial Arts gym "Velika Gorica". We are affiliates of the Jander team from Brazil.

I've competed in a lot of local and regional competitions (I need to dig out all the pictures and medals). I was competing at the Europeans in Lisbon (2016) as a white belt. In the meantime, I was on multiple bjj camps in Siofok, Hungary, where I had the opportunity to learn from a lot of black belts (Ze Radiola, Max Carvalho, Mahamed Aly, Lucas Rocha, Charles Negromonte, Andre Campos, Otavio Souza, Gabriel Souza, and Felipe Andrew). I was supposed to go again as a purple belt in 2019, but I tore my meniscus during the training camp. After that, COVID happened, so there were not so many competitions in the region, but I'm looking forward to future competitions.

Due to a lot of business trips, I was lucky enough to train around Europe (Nova Forca UK - Woking, UK; Origin BJJ, Upminster, UK; Renzo Gracie Holland - Breda, Holland; Roots - Skopje, North Macedonia; Jiu Jitsu Brotherhood - Tirana, Albania).

I'll try to find all the records about the competitions and update them soon as well.

That is all from me now, enjoy guys!

Best regards,
Damir

What's going on Jiu Jitsu Fam! Your boy Chester coming at you straight out of Chesapeake, VA! Started training in 2012 and haven't looked back. Black Belt under Greg Walker and owner/operator of Heel Hooks Jiu Jitsu in Chesapeake. If you are ever in the area stop in and check us out.

That's awesome brother! I use to train in Ribeiro Jiu-jitsu and me and John are friends. Small world. -Phillip

Hi,
I am Simon from Paris in France.
I began Judo at 4 in 1988 and I am black belt.
From teenage to University I played Rugby and I used to play in the under 21 team of a pro Rugby club.
After this little career, I had been sport teacher in high school and I began in 2007 Grappling, Pankration and Luta Livre because in France MMA was not legalized.
In 2011 I was Grappling teacher. I am French state graduated in Wrestling and black rank in grappling in French Wrestling Federation.
In 2019 I met the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and all I thought I knew in the ground game needs to be learn from 0.
I am MMA Black Belt at the IMMAF.
I won Belgian amateur MMA Cup in 2021 by submission. I am bronze medal in amateur MMA Championships and was in French MMA team in 2022.
I won bronze medal in grappling in 2021 and I was in French Grappling Group.
I had the habit of No Gi but the discovery the Gi show me that my Jiu Jitsu will accompany me in an elderless practice.
The older I get, the more my Jiu Jitsu will adapt to my abilities so that I remain an optimal Jiu jitsu practicioner.
I am graduated as teacher in French BJJ fédération (CFJJB) to transmit the few I know and telling the new ones it will be a great journey to learn again and again.
Thanks for reading, happy to be here.

Hi everyone,

My name is Eddie. I received my black belt in May of 2021 and have been training since 2009. My longtime partner, Hannah Sharp, who is also a black belt and a well-accomplished competitive grappler, and I started our own academy in Portland, OR, USA this year. We love visitors so feel free to drop in if you’re ever in town.

I have been fairly successful in competition on the local level and in the IBJJF in the old-guy-1 divisions.

I trained with one of the moderators, Tatu, quite a few years ago when he visited Portland, but other than that, I don’t know many of the people on this forum. Feel free to introduce yourself.

I would love to help everyone with verification and what not whenever I can. Thanks.

Hello,

My name is David. I've been training since 2009, I competed in several tournaments as a white belt and received my blue belt in 2012. In 2013 I travelled across Canada and Part of the US and trained at several gyms along the way including with Rodrigo Munduruca in Winnipeg and at Carlson Gracie's in Chicago. Unfortunately life and finances had me only training sporadically for several years and I had to stop altogether in 2018. But thankfully the last year has been good to me and I am back on the mats at my home gym, Gracie Humaita Barrie. I am more motivated and determined than ever and excited to continue my jiu-jitsu journey.

Hi everyone!

I'm Tony Dismukes, teaching and training out of 4 Seasons Martial Arts in Lexington, Kentucky USA, under Michael O'Donnell. I've been training martial arts for 42 years, BJJ for 23 years, and am about to turn 59 in a little over a week.

I'm much more of a hobbyist than a competitor, primarily because I didn't get into the combat sports side of martial arts until my mid-30s. The last time I competed in BJJ was as a brown belt when I was 49 and the only guy I beat was the 35 year old. Everyone else was in their 20s. But I still teach and train and spar on the mats 4 days a week on average. (I also have started competing in HEMA, which has much lighter cardio demands than BJJ. :) )

I see a few names I know registered on the site, so hopefully I can get them to vote quickly to verify my credentials. (I'm in the picture with Andre Prins near the top of this page.) Once I'm verified, I'll vote to verify anybody that I know or who is vouched for by someone I know and trust or who I can check on with a little investigation. (I'm probably only a few steps removed from anyone training in Kentucky or Ohio, and so can check the bona fides of people I don't know with a few messages.)

Hello … Started Ju Do In Los Angeles as a Child In 1974 ⏳ Under South Korea 🇰🇷 Master Seok Pil Jang that Coached Legend 🏆 Jeon the Champion of ALL Events (Asia 🥇 World Cup 🥇 🏆 World 🌍 🥇 Summer Olympics
🥇 💐 Etc., …) and Other Legends From South Korea 🇰🇷 🌿 🏆 … and Also Trained at Tenri Dojo, Hollywood Dojo, Los Angeles Dojo, Etc., and the Official USA 🇺🇸 Olympics Training Center at LACC (Los Angeles City 🌆 Community 📚 College 🏫) With Grand Master Nishioka and Master Seck, Master Marr, Master Rousey, Master White, Etc., … Then the World 🌍 Famous 📰 🗞️ 🎥 🎞️ 📷 📺 🖥️ 💻 📱 Gracie Family 🇧🇷 Visited Us to Randori 🤼‍♂️ 🥋and Kumite 💪🏽 and that was My First ☝🏽 Lesson and Class 🙇🏽‍♂️ 🧎🏽‍♂️ in BJJ 🇧🇷 🥋

Since 1988 ⏳ I have been in Our Beloved Art 🥋 and Sport 🏆 of BJJ 🇧🇷 🥋 🙏🏽 … and Also Kept Adding More, ⛩️ like SAMBO/SOMBO In 1989 ⌛️ 🇷🇺 🥋 🇦🇲 🇬🇪 🇺🇦 🇧🇾 🇱🇹 🇧🇬, Catch, 🤼‍♂️ 👊🏽 💪🏽
Etc., …


I have been With 🫂 Living Legend 🏆 ⏳ Baret Yoshida “The Finisher” Since
January Of 2014 ⏳ … My Best Friend In
BJJ 🇧🇷 🥋 🤼‍♂️ and Present Day Samurai and Ninja Of Old 🇯🇵 🥋 🥷🏽 ⌛️ and I am Absolutely 💯❗️ Blessed 🙏🏽 and Lucky 🍀
🤲🏽 🤞🏽 🙇🏽‍♂️ 🧎🏽‍♂️

Hi, my name is DJ! I have a school in East TN (Crossville MMA). We've been open for around 10 years now. Im a Black Belt under Julio Rodriguez and part of the One Love Jiu-Jitsu affiliation. I started training in the summer of 2007 after the UFC blew up lol. I thought grappling/martial arts would be something i would be into knowing i played sports growing up and high school had just ended and never thought it would be something my life revolved around lol. I immediately started competing and then moved to FL in 2008 to train. After being there for 4 years, moved back to my home town in TN and opened my school up in 2012.

I think this Belt checker website is pretty cool. It opens up alot of avenues for guys to meet, see how others train and the journey they have taken, and also network and learn some new things!

Greetings!!! My name is Jack Kennedy. I was recently promoted to black belt after almost 16 years of training. I am a law enforcement officer and my main inspiration for getting into jiu jitsu was to help me on the job. I quickly fell in love with all aspects of jiu jitsu (mma based, sport jiu jitsu, police jiu jitsu). I help teach advanced gi and nogi classes at my academy as well as helping out with our youth classes. I helped create a jiu jitsu program for my department and was certified as a level 3 C4C police Jiu Jitsu instructor. I use my training and experience to teach both my department and my county’s SWAT team.

In addition to jiu jitsu, I coach baseball and softball, football and wrestling for my son and daughter, both of whom also train jiu jitsu.

Congratulations! 💥👏🏽

Hi everyone!

I'm Raphael Levy, long time practitioner from Toulouse, France, recently promoted to Black Belt. I used to run Jits Magazine in France (from 2011 to 2020).

And for the geeks out there, I'm also a Pro Magic the Gathering player.

hello, my names Jacob. I've been training since late 2007/early 2008 and I was awarded my black belt in September of 2019 at the age of 24. I spent most my career teaching fulltime and have coached many successful competitors and fighters during that time. with 15-16 years in at this point I spent around 11 years of it teaching/coaching. I've done on average a minimum of 2 classes a day throughout that entire time. dropping out of school early and fully committing to BJJ made it easy to focus and get lots of mat time. i am now at a point where i'm still able to do 2 classes a day training 6-7 days a week and traveling to near by cities to continue to progress on a weekly basis. i chase rooms full of killers and strive to surround myself with people better than myself. I don't see much value in being the best person in the room and look forward to decades more of growth!
Check out my profile and give it a vote if you feel like it!
Cheers!

Hi, I'm Steve. Been training since 04 when me, (a boxer from Brooklyn) was sent to the US Army Combatives Instructor course. I learned that purely boxing against a grappler was ineffective so although uncomfortable on the ground, I told myself that I MUST learn BJJ to be a complete fighter. I have trained with people like Tim Kennedy, Luiz Azeredo and others. I now own a Mixed Martial Arts gym that I want to build up in size, membership and BJJ knowledge and as a purple belt with no previous stationary school affiliation (due to traveling and military deployments) I am looking for a community to help me in my journey. Now that I own a gym, I would like to network and humbly offer my space to any of the BJJ Globetrotters community. http://www.kingdomfightun[...]ersity.com

Hi there! I'm Jordan. I dabbled in judo and BJJ while in the US Army (1999-2004) and started training BJJ full-time in 2009. I had fallen into a routine of work/raise kids/video games that I had wanted to get out of and start learning something with my free time again. So I sold my Xbox 360 to buy my first gi and started training with Mitch Coats at Alliance Jiu-Jitsu in Boise, ID. I trained with Prof. Mitch from 2009-2014 when work took me and my family to Southeast Alaska. I opened a program here under his guidance in 2015 and have been teaching kids and adults ever since! I opened my program as a purple belt, and was promoted by Prof. Mitch to brown belt in 2015 and black belt in 2018.

I owe a lot to jiu-jitsu and I try to pay that forward by fostering the growth of the sport around Southeast Alaska - for those who don't know, Southeast Alaska has a series of communities on an island archipelago, with no road access to rest of the state or lower 48. Things like traveling for competitions or bringing up instructors is very expensive and time-consuming. So I am happy to do what I can to help grow the sport in the area by offering classes and camps in the outlying communities.