Blue belt

April 27, 2017Fairfax, VA

1 year, 3 months, 19 days

Travis promoted me to blue after taking Gold and Silver at US Grappling tournament in Virginia Beach, finishing double 3rd at a local tournament and taking Silver at the NY Open. Shortly after my promotion, I moved to Florida in July 2017 and began training with Sean Raki. The stripes on my blue belt all came from Sean Raki in Ormond Beach Florida. I was promoted to Purple after taking Bronze in the Orlando Open in 2018.

White belt

December 1, 1999Oceanside, CA

17 years, 4 months, 26 days

Started training at the Oceanside Fight Club in 1999 under a Gokar BB. When that closed after only a few months, I started training with a GJJ CTC blue belt at the Myazaki Dojo and very briefly with Norm Bersterling (BJJ Purple belt at the time under Roy Harris). When the CTC closed in 2000, I started training with Paulo Fernando (BJJ BB and Judo BB). After 9/11/2001, I moved to Florida and I started training with Peter Lee, a BJJ Purple belt, and Sean Wells, a BJJ blue belt. But, I started attending night school and had to stop training. After a very long pause, in 2016 I began training with Vu Tran in Virginia (now a BJJ BB, but at the time a brown belt) and then moved to Comet MMA under Travis (BJJ BB) and Sean Hailey (BJJ Purple). I received 2 stripes on my white belt from Paulo Fernando in 2001, but started from scratch again in 2016. Under Vu Tran I received 4 stripes. Travis did not believe in stripes and promoted based on performance in tournaments. Between the two different periods (before 2016 and from 2016), I probably had around 3 1/2 years as a white belt.