These days EVERYONE has Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or Grappling class, regardless of whether the instructor is qualified to teach. I personally know at least one of our former students (a White Belt) that would strap on a Black Belt at his Tae Kwon Do school and teach “grappling” classes there to his naive unsuspecting students. Unlike a profession like law, medicine, plumbing, etc. that has a set certification, the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a free-for-all, allowing charlatans and fakers to prey on potential martial arts students.
But there is a solution…as the old saying goes, “the Proof is in the Pudding!”
Any legitimate instructor or program should have good students, right?!?
In the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world, there are 4 MAJOR Tournaments that comprise the “Grand Slam” of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. These competitions are the European Championship, the Pan-American, the Brazilian Nationals, and the World Championships. They are all run by the IBJJF (International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation) Do not be fooled by coaches that claim to have “World Champions” at their gym – in the Baltimore area, no school has produced a World Champion except Crazy 88. These other coaches are sending their students to events named “World Championship” run by other organizations and using that title to deceive the potential consumer. No school except Crazy 88 has even produced a medalist at ONE of the 4 Grand Slams much less all of them (one other school produced a single Bronze medalist approximately 5 years ago).
Even if you are 100% uninterested in competition and just want to learn Jiu-Jitsu for the art, you need to make sure you are learning “what works”. You would not attend a medical college that does not have any doctors doing surgery would you? Or a business school that has no graduates running profitable businesses right? So why would you want to pay to learn Jiu-Jitsu from places that can’t get even produce 1 (one) champion?
2012 Blue Belt Female – Light Feather – Cathy Tran-Zwanetz
2011 Blue Belt – Medium Heavy – Timothy- Michael Spriggs
2011 Blue Belt – Absolute-Timothy – Michael Spriggs
2011 Purple Belt – Medium Heavy -Jon Delbrugge
2012 Blue Belt-Light Feather-Cathy Tran-Zwanetz
2012 Blue Belt- Ultra-heavyweight-Alfonso Washington
2012 Purple Belt- Heavyweight-Timothy- Michael Spriggs
2011 White Belt Female- Feather-Monica Barlow
2011 Blue Belt Juvenile- Medium heavy-Devon Delbrugge
2011 Blue Belt Juvenile- Absolute-Devon Delbrugge
2011 Blue Belt- Ultra heavy-Alfonso Washington
2011 Blue Belt- Absolute-Alfonso Washington
2011 Purple Belt-Heavyweight-Evan Gideon
2011 Brown Belt Senior 3- Heavyweight- Mike Atkin
2010 Blue Belt- Medium Heavy-Evan Gideon
2010 Purple Belt- Medium Heavy-Jon Delbrugge
2010 Purple Belt- Absolute-Jon Delbrugge
2010 Brown Belt Senior 3- Heavy-Mike Atkin
2008 Purple Belt Senior 3- Medium Heavy-Mike Atkin
2008 Purple Belt Senior 3- Absolute-Mike Atkin
2007 Purple Belt Senior 3- Medium Heavy-Mike Atkin
2007 Purple Belt Senior 3- Absolute-Mike Atkin
2006 Blue Belt Senior 3- Medium heavy-Mike Atkin
2006 blue Belt senior 3- Absolute-Mike Atkin
2006 Blue Belt Female- Light feather-Amie Turton
2006 Blue Belt- Middle- Roberto Torralbas
2012 Blue Belt- Lightweight-Devon Delbrugge
2012 Blue Belt Female- Light Feather-Cathy Tran-Zwanetz
2012 Blue Belt Female- Absolute-Cathy Tran-Zwanetz
2012 Blue Belt- Ultra heavy-Alfonso Washington
2012 Purple Belt- Middle-Jon Delbrugge
2011 Purple Belt- Heavy-Evan Gideon
2012 Purple Belt- Heavyweight-Timothy- Michael Spriggs
2012 Purple Belt- Absolute-Timothy- Michael Spriggs
2010 Blue Belt- Rooster-David Zwanetz
2011 Blue Belt Juvenile- Rooster-Christopher Tran
2011 Blue Belt Juvenile-Medium Heavy-Devon Delbrugge
2011 Blue Belt Juvenile- Absolute-Devon Delbrugge
2011 White belt female- Light feather-Alexandria Welch
2011 Blue Belt- Featherweight-Keith Cebula
2010 Blue Belt- Medium Heavy-Evan Gideon
2010 Blue Belt- Absolute-Evan Gideon