The question I received was concerning parents who seems to be a bit to aggressive with their presence on the mat. In the situation our friend describes. He says that some parents are jumping on the mat to record video, cheering for their children during rolling, etc.

I’m not positive I did a good job of answering his question.  But in the video I focus on the idea that I believe parent’s of kids in the BJJ class should not be allowed to coach or really have much interaction with their kids during the action of class.

1 reason for this is that if the kids inside the Brazilian Jiujitsu class is focused on their parent’s instead of their coaches and training. It steals their attention and robs them of the potential they have.

The even more insidious issue is that it often transforms the experience for the child from a positive one to a negative one.

So my advice in the video is that parent’s should not coach their kids during Brazilian Jiu-jitsu classes. And if you are a BJJ coach. That should be one of the rules I would stick to with the classes.

You can also check when is the best time for kids to start training BJJ.

Best Time to Send a Kid to Train Jiu Jitsu

There is nothing worse than when you learn something wrong and you keep on doing it for years. If there’s no one to tell you it’s wrong and corrects you, you can lose positions, submissions etc. thinking it’s impossible or thinking you can’t do it, but in general, most of the time you’re doing something wrong.

BJJ Checkmat black belt Thiago Rodrigues cover 10 common grappling mistakes that you must avoid, to avoid submissions, sweeps, and weak positions.

25 Reasons Why You Don’t Progress in Jiu-Jitsu As Fast As You Can

Shortcuts and Directions For The Fastest Progress in Jiu Jitsu

I made a little effort to explore some of the famous actors, musicians, singers, athletes who train and have fighting skills such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I think that everyone is interested in celebrity Jiu-Jitsu, and I am too. We are all curious when we want to know more about celebrities, what they are doing in our free time, aren’t we?

Whether they are in our favorite movies, sing our favorite songs, or soccer match-winning goals, there is a sort of admiration for someone who is obviously successful. Over the year’s we’ve seen celebrities take to the mats, and whether training for films or fitness or have dabbled on the mats. I compiled the ultimate list of celebrities who do BJJ. First of all, I will give you the names who are masters of this awesome martial art and some of them have black belts. So, let’s see who are the celebrities who train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Guy Ritchie

The iconic celebrity, a director who directed many successful feature films including Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and the latest version of Sherlock Holmes starring
Robert Downey Jr. Ritchie has been training for a number of years, having spent 7 years as a brown belt before finally getting his black back in 2015 from Renzo Gracie.

Ed O’Neill (aka Al Bundy)

His professional success is only paralleled with his dedication to martial arts. Ed is a black belt under Rorion Gracie. In his career, Ed went from one successful long-running sitcom to another. While most remember him for his iconic role as Al Bundy, the new generations know him as Jay Prichett on the Emmy Winning Comedy Modern Family.

Chuck Norris

A legend that knows no bounds. Chuck is probably the only person on this list who rolled with great Helio Gracie. Chuck trained all around the world before
settling with the Machados to earn his black belt. In 2015 Chuck earned his 3rd Degree in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from David Dunn, under the guidance of Jean Jacques Machado.

Paul Walker

He died in a tragic accident back in 2013. At the time he was a brown belt but he was awarded his black belt posthumously by Ricardo Franjinha Miller of Paragon Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Rikki Rockett

An American drummer for a glam metal band, Poison. The 51-year-old
drummer famously stays in shape by doing BJJ.

Sean Patric Flanery

Probably the only celebrity on our list who is also an instructor. The Hollywood BJJ teacher is in fact a black belt under Shawn Williams.  During filming for The Boondock Saints 2 Sean Patrick Flanery was only 15 mins away from Renzo’s academy, so on his lunch, he was a trek down for an hour’s roll.

Scott Caan

Famously starred in the remake of 1960s rat pack classic Ocean’s 11 (and
subsequent sequels). When he’s not starring in his CBS procedural Hawaii 5-0 he’s doing jiu-jitsu under the guidance of Egon Inoue of Grappling Unlimited. Scott quite dedicated he has been doing Jiu-Jitsu for over 15 years.

Ashton Kutcher

One of the higher-ranked practitioners and celebrities on this list, Kutcher is best known for his film and TV work in sitcoms such as Two and a Half Men and That 70’s Show. He is a purple belt under Rigan Machado.

Keanu Reeves

Super famous celebrity Jiu-Jitsu practitioner who has been dabbling on the mats with the Machado brothers. The Machados are also regularly known for choreographing fight scenes in major movies, and one such movie is John Wick 2, which Keanu is currently filming. Keanu can regularly be seen on the Machado mats in a Do or Die Hyperfly gi. Check Keanu’s training footage and his thoughts about BJJ.

Anthony Bourdain

TV presenter, chef, food lover, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner has become BJJ’s latest and most visible ambassador. He is a blue belt under Igor Gracie and an IBJJF gold medalist after winning his division at the IBJJF New York Open. He can regularly be seen on the mats at Renzo’s academy training with his wife Ottavia, who is part of the Danaher Death Squad. At 59 years old, Bourdain came to the game late in life but jumped onto the mat with gusto and enthusiasm that outstrips men half his age.

Tom Hardy

The Mad Max star took to the mats with the Royal Marines not too long ago. However Tom Hardy is no stranger to the mats, he starred in one of the best MMA movies to date, Warrior, where (Spoiler Alert!) his character had his shoulder broken by an omoplata in the final match against his own brother.

Wesley Snipes

Another one of Rigan Machado’s celebrity training sessions. However, Snipes’ holds black belts in multiple disciplines of martial arts and was even close to fighting Joe Rogan in the Octagon, but sadly it never came to be. In fact, Rogan still believes he would choke out Snipes, who has been training martial arts since he was 12 years old.

Vince Vaughn

One of the most prolific comedy actors of the last 20 years and starred in smash-hit movies such as The Wedding Crashers and Dodgeball. One of the best things about Jiu-Jitsu is you can start at any age, and at 46 years old, Vaughn has strapped a white belt around his waist and is now a student at the Gracie Academy in Torrance, California, with Ryron and Rener Gracie.

Michael Clarke Duncan was a big (BIG) fan of the UFC.  He was a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and trained at the Gracie Academy.

Mel Gibson

An actor who showed us all his Jiu-Jitsu moves back in the movie “Lethal Weapon”. Gibson has trained Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Rorian Gracie.

Ice–T,

Rapper/actor Ice-T is a big fan of the UFC. He’s also a long-time practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and boxing.

Naomi Watts

An actress has trained judo for many years and actually competed in amateur Judo championships from 1989 to 1992.  She currently trains in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Jim Carrey

One of the most knows comedian actors has begun training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Jason Statham

Big fan of MMA. He’s a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has trained in multiple martial arts disciplines including Wing Chun kung fu, karate, and kickboxing.

Charlie Hunnam

Another one of Rigan Machado’s Celebrity Jiu-Jitsu crew. Charlie has a love of MMA through his work in Sons of Anarchy after Theo Rossi took him to a few
events.

Nicolas Cage

An actor that can really roll on the mat. Nicolas Cages trains Jiu-Jitsu under the UFC champion Royce Gracie.

Joe Rogan,

Best known for his comedic abilities and acting talent. Runs the planetary popular Joe Rogan Podcast. He is a dedicated black belt Jiu-Jitsu student under Eddie Bravo and Jean Jacques Machado.

Maynard James Keenan,

The lead singer of the band’s Tool and A Perfect Circle, trains in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Rickson Gracie.

Tommy Lee,

The drummer from the infamous Motley Crue, Tommy Lee, trains Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under the Gracie Family.

Theodore Roosevelt

The 26th President of the United States from 1901 to 1909, studied Jiu-Jitsu and judo.

Usher

Musician, and actor well known for his great dance moves on stage probably has some solid BJJ moves on the mat as he has trained with BJJ wiz Andre Galvao in the past. Usher is also a close personal friend of Anderson Silva.

Wiz Khalifa, Grammy-nominated rap star train BJJ with Rigan Machado. Wiz have white belt.

Robert Duvall

Hollywood legend and his wife Luciana are taking Jiu-Jitsu lessons with
Master Pedro Sauer. An Academy Award winner, Duvall has been a regular at the academy
and according to Pedro: “Is a super nice guy and tough as nails!”

Steve Irvin

Nicknamed “The Crocodile Hunter“, was an Australian zookeeper,
conservationist, and television personality who also trained BJJ with Dan Higgins. Steve trained
with Kyle Noke as well.

Milla Jovovich

The main actress of The Fifth Element, Return to the Blue Lagoon, and the Resident Evil trilogy, trained Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Johnny Strong

An American actor, musician, stuntman, and martial artist. He is best known for his
roles in Black Hawk Down and The Fast and the Furious as Leon. He has a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Vicente Lizarazu

Former professional soccer player on the French national team, the one which won the Soccer worlds in 98 and the World championship. He is a Purple Belt in BJJ and won the Europeans as a blue. He is also a TV sports commentator.

Jonathan Lipnicki

The cute kid from „Jerry Maguire“, holds the purple belt and competes in the BJJ competition. His family owns an amateur MMA promotion company too.

Prince Jackson

Eldest son of pop star Michael Jackson is a practitioner of Jiu-Jitsu and trains at Gracie Academy Beverly Hills, Los Angeles in California. Prince is a student of Ryron and Rener Gracie. Back in 2013, he earned his blue belt in Jiu-Jitsu.

Clark Gregg

The guy who plays Agent Phil Coulson (from the Marvel movies, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.). He is a BJJ brown belt.

Michael Dudikoff

An actor who began training in martial arts before the second film and has since trained in karate, aikido, judo, and in Brazilian Jui-Jitsu. He began his training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Rorion Gracie. He continues to train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with Rigan Machado, who is a world champion and 8th degree red and black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

David Akers

NFL player trains in Jiu-Jitsu and Shaolin Kempo.

Chris Conrad

An actor who trains under Jean Jacques Machado.

Richard Norton

Martial artist, actor, stuntman, has black belt BJJ under Jean-Jacques Machado.

Mario Van Peebles

An actor, writer, film director earned a blue belt from Ricardo “Rey” Diogo.

Demi Lovato

The singer earned her blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. You can check Demi Lovato doing an armbar on a world champ.

Kelly Slater

Legendary surfer and owner of the blue belt in BJJ.

Pete Loncarevich

An “Old School” professional BMX racer whose prime competitive years were from 1980 to 1994. He has a black belt in BJJ.

Mario Lopez

An actor also does Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at Gracie Barra Jiu-Jitsu Academy.

Margot Robbie, an actress, trained in Jiu-Jitsu for her role in the movie Suicide Squad.

Shaquille O’Neal

Former NBA basketball star has been following the UFC for a long time and has also been training Jiu-Jitsu since 2000 under Royce Gracie.

Mickey Rourke

An actor and professional boxer has been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for the past few years and earned a blue belt under Eddie Bravo and Scott Epstein.

Scarlett Johansson

An actress, trained with Jiu-Jitsu master Rigan Machado for her role as the Black Widow in the popular “Marvel” films.

Tori Spelling,

An actress best known for the “Beverly Hills” TV series

Rebel Wilson

Australian actress, writer, and producer.

Robert Downey Jr., the famous actor, started to train Jiu-Jitsu to fight drug addiction through Wing Chun.

Jason Scott Lee is an American actor and martial artist. Lee is perhaps best known for his roles as Bruce Lee in the martial arts film “Dragon: Bruce Lee story”.

Matt Heafy

Rockstar and frontmen of group Trivium have a blue belt in BJJ.

Donnie Yen

An actor, also known as Yen Chi Tan has a purple belt in BJJ.

Vin Diesel

Film star and an actor of „Triple X“ and „Fast and Furious“ also trained on the mat of Beverly Hills Jiu-Jitsu Club before becoming the star of these films. The training with
the actor did not last long, but enough to create a strong friendship with Marcus.

David Batista

WWE star, bodybuilder, mixed martial artist, and film actor gets by Cesar Gracie a purple belt in BJJ.

Mark William Calaway

Better known as WWE star ‘The Undertaker’ has a Black Belt in
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Rolles Gracie.

For now, it will be enough. I think it was fun, full of plenty of new info for you and me.
When I was researching for this article, I must admit that I was surprised how many
successful people are training this awesome martial art like BJJ. Many famous names, as we can see, love to train martial arts, someone live and breathe this sport and that’s why is so astonishing to see that.

They are ordinary people like we are and it is nice to see them how are they trained with passion and also we can see happy – satisfied faces even though they have demanded and exhausting exercises with their train masters.

Toni Vrgoc

Keanu Reeves: Deeper You Get into Jiu Jitsu The Less You Have Normal Life

Demi Lovato: My Ultimate Goal is to be a Black Belt

Life takes a little toughness! Ben talks about how wrestling builds character and makes boys men. Watching the World Cup really upset.

Ben’s message is clear. He thinks that for boy growing to be a man wrestling is the way to go. And he have some serious examples for his claims.

Everyone Training BJJ knows he has some powerful skill set in his hands but knowing when to use it and how is the key. Maybe 90% of the fights ends up on the floor, but 100% of them start standing so…

Here are 3 takedowns and BJJ submissions that can be used in an MMA or street fight against someone utilizing boxing, or Muay Thai kickboxing. In this video, 5th degree black belt Phil Migliarese teaches how to defend against a jab, an overhand right, and a roundhouse kick to set up an arm triangle choke, armbar, and straight foot lock.

https://www.bjj-world.com/royler-gracie-vs-martial-artist-claimed-developed-street-lethal-style/

You started with Jiu-Jitsu and you’re training hard, you’re really trying, you aim high and you want to progress as fast as possible. So, what should you do and how?

You can see everywhere around people saying stuff like “stick to fundamentals”, “stick to basics” etc., and I can say it’s a good thing. You shouldn’t focus on “berimbolo” or “truck” when you start training BJJ, but the problem is when you’re just starting with Jiu-Jitsu because fundamentals are something hard to learn.

It’s easy for your instructor to teach you an armbar from the closed guard, triangle, or kimura. Your instructor can tell you to do this like this, play guard like that, show you all the basic moves but the real problem lies in your body. It’s on you how good you will use your body to be able to use all the techniques your instructor showed you. Your instructor won’t be able to teach you how to use your body properly. He can give you directions and a concept of what is important and what’s not, but your body and your movement are on you. We all have different lengths, different weights, different proportions, and when it comes down to Jiu-Jitsu it’s all about how you use your body proportions to control someone. It’s on you to think about your base, your weight, and your positioning.

A lot of times I can see people in class that just fall on their butt when someone is drilling technique on them. For example, a guy is drilling an armbar from closed guard and the guy on top just falls on his butt every single time. And that’s the problem. You can’t lose base just like that, you have to THINK about your base, you have to make your body do what your mind wants. Don’t just accept “defeat” in this situation, think about what you have to do to stay on top and do it. And there is no better time to think about your body movement than when you’re drilling. This is just one example and there are numerous examples out there and you just have to pay attention to them. I can’t say the word “THINK” enough times as I want to so just THINK about what is good and what is not and do everything you need to do “good things”.

When you’re starting BJJ you often ask yourself should I spend more time rolling or studying. The guy that just roles a lot at the start will progress as fast or even faster than someone who studies a lot. It’s not that I want to tell you you shouldn’t study, but I want to tell you that you shouldn’t skip sparrings at the start because your body needs a lot of adjustments. You have to teach your body to move in different circumstances and different situations and that’s something that takes years to learn. That’s something that makes a difference. Of course, the fastest way to progress is to study a lot and to roll even more. And even faster will be to quit your job or school and do just BJJ. Just kidding 🙂

OK, now we know we have to think a lot about our bodies, our positioning, weight distribution, etc. but what’s next?
It’s a concept. In my opinion, the concept is always before technique. I’ll give you one example of why is that so.

Let’s say you come to a class and your instructor show you 2 sweeps and 2 submissions from half guard. It’s great. You know 4 more techniques and you will probably use them NEVER.

Why? Because every time you come to half guard your knee shield won’t be there, you won’t control that far arm, or his far shoulder, you won’t frame your opponent properly, you won’t be able to stay on your side… You’ll end up flat on your shoulders, frustrated, thinking what would Eddie Bravo do in this situation.

Now imagine that you spent that time while learning those 4 techniques to learn half guard concept and how to act in half guard, how to stay on your side, how to control your opponent, how to relieve pressure, frame your opponent and just keep the position.
Imagine how strong your half guard would be if you’re just able to stop your opponent from squishing you inside your half or passing it?

Now we came to a point where we have good Half Guard retention and now is the time to add technique. If you add those 4 techniques now you will make good use of them. You will be able to execute them because you won’t have to panic that you will lose your half guard.
When you don’t have to think about defense you can go on offense.

Find your game and stick to it! No matter how technical or talented you are, you have to find what works for you. We’re all different and you can’t expect you will be able to do everything you want. If you have short legs,s it’s no secret that you will have a harder time triangle, someone. It’s not impossible, but maybe you will want to find something else, more suitable for you.
Try everything, experiment, because that’s what training is for, but don’t forget to look for your game and work on it. You won’t be able to find what’s the best for you in the first year or even in the first two or three years, but that time will come and you want to be sure that’s it.

Try everything, experiment, because that’s what training is for, but don’t forget to look for your game and work on it. You won’t be able to find what’s the best for you in the first year or even in the first two or three years, but that time will come and you want to be sure that’s it.
As much as it is important to work on your weaknesses that much is important to work on your strong points.
Maybe you won’t be able to answer because of the skill level of your opponent, but you need to be sure you know what to do and eventually you’ll be able to do it.
For example, it shouldn’t happen that one guy is doing all the times one passes to you and that you never ask yourself how to counter it. Ask your instructor, go home study, find it on YouTube or somewhere. Simply do anything possible to find a solution and don’t waste time. Every next time that guy passes your guard and you don’t know the solution it’s a wasted time and you want to waste as little time as possible.

Wasting time is not an option. I know that people will say that it’s not about time, it’s about a journey, it’s about enjoying BJJ, but you’re reading this text because you describe yourself as someone that wants to progress as fast as possible so there is no time for losing.
Unless you’re just observing a class because you’re injured or something you don’t want to skip sparring, you don’t want to skip drilling or just look around. There is no sentence like “I’m tired I’ll skip this sparring”. No, that sentence is usually used by people who want to be 100% ready for their next sparring to dominate someone and that’s WRONG! When you’re tired that’s the best time to work on your technique as you don’t have the strength to do anything else. Use it, it’s precious time for your progress.
If your training partner is taking some pauses while you’re drilling technique you know who you won’t drill with next time. Try to avoid sparring with people that quit in the middle of sparring because they just feel tired or so.
Even if everyone is just sitting around doing nothing, there is always an opportunity to learn something. Look where your professor is and ask him some questions that you prepared for him before the class even started. Also, try to show people some technique that you’re sure you know because when you’re showing techniques there is so much more details coming to your mind that you couldn’t see before.
It’s simple. Do whatever it takes to use every second of your class time to your advantage. No matter how radical this may sound to you, it’s the fastest way.

There is a lot more stuff for the faster progress in BJJ and I could probably write for the next few days about it but these are some guidelines you want to follow.
There is also a very good article about 25 reasons why you don’t progress as fast as you could that fulfills this article and you can read it HERE.

Just remember that “there is no shortcut for hard work“, you just have to train a lot and in the end, that’s probably the most important thing for the fastest progress. Also, we all don’t progress at the same speed so don’t compare yourself to people around you. As the old quote says: “The only person you should compare yourself to, is who you were yesterday” but you can make yourself today much better than you were yesterday if you try hard enough.

David Bista

25 Reasons Why You Don’t Progress in Jiu-Jitsu As Fast As You Can