The Day American Martial Arts Changed
On November 12, 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, a fourth degree black belt in the little known art of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (commonly called Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the United States) cut through an eight man style versus style martial arts tournament. Royce Gracie would turn the martial arts world on its head.
After his walk through the competitors, martial artists started scrambling to add ground fighting to their arsenal. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu schools exploded in the United States. These new schools threatened some of the more established Judo and Karate schools.
I have found many instructors in traditional arts addressed this change by pretending it did not occur. They have ignored the explosion of BJJ and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). They are cheating themselves out of a rich field of instruction.
Kenneth, Caleb and me on the day we promoted Caleb to Red Rank.
