It was stated he recieved his black belt with only 5 years of training....
Just wondering what was his training routine like? Did he come into BJJ with previous grappling experience (Wrestling, Judo).
5 years is pretty amazing, but if hes training twice a day everyday then that would sound about right, I guess. But even that takes alot of dedication.....Or was he just a natural from the get (ala BJ penn)
From what I've heard he trains alot. He earned his blackbelt with many hours on the mat.
I think he is obviously a high potential great athlete. He is the best long board surfer of all time.
I was worried this was going to be a thread questioning his having earned it.
I'm glad it is not.
Some people are a lot more talented at BJJ than others. He is one of those people.
as a kid I used to watch him surf base and country(on oahu 10-15years ago)... He is seriously an amazing athlete... his movements in the water are so smooth that it is no wonder he adapted to the mat... When I started training alot of the movements on the mat remind me of the flow in the water.. ala dodging reef when being held under for 30seconds the movements are similiar.. atleast to me
he is in his 6th year of training right now.
I have trained with Joel since he was a white belt and can say he was determined from the beginning to learn the sport. He has put in more hours on the mat than anyone I know. He almost stopped surf for a while to just do BJJ.
He has a really strong desire and a competitive streak, and is very flexible and athletic, great mix for BJJ!
Don't forget that was and is a world class athlete before starting BJJ. That helps.
Rodrigo Medrious told me at a seminar that Joel got it in either 4 or 5 years, but trained twice a day nearly everyday for that entire time.
Not to mention Rodrigo doesn't just hand those things out...
joshjitsu -Not to mention Rodrigo doesn't just hand those things out...
^THIS^
I've trained with Joel since his first day... I believe I was a purple belt at the time he started, maybe 4 stripe blue.
We ended up getting promoted to Black on the same day - took me 9 years - Joel 5 years...
Joel threw himself into the sport with 100% dedication. He and I trained all the time and even as a white belt, everyone knew he was going to be solid. He was giving upper belts fits at blue... He came to 2 classes a day EVERYDAY and then when he traveled he would train at the places he visited, Hawaii, New York, Europe.
Joel has a very strong grip - I call it mechanic strength cause when he gets his grips, it feels like you are caught in a vice grip. In training, visiting BJJ champions and MMA guys have gotten humbled by rolling with Joel. If you slip up just once while you are training with him, he gets you - that's it.
He's a true student of the game and remains VERY humble. I've spoken to him at length about his jump in this sport and for him, it's like living a dream. He cant believe he's about to be in ADCC competing against his heroes and this past weekend was just amazing. Joel has plans to see his BJJ career as far as possible.
I'm stoked he's getting the cred he deserves because he has put in the work and then some. He's got a tough road at ADCC but he's my darkhorse pick :)
WAR TUDOR
"He's a true student of the game and remains VERY humble. I've spoken to him at length about his jump in this sport and for him, it's like living a dream. He cant believe he's about to be in ADCC competing against his heroes and this past weekend was just amazing. Joel has plans to see his BJJ career as far as possible."
Very cool......You guys have an awesome team. I hope he takes it at the ADCC.
Joel has the mat time in 6 years that most guys have in 10. plus he has acess to a great coach and team(big ups to our team,bjj revolution team) Like Chris said he has a great grip and real fast hips. I was very impressed when i trained with him at Rodrigos and he seems to be getting better and better.
Jeff Messina
revolution dojo
bjj revolution team
I wonder how much surfing helps with core strength and stability? I never surfed, but it seems to be perfect to develop that.
I love how he's over 30, but still competes in the regular divisions. Gives us old guys hope!
slysir,
I don't know why you said 5 years twice a day OR BJ Penn talent. Even BJ trained twice a day everyday.
All these guys who are earning their belts quickly are training fulltime like it's their profession. They are fortunate to either be financially independent or receive the sponsorship to train professionally. Others have a fulltime job and can only train 3x a week for a few hours.
We have to stop associating progress to black belt with years and more with hours.
"I don't know why you said 5 years twice a day OR BJ Penn talent. Even BJ trained twice a day everyday."
Well the reason why I used BJ Penn as an example was because he received his black belt within a short period of time...But maybe BJ penn was a bad example since he did put in double the time during that short period of time.
But it is also known that BJ (and his brothers) took to BJJ pretty naturally....it is also known he had unbelievable flexibilty from the get...and he was tapping out upper belts at blue and purple. Alot of stories you hear about BJ from those who have trained with him say hez pretty gifted. Thats why I also used him as an example. BJJ comes natural to some people. Im not one of those people.
"All these guys who are earning their belts quickly are training fulltime like it's their profession. They are fortunate to either be financially independent or receive the sponsorship to train professionally. Others have a fulltime job and can only train 3x a week for a few hours."
True but there are some people who train even less then that, maybe even a few times a month and still come in tap everybody. Their just able to retain things better then others. I would consider such an individual as naturally talented in BJJ.
"We have to stop associating progress to black belt with years and more with hours."
Well most established schools here still go by the years put in rather then hours IMO.At the time BJ received his black it was sacriledge to have recieved your belt in such a short period of time, especially to brazilians. From what I hear it is not to uncommon for people in brazil to train all day long..and yet it was still looked at as to short...I personally would say all that matters is performance. That just my oppinion.
Would love to be able to finance training twice a day. I don't think it takes dedication to train twice a day per se - I think it takes dedication to give up family time, work time (and money), and free time to train twice a day every day.
"Would love to be able to finance training twice a day. I don't think it takes dedication to train twice a day per se - I think it takes dedication to give up family time, work time (and money), and free time to train twice a day every day."
I would agree
bonez05 - Would love to be able to finance training twice a day. I don't think it takes dedication to train twice a day per se - I think it takes dedication to give up family time, work time (and money), and free time to train twice a day every day.
I would bet 99% of people that could train twice a day, every day, would not be able to do it.
It may be easy to do for a few days, but try doing it for a long period of time.