Eddie Bravo and the 10th Planet
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, May 2003: This is the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission World Championship (ADCC), the granddaddy of all Jiu Jitsu tournaments. On one side of the white mat stands Eddie Bravo: a nobody, not even a black belt. He lives in a 200 ft. dump of an apartment with a hot plate for a stove. He is a conspiracy theorist, but no one cares about that now. On the other side stands Royler (pronounced Hoyler) Gracie, a seventh degree black belt with four world championships and three ADCC championships. No one has scored points on Royler in this tournament. He belongs to Jiu Jitsu royalty. Royler is a member of the famed Gracie family; the family who created Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ), the fastest growing martial art in the world. The referee gathers the two together and explains the rules of the match. Royler is in tight black shorts and a white rash guard that show off his chiseled physique. His hamstrings bulge out from the back of his legs; his shoulders are broad. He stands still, calm. He is a warrior. Eddie Bravo is fit but looks skinny next to Royler. He is star struck and shirtless in loose-fitting black grappling shorts and he nervously shifts his weight back and forth. Every lightweight fighter dreams of rolling with Royler Gracie.
They shake hands, though Eddie keeps it quick. He is focused. He has prepared for this match by rolling with his professor, the famed Jean Jacques Machado, swimming sprints in a 50m pool and lifting weights. Royler is always prepared, a fitness freak. Royler starts the match standing up while Eddie sits down on the ground in a squatting position, with one knee down on the ground, the other bent and up. They each slap the air, trying to grab a wrist or a hand to get a takedown. Royler moves forward while Eddie moves backward, still in his combat stance, luring Royler into his infamous half guard. Finally, he grabs Royler by his right arm, falls backward, and establishes half-guard, his legs wrapped around Royler’s right leg like a python. In traditional Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, half-guard is usually considered a neutral position, where no one has the advantage, but this is Eddie’s jam. Advantage Eddie.
Royler yanks his leg out of Eddie’s locked down leg grip by using his patented knee slice technique. Royler leans his upper body onto him, putting pressure on his chest in the hopes that he will loosen his leg grip. He slides his knee out of the grip briefly, but Eddie seizes the leg back and squeezes tight. They are two contortionists, a tangle of legs and arms. Royler puts him in a head lock and will not give that up. Royler will not let him get the hook under his armpits, called an under hook. The under hook is important because it would give him trunk control. He wants that under hook bad but Royler refuses to surrender.
Royler holds on so tightly that Eddie can hear his breath in his left ear. Royler slides his leg partially out of his leg grip and momentarily succeeds. This is fucking Royler Gracie, trying to pass his guard, his shit. Royler’s knee leans halfway out of his leg grip. For several minutes, they lock their positions, at a grappling standstill. Sweat from Royler’s forehead drips onto Eddie’s face. Finally, he loops his right arm in between Royler’s legs. Eddie considers rolling Royler over to the side, but reconsiders as it would give him no advantage.
Damn Royler still has good head and arm control. Eddie tries to jump on Royler’s back, but Royler is too strong and flexible. Royler finally frees his leg, what is called “passing the guard.” This allows him to roll Royler in a coup and gain the top position. He is in wonder; he fucking swept Royler Gracie. Eddie perches on top, but he prefers a bottom game. Their legs intertwine again and he lowers his head, a mistake. Royler throws his legs over his head for a triangle choke. He reaches for Eddie’s arm, pulls it across his body, and encircles his legs around his head. The triangle is a choke that relies on leg pressure to use one’s opponent’s arm to choke themselves. Eddie worries about getting stuck in Royler’s powerful leg triangle. He wouldn’t escape.
He wiggles out of the triangle before Royler can finish. They sit down on their butts, each grasping for the other in an attempt to gain an optimal position. He reaches for Royler’s shoulders, but Royler’s shoulders are double-jointed and impossible to grab. He flips on his back down to the bottom position with his left leg over Royler’s back, the other trapped between Royler’s legs. He jerks his left leg out from under Royler, and wraps both legs around his back. Called full, or closed guard, he is in triumph. He establishes rubber guard, which requires ridiculous flexibility in the hips and hamstrings. His legs drape over Royler’s back, almost over his neck. He folds his body in half. This is his game. He can submit his opponent here, or, in layman’s speak, make Royler cry, “Uncle.”
He considers several submissions from this position. He thinks about an omoplata, which is a shoulder lock. After feeling Royler’s dislocatable shoulders, though, he reconsiders. His legs reach high up, near Royler’s neck. He wants to try for a triangle choke. The ten minute bout nears its end. Time is running out for Eddie. He rolls back onto his own shoulders, a showcase of flexibility and technique. Royler is ahead on points. The only way to win is to submit fucking Royler Gracie. Royler lays still, trying to stall until time runs out. Royler is known for stalling.
Royler escapes Eddie’s rubber guard and establishes side control, a perpendicular dominant position for a brief second. He tucks his right foot in between Royler’s legs, called a jailbreak. A jailbreak helps one regain a strong position. He prevents Royler from fully establishing side control. He reaches his arms over Royler’s shoulders. He grasps Royler’s left wrist and throws it up in the air, stopping Royler from jumping out of this powerful position. Royler knows that he is in danger for a triangle but he can’t escape.
Eddie thrusts his hips in the air, meeting Royler’s head with his legs. Royler stands up and tries to escape the triangle. Eddie grimaces and squeezes his legs together with all of his strength. No one submits Royler Gracie. He worries about time. Is time going to run out? Are they going to blow the whistle? He begs Royler to tap. Tap mother fucker. He grabs the back of Royler’s head and pulls it down. Royler taps seven times, desperate. He only needs to tap twice.
Eddie jumps up on the mat and walks around with his arms in the air, like he is the king, but he also wonders what the fuck just happened. Did I really just tap Royler Gracie? Holy shit. The referee raises his arm and declares him the winner. He falls to the ground and starts bawling, like a little bitch. He has never experienced such tears of joy. During his post-fight interview, Royler calls Eddie’s win a fluke. In his post-fight interview, Eddie calls Royler a legend. He cannot believe he won. Still a brown belt, not even a black belt, Eddie Bravo shocks the Jiu Jitsu world, and the 10th Planet enterprise is born.
Los Angeles, CA November 2017: Eddie casually stands on the mat in his 10th Planet Headquarters, shooting the shit with his students before an 8:30 p.m. class. The space is nearly all black, with bright colored accents. The sign out front says in neon, “10th Planet.” Located near the corner of Pico and Grand in downtown Los Angeles, there is a cage at the front to prevent break-ins. On the back of the wall above the mat is a massive decal that reads, “10th Planet,” but that is the only indicator of where you are. A black square cage encircles the black mat. Eddie slicks back his black hair and has dark brown eyes. His eyelids are heavy, probably because he has been smoking some weed. As he talks, his forehead wrinkles in animation and his raspy voice fills the room. Students walk in as class begins, some students even a half hour late. It’s no big deal. This is part of 10th Planet — you will not find Eddie disciplining his students. He doesn’t want to be a dick. No one bows to the mat, as students do in traditional academies. Flip flops and sandals line the big black mat. Students wear colorful rash guards in blue, purple, brown and black. These colorful rash guards are the only indicator of a belt system, ranging from white to black. Some men sport man buns, and there are seven women out of a class of thirty, a high percentage.
One student wants to get Eddie riled up, so he shouts: “Hey, Eddie, do you really believe the Earth is flat?” Eddie vehemently defends all conspiracy theories and now people are starting to listen to him. He instantly goes into a rant about his flat earth theory. He believes that all the pictures of Earth we can view on the internet are a government conspiracy. The government is tricking us into believing that the Earth is round. They used CGI for all six moon landings. “It looks fake, so it is fake.” His students counter, stating that if the Earth is flat, wouldn’t we fall off the edge when we travel? How does your fancy iPhone work, Eddie, if the Earth is flat? No argument will deter Eddie. His mind is set: “It doesn’t matter what shape it is that we’re on; if you like being raised on lies, then fine. Once you go flat, you never go back.” He believes in the Illuminati, Bohemian Grove, Operation Northwoods and that 9/11 was an inside job. This is the brilliance of Eddie Bravo. He trusts nothing traditional.
The name, 10th Planet, is far from traditional, too. In 2005 before Pluto was demoted, NASA discovered a 10th planet that they called 2003 UB313. One might think that Eddie Bravo named his unconventional and unique Jiu Jitsu system after the NASA discovery, but he does not trust government agencies. Liars, he calls them. Instead, 10th planet is named after a theory proposed by a guy named Zechariah Sitchin. Sitchin theorized humans were created as slaves to aliens for mining gold. These aliens are from an extra planet in our solar system, dubbed “Nibiru.” Eddie decided his brand of Jiu Jitsu belongs on planet Nibiru, the real 10th planet.
After getting Eddie worked up over his flat earth theory, class begins. The students move into three lines on cue to start their warm up drills. Eddie doesn’t need to shout out instructions. In order to roll with the Eddie, students must take a fundamentals class before graduating into the Advanced class. The students start with a shrimp drill, a common drill in most Jiu Jitsu academies, but that is the only similarity. During one drill, students do cartwheels down the length of the mat. For those with acrobatic skills, they walk on their hands, feet in the air, down the mat.
The drills are just beginning. On one wall, written in neon colors are dozens of drills organized into several groups. Today is an “A” day, the advanced Granby drills. There are eight total sets, A through H. “B” day is called Hail Mary. “C” Day is Pressure Passes. “D” Day is Standing Passes, and so on. The students start their Granby drills, rolling from their shoulders to a back roll and back to the shoulder roll. Their feet rarely touch the ground. Eddie exudes intensity: “3 minutes! Push it! Faster!” He walks around, evaluating each student. “Shoot those goddamned hips!” The rest of the class runs similarly. Students find a partner and practice positions with each other. Eddie will shout out what seems like nonsense: “2–3–1. . .koala. . .mission control!” Students know exactly what to do. Koala is a position where one person sits on the others’ lap and they clinch together as if they are in an aggressive hug. 2–3–1 refers to the type of grip to use. Mission control is the goal position for one partner, a position with an endless amount of submission opportunities. Students work through these drills for three minutes, then switch partners. When it is time to rotate, Eddie develops a certain intensity. He yells and claps: “Rotate!” Clap clap. “Rotate!” Clap clap. “Rotate!” Clap Clap.
The 10th Planet system is just one variation among many that Jiu Jitsu has experienced in 2,500 years. Considered the father of all fights since its origin, Indian Buddhist monks traveling into the interior of India used Jiu Jitsu to fight off bandits. Weapons were used occasionally, and like today’s version, what is also called the “gentle art” was based on using leverage, momentum, equilibrium and center of gravity to perform joint locks and chokes. With the spread of Buddhism throughout Asia came the subsequent spread of Jiu Jitsu. Eventually, Jiu Jitsu arrived to Japan, where it significantly changed. Jiu Jitsu arrived in Japan during the Sengoku period, a period marked by social, political and military upheaval. Since Japanese men were normally smaller than their opponents, the leverage techniques of Jiu JIitsu gave them a powerful advantage in battle. The Japanese used many different techniques in their Jiu Jitsu, including throws, takedowns, strikes and grappling. It was designed for samurais who wore heavy armor and carried long swords, though the Japanese eventually evolved Jiu Jitsu to use in close combat when weapons were not practical. Japanese Jiu Jitsu contained several different elements and as a result Sumo, Aikido, Kenpo and Karate were born from it.
In 1914, the father of modern Japanese Jiu Jitsu, Mitsuyo Maedo, brought his martial art to Brazil to Carlos Gracie and his brothers, Oswaldo, Gastao Jr. and George. The brothers thought that their little brother, Helio was too small and sickly to learn, though Helio observed and learned on his own. Brothers Carlos and Helio created what is now modern Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and established academies all over Brazil. They pitted their Jiu Jitsu students against practitioners of other popular Brazilian martial arts, including, Capoeira, Greco-Roman boxing, sports karate and judo. The Jiu Jitsu practitioners prevailed nearly every time. The Gracie brothers took out the striking and throws of Japanese Jiu Jitsu and honed the grappling techniques, believing grappling was most important for self-defense. Royler happens to be the son of Helio Gracie.
In the early 1990s, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was created by Rorion Gracie, who is the oldest son of Helio Gracie. The idea behind the UFC was to set different martial artists against each other in a no holds barred contest. The original UFC was extremely violent. The UFC’s slogan was: “There are no rules!” The UFC did ban eye-gouging and discouraged hair pulling, headbutting, groin strikes and fish hooking, though competitors used these techniques anyway. Jiu Jitsu became popular in the United States when Brazilian Jiu Jitsu god Royce Gracie won the first through fourth Ultimate Fighting Championships. He fought against much larger opponents who were practicing styles such as Boxing, Muay Thai, Karate, Wrestling and Taekwondo. No one else had a ground game, but Royce did because of Jiu Jitsu. The Gracies are considered the first family of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and as a result of the UFC and Royce’s success, Jiu Jitsu gained prominence in the United States. Even in today’s more gentlemanly UFC battles, every Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter must be a master of Jiu Jitsu.
If the Gracies are the first family of Jiu Jitsu, Eddie Bravo is a pariah. The Gracies preach a defensive technique of Jiu Jitsu based on wearing the Gi, a traditional pajama like uniform that has stiff collars and sleeves, tough pants, and a ranking belt. The belt ranking system goes in order from novice to expert: white, blue, purple, brown and black: Eddie Bravo is vehemently against the Gi, stating that the grips that come with Gi training are not practical for self-defense or for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). “If you’re yanking and pulling on collars all day, how does that translate to no yanking and pulling on sleeves and collars? [MMA] is so different.” As a blue and purple belt, a relative novice, Eddie began to work on his no grip game while wearing the Gi. He trained with a good friend of the Gracie family and legend in his own right, Jean Jacques Machado. Machado was born with only a thumb and pinkie finger on his left hand, but brilliantly adapted his Gi game to become one of the best practitioners in the world. Machado had to change his Jiu Jitsu game not to include grips and was a major influence on what would later become Eddie Bravo’s 10th planet system.
Eddie developed 10th Planet as a series of positions and transitions that rely on flexibility, leverage, and smooth movements. Instead of using a lot of chokes, the system relies a lot on leg and other joint locks. The leg locks are allowed during No Gi tournaments, but rarely in Gi tournaments. One base position for 10th Planet is the clinch, when two fighters appear to be putting each other into head locks. Eddie Bravo is known for creating new moves, and naming them in unconventional ways. He has moves such as crackhead, twister, the electric chair, cocoon ass, stoner control, the jaws of life, the powder keg, the godfather, stick shift, the zombie, the snitch and the drowning Jiu. In traditional Jiu Jitsu, the moves are named after the creators, or are just practical names that describe the movement. Some of these names include, the Ezekiel choke, armbar, triangle, kimura, omoplata, D’Arce choke, baseball bat choke, spider guard and X guard. The kimura, for example, is named after Masahiko Kimura, a famous Japanese professional wrestler and Judo practitioner. A triangle is so named because one’s legs make a triangle when applying the choke.
Many Eddie Bravo haters believe he is thumbing his nose at traditional, Gi Jiu Jitsu and they are not incorrect. He does not believe in training with the Gi like the Gracies. With his avid participation and belief in marijuana, naysayers believe he denies the healthy Jiu Jitsu lifestyle, with mind, body and spiritual components. While Royler follows a strict diet (called the Gracie diet) and begins each day with watermelon juice and a vegetable smoothie, Eddie sparks up a bong. In fact, he credits his marijuana use to the creativity he has in his Jiu Jitsu. After the ADCC match in 2003, the haters thought Eddie won on a fluke. Finally, after 11 years of asking, Royler agreed to another match, traditional vs. radical.
Los Angeles, CA: March 2014: Metamoris 3, a submission only, much anticipated rematch between Eddie Bravo and Royler Gracie. Metamoris 3 is a marathon match, a hearty 20 minute bout. This time, Eddie is confident. When he is introduced, he raises his arms over his head, as if already victorious. Royler is 47 and Eddie is 43, both older for competing. Royler smiles calmly at the crowd cheering his name, but he shifts back and forth from left to right. He bows to the crowd and to Eddie as the referee brings them together to explain the rules. They firmly shake hands and bow to each other out of tradition.
Once the referee yells “Fight!” Bravo and Royler knock hands once again, but it is a brief acknowledgement of each other. He pulls half-guard immediately, locking Royler’s right leg between his legs. He locks Royler’s leg up so tightly that Royler’s knee pops seven times. They wrestle for the under hook and he jokes to Royler, “It is tough to get this time, isn’t it?” Royler knee slices his way out of Eddie’s grip, but he struggles. Damn. He fucking finally got the under hook, but Eddie has Royler’s leg locked down.
Eddie thrusts his leg under Royler’s right leg, and positions him into a submission attempt that he calls “The Electric Chair.” He stretches Royler in an elongated split. He planned the match to go this way. Eddie and Royler are face to face as he cranks on Royler’s entire body, legs spread apart. He casually taunts Royler, “You can’t do anything here so you might as well relax.” He rolls, or reverses, Royler to maintain the Electric Chair from the top, stretching Royler more. Royler grimaces and Eddie looks at him as if to say, “Are you okay, man?” Royler reacts by throwing up his hands and motioning to the crowd, “I’m okay.” They both smile. Eddie puts on a show of 10th Planet technique.
Royler establishes half guard on Eddie, but Eddie passes and gets out of Royler’s leg lock. No one passes Royler’s guard, but he has done it. He lies perpendicular to Royler, in side control. He suddenly reverses Royler, wraps his arms around Royler’s head and places him into a painful neck crank. Any other man would have tapped by now, but Royler maintains his composure, though he grimaces. Royler escapes the neck crank and Eddie jumps on his back. Royler is too smart for this and escapes the attempt. At this point in the match, everyone expects Eddie to fold. He can’t submit Royler again.
Eddie and Royler wrestle back and forth into and out of half guard. A space opens between them, so Eddie slips his leg through, up and over Royler’s back, near his neck. He displays rubber guard, a position he has perfected. He backs out of the rubber guard, for he is baiting Royler to react. He wants to establish the Vaporizer, a leg lock designed to crush an opponent’s calf. Jiu Jitsu isn’t just a physical match, but a mental one. Royler weasels out of it, so instead Eddie attempts another Electric Chair. Royler’s groin stretches beyond a normal man’s limits. Half the crowd cheers, “Roy-ler! Roy-ler!” But the other half is yelling, “Ed-die! Ed-die!”
Royler reverses out of the Electric Chair and establishes half guard from the top. Eddie tries for another Electric Chair attempt, the third of the match. He spreads Royler’s legs like a gymnast. They reverse each other back and forth a few times. As they battle, the referee stops the match because the two are about to roll off the mat. The men stand up and walk toward the center of the mat. He and Royler get into a raucous argument about the specific positions they were in. Royler refuses to get into position; he is confused. Fuck that shit. Let’s go to the replay. Finally, they resume the match with Eddie on top and Royler on the bottom, legs entangled into his half guard. Five minutes left in the match. Only a submission will win.
Eddie clinches Royler to establish head and neck control. Royler reaches his arm out to block his head from coming near his. He folds his body in half to reach under for Royler’s calf. The two are in such a position that each submits the other with what is called a calf slicer. Eddie has the stronger submission, though. He finally positions Royler in a Vaporizer. His legs squish Royler’s calf muscle into a painful mashup. He brutally cranks on Royler’s ankle for the submission. Royler motions that he is okay, waving his finger in the air. Royler is in pain, though, and immediately uses his arms to relieve the pressure off his calf and ankle. Eddie cranks so hard that he is close to breaking Royler’s ankle, but Royler will allow his ankle to break before tapping. They each shift their bodies slightly and their heads are side by side. Eddie says something unknown to Royler, but they both laugh. Royler will not tap. With one minute left, the full crowd cheers, “Ed-die Bra-vo! Ed-die Bra-vo!”
The match ends in a draw. Everyone agrees, though, that Eddie Bravo owned this match.
Los Angeles, CA: 10th Planet HQ: With half an hour left to go in a two hour class, students prepare to roll. Eddie sets the clock to four eight-minute rounds. Eight minutes of rolling is a cardiovascular marvel, but most students seem up to it. Others sit back with the master, wanting to experience a piece of brilliance for a minute or two. By now, Eddie has over 70 worldwide locations of his 10th Planet enterprise from Columbia to Sweden and Australia. Now Eddie lives in a much bigger house. He has a tricked out, fully loaded Toyota Truck with a custom sound system. He performs comedy. He is a musician. He has a highly popular podcast and a famous invitational tournament. He doesn’t roll this night at HQ but he sits back, shoots the shit, and admires what he has created, an empire: the 10th Planet.
