Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, 52-Anti-Grappling-Blocks and the Rise of the Black Walker (“the illest” remix)
Brazilian Jiu -Jitsu is one of the most effective martial arts in the world, yet most Black people don’t use ground fighting in their arsenal. In this article, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners weigh in on why Black people must learn the grappling martial art. Featuring Ron “The Black Dragon” Van Clief, Lloyd Irvin, Lord Rahmel aka Mr 52 Hand Blocks, Ras Fletcher, Senika Winston, Gurgot Singh and Sifu Rudi.
So here we are, weeks after that month, when America takes time to acknowledge the contributions of the enslaved Africans who became Negros, and finally assimilated Black people.
During that token month when your Facebook friends become revolutionaries, the United States ostensibly reflects on us so-called Black people and those of us who fought for freedom, rebelled, protested, marched, and with blowouts — shot first.
Despite all the obstacles in this country, our hand game became the business. In the ring, we Jack Johnsoned, floated with Ali, and added a few Sugar Rays to the shit. When war was necessary, we took that swagger from the ring and remixed it with our ongoing struggle in this country.
Once upon a time, so-called Black people were not to be fucked with.Once upon a time, so-called Black people were — the illest.
Years after the civil rights generation got us onto the playing field, we got lax. America went from modems to megabits, and in the ring, we were Roy Jones or Mayweather, subconsciously thinking we were all TBE.
Our jeans got tighter, we chased chicken sandwiches, and honestly, our hand game is no longer the business. Still, most of us think that we all have some inner Deebo on reserve when we don’t and never really did.
On the real, our decline as an overall warrior class started way back before the turn of the millennium. During the golden age of hip hop, when your favorite MC chased five mics, a lethal fighting style was terrorizing traditional martial arts in America.
A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu family made a name for themselves by choking out your favorite karate slash kung fu master and simultaneously introduced themselves to an emerging fighting sport that mixed martial arts styles in full contact.
While Tupac threw up a W and Biggie Smalls repped BK to the fullest,
the Gracies and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu became — the illest.
On the real, MMA has come to the block, and many of us aren’t on our bully. So-called Black people don’t believe in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu or that UFC shit. They don’t think that a skilled MMA opp can wreck their whole shit until it’s too late. Flat earthers have to learn the hard way.
Recognize and realize, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is out on the streets, and so-called Black people are running into arm locks, chokeholds, and all kinds of nasty kill-a-nigga-shit.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu works, and if you haven’t been exposed to it, you’ve been sleeping on one of the world’s most effective martial arts.
Its design: Get an opp to the ground and neutralize all their offense.
All your haymakers — Gone.
All your rec center karate from back in the day — Gone.
All your wild Sharkeisha, Black girl magic punches — Gone too.
Fortunately, for the nation of twerkers and NBA2K live wizards, there is still time to learn the fly kill-a-nigga-shit, before it reaches you and your hood.
Most of you don’t head the words from the genius, even though I’ve been on my martial arts journalism game for over a decade, and Wack Belt Magazine steadily tries to steal the drip, and although my lyrics have birthed several new martial arts documentaries, y’all stay screw facing illmatical like “Why the fuck you lying, why you always lying…”
Memes aside, I thought I’d plug you to some so-called Black people who happen to be the illest muthafuckers alive in this Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu business. So-Called Black people who could talk to you about learning a deadly martial art, being defensive-minded, and help us reconnect to our way as warriors, aka Black Walkers, and a time when we were…
The Illest
Ron Van Clief is the illest. American martial arts pioneer and champion who was nicknamed “The Black Dragon.” At the age of 51, he fought in UFC 4 (1994) vs. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master Royce Gracie. Despite having over ten black belts in systems that you can’t pronounce, that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu shit that you don’t think works — it immediately neutralized him. Royce Gracie mounted him in less than 30 seconds and smothered him into submission in the first round.
Instead of hating, Van Clief started his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu journey a year later, and he has been training with the Gracies since 2011. The Black Dragon’s wingspan is crazy these days — he’s a pending Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt.
He made shit plain and spoke on the science of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters saying, “Their whole game is to close their gap on you… If they can get to the clinch or get to the takedown. If you don’t have ground techniques, you’re done.”
Van Clief insists that he did not shed a thug’s tear because of the UFC loss. After competing in hundreds of tournaments, the “L” wasn’t significant. However, he saw the need to add a functional ground game to his arsenal.
“You’re not a martial artist until you’re well rounded, a good stand-up game and good ground game… Everybody should have some ground techniques; every art needs that.”
Lloyd Irvin is the illest. He’s also one of the most accomplished American Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champions and trainers. He’s also one of the most controversial names in the game, and when you do enough research, you realize that Lloyd’s not the villain he’s been made out to be on ‘The Internets.’
Homeboy’s just something that America does not have any toleration for — a smart nigga.
Despite the attempts by some shady folks in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world to undermine him, he continually shows and proves, consistently producing champions.
Speaking on the effectiveness of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and its use in a street fight, he said, “If an MMA guy or a [Brazilian] Jiu-Jitsu guy gets you in a clinch, or gets you to the ground, the fight is going to be over. There’s no form of street boxing that is going to get you out of that situation.
Once you hit the ground and you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re done with. Just like UFC back in the days, if someone gets a mount position, they start punching you, you’re going to put your arms up, and they will break your arms, or you’re going to turn your body and get choked unconscious.”
Ras Fletcher is the illest. The martial arts historian and practitioner was one of the first individuals to prompt the need for this article, noticing the frequency that so-called Black folks were getting their shit mixed by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the streets.
“The average person, who is likely to engage in physical conflict on the street, is an untrained person, that’s usually an unarmed scenario. Under those circumstances, the majority of individuals, their basic ability is untrained striking… The closer you get to the trapping and clinching ranges, the less capable they are. The more they are at your mercy. That vulnerability amplifies the closer you get and the more you’re able to get them on the ground.
With Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, all you need to do is defend the [untrained] strikes, close all the way, get a clinch, get a takedown and assume the mount. They’ll try and get you off. If you put the pressure on, they will literally break. Their body will burn their creatine phosphate energy system as they panic” explained Ras.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve overheard brothers say that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu shit won’t work on them, or “Yeah, trying bringing that shit to the block. Niggas won’t ever catch me lackin!”
So-called Black people don’t believe in combat training. Our mental is ‘Watch the Throne,’ because I’m already the illest muthafucker alive.
“We have bought into the idea that if we get angry, we can handle what we need to. We don’t need to go and train. Maybe I’ll have my kids go and train because I can already fight. You cannot fight. Being willing to scrap is not the same as being able to scrap willfully” explained Ras, including tons of so-called Black folk on the realest shit I ever wrote.
Senika Winston is the illest. She’s a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt, instructor, and IBJJF (International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation) World Champion. The social worker by day and neck choker by night said, “A lot of people don’t think it works and do more stand-up stuff… They [so-called Black people] don’t know anything about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and that it absolutely does work.”
While that “absolutely-does-work” ground fighting system was on the come up in the 90s, most slept on it and it wasn’t pushed heavily in so-called Black communities.
“Gracie cats were mutilating these point fighting cats… The Gracie version of [Brazilian] Jiu-Jitsu was seen as a form of fighting that would beat most stand-up fighters, and it was marketed and taught outside of most urban communities” explained Ras.
Unlike months at your local dojo or martial art school, where your belt might not be legit, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu provides an immediate return on investment within months of training.
Gurjot Singh is the Illest. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Brown Belt and Pan American IBJJF champion. He spoke on the effectiveness of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with a Cypress Hills type flow, saying, “After six months of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, normally, a man can kill another man. A year of [Brazilian] Jiu-Jitsu and the person’s competing, he can kill… When I look back at all of my combative experiences, not combat sports, it was grappling that saved my life.”
Word life. Grappling or, more specifically, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has gotten illmatical out of two bad spots and one life-threatening situation, so when someone asks me about its effectiveness, with attitude, like Senika, I say, “Absolutely-does-work!”
52-Anti-Grappling-Blocks
The science of fighting and how people get it in these days, is based on a sociology term — critical mass. The most popular or visible form of combat sports, it influences the general public. Mixed martial arts, and particularly the UFC, is one the main reasons why Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the word on the street.
Still, so-called Black people think Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is laced with Little Nas X flows. I still can recall a quote from former champion Bernard Hopkins, saying that UFC and ground fighting was Old Town Road music “I don’t want to watch two grown men, with panties on, wrestling. I’m from the hood. We don’t play that. I’m not buying a ticket to see two men with panties on, nuts in they face… that’s not me.”
Billy Ray Cyrus Remixes aside, The Executioner’s dismissal of MMA spoke on the cultural reluctance that so-called Black people have regarding ground fighting or grappling.
Sifu Rudi is the illest. The legendary NYC kung fu master and teacher, was involved in BET reality show IRON RING, which tried to introduce MMA to urban communities. The show was not successful and Sifu Rudi pointed out that so-called Black people prefer stand-up boxing.
“Traditionally [so-called] Black people would throw hands to fight and grappling would end the fight… White people, in general, were better grapplers, even back in the days when it came to fighting. They seem to not have as fast hands as we did; often, they would go to grabbing first.”
Lloyd Irvin added on, noting that in so-called Black communities, a clinch or ground fight signifies the end of or need to stop the fight. “I always tell people, when you get into a fight, you have to be open-minded because anything goes. A guy might grab you, strike you; you don’t know what he’s going to do. You have to be prepared to flow in those parameters.”
Think about street fights, you see, as soon as they grab, they’re like, ‘Let em up, let them go!’ There is a cultural bias that grabbing and wrestling and going to the ground is not fighting.”
The fight parameters all come back to defense.
Lord Rahmel is the illest. The 52 Hand blocks master’s hands are legend in several prisons and in the streets. The defensive fighter doesn’t sleep on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, noting its effectiveness saying, “There’s no difference between street fighting and in the ring. If Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is effective in the ring, it will be effective in the street.
Most people don’t have hands as far as street fighting is concerned, and they don’t know how to wrestle, especially against someone who knows Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.”
Despite noting the effectiveness of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he encourages so-called Black people to make sure they are defensive-minded, seeking out himself or a teacher that will help them learn defensive fighting. Rahmel puts faith in his specific 52 Hand Block style of defense fashioned against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
“I don’t do Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu; I do 52-Anti-Grappling-Blocks. I got these anti-grappling-blocks-that will stop your grappling and put you in submission, or get your jaw broke, or whatever my spirit tells me what to do.
My thing is defense. Just like you know how to kick a niggas ass, you gotta learn how to stop anybody’s ass whopping. You can’t grapple me, feeling elbows and knees all over your face. It all goes back to defense. Once you try offense you’re getting blocked and then done dirty.”
Done dirty, could mean a blade or whatever resources are available to neutralize an opp. This may sound gritty, but so-called Black people must understand that we live in a cold world, and those 52-anti-grappling-blocks must be ruthless. If an experienced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner gets a hold of you; there’s a strong possibility they may place you beneath the surface.
Lloyd added on saying “Most people have no idea if a real [Brazilian] Jiu-Jitsu person grabs you or wrestler grabs you, how you can’t get out. You can’t escape. Controlling your body, he can break your limbs or choke you unconscious.
If you do not know [Brazilian] Jiu-Jitsu and you do not know how to fight on the ground, you’re in a bad situation… There are three ranges of fighting, the stand-up, the clinch, and the ground; it’s best to be versed in all three ranges.
You’re a great boxer, hardcore street guy, but, a little wrestler guy grabs you, takes you down on your back, starts choking you, you don’t know how to get out of a choke, you have literally no chance, and that man can kill you because you don’t have the most basic understanding.”
The Black Dragon added on, noticing that it is possible to defend against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with good offense, saying, “First you need to learn to punch and kick… If you get hit first, before you go to the ground, or before you get that first engagement, you’re knocked out. Look what happened to the evolution of MMA… The [Brazilian] Jiu-Jitsu guys were winning at the beginning, and now a lot of them get knocked out and hurt before they get to that point.”
So-called Black people in America have demonstrated our ability to adapt. Embracing ground fighting is us coming back to a way of life we have been estranged from due to deculturalization.
The Rise of The Black Walker
When I first started this article, I thought about titling it ‘Return of the Black Grappler.’ Learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a return to a lifestyle that consistently included warfare, which has always included grappling.
In his book, Bardos of Jujizu: A Journey of a Black Walker, Gurgot Singh, introduces a warrior-based spirituality system with foundations in African cosmology.
Disregarding the American caste system, the definition of “Black” introduced in his book is life, derived from the Kongolese Bantu word “Mnyama.”
Walker, in Bantu speak “Umuntu Ohambayo,” can be a message of terror or harbinger of destruction.
Mnyama Umuntu Ohambayo aka Black Walker is a seeker of excellence, focusing on development of inner spirit and when necessary release of the frightening warrior within, for times when our lives are threatened.
Black Walkers can be the ‘beautifullest’ thing in this world or quite hostile. Black Walkers are the illest.
Bardos of Jujizu also includes a chapter on several “New African” champions and legends of Submission Fighting, including Afro Latino great Waldemar Santana from Bahia, Brazil.
Santana once trained with the Gracies, and for some strange reason, he left their academy. On some Forgotten Fury shit, due to the climate of racism that was overwhelming in Brazil at the time and still is, history tells me that Waldemar wasn’t just a good grappler — he was the illest.
Singh, the warrior enlightener also points out that the journey in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and being a Black Walker isn’t easy — you have to pay your dues. “When you first get there, that is all you do, get your ass whooped; you’re not going to win a damn thing! You don’t win for six months, and you still don’t win until someone new comes in.
Those who listen to their bodies instead of mind will quit. It kicks your ass if you want to get good at it. And to get good at it, you have to spend three to four days a week doing it. Within six months, you’ll be able to harm anyone — if you put the fitness with it.”
Although Senika works full time, she noted how her life has changed for the better since devoting herself to the art and imparting words to future Black Walkers, saying, “It’s changed a lot for me. It’s given me a sense of purpose that’s healthy. I’ve met friends through it and gained so much confidence. Like a second job, and it’s changed my life completely. Go in with an open mind. It’s hard work. Go in with a willingness to want to learn.”
When looking for a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school, Singh advises all future Black Walkers to find a school with components of MMA involved in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training “If you go to a school and they don’t strike, that is not a fully trained school. That’s a commercial school. Striking has always been a part of Jiu-Jitsu, Japanese or Brazilian.”
So there it is, future Black Walkers. I hope this build encourages you to begin your journey in one of the illest martial arts systems. One that takes years to master while providing an immediate return on investment. If nothing else, get some exposure to it because it may save your life.
While working on this article, I found out that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is now required for police training in many states. So-called Black people should sense the urgency as well.
Ron Van Clief has made Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu a necessity, and at 80 years of age, he has no intentions of slowing down. He trains several times a week, competes, and has his eyes on obtaining his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt in five years.
The Black Dragon knows that more so-called Black people will do the knowledge and learn the art, saying, “There will be more [so-called] Black people involved in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It takes time like it took with the other arts.”
When it comes to the stand-up game, we all know that SPEED KILLS, but in a grappling situation, those 52-anti-grappling-blocks and knowledge of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is essential because ground fighting is an intricate part of American combat.
In the streets, there is no tapping out.
So-called Black people in America, a great many who are African and many more who are the descendants of the indigenous kingdoms of America, might stop being Negroes; they’ll do the knowledge, learn this Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu game, in the process become Black Walkers, reconnecting with our past as warriors, when we were grapplers and ground fighters and a time when we were — the illest.
