Other SBGi affiliated BJJ Black Belts
(page under construction)
John Frankl:
John
Frankl is the founder of NorCal Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and a proud
representative of the Straight Blast Gym in Chico, CA . Although
John began with and gained high rank in traditional martial arts,
he considers his exposure to alive training as beginning in 1989,
the year he began training in Muay Thai and Eskrima in Berkeley,
CA. By 1993 John was ready to take his martial arts to the next
level. He secured a position as an English and Korean language
teacher at a private bilingual high school and moved to Los Angeles.
John had two goals: to study with Dan Inosanto and Rickson Gracie.
He spent a year in Los Angeles, at the end of which he had permission
from Dan Inosanto to begin teaching Jun Fan/JKD, Muay Thai, and
the Filipino martial arts, and a blue belt from Rickson. John
moved from Los Angeles to Boston in order to pursue his doctoral
studies at Harvard University. In Boston, John trained another
eight years with Roberto Maia, founder of Boston Brazilian Jiu
Jitsu, a black belt under Carlos Gracie, Jr., and the cousin of
Renzo Gracie and the Machado Brothers. Under Roberto, John received
his purple, brown, and black belts. John was also fortunate to
have the opportunity to train extensively with Claudio Franca
whenever he visited his hometown of Santa Cruz, CA. After more
than nine years of continuous and dedicated study, John is among
the elite group of American black belts.
John’s academic and martial arts careers have
long overlapped. His travels allowed him to train and fight not
only all over the U.S., but also in Brazil, Thailand, the Philippines,
and Japan. John also founded Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Korea, where
he has often lived for extended periods of study and research.
His academy, Seoul Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, has now grown into the
nationwide organization, Korea Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. John returns
to Korea twice a year to teach seminars and assure that training
remains true to his exacting standards.
John
represents a rare combination of fighter and teacher. Throughout
his stay in Boston, John studied and taught at Boston Brazilian
Jiu Jitsu. He served not only as a Jiu Jitsu instructor but also
as head instructor and coach of the Vale Tudo team. He also competed
in and won both Sport Jiu Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts contests.
When not on the mat or in the ring, John was studying and teaching
at Harvard University, where he received awards for excellence
in teaching and, most recently, a Ph.D. in East Asian Languages
and Civilizations.
Although over the last eight years John has devoted
most of his attention to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, he did stay active
in his stand-up game by training and teaching Vale Tudo, as well
as fighting in mixed martial arts and even an amateur Muay Thai
bout in Thailand. Through this combination, his Vale Tudo classes
naturally began to fit very well with what Matt Thornton and the
SBGi coaches were doing. During his last months in Boston, John
was fortunate enough to meet Matt at a seminar put on by Steve
Whittier.
Most recently, a Postdoctoral Fellowship at U.C.
Berkeley brought John back to his native Northern California.
Having kept in touch with Matt, and having very much appreciated
Matt’s intelligent and honest approach to martial arts,
John made plans to attend the SBGi training camp in October 2003.
It was at the camp that John got to meet—and train with—many
of the other SBGi coaches. And it was there, through their help
and encouragement, that he made his decision to ask to join the
SBGi team.
Steven Whittier:
Like most of the SBGi coaches, Steve's martial arts experience began
in the classical martial arts and evolved to more modern,
integrated approaches such as Jeet Kune Do, and finally to
alive combat athletics.
After teaching for years both as a martial arts instructor
and in academia, he made the move in 2003 to start his own
program, Nexus Martial Arts, which was the first SBG International
gym in Massachusetts.
"In SBGi, I have found not only a group
of extremely intelligent and diverse people, including some
truly great friends, but also an amazing complement to the
great training resources I have found here in Mass: an organization
that is on the cutting edge of functional performance coaching
and training for everyone – from hobbyists to professional
competitors, even military and law enforcement" relates Steve. "At Nexus, as with all SBGi programs, we are dedicated helping
our students improve and enhance their lives through the
vehicle of alive martial arts. There is nothing quite like
seeing the same passion we have for what we do ignited in
others!"
Mike Sweeney:
Bio coming soon
Rebecca Sweeney:
Bio coming soon
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