Long before the days of MGinAction and the Mendes brothers winning almost every gold medal imaginable, jiu-jitsu was a very different landscape. A lucky few in places like Los Angeles and New York had access to world-class jiu-jitsu instructors from an early stage, but for the rest of us it was a long, slow process characterized by learning from our mistakes.

Note – A huge thank you to Colin Robinson and Simon Hayes for sharing some old-school photographs. 

1: The Skinny Dude Who Tangled People Up On The Floor And Inspired A Revolution

When Royce Gracie walked into the cage during the first ever UFC in 1993, few people gave him a snowball’s chance in hell of beating all those big tough karate dudes. He’d just get flying kicked in the face, right? WRONG. Tap, tap, tap went his opponents, and along came a paradigm shift in the way we thought about martial arts. Things would never be the same again.

2: We Didn’t Train For Jiu-Jitsu Competitions, We Trained For ‘NHB’

Jiu-jitsu competitions didn’t even exist! We wouldn’t have known where to sign up for a grappling tournament even if we’d wanted to. Nope, we trained for ‘no holds barred’, which meant slap-fighting, learning how to double-leg a guy trying to hit you, and punching people in the face to open up an armbar from mount.

3: Gis Were White, And They Were Usually Judo Gis

Forget close-fitting multi-colored designer gis with rashguard linings. We had baggy judo gis with sleeves that cut off 6 inches above our wrists. Sometimes we even resorted to rolling in karate uniforms! OG grapplers will remember well the burns that collar chokes would leave upon the neck. Instead of looking like a badass, you just looked as if you were into auto-erotic asphyxiation. Difficult to explain to family, friends and co-workers.

4: For The LONGEST Time, Everyone Was A White Belt

Except maybe your instructor, who was a blue belt. Back in the day blue belts were something special and hard earned, purple belts were damn-near god-like and had magical powers on the mat. As for black belts… Who ever saw a black belt except in a pirated VHS tape of an instructional series? Speaking of….

5: 4th Generation VHS Copies Were The Most Common Way To Learn

Mario Sperry’s legendary ‘vale tudo’ series of video tapes, Renzo Gracie and Craig Kukuk, and the infamous Gracies in Action… If you never poured over the list of 10-VHS tape sets as advertised in Black Belt magazine, you definitely didn’t train BJJ back in the day.

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Eddie Bravo is an old-school guy doing new-school things – check out the trailer for our feature documentary, Episode 1 premiers Feb. 10. 

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6: Training In Your Garage

Nothing says ‘old school’ like choking out your friends in your garage because there were no gyms in your area. But that was fine, because we all kind of felt like we were in our own version of 'Fight Club' anyway. 

7: 'Basic' Training Facilities 

Gyms were far different from the gleaming, luxury palaces / health spas they are now. 

8: Driving Across States (And Sometimes Cross-Country) For Seminars With Black Belts

Seminars were a rare occasion to train with a genuine expert in the art. For that reason, you’d drive countless hours for a couple of hours of techniques. Of those, you’d maybe remember one, but you’ll be damned if you don’t remember that technique and it’s still part of your game even until today. So, money well spent.




9: When Grappling Tournaments Were Chaos

Before the days of the IBJJF and the other professional tournament organizers, grappling tournaments were complete bedlam and reminiscent of the early MMA shows. You’ve have a guy in a gi grappling a guy in a wrestling singlet with boots. Some judo black belt would come in and destroy people with throws until somebody finally got his back and choked him. And nobody, least of all the organizers, knew what the rules were.

10: (Almost) Nobody Had Been To Brazil

In the 90s and even into the 00s, making the trip to Brazil was almost unthinkable. If the fear of getting kidnapped didn’t put you off, then the idea of being torn apart by angry Brazilians kept most people at home. Very few hardy souls made the trip to South America to train in those days, with most people opting for a trip to SoCal instead.

11: Takedowns

We still trained them, and they meant something dammit!

12: Brazilian Branded Fightwear Was The Best

Who doesn’t remember Bad Boy or Vitamins and Minerals vale tudo shorts, Hunter fightwear, Hotblood...?

13: No-Gi Training Attire Was Often... Unconventional 

No-gi meant – literally – taking your gi top off. No rashguard? No problem! Training bare chested was nothing to be afraid of. Rashguards didn't even come into vogue until Egan Inoue wore one at ADCC 1999. Shorts (often with zippers and pockets), muscle vests, and wrestling boots were all the rage.