Famous People Doing BJJ

I first thought about this when I was reading one of the martial arts magazines. Fightsport, the great MMA magazine I think it was. This is really great stuff and I wanted to post some info I found on this here for everone's interest. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is so great and it is surprising how many different types of people practice it. I think there are certainly very many others that we just dont know about.


BLACK BELTS:


Sean Patrick Flanery - an American actor known for such roles as Connor MacManus in The Boondock Saints as well as portraying Indiana Jones in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

Chuck Norris - an American martial artist, action star and television and film actor who is known for action roles such as Cordell Walker on Walker, Texas Ranger, his iconically tough image and roundhouse kick.


Edward "Ed" O'Neill - an American actor. He is best known for his role as the main character, Al Bundy, on the FOX Network's sitcom, Married... with Children. O'Neill has often been cast as a police officer in television shows and films.



Pete Loncarevich - a former Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer. Loncarevich was an "Old School" professional BMX racer whose prime competitive years were from 1980 to 1994.

Rikki Rockett - better known by the stage name Rikki Rockett, is an American drummer best known for his work with the glam metal band, Poison.

Dan Inosanto - is an American Filipino martial arts (FMA) instructor from California who is best-known as a student of the late Bruce Lee and authority on Jeet Kune Do Concepts.

Richard Norton - a martial artist, action film star, and stuntman. Norton worked as a bodyguard in the entertainment business before pursuing an acting career. He worked as a personal bodyguard for the likes of The Rolling Stones, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, David Bowie, ABBA, John Belushi, Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks. His first screen appearance was in the 1980 Chuck Norris film The Octagon, and to date he has worked on over 70 feature films and television programs.

Suga Pop (Steven Daniells-Silva) - an internationally-recognized "street dance" practitioner and choreographer based in the United States, with family ties to New Zealand and Samoa. He is renowned for his execution of the styles "popping" and "locking" (collectively grouped under the umbrella term "funk styles") that are associated with the U.S. West Coast, particularly California. His crew affiliations include the Electric Boogaloos, The Lockers, and Rock Steady Crew.

BROWN BELTS:

Guy Ritchie - a filmmaker known for his modern take on British gangster movies and for being married to pop star Madonna. Ritchie got his start behind the camera in the mid-1990s, making promotional music videos and television commercials. His 1995 short The Hard Case -- and a script for a feature film based on it -- convinced a handful of wealthy investors (including Trudie Styler, Sting's wife) to finance his first movie. Ritchie made Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels (1998) on a small budget with mostly unknown actors; it became a box office hit and he was suddenly being compared to Quentin Tarantino. He was also making news as Madonna's boyfriend and father to her son, Rocco. Ritchie and Madonna married in December of 2000 and settled in England, much to the delight of the British gossip sheets, who report regularly on their doings. His next movie, Snatch (2000), had major studio backing and big-name stars like Brad Pitt and Benicio Del Toro. It performed well at the box office and furthered Ritchie's reputation as an exciting writer/director. He then worked with his wife on three projects: a music video ("What It Feels Like for a Girl"), a short film for BMW ("Star," with Clive Owen) and a poorly-received remake of the 1974 film Swept Away (2002). In 2005 he finished Revolver, a crime thriller starring Ray Liotta and Andre Benjamin (Andre 3000 of the hip-hop band Outkast). He followed with the cash-frenzy action comedy RocknRolla (2008).


Joe Rogan - is an American comedian, actor and longtime color commentator for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Rogan is also known for his role as Joe Garrelli in NewsRadio and as host on the TV game/reality program Fear Factor.

Michael Westbrook - a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League. Westbrook spent seven seasons with the Washington Redskins from 1995 to 2001 and the 2002 season with the Cincinnati Bengals before retiring.

PURPLE BELT:

Harley Flanagan - is the founder of the Cro-Mags, an influential 1980s hardcore punk band. Flanagan was the drummer for The Stimulators in 1980, when he was 12.

Maynard James Keenan - an American rock singer, songwriter, musician, producer, winemaker, and actor. Keenan is best known as the lead singer of the multi-platinum rock bands Tool and A Perfect Circle with whom he has released four and three studio albums, respectively. In 2003, he created Puscifer as a side project, financing and releasing its first studio album in October 2007. In addition to his music career, he has performed improvisational stand-up comedy, as inspired by close friend Bill Hicks, and ventured into acting, making his feature film debut in April 2009 with the release of Crank: High Voltage. He is the current owner of Merkin Vineyards and the associated winery, Caduceus Cellars, and has part ownership of Stronghold Vineyards, all located in Arizona, where he resides.

Paul Walker - an American actor. He became well known in 2001 after starring in the surprise summer hit The Fast and the Furious and has since gone on to star in its sequels 2 Fast 2 Furious and Fast & Furious. His other successful movies include Joy Ride, Running Scared, and Eight Below.


David Mamet - an American author, essayist, playwright, screenwriter and film director. His works are known for their clever, terse, sometimes vulgar dialogue and arcane stylized phrasing, as well as for his exploration of masculinity. He received Tony Award nominations for Glengarry Glen Ross (1984) and Speed-the-Plow (1988). As a screenwriter, he received Oscar nominations for The Verdict (1982) and Wag the Dog (1997).

Michael Clarke Duncan - an American actor, best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in The Green Mile, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.


BLUE BELT:

Nicolas Cage - an American actor, known for collaborating many times with film producer Jerry Bruckheimer. A high school dropout, Cage pursued acting as a career, making his debut on television in 1981. Cage has famously featured in numerous "bad boy" roles, and has won numerous awards, beginning in 1989 with his Independent Spirit Award, and his most recent Toronto Film Critics Association Award in 2002. Cage has starred in over 70 films including Face/Off (1997), Ghost Rider (2007), and National Treasure (2004). Cage has married three times, once to Patricia Arquette, then to Lisa Marie Presley (the only daughter, and child, of Elvis Presley), and most recently to his current wife Alice Kim Cage who was 20 years old when they met and married.


Mario Van Peebles - an American director and actor who has appeared in numerous films. He is the son of writer, director and actor Melvin Van Peebles and German actress Maria Marx. Van Peebles recently starred on the television show Damages, and will return this season, reprising the role of Agent Harrison.

Zach Roth - former member of Still Remains, a melodic metalcore band from Grand Rapids, Michigan signed to Roadrunner Records, that formed out of previous local bands Shades of Amber and Unition.

Other notable celebrities known to be brazilian jiu jitsu fans include Jim Carrey, Jason Statham, Steve Irwin, Mel Gibson, Mila Jovovich, Shaquille O'Neal, Mickey Rourke, Tommy Lee