The term BJJ Dirty Dozen refers to the original non-Brazilian BJJ black belts. It was first thought of by John WIll who is the first Australian BJJ Black belt, and a student of Rigan Machado and the Machado brothers. John was in fact one of the very first non-Brazilian students Rigan ever had, as they met when John had traveled to Los Angeles back in 1987 to take some private lessons from Rorion Gracie and Rigan had just stepped off the plane from Brazil. John was already a purple belt when I first stepped onto a BJJ mat and he taught me my very first lesson.
John, who had founded one of Australia's first martial arts magazines, recognized that as we were getting our black belts, this was a unique moment in history. He knew that the team that had emerged was unique and should have a unique name. I remember him saying we needed some term to refer to us that sounded cool and would be memorable, and he suggested the “Dirty Dozen”. I thought it was a great term and so John started to use it in magazine articles, and then it took off.
So here is the truth about that term, coming from someone who was actually there when it was first spoken and was part of this making of history.
The term BJJ Dirty Dozen was never meant to refer to exactly 12 people. It just referred to that first group of non-Brazilian BJJ Black Belts. And it never mattered who got their black belt first, second, etc. I’ve seen so many lists that obsess over dates of belts and they are all missing the point.
What John was naming at that time was a class of people- warriors really -the first people to be exposed to BJJ in the late 80’s and very early 90’s, and all that we went through over years to fight our way up each belt rank until the day we each were recognized by our instructors of having reached the level of black belt.
And I am here to tell you that back then, I think even more so than today in some schools, that belt really meant something.
This was the wild west. Rorion, Rickson, Royler, Royce and Rigan had all just arrived, creating a beachhead for BJJ in Torrance and Redondo Beach, CA.
This was years before the first UFC, and Rorion was working to make a name for BJJ by issuing the Gracie Challenge ($10,000 and then $100,000) to anyone who could beat him or his brothers/cousins in a no rules “vale tudo” fight. He also had produced and circulated the iconic “Gracie Jiu Jitsu in Action” VHS video tape.
These were the days when the name Brazilian Jiu Jitsu had only just started to be used because Rorion was trying to take legal control of the name “Gracie Jiu Jitsu” which was what it was always called in Brazil.
For us Americans who were first on the mat in this new (to us) style of Jiu Jitsu, we came there because we happened to meet one of the brothers or knew someone who knew them.
We were pounded by our Brazilian instructors in a way few are these days. Whether it was multi-hour training sessions, running the sand hill in Manhattan Beach CA to the point of vomiting, having a gi held over our face during training as we struggled to breathe, or endless “King of the HIll” battles, we were being forged in a fire that smolders even until today.
We fought all comers who walked into the school (or backyard mat) intent on a fight, and we never lost. We dealt with eye gouges, groin grabs, and even people biting, trying to beat us. The famous Judo Gene Lebelle would bring through a parade of the world's best grapplers, all trying to beat us. We competed in Judo, wrestling and Sambo tournaments because there were not yet BJJ tournaments in the US. And when those tournaments started, we won many of them, beating at times the very best Brazil had to offer, as Bob Bass did with the great Marcio Feitosa, a victory which earned Bob Bass his BJJ Black Belt.
Once the UFC aired, we traveled alongside our instructors (in my case the Machado Brothers) to endless seminars, sometimes beating a line of over 100 people, each waiting their chance to see if they could be the one to make us tap. We never lost.
So the Dirty Dozen is not some list of people with dates on which they got their belt. It is a group of people who blazed the trail for all who do BJJ and MMA today. We were in the right place at the right time, and had the mental strength to stick it out. In fact John Will was in the wrong place at the right time and made the effort to repeatedly fly across the globe so extra respect for him. Perhaps that’s why he understood better than the rest how important this time really was.
And as the person who was there when John first muttered the term, I can tell you who the BJJ Dirty Dozen were and will forever be.
In no particular order, it was Craig Kukuk, Bob Bass, Rick Williams, Mike Nordstrom, Mark Lyons, Rick Minter, John WIll, Chris Haueter, myself (Dave Meyer) and James Boran. And I would add to that our Brazilian teammates Renato Magno and Fernando Vasconcelos who were our brothers.
I have seen others included in lists and they may well have gotten their black belts around the time we did (I was not aware of that at the time), so sure let's include them - respect to all - regardless of whether it adds up to twelve people or not!
Because I was there when it was born, and I am telling you that the BJJ Dirty Dozen is not a list. It is a concept.
I send respect to all our coaches, teammates and everyone who came before us and who has come since. From the original BJJ Dirty Dozen, I ask you keep that original spirit alive in your training.
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