The FIRST Renzo Gracie Blue Belt Promotion!
Today was an exciting day for the Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Program at Evolve! Professor Gordinho awarded his first blue belt today to none other than Charles Galland. Before joining Evolve more than 8 months ago, Charles already came with a few years of experience in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and was actually a blue belt from another academy. However, out of respect for Renzo Gracie, he elected to start as a fresh white belt without any stripes. Charles has the won the hearts of many of his fellow students and instructors at Evolve by showing humility and taking the hard path to earn his Blue Belt.
Charles is a tough Blue Belt, especially if you have rolled with him before! Equally important, he is quite technical and moves his hips gracefully. Charles routinely submits people twice his size. Not many students enjoy being in his guard! He has a wicked armbar and plays with a few tricky moves to set it up. Charles symbolizes good jiu-jitsu. He focuses on technique instead of strength. As such, his technique has really skyrocketed. Of course, it does not hurt to have some of the world's best BJJ professors as your teachers! Gordinho, Brodinho, and Braga Neto are all Mundials World Champions. The head of the Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Program at Evolve is Gordinho. He brings over 25 years of elite BJJ experience from Brazil. Before joining Evolve on a permanent full-time basis, Professor Gordinho was the Program Director at Renzo Gracie Academy in New York, the largest BJJ school in the world. Gordinho is a 3rd Degree Black Belt under Carlos Gracie Jr and is a former Mundials Black Belt World Champion.
Team Renzo Gracie has consistently ranked #1 in the US in competitions at all levels from White Belt to Black Belt. Renzo Gracie and his team do not give out blue belts. Belts are earned through countless hours on the mat and through refined technique. If you can beat all white belts (and some blue belts) convincingly with great technique, then you will be awarded a Blue Belt by Renzo Gracie. The standards of achievement for a Blue Belt vary greatly across schools around the world. However, Evolve Mixed Martial Arts prides itself on having some of the highest standards of excellence as well as some of the highest quality instruction in the world. At Renzo Gracie Academy, it normally takes hundreds of hours (literally) of classes and mat time to achieve a Blue Belt.
At Evolve, we hold that same elite standard.
Congratulations, Charles! It is well deserved!
