John asked that this be posted for the bjj community to see:

Dear Friends,

This summer it will be 10 years since I introduced Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to Korea. I am happy to report that it is generally healthy and growing strong. There are, however, also many charlatans who try to take advantage of BJJ’s popularity. There are fakes and liars at every belt level, often running their own academies. I have never once challenged any of them or otherwise interfered in their businesses. They never directly impacted me, and I felt that the internet (and their protruding stomachs) would be enough for most people to figure out that they were not legitimate.

A couple of days ago, however, I publicly challenged Mickey Choi to a jiu jitsu match. Let me explain what led me to this decision. I first met Mickey Choi when he visited my school several months ago as a WHITE BELT. Of course, my better blue belts and all my purple belts completely destroyed him on the mat, but they still could tell he had previous training. When they directly asked him about his background, he lied and said he had done some no-gi, but had absolutely no training/rank in gi jiu jitsu. A few months later he opened an academy and had photos of himself all over the internet wearing a gi and black belt. Unlike the liars mentioned above, I take both of these actions very personally and very seriously.

Despite all of the above, I still never once confronted Mickey Choi, directly or otherwise. He was being savaged on the internet for the phony that almost everyone knows he is, so I felt no need to make it any more personal than he already had. One brave reporter wrote a story detailing all the testimony given by all those who know Mickey Choi in America and Asia. It was quite thorough and good. But Mickey sued him, getting Dave Hagon to claim that he got a black belt from some mysterious “Fabio” (no, the genius Korean policeman did not require even a last name for Mickey to win this case), and that Dave had in turn given Mickey a black belt. The reporter then had to write a retraction.

In the midst of all of this, Mickey and his associates (the names changed but the IP addresses often did not) began writing lies about how he handled my students, and how I myself, frustrated at not being able to deal with him, hit him in the face. This was the third, and most personal, set of lies. The facts are these. He wore a white belt. As such, many of my students, as per my standing instructions, took it rather easy on him. When he was spastic and rough, they thought it was due to lack of skill and knowledge. And while they did tap him, they did so in a very gentle manner, obviously treating him like a beginner and a customer. Had he worn a black belt, things would have been very different. They would have all felt quite comfortable going much harder with him, and he would have been beaten much worse than he was.

Because of the very personal nature of Mickey’s lies and insults, and because he chose to bring the police into this matter, I simply challenged him to a special match at an upcoming tournament. He responded that he would fight me, but not at a tournament associated with my team. Of course, many “netizens” suggested he simply opt for no time limits or points, with which I agreed, but he found a way to back out, saying he needed a more neutral location. When a reporter contacted me, I simply said that location has nothing to do with jiu jitsu skill, and that I would fight Mickey in his own school. Foolishly, Mickey felt the need to impress the reporter, and said, on the record, that he would fight gi, no-gi, or MMA rules. I jumped on this and suggested 10 minutes of each in the following order: gi, no-gi, MMA. When the reporter asked why that order, I told him that I wanted Mickey to take all three beatings, and that if we began with MMA, the day would probably end a bit too soon for Mickey to fully realize the error of his ways.

Mickey called me four times in the next 15 minutes, obviously shaken, and kept changing the dates due to some upcoming business trip. I simply told him to choose the date. Just like the location, I do not want to give him a single excuse for the beating he will take if he shows for this fight. I honestly do not believe he will, but I will train hard anyway. We are now tentatively set for April 4, though he is to call me on March 25, when he returns from his business trip, to finalize. We will each bring one person, we will each film the entirety of the event, and the film can and will be made public. I have all this recorded in telephone conversations between Mickey and me. Learning much from my friends in the US who have dealt with Mickey, and from my own brief but distasteful brush with him here in Korea, I am not leaving any room for his excuses and lies. This has already been reported in the Korean press, so Mickey can now either fight—and be crushed 3 times on video—or he can back out, which will also settle the matter of his credentials for anyone who is objective about this matter.

Yours,

John M. Frankl

photo credit: Eric Knight of Modcom

Yesterday I headed down to the new ModernCombatives location in Fremont.  It opened relatively recently, has some great mat space, and more importantly, the usual SBGi vibe of just cool people wanting to have fun.  If you have ever been to an SBGi gym you know what I mean.  If you haven't, do yourself a favor and hit one up sometime.  I am always super impressed.

A few times a year John Frankl returns to the US from Korea where he is a University Professor (and bjj blackbelt).  Every time he lands on domestic soil I make sure to find some time to train with him.  He is not only a genuinely nice person, but one of the best instructors around.  He also has a well rounded game with deep experience in MMA as well.  However, the focus of the seminar this past weekend was groundwork.

After years of attending seminars, some good and some bad, I usually see three types - I think of it like a spectrum.  On one side is uncoordinated (often fancy) techniques, the middle is techniques that flow together as a unit(usually one position), and the last is techniques that all illustrate a single principle in various ways.  John's approach was the third.  The power in this model is that there is less to remember.  I always forget about 75% of what I see at a seminar (in terms of the small details), so a principle based approach gives you less to remember, and in a way, enables you to teach yourself later by recalling the concepts as opposed to things like grips or foot positions.

I'll also note that the middle approach of taking one position and connecting a few techniques is very powerful as well.  In fact, Matt Thornton taught this way in Berkeley last year with a series of knee drive passes - I found that very useful as well.  The only seminar style I don't like is the disconnected list of moves, or more commonly referred to as "cool stuff I like to do".  You'd be surpised how much that happens.

On to the seminar....The principles John focused on were as follows:

1. Empty Space (create it, put your opponent in it)
2. Hip Movement (sometimes a little bit makes all the difference)
3. Diagonal Base (posting, becoming light, and moving your hips)

For each principle, we walked through, and practiced, several techniques to illustrate the point.  Doing the techniques helped me clean up some small errors that have been forcing me to work way too hard, or worse, lose certain positions. 

Another very powerful aspect of what he showed was how "advanced" techniques actually have the basics embedded inside them.  They are the core of everything.  A simple example is standing from X Guard.  You stand using the old school self-defense standing in base.  If you haven't put that "basic" into your game then you'll always have trouble getting up in X-Guard.  Just demonstrating again that the basics are the foundation for a reason. 

John also summed this up another way, using a variant of Pareto's Principle.  In his words, 90% of what you use every day comes from 10% of what you know.  Conversely, what you need in 10% of the situations takes 90% of your time to learn.  So both from a time management perspective and from an instinctual, reactive perspective, focus on that 10% - the basics.  This is a theme I have heard from good teachers everywhere and I can't hear it enough as I am tempted by new dvd sets almost weekly.

Lastly, I rolled a bit with John (see photo).  The thing I like about rolling with people of his caliber is you get to feel the precision of their movements. Everything has purpose.   He moves with conviction because he knows exactly what he wants.  His reactions are always one step ahead because he knows where the game is headed.  Tight, constricting, precise and very, very quick hip movement.  The great ones almost snap in and out of positions.  You can really tell immediately how good someone is by this feeling alone.  It's inspiring to say the least, and something I need to think about as I roll.

Thanks to John for sharing his insights and I hope everyone can train with him next time he is out.

Paul

Great news! John Frankl will be in Northen California for a seminar this month at Modern Combatives. I have known John for going on three years now and am always very happy to see him come to town. If you can make it you won't be dissapointed. Here are the details from Jude, Fremont location director:

We've invited John Frankl for a BJJ seminar again on following dates. John is one of the best coaches, period. He's usually only in the US once a year. Try not to miss it.

Jan 17 (Sat) 2:30 ~5:30 pm Berkeley
Jan 18 (Sun) 12~3 pm Fremont

Cost: ModCom/SBGi Members - $50/One Day, $80/Both Days
Non-Members - $70/One Day, $100/Both Days

He is currently a coach at SBGi and the East Asia regional director. John received his purple, brown, and black belts under Roberto Maia (original Gracie Barra black belt under Carlos Gracie Jr). In Boston, he studied and taught at the Gracie Barra Academy, 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.He is also the founder of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Korea.

MODCOM-BERKELEY
1713 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94703

MODCOM-FREMONT
38487 Fremont Boulevard, Fremont, CA 94536

www.moderncombatives.com

 John Frankl is a bjj black belt who hails from Santa Cruz.  He has trained with Rickson, Claudio Franca, Roberto Maia (Boston) and others.  He currently lives and works in Korea, but thankfully gets back to the Bay Area a few times a year to visit family.  For the last few years, John and I have stayed in contact and I make sure to clear my calendar when he is in town.  He is one of my favorite instructors.  Solid technique, humble demeaner, and just an all around nice guy.  Would you expect anything less from SBGi?

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