Average Joe Jiujitsu Podcast; Episode 16: Karel Pravec AKA The "Silver Fox"

Today I had the privilege of sitting down and speaking to Karel Pravec, commonly known as “the Silver Fox”. Karel is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt of Czechoslovakian descent. Karel was one of the Gracie’s very first students in the United States and studied under both Renzo Gracie and John Danaher. Karel was awarded his black belt by Renzo Gracie in July 2006. Karel is also the author of the Fluid BJJ book, has produced various instructional videos, and hosts his “Roll with the Fox video series” on YouTube each Friday morning (10:30 AM, Eastern Time). Karel has been regularly featured on the Tristar Gym YouTube channel with renowned MMA coach, Firas Zahabi. Karel has demonstrated the success of his style focus on submissionsby winning: · 1st Place – 2006 Tenth Grapplers Quest West (Master Lightweight Division) – all matches won by submission · 1st Place – 2007 NAGA World Championship (Advanced Master – Open Weight) – all matches won by submission, lightest competitor in the division · 3rd Place – 2008 Pan Am Championship No-Gi (Black Belt – ADULTS – Lightweight) · 1st Place – 2010 European Championship (Black Belt Masters – Absolute Division) Karel is recognized as one of the top instructors in the New Jersey area, being behind accomplished competitors such as 2009 ADCC Runner-up Jerry Rinaldi, EBI 12 champion Erin Blanchfield, mixed martial arts fighters Sergio DeBari, Frank Roberts, Enrique Galarza & Juan Galarza and many others. Karel earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Albany and then his master’s degree from Columbia University. During our discussion, we covered Karel’s experience moving to America as a teenager, his start in martial arts (specifically striking arts) and his evolution into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. We discussed Jiu-Jitsu competition; the importance of balancing drilling, flow rolling and live rolling; the differences between gi vs. no gi training; Karel’s top three concepts for building an effective guard passing strategy; the pros and cons of focusing on systemized Jiu-Jitsu; and Jiu-Jitsu as self-defense. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!