Bob Bass: 2nd US BJJ Black Belt, Stories of the Gracie & Machado Early Days | Dirty Dozen | Ep. 21

🥋 In this episode, Dave Meyer sits down with Professor Bob Bass—the SECOND non-Brazilian to ever receive a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (1995) making him one of the BJJ Dirty Dozen, and one of the first non-Brazilians to be awarded the prestigious Coral Belt (7th degree black belt) (2024), making him one of the elite “BJJ Gang of Eight”.Bob shares stories from the earliest days of BJJ in America, including:• His first encounter with Rickson Gracie and Royce Gracie in a garage in 1985• How he convinced Rigan Machado to stay in America and open a school• Building the legendary training platform in Rigan's backyard with garage doors• The historic 1995 Pan-American match against Marcio Feitosa• Training wars with Craig Kukuk, the first American BJJ black belt• Gene LeBell showing up on a motorcycle doing wheelies• The politics and referee controversies of early BJJ tournaments• Why he's still rolling at 63 and plans to train until 70Bob Bass was consistently the top fighter out of the Machado Academy and helped prove that Americans could compete with—and beat—the best Brazilians. This interview is essential viewing for anyone who wants to understand the roots of BJJ in the United States.Links from the show:To contact Bob Bass for seminars, BobBassJJ @ Gmail.com (no spaces)Rickson Graciehttps://www.ricksongracie.com/Rorion Graciehttps://www.roriongracie.com/Royler Graciehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royler_GracieCarlos Gracie Juniorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Gracie_Jr.IBJJF (International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation)https://ibjjf.com/1995 IBJJF Pan American Games- Bob Bass v. Marcio Fetosahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UauuTMMsJL41996 Bob Bass v. Marcio Fetosahttps://youtu.be/7Kii9qrQ7KE?si=gMaJVInvJID1UsA0Black Belt Legacyhttps://blackbeltlegacy.com/Follow Your Heart restauranthttps://www.theheartmarketcafe.com/Atama Kimonoshttps://atamausa.com/collections/mens-jiu-jitsu-kimonosKickskinhttp://www.kikskinmartialarts.com/main.aspThe Compound MMAhttps://www.thecompoundmma.com/Gene LeBellhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_LeBellBart Valehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_ValeDan Inosantohttps://inosanto.com/Erik Paulsonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_PaulsonMusic:“Disambiguation” by Robel Borja https://open.spotify.com/artist/7j0DUZ79z4edeLkU2H1UoJ?si=eISl0YfaQ-yLThljs48j5AGet in touch! This episode was directed and presented by Dave Meyer, editor & coproducer by Ryan Turner, producer & marketing Robbie Lockie, music kindly provided by Robel Borja.