Of course 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu founder and instructor Eddie Bravo couldn’t do an old-fashioned belt ceremony when he awarded his long-time friend and student Joe Rogan his black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu earlier this week. As you’ll see in the video above, Bravo plays all coy before making a surprise announcement that our favorite stand-up comic, UFC commentator, and donkey semen drinking cheerleader has been promoted to black belt after class on Tuesday night.
Rogan — rocking a rash-guard and grappling tights because he’s that serious — is moved to tears by the promotion. Rogan has done more for promoting Jiu Jitsu and mixed martial arts than he is usually given credit for, and Bravo speaks to this. But the teacher also says that he waited so long to give him a black belt (Rogan had been a brown belt for eight years) because he wanted to make sure Joe was legit and had gotten his mat time in. Besides, Joe already had another black belt to hold his pants up.
The video is sweet and heartwarming, for those into that kind of thing, but it turns straight poetic and slow-clap-worthy once Rogan is given the floor and addresses his teammates. “This is seriously one of the proudest moments of my life,” Rogan said.
“Out of all the shit I’ve done in my life…becoming really good at jiu jitsu is probably one of the most difficult things a person can do and I think it helps me with everything I do. I think the more I train and the more I meet people who are in jiu jitsu…people who are in jiu jitsu and train on a regular basis, they’re healthier people. Their egos are healthier. Especially men. They’re easier to talk to. They’re easier to hang out with. Because they’re facing reality on a regular basis.
Something that my tae kwon do teacher told me when I was a little kid that I never forgot was that martial arts are a vehicle for developing your human potential. And nothing in my life has ever put me in face with reality better than jiu jitsu. In life, we can all distort our perception of things in order to make ourselves more comfortable, in order to make ourselves accept where we are. And there’s a lot of people out there that are running around in life full of shit. You can’t be full of shit when you do jiu jitsu. When you do jiu jitsu, its impossible to be full of shit because reality comes at you in the purest form possible: A life or death struggle, using your determination, your focus, your techniques, your mind, and your training, over and over and over again.
“And its reality. And if you fuck up and you get caught in a triangle, you’ve gotta tap. That is the end of story. It’s as real as it can get and that has made me a better person. It has made me a better man, it’s made me understand myself, my weaknesses, my strengths, the shit I need to work on. Jiu jitsu has been one of the most valuable tools that I’ve ever had in my life.”
Preach on and congratulations, brother Joe.