We are delighted to announce that Straight Blast Gym Jiu Jitsu Coach Phil Genty has had his second degree black belt certified by Grand Master Rickson Gracie.
In many martial arts circles, Rickson Gracie is considered the greatest Jiu Jitsu athlete of all time. The son of Helio Gracie, Rickson is also the uncle of Rener and Ryron Gracie, and he is also distantly related to Roger Gracie. What a martial arts lineage!!
At Straight Blast Gym, many of our leading Jiu Jitsu black belts such as Henry Akins (who spent 12 years leading Rickson’s very own academy), Matt Thornton, and John Frankl began their Gracie Jiu Jitsu journies with Rickson. Coach Phil has traveled all across North America to train with Henry, Matt, and John, as well as hosted those Jiu Jitsu icons here in our Buford and Atlanta gyms for the benefit of himself, his coaches, and his students.
With the explosion of Gracie Jiu Jitsu, many martial arts academies are opening up with purple and blue belts as their head coaches. While there is certainly nothing wrong with training with lesser qualified instructors, given the choice, why would anyone put their child or themselves into a lower quality experience with less skilled and qualified Jiu Jitsu coaches? Coach Phil Gentry has been a Jiu Jitsu black belt longer than many of these head coaches have been studying Gracie Jiu Jitsu.
