🥋 In this incredible episode of Dirty Dozen Remembers, Dave Meyer sits down with Professor Bob Bass—the SECOND non-Brazilian to ever receive a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (1995).

Bob shares never-before-heard 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 (and the bathroom encounter that changed everything)
• Training wars with Craig Cook, the first American black belt
• Gene LaBelle 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 70

Bob 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 Gracie
https://www.ricksongracie.com/

Rorion Gracie
https://www.roriongracie.com/

Royler Gracie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royler_Gracie

Carlos Gracie Junior
https://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 Fetosa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UauuTMMsJL4

1996 Bob Bass v. Marcio Fetosa
https://youtu.be/7Kii9qrQ7KE?si=gMaJVInvJID1UsA0

Black Belt Legacy
https://blackbeltlegacy.com/

Follow Your Heart restaurant
https://www.theheartmarketcafe.com/

Atama Kimonos
https://atamausa.com/collections/mens-jiu-jitsu-kimonos

Kickskin
http://www.kikskinmartialarts.com/main.asp

The Compound MMA
https://www.thecompoundmma.com/

Gene LeBell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_LeBell

Bart Vale
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_Vale

Dan Inosanto
https://inosanto.com/

Erik Paulson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Paulson

Music:
“Disambiguation” by Robel Borja https://open.spotify.com/artist/7j0DUZ79z4edeLkU2H1UoJ?si=eISl0YfaQ-yLThljs48j5A

Get in touch!

This episode was directed and presented by Dave Meyer, produced by Robbie Lockie, edited by Phil Marriott and music kindly provided by Robel Borja.