My thoughts after receiving my BJJ Black Belt from John Will after so many years training is hard to put into words, but I’ll do my best.
I first met John Will in the mid 90’s while John was conducting one of the first ever BJJ seminars in Tasmania. I’d heard of BJJ and shootfighting before and was curious to see if it stood up to its then very underground reputation of being an awesome no-holds-barred style. As a blackbelt in Taekwondo, and despite having some fight experience “on the street”, in the security industry and through exposure training several other martial arts styles for most of my life, seeing authentic BJJ for the first time was a massive eye opener. It left me realising what a huge hole there was in my formal training, one that I simply couldn’t ignore. I wouldn’t be satisfied until I gleaned some level of skill in this new martial art.
Needless to say within two weeks I got on a plane and flew from Hobart to Melbourne.
It wasn’t long before I got onto the Geelong mat and had my ass handed to me by Melissa, who despite my 40 plus kilograms of muscle weight advantage tapped me out at least five or six times within a space of five minutes. It was a deeply humbling but inspiring experience. That first day was like standing at the base of an impossible mountain, putting my gi on, and beginning to climb.
Despite dodging syringes in the side streets and seeing someone smashed over the head with a club-lock in the carpark on the first night I stayed at the Geelong gym, somehow I knew I was in the right place, at the right time.
Little did I know how much John Will, shootfighting and BJJ would influence my life.
I treasure those early days of training, and after two years of travelling back and forth from Tasmania to Geelong, I finally moved over to train full time.
Since then Jiu Jitsu and MMA has become a central point in my life. I was always a martial artist, but BJJ added something that no other style at the time could offer. I’d made new friends, and in a very real kind of way found a new and extended family.
John’s influence became a guiding providence in my life, and despite my best efforts of going off the rails, his encouragement always brought out the best in me as it still does today. I have no end of gratitude for his influence.
In hindsight, teaching and training in Geelong were some of the best years of my life so far.
John also introduced me to Richard Norton, an impeccable martial artist who has also become an incredible inspiration to me. I feel blessed to be in such good company.
Several years later, through fate or coincidence, John also introduced me to Silvio Morelli of Blitz Magazine, just at a time in my life when I was ready for a new challenge.
It was there, while working on the magazines that I met the woman who would later become my wife.
I sometimes wonder what life would be like if I had looked up that mountain and then turned a different way.
Yet over the years I’ve steadily climbed forward, with BJJ and MMA becoming a second home, a fulltime job that is hardly ever “work.”
So when I accepted my BJJ BlackBelt from John, in the company of so many old friends and familiar faces, I realise how lucky I am to be where I am today.
At the time all I could say was, “This is what happens to a whitebelt who never quits,” but it is more than that.
I see now more than ever that a BlackBelt is just the beginning, a product of my students and training partners blood, sweat and tears as much as my own. It truly is a team effort. Climbing to the top can only be achieved with the help of others. Those others are our teachers, our training partners, our friends and our loved ones.
In particular I’d like to thank Dan Shaw, Daniel Keane, Stuart Allan and Ozgur Akdeniz who train and teach at my school in Malvern. I’d also like to thank my wife Leigh, and all my students and training partners over the many years, too many friends to name one at a time now. Those who know me know who you are. You have all made a difference whether it be to lend a hand, take me to the ground or to choke me out. Sometimes the simplest word of encouragement became a foothold on an otherwise impossible slope.
I feel this is a charmed life, and although my journey is far from over I’m enjoying the view from the top, and looking forward to new horizons and new mountains to climb in the years to come.
Thanks again to John, Melissa, and my friends and family in the BJJ community.
Regards,
Jeremy Ta’kody
