Eddie Bravo is one of the best known Jiu-Jitsu personalities in the world. Apart from being an accomplished martial artist, he is also an entrepreneur, musician, MMA commentator, and online personality.
Eddie is best known as the founder of the 10th Planet gym and BJJ system. He is also the best friend of UFC commentator Joe Rogan and regularly features on his podcast. His personality, quirky sense of humor, and unique outlook on life has made him somewhat of a cult figure in the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA.
Eddie was born Edgar Cano in 1970 in California to Mexican parents. He legally changed his name to Bravo which is his stepfathers surname. When he was in his early 20’s he moved to LA to pursue a career in Music. He played
Martial Arts & Jiu Jitsu
Eddie first began practicing martial arts when he moved to California. He initially decided to do Karate to get in shape and to avoid looking like a slob. After seeing Royce Gracie at UFC 1 he decided to begin training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and attended an academy run by the legendary Jean Jacques Machado. It was at this academy that Eddie began developing his own style of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu including signature moves such as The Twister and the Rubber guard.
Eddies style of Jiu-Jitsu is heavily influenced by his high levels of flexibility which allow him to control opponents. His has an unorthodox style of grappling which can be difficult for opponents to overcome.
ADCC
The Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) is the premier submission grappling tournament in the world. Eddie secured his entry to the 2003 tournament by winning the North American trials. At the time he was a relatively unknown American brown belt. However he surprised many people by beating Gustavo Dantas in the first round . In his next match he was paired against Royler Gracie. Royler is the son of the legendary Heilo Gracie and at the time was a 4 time ADCC champion and favorite to retain the title. During the match Eddie used his unorthodox rubber guard to control Royler and eventually managed to secure a triangle choke. Eddie would subsequently lose the his semi-final match but his win against Royler was considered the most exciting match of the tournament by many.
The win gave legitimacy to Eddies style of Jiu-Jitsu and would ultimately help him establish his own martial arts school. Eddie and Royler got a chance to rematch eleven years later at Metamoris 3. The grudge match was the main event of the fight card. Although the match technically ended up being a draw it was Eddie who dominated the fight. Bravo managed to sweep Royler and at one stage looked close to submitting the BJJ legend with an ‘electric chair’ submission attempt.
10th Planet Jiu Jitsu
In 2003 Eddie received his black belt and opened his first Jiu Jitsu school in LA. The plan for the academy was to focus on training Jiu-Jitsu in a way that would be beneficial in a MMA or a street fight. This meant training exclusively without the Gi and moving away from the the point scoring focus which was common practice in other popular BJJ academies.
10th Planet was one of the first Jiu-Jitsu schools to exclusively offer BJJ without the Gi. At the time of opening many traditional Jiu-Jitsu practitioners disagreed with Eddies approach and saw it as a watering down of the marital art. However over time 10th Planet would go on to become one of the biggest Jiu-Jitsu teams in North America with many highly decorated students. Today there are over 100 10th Planet schools worldwide. Notable BJJ fighters include Nathan Orchard, Geo & Richie Martinez. In the UFC 10th planet is represented by MMA fighters Tony Ferguson and Kelvin Gastelum.
10th Planet is also the name for a system and particular style of Jiu-Jitsu. Many of their sequeunces and techniques require a high level of flexibility in order to perform. Their academies also have a unique approach to warm ups and regularly showcase their dynamic drills on social media. There is also a strong focus on leglocks and leg attack entries.
10th planet Jiu-Jitsu is known for its quirky naming of techniques. The Vaporizer, twister, and the rubber guard are just some examples. This practice of naming techniques is often mocked by the wider BJJ community who insist that many of their “new” techniques were already in existence.
Eddie Bravo Invitational
In 2014 Eddie founded the Eddie Bravo Invitational, a invite only submission grappling tournament. The tournament would showcase the evolution of nogi Jiu-Jitsu and contained many of the breakout performances from future nogi BJJ stars such as Gordon Ryan and Craig Jones.
The EBI ruleset was designed to encourage submissions and exciting matches. The overtime rules ensures that there is no draws and the inclusion of leglock submissions has resulted in a high percentage of leglock finishes.
EBI was also the first tournament to showcase Combat Jiu Jitsu. Combat Jiu-Jitsu is BJJ/MMA hybrid that allows fighters to strike with open palms while grappling. The experimental sport and ruleset has divided many BJJ fans.
Views on Marijuana
Eddie has long been an advocate for the legalization of Cannabis in the United States. He say’s that he start smoking weed at 28 and credits it with improving his creativity in Jiu-Jitsu and other parts of his life. He directly credits smoking weed with the creation of the rubber guard and the twister.
Today he regularly vocalizes his support for the decriminalization of the drug and is regularly discusses how it has benefited his life. Eddie views on Marijuana and BJJ have directly influenced many other people who also between BJJ and Cannabis
Conspiracy Theories
Eddie Bravo is an advocate for conspiracy theories and regularly discusses his beliefs on Joe Rogan’s podcast. He has consistently stated that he believes that the 9/11 terror attacks were the result of a controlled demolition. Eddie is also one of the best known supporters of the flat earth theory, fake moon landings, and the Pizzagate conspiracy theory. He regularly has humorous runs ins with Joe and other guests when discussing his beliefs.
He has become famous for coining the phrase “Look Into It” when describing his various suspicions and theories. Recently Eddie has even developed a comedy set where he and Sam Tripoli question some of history’s accepted truths.