Like a lot of people, I gravitated towards "Sensei YouTube" to supplement what I wasn't learning in class. Don't get me wrong, I got a lot from drilling and rolling. But there was always a limit to what I was picking up. There were so many people training with us that it was impossible for our instructors to accommodate everyone. We were just kind of given what we were given… and it usually wasn't specific to our individual games or our individual goals.
A rocky start
When it came to competing at the lower belt levels, I had a rocky start and I lost a ton of matches. But eventually, as my training and my focus improved, so did my results, and I was able to win the IBJJF Grand Slam as a purple belt. I had a great run and won many championships. Then I got to the black belt level… and things got a lot harder.
So I changed my approach
I decided to switch my focus from training simply to win, to figuring out new positions that no one else was doing. And a weird thing happened: the more time I spent developing my own specific techniques and my own specific style, the greater the improvements I saw in my game, and the better I started doing in competition. I quickly became known as the guy who created positions like the Worm Guard, Squid Guard, Gubber Guard and more.
My mission is to give you the tools I had to figure out on my own, so you start progressing faster.
"But on the streets…"
This newfound success at the black belt level wasn't all rainbows and unicorns. The more I won, the more I saw people throwing shade at my style online. "That's not real jiu jitsu." "Keenan's stuff only works for sport jiu jitsu." I even heard rumors of instructors banning my techniques in their gyms.
But just like any polarizing thing in life, the harder people swing one way, the more swing equally hard the other way. I began seeing more and more people using my style to win tournaments. Eventually, the same people who banned my techniques were now teaching them. To me, that's real-world proof the legitimacy of my style is undeniable, and I couldn't be happier.
I love to win, but for real fulfillment, I need to teach
With social media, I'm tagged in more and more videos of people using my moves to dominate in competition. Honestly? That feels better than winning myself. Helping others improve their jiu jitsu, with Keenan Online and the Lapel Encyclopedia, has become a major part of my life. Knowing I'm helping people get better, no matter their age, body type or level, motivates me every single day.
