Chris Van Valkenburg: Exposed!

Matt Thorton on belts and promotion:

Technical performance is the sole measurement I use when awarding BJJ belts (with the exception of higher belts that may teaching, at which point coaching skills also become critical). And it is a conversation I always have with the athletes before and after any belt evaluation I give.

What I say simply is this. . . You can be a tough fighter without being technical, due to aggression, size, explosiveness, strength, etc. But you cannot be a good technician without being able to fight, its impossible. So what I look for is a good technical skill, as by my definition of "technical" both personal performance, and overall technical ability within the skillset of BJJ is contained.

As I observe an athlete against various opponents I notice if they are patching up weaknesses in their own game, technical holes, areas where they may be lacking some core fundamental skills, with superior attributes. And if they are, they have to willing to shelf their own ego long enough to stop doing that so that we can see whats left. What is left will be their technical game.
 
Great job at exposing this fraud.

Been following the discussion at bullshido and I got to say I love it when the BJJ community strikes back.
 
If everything in the original post is true this guys seems like he was something of a victim. He gets a black belt from someone who he thinks is legit and markets himself as such. Then it turns out the guy he learned from is a fraud and didn't teach him to a true black belt level. This happens way too much. Makes me glad I don't teach professionally. The only thing I stand on is my skill and knowledge level, which is what it is. As someone who just teaches as a favor, I don't have to pretend I am something I am not just to make a buck.
 
Tony Manifold said:
If everything in the original post is true this guys seems like he was something of a victim. He gets a black belt from someone who he thinks is legit and markets himself as such. Then it turns out the guy he learned from is a fraud and didn't teach him to a true black belt level. This happens way too much. Makes me glad I don't teach professionally. The only thing I stand on is my skill and knowledge level, which is what it is. As someone who just teaches as a favor, I don't have to pretend I am something I am not just to make a buck.
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that's what he wants you to think. he's just a liar.
 
Paige said:
that's what he wants you to think. he's just a liar.
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Maybe. I don't know anything more than what was posted. Even if he is in fact a liar, it doesn't change the fact that we will be seeing a hell of a lot of people whose credentials come from someone who was a fraud as more and more people claim credentials that don't exist and promote people.
 
from his myspace (i would guess recently updated)

I hold a Black Belt in American Jui-jitsu (not to be confused with Brazilian). Our style is more american with a mix of wrestling and striking.
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which is what i assume is that "anderson american jiu-jitsu" -- well, it's more american... maybe he should go back to claiming he's a bjj blackbelt
 
kenban judan said:
from his myspace (i would guess recently updated)



which is what i assume is that "anderson american jiu-jitsu" -- well, it's more american... maybe he should go back to claiming he's a bjj blackbelt
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He trains in freedom jiu jitsu. If you dont like it you are anti american.
 
sdbb said:
Never heard of this guy. Did he claim to be a BJJ expert or something?
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He claimed to be a "Brazilian JuiJitsu black belt under Henzo Gracie" exactly in those words... no the "JuiJitsu" is not a typo, that's the way he spelled it.
 
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