Originally Posted by
Jack Hanley
IMHO, 10th Planet did great at IBJJF No-Gi Mundials from the start.
2007 was the very first one: Denny took Gold at Brown Belt.
2009 was the third one: Denny took Bronze at Black Belt.
His 2009 division included Samir Chantre and Baret Yoshida. Other Bronze medalist that year were: Joao Assis, Murilo Santana, Daniel Moraes, James Brasco, Marcelo Azevedo, and Bruno Bastos.
Prior to the most recent years, 10th Planet has had a bunch of other medalists in other adult belt divisions. It goes something like this:
Gold:
Blue 2010 Sachnoff
Purple 2007 Van Valen
Brown 2007 Prokopos
Silver
Blue 2011 Hillebrand
Purple 2009 Allam
Bronze:
Brown 2012 Brent Alvarez (good work btw!)
Purple 2012 Anthony Lopez
Blue 2011 Billy Joseph Denny
Blue 2011 Hillebrand (absolute)
Purple 2011 Sachnoff
Purple 2009 Miller
Brown 2007 Beauchamp
Black 2009 Prokopos
That's actually a great record given the smaller numbers of 10th Planet guys back in those days. It's just that the rules suck (no reaping? wtf?), and it has a reputation for highly questionable calls against Americans. Who would want to support that organization?
Awesome post Jack. Seriously.
Personally, I believe that Geo would've taken gold or at least medaled last year if the IBJJF would've let him compete. They won't let him compete until he completes a certain time frame. They say he got promoted too quickly. I think the same happened to Boogeyman.
While resisting the IBJJF machine is making a strong statement, it still hinders the 10th P name in a lot of people's minds. Pans and worlds happen yearly. ADCC happens every 3 years. So it's hard to build a name off of ADCC.
Even now, while 10th planet has more black belts than before, we still don't have as many competition focused black belts as other orgs. Most of our black belts have to focus on other things, like running schools. Teaching classes. Coaching other guys. Working full time jobs. Yeah, there are elite IBJJF champs who do all of that. But they also had the benefit of being competition black belts for years before opening their first schools. Prior to that, they were full time competitors with no responsibilities. I'm sure that plays a factor into their success.
Even still, 10th Planet is currently having one of its best years ever as far as exposure, success, and respect. The guys who thought Eddie was a fluke were proven wrong. The guys who claimed it wasn't good for MMA have been proven wrong. The guys who say 10th doesn't do well in comps are still yapping, sure. But the yapping is getting quieter because 10WO keeps showing up to comps and tapping guys out.
Little by little, 10wo keeps getting bigger, better, stronger, faster, smarter. More black belts are being added with lots of young competition addicts working their way towards black. It's only a matter of time before one of our blacks snatches an IBJJF gold. And when that happens, mf'ers will still hate and say, "well, that's just one medal." And then we'll rack up more and more. People need to remember that 10th Planet is a super young org compared to other orgs. And most of the dominant comp teams are just offshoots of long existing comp groups before them. So in reality, their starting point is still like a 90 year head start compared to 10th Planet's birth.
10th is going to get respect regardless of getting gold at IBJJF. But at the same time, I still believe that one of our blacks will still show up and take home a gold, just to prove a point. And why not? Until another org can lure away the big names, IBJJF is still going to carry a very high level of prestige. So why not?
Pardon the rant.
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