From Seattle to OC to Iran Always Training in Tehran

[CharminArmin]

Eddie Bravo I just wanted to personally thank you for building such a website that allows me to keep up to date with the 10th planet System even while I live in Iran where nobody even understand Jiu Jitsu. I grew up in Seattle started boxing around 18 fighting alot on the streets just being young doing stupid shit up until 2012 where I moved to the OC and started training at the OC Boxing and MMA academy under Coach Fahness Lutalo. In 2015 I moved to Iran I am an Iranian American born and raised in the Sates but all family lives in Iran and alot of our family business is out here so I came out because of work basically. When I came to Tehran, Iran i ran around any gym that was kickboxing Jiu jitsu they even have something called Kick-Jitsu which is there MMA because MMA is illegal out here and I was just sparring everybody and any body. Rolling with everybody and anybody not even in my wieght class just so I can keep improving. After going around everywhere I reaized there was such a lack of Fight IQ everywhere I went that I started noticing all the gyms Teacher or "masters" would start using what I was doing in my sparring or rolling to teach there own classes. So i basicaly had no one to go to but my Coach in OC Coach Fahness. Mostly for my Bjj because when I started I started no gi so I still had alot of questions still alot of developing so I would call Coach and he would help me out. I even went to Dubai and Rolled and trained with Leandro Fideles from Brazil. Unfortunately this past March my Coach was Murdered in our Gym and he was my mentor my best homie my Teacher my go to man and unfortunately he was taken from the world. So know me living here in Iran with no resources I was stuck Like chuck no Coach to skype missing my man RIP Coach Fahness Lutalo. I always loved Eddie Bravos style the way he taught the 10th Planet system and when I signed up it just helped me so much out here that I had to right a forum thanking you. You know in Iran we dont got much basically no resources but you gave me away after my Coaches death and MMA game and my BJJ game has elevated so much just from signing up for a year. Eddie your genius dawg thank you so much for everything. Your system is so one with me because Im tall as lanky Persian 6'3 155 and since I was kid I was aways really flexible. My father being a Black Bet in shotokun. I started at 6 and my flexibility just kind of stuck with me. Eddie I cant thank you enough

[Eddie Bravo]

Heavy story brother, my condolences. Thank you for the support

[CharminArmin]

Thanks again eddie what can I do with bigger guys picking me up when I put them in the rubber gaurd?? When im rolling with bigger guys???

[Arman Fathi]

I traveled to Iran this past Christmas for two weeks to visit family. I was raised in the States (still living here) but have about 90% of my family living in Iran. There was no way that I was going to go without training for two weeks, so I reached out to a friend who was an Olympic Alternate with the Iranian Boxing team and he connected me with Ehsan Kholeini, who runs a nice academy out of Tehran with a growing contingency for gi classes. He's a judo black belt himself and travels to Abu Dhabi regularly to gain knowledge (1-2 hour flight from Iran). Check him out on Instagram. Facebook is illegal out there without a good hack, but Instagram is oddly enough legal. Good People. I trained at this one Muay Thai gym run by a guy Pooria (instagram name PooriaBadBoy or something like that). VERY high level wrestler and muay thai game, experienced MMA fighter. I shared with him what I've picked up regarding truck entries, twister game, lockdown half, and some other stuffs. Even though MMA is illegal, I got a helluva workout hitting pads with him and his muay thai is extremely high level. He regularly does private lessons through his space, I don't believe he does group classes. But it's very reasonable from what I hear and he treated me like family from the moment I walked in since he knew through my boxing friend that I trained. Even though there was a bit of a language barrier, we managed to exchange a lot of knowledge.

What I found most striking about Iran is their thirst for knowledge. Internet is hit or miss out there and you have to resort to hacking mechanisms to get a good stream. My 10 year old cousin wanted to come join and inquire about classes for kids his age, but there's not a single one in existence. The best you can find is Ehsan's gym, which has a growing contingency of interested tough guys who all have basic wrestling knowledge. Wrestling is obviously huge out there, as Iran is consistently one of the top performers in that area at all the world competitions. They're also elite in weight lifting, so that just tells the potential that exists to generate monsters. Wrestling is part of the gym classes, much like they do jiu jitsu in elementary school for kids in Dubai. My understanding of the region is that they fly out a Pedro Sauer black belt once a year or so to get a bit of knowledge, but obviously with politics it's a tricky situation to make that a regular thing. I'm a dual citizen born in the states (parent's were born and raised there, so I have that 'birthright' thing) and hope I can play a role in expanding the scene out there one day. A major problem though is that if I wish to spend more than a month out of the year there, even with a legit visa, they would require me to serve in the military service, which is why anyone in my position would have second thoughts about establishing anything long term there. There is a lot of potential for growth with considerable athletic talent and brilliant minds, they simply lack the resources and knowledge. Being close to Abu Dhabi and the ease with which one can get a Visa to visit Abu Dhabi as well as the reasonable cost to travel between the two is a great resource that I believe any Iranian interested in jiu jitsu should utilize. The ways of the 10 will inevitably spread there, and I hope through communication, cultural exchange, and growth, we can make it a hotbed one day, where guys like Eddie, Denny, Nathan, Geo, Boogie, Bmac etc. etc. etc. will feel inclined to stop through on any Euro/Asian seminar tour they make. I get saddened when I hear stories like what happened to your coach, as it doesn't paint an accurate picture of how safe Iran is relative to other Middle Eastern countries. A lot of the reason I notice why people don't want to travel there for seminars stems from their perception of what they think might happen to them as an American. There is a lack of connection between academy owners and guys who want to do seminars. This is the number one hurdle to there being any sort of respectable jiu jitsu scene. The demand is there, but the supply for knowledge is basically nonexistent, short of having a decent internet connection and hacking through to access certain sites. It's imperative that measures be taken to break through this barrier of communication, and I think things like this forum are a great way to start. I suspect that any connection between American black belts and Iranian academy owners would need to take place IN Abu Dhabi during ADCC, as this would seem to be the most feasible and realistic way to get a face-to-face connection. Hope I can play a role in connecting people in the future. We're obviously a ways away, but JJM said it best.

'Inch by inch.'

[Arman Fathi]

Thanks again eddie what can I do with bigger guys picking me up when I put them in the rubber gaurd?? When im rolling with bigger guys???

Overhook their leg with your free hand

[CharminArmin]

Well I appreciate the reply and although everything your saying is true my Coach was Murdered in Orange County Coach Fahness Lutalo you can look him up. I started in 2012 at his gym the OC Boxing and MMA academy. We had people like Uriah Hall training under Coach Fahness. So the story of my Coach has nothing to do with Iran. I am american I was Born in Houston, Texas and grew up in Seattle. I speak farsi and english. I actually help out at a gym where we teach MMA. Here in Tehran we also have Dibaji Boxing which is a great Boxing gym with some talent in there as well. Alot of the people that I teach or train with really try to use pure strength in there Jiu Jitsu just basically trying to muscle there way out of everything which I am trying to get them to break that habit. The internet is not that hard to get by the filters and such so I will defintely look up the people you mentioned. I definitely agree that there is talent out here and they could easly compete in ADCC. Its just when people like me are like 1 in million out here for Iranian Iranian that means there resources or low but I am trying to help make an impact out here by using the 10 system and teaching it.

[CharminArmin]

Another question I have in when im on the bottom and i get put in judo side control and once again a biger opponet just reachs in and grabs my wrist and pulls my arm and wraps there legs for a shoulder lock alot of times i just pull out. Or sometimes if im fast enough I will already have my arm tucked in like Trex on my side what are other things I can do to stop this???

[CharminArmin]

Another question I have in when im on the bottom and i get put in judo side control and once again a biger opponet just reachs in and grabs my wrist and pulls my arm and wraps there legs for a shoulder lock alot of times i just pull out. Or sometimes if im fast enough I will already have my arm tucked in like Trex on my side what are other things I can do to stop this???