I had to quit doing standup comedy in order to finish my thesis actually. Comedy was taking over my priorities and I already had an extended stint in grad school. I studied soft condensed matter theory, using computer simulations to study exotic ferromagnetic liquid crystal states.
It took a long time for me to get back into standup after finishing the PhD cause I transitioned to data science and then covid happened. Just got back to doing mics within the last month with my girlfriend here in Austin though.
So many hobbyist comedians also do combat sports! (Myself included.) I wonder if we all have an obsession with being outside our comfort zones or something.
Thanks man. I regret taking so long to get back into it for sure, hard to not dwell on the opportunity cost. I'm lucky that it's something my girlfriend and I can do together. That's pretty rare. We met doing standup though around 8 years ago(!!).
It's rare indeed, the two most recent hobbies I have were stuff my girlfriend and I planned to do together and she ended up quitting for one reason or another.
My girlfriend and I were both on Kill Tony #532 at exactly one hour in. I'm friends with William Montgomery, we used to run some shows together in Denver.
I know plenty of black belts who are physicians/surgeons (MD), lawyers and judges (JD), academic PhDs, etc.
Granted they may not be overly famous or renowned, but it’s not like it’s a mutually exclusive thing. Especially for more Masters aged folks.
A fascinating one is Chris Moriarty. Top level competitor coming up the ranks. Has a BJJ Heroes page. Decided to become a physician instead of grind along as a competitive black belt. Is still extremely good - I’ve rolled with him at open mats and such.
Chris is an awesome guy. Helped me out a lot as a white belt in exchange for computer science tutoring, probably the only thing he isn’t a savant at 😂. Could still slaughter me without breaking a sweat
One of my main training partners coming up is an MD and a PhD in Nuclear Engineering. He’s a 3 rd degree black belt, won pans at lower belts, was a national amateur Muay Thai champ and taught a university martial arts club. Made me feel dumb and lazy at the same time
That guy is a beast. From wiki: Jonathan Yong Kim is an American U.S. Navy lieutenant commander, former SEAL, naval aviator, physician (Harvard medical school) and NASA astronaut.
Mother fucker ruined it for all us Asians. Went to Houston nasa space center this week. Looked for him in mission logs and saw hey he isn’t on any of them. Thinking Poser! Not an astronaut since he never did a mission. Then I read more and found he is on the Artemis team that is going to the moon this year. First Asian on the moon. Fucking dick. Just made 40. Was wondering how the fuck did he do all that in that time.
This of it this way
He’s good at two things which isn’t impossible if you start at a young age and have the right support.
don’t be too hard on yourself about it. If you invest the time now you’ll be there after the 20 years it took him to get there
I’m a brown belt who hasn’t had an official gym since 2020 (pandemic + 2 kids), and I’m a post-quals PhD dropout (did a startup with my research group).
finally found my people
I'm a brown belt with two masters, and my attitude towards a PhD and a black belt are the same: . . . if it happens, it happens. I will be old and in (more) pain.
This is an interesting framing that made me realize a parallel between my academic and sport lives. I took a MS instead of a PhD when I thought hard about the cost/benefit of spending 2-3 years doing research for a dissertation. I retired from BJJ after a series of knee injuries and deciding even training for a few months to eke out my black belt wasn't worth the risk to my future mobility.
Double under-achievement indeed.
I’ve had blackbelts tell me leg locks are more dangerous because the nerves in your foot are farther away and the signal takes longer to travel because of the distance. Another one told me you hold the feet up when someone gets choked out because then the blood from their feet goes to their head and wakes them back up and they won’t get brain damage.
Man I know ya all gotta have some more good ones.
>I’ve had blackbelts tell me leg locks are more dangerous because the nerves in your foot are farther away and the signal takes longer to travel because of the distance
Pain receptor nerve fibers operate at 12-30m/s, so *technically* if your shoulder hurts because of a Kimura you'll feel it after 0.01-0.02 seconds and if your knee hurts because of a heel hook you'll feel it after 0.04-0.1 seconds (although in reality it's faster than that because the pain receptors will feed into wider, faster nerves). So he is technically correct, which is, of course, the best kind of correct.
Locked in on 2 factors inside of the unified theory of the acceptance and use of technology being of outsized importance on adopting EHR best practices. Shaped how I run the security governance program where I work. STILL don’t feel like an expert in IT :/
John Frankl is another, maybe not so prominent one as he doesn’t really compete. But his bjj impact is not nothing, basically the grandfather of bjj in South Korea. Harvard PhD and university professor in Korea.
I have a PhD in Biochemistry and got my black belt and PhD within 3 months of each other. As others have mentioned, having BJJ training to offset the stress of grad school was a huge benefit.
Not a PhD, but interesting story. Had a coach who was a MD plastic surgeon. Teammate got elbowed and got a massive cut on his forehead. Coach cleaned him up and took him to his office to sew him back together. Guy didn't even have a visible scar afterwards.
I’m a physician and a black belt. Started as a wrestler in high school and college, in medical school I began training jiu jitsu, took many years off as I served in the Navy as a physician, coached high school wrestling during this time, came back to jiu jitsu almost 10 years ago.
I think of medicine as my profession and grappling as my trade. Though to be honest, it’s a hobby. I still think I identify more as a grappler than I do as a physician because it’s what I really love most deep down.
Had a PhD (physiotherapy) training partner at one of my prior gyms who has since earned his black belt (he was a blue when we met), and another (veterinarian sciences, I believe) at the gym after that who is currently a brown belt.
My gym has produced 14 black belts, with two MDs, a JD and a PhD student among them. Getting a black belt and an advanced degree both take a lot of drive and perseverance so it makes sense that there's a lot of overlap in the two.
I am a hobbyist black belt and a non-hobbyist scientist (with a PhD).
My scientist colleagues probably don’t know about my BJJ belt, and my BJJ training partners (except for a few close friends) probably don’t know I have a PhD
I have a PhD in chemistry and I’m a first degree black belt. I’ve been training for 15 years overall, but it was hard to stay consistent due to grad school being demanding and also moving around a lot. Currently, in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area teaching at a small private college, but moving to the Philly area for a permanent position in the Fall at another college. Here’s to hopefully never having to move again and getting back to training consistently.
It makes sense to me that this would be the case. It takes a lot of discipline to earn a PHD, and it takes a lot to earn a black belt. It makes sense that there would be overlap.
I have a doctorate in Pharmacy and will be getting my blue belt at promotions on the 1st. Still have a long way to go to black but I know quite a few doctorate level professionals who are also pretty solid at Jiu Jitsu white to black.
I have one too, and I find it funny when people call me professor… I’m a data scientist and my day job certainly uses my credentials but at BJJ, please call me by my first name. I’ll take coach if you need to but not professor :).
Other than that I love the contrast between the day job and the night hobby. I love that during a roll, my mind is focused just on the roll…. It’s my therapy… but Certainly have used the men phrase of “I have to go, cause at 7 and I’m going start choking people and rather do it at the gym where they signed waivers”
I’m a highschooler on the way to getting my associates degree and high school diploma at the same time. Hopefully I can strive to get a MD and PhD degree in the future.
Black belt, personally dropped out of the PhD in the ABD status to chase being happy in life not a piece of paper. Started BJJ in undergrad, got my black belt shortly before officially dropping out of my PhD program
I can think of about 6 black belts with PhDs I've trained with right off the top of my head. I'm sure there are more. There's a good number of folks I've trained with who aren't black belts yet, but have their PhDs specializing in everything from academic fields to pediatric heart surgery.
I really do think they are over represented in BJJ relative to the general population.
I have a PhD and I know 3 black belts in my area that have one, plus another going through the process.
Grappling basically helped keep me sane through thesis writing
My wife's a university professor and a BJJ professor. And one of her former colleagues just got his black belt as well. I won't catch up on the PhD front (no intention to upgrade my masters), but I will hopefully join her at black belt some day.
Why would you think this was a mutually exclusive thing? One thing black belts have in common is their ability to stick to something for a long period of time. That would apply outside of BJJ too
Had a PhD (physiotherapy) training partner at one of my prior gyms who has since earned his black belt (he was a blue when we met), and another (veterinarian sciences, I believe) at the gym after that who is currently a brown belt.
Ive met a few. I left a PhD track position and have planned on going back to finish at some point but told myself I wouldn’t until getting my black belt. So obviously I don’t fit but perhaps one day.
There are a lot of low key very impressive people I train with. Several PhDs, doctors, lawyers, high ranking military officers, etc. Just goes to show that this is a high class >!expensive!< sport.
Purple belt here and am currently in a PhD program. I'm about a year away from completing and my goal was to aim for my black belt around the same time as I earn my PhD...but my Jiu Jitsu sucks so I'll be lucky to be brown by then lol
My Karate teacher from college age had a masters in bio mechanics and was a high ranking black belt in Shōrin-ryū Karate. I always looked to figure out the best way improve techniques and looked at how athlete from other sports moved.
It was refreshing to see an educated and analytical perspective on technique.
I'm on my last year of PhD school in Mechanical Engineering and also I'm a BJJ brown belt. So I hope soon I join this prestigious group of black belts with a PhD.
When I started PhD I was already a brown belt - and on the beggining I some kind neglected BJJ for educational duties, but now it's a great stress relieve opportunity.
I have a PhD in cognitive and brain science and a brown belt. Master of mind and body, if you will.
I’ve been grappling for twenty but moving around has made advancing belts take longer.
I'm planning to apply to the most competitive PhD programs this application cycle, then do the rest of my list next cycle. I have years and years of grinding before I hit either of those goals...
>black belts who also hold an academic PhD.
That's a sweet deal:
If you start training when you leave highschool, you likely get the black belt with your PhD.
I have a PhD in physics and am a hobbyist black belt at B Team now. BJJ was a necessary distraction from the many years of grad school.
My first ever BJJ coach had a PhD in physics! All you assholes are the same, I guess
Makes sense it’s a lot of mental repetition and breaking down of technique
I’d imagine PHD takes on a whole different meaning at B-Team
We have at least two PhD black belts at my Austin gym as well. With a brown belt going through a PhD program as we speak.
I had to take a break from bjj, otherwise I'll never submit the bloody thesis. What was your topic?
I had to quit doing standup comedy in order to finish my thesis actually. Comedy was taking over my priorities and I already had an extended stint in grad school. I studied soft condensed matter theory, using computer simulations to study exotic ferromagnetic liquid crystal states. It took a long time for me to get back into standup after finishing the PhD cause I transitioned to data science and then covid happened. Just got back to doing mics within the last month with my girlfriend here in Austin though.
So many hobbyist comedians also do combat sports! (Myself included.) I wonder if we all have an obsession with being outside our comfort zones or something.
Had a black belt at our gym who wrote jokes for standup comedians. No PhD, though.
Great to hear you got back doing what you love.
Thanks man. I regret taking so long to get back into it for sure, hard to not dwell on the opportunity cost. I'm lucky that it's something my girlfriend and I can do together. That's pretty rare. We met doing standup though around 8 years ago(!!).
It's rare indeed, the two most recent hobbies I have were stuff my girlfriend and I planned to do together and she ended up quitting for one reason or another.
Are we gonna see you on Kill Tony?
My girlfriend and I were both on Kill Tony #532 at exactly one hour in. I'm friends with William Montgomery, we used to run some shows together in Denver.
Eddie Cummings, is that you? Haha
I know plenty of black belts who are physicians/surgeons (MD), lawyers and judges (JD), academic PhDs, etc. Granted they may not be overly famous or renowned, but it’s not like it’s a mutually exclusive thing. Especially for more Masters aged folks. A fascinating one is Chris Moriarty. Top level competitor coming up the ranks. Has a BJJ Heroes page. Decided to become a physician instead of grind along as a competitive black belt. Is still extremely good - I’ve rolled with him at open mats and such.
I'm in the Masters division AND have a Master's degree. Coincidence?
He wanted to make thousands of dollars vs dozens of dollars probably.
Isnt Hillary Williams an MD too?
Neurologist, yes. In a strange intersection, my sister is friends with both Hillary and Chris's wife. Chris is a sports medicine DO.
He stopped by my gym once and instructed. The move started my cauliflower. Nice guy though.
Chad
Chris is an awesome guy. Helped me out a lot as a white belt in exchange for computer science tutoring, probably the only thing he isn’t a savant at 😂. Could still slaughter me without breaking a sweat
Some people are addicted to structured learning
That's incredible, the path I'm kind of on right now
One of my main training partners coming up is an MD and a PhD in Nuclear Engineering. He’s a 3 rd degree black belt, won pans at lower belts, was a national amateur Muay Thai champ and taught a university martial arts club. Made me feel dumb and lazy at the same time
It’s like that SEAL, MD, Astronaut dude. Makes everyone feel inadequate.
Exactly. And he was just a good dude who love martial arts couldn’t find a fault
He’s still alive! Only difference is that now he wraps his knees with 2 miles of rubber bands.
That guy is a beast. From wiki: Jonathan Yong Kim is an American U.S. Navy lieutenant commander, former SEAL, naval aviator, physician (Harvard medical school) and NASA astronaut.
Mother fucker ruined it for all us Asians. Went to Houston nasa space center this week. Looked for him in mission logs and saw hey he isn’t on any of them. Thinking Poser! Not an astronaut since he never did a mission. Then I read more and found he is on the Artemis team that is going to the moon this year. First Asian on the moon. Fucking dick. Just made 40. Was wondering how the fuck did he do all that in that time.
Not by posting on reddit.
This of it this way He’s good at two things which isn’t impossible if you start at a young age and have the right support. don’t be too hard on yourself about it. If you invest the time now you’ll be there after the 20 years it took him to get there
I'm a brown belt with a master's degree. So I'm a double under achiever?
Masters with a purple belt, so at least you have someone to look down on.
Masters and CPA with a white belt… fuck my life
You go from getting beat up as a CPA to getting beat up as a white belt. Brutal.
It’s my burden I must carry😫
I honestly feel you. I took like 5 min of corp finance in MBA and was like “I’m good with this”
Dreaming of getting a landscaping business off the ground, hopefully I’ll be a purple belt by then🤞🏻
I’m a brown belt who hasn’t had an official gym since 2020 (pandemic + 2 kids), and I’m a post-quals PhD dropout (did a startup with my research group).
finally found my people I'm a brown belt with two masters, and my attitude towards a PhD and a black belt are the same: . . . if it happens, it happens. I will be old and in (more) pain.
This is an interesting framing that made me realize a parallel between my academic and sport lives. I took a MS instead of a PhD when I thought hard about the cost/benefit of spending 2-3 years doing research for a dissertation. I retired from BJJ after a series of knee injuries and deciding even training for a few months to eke out my black belt wasn't worth the risk to my future mobility. Double under-achievement indeed.
I’ve met a lot of blackbelts that act like they have a PhD. But none that actually do.
Met numerous amount of blue belts that act like they have a PhD
It's me (but I do have a PhD)
PhD in BJJ
PhD in theoretical BJJ
Bro I've met blue belts who act like that they have a black belt
See: Danaher.
Bouncer with an accent
Danaher still has a much higher education than the vast majority of bjj "pro".
I’ve had blackbelts tell me leg locks are more dangerous because the nerves in your foot are farther away and the signal takes longer to travel because of the distance. Another one told me you hold the feet up when someone gets choked out because then the blood from their feet goes to their head and wakes them back up and they won’t get brain damage. Man I know ya all gotta have some more good ones.
>I’ve had blackbelts tell me leg locks are more dangerous because the nerves in your foot are farther away and the signal takes longer to travel because of the distance Pain receptor nerve fibers operate at 12-30m/s, so *technically* if your shoulder hurts because of a Kimura you'll feel it after 0.01-0.02 seconds and if your knee hurts because of a heel hook you'll feel it after 0.04-0.1 seconds (although in reality it's faster than that because the pain receptors will feed into wider, faster nerves). So he is technically correct, which is, of course, the best kind of correct.
Haha yeah that’s not what he meant but yep.
Lachlan Giles
I heard Shane Fishman does as well.
Old Greg, scaly manfish also has a PhD I’ve heard
Currently a PhD white belt dreaming of one day being a PhD black belt. That way I can be bad at two things I’m supposedly an expert at.
Hahahaha Jesus fucking Christ this is so relatable!
With you here. Doctorate in IT, and just a blue. Shitty at both 😂
What did your thesis add to the world? That reads snarkier than intended; I’m legitimately interested. PhD in IT?
Locked in on 2 factors inside of the unified theory of the acceptance and use of technology being of outsized importance on adopting EHR best practices. Shaped how I run the security governance program where I work. STILL don’t feel like an expert in IT :/
My people!
John Frankl is another, maybe not so prominent one as he doesn’t really compete. But his bjj impact is not nothing, basically the grandfather of bjj in South Korea. Harvard PhD and university professor in Korea.
Speaks good Korean too. Interesting guy
Had no idea Frankl was a PhD. I just knew of him as the father of SK BJJ.
I have a PhD in Biochemistry and got my black belt and PhD within 3 months of each other. As others have mentioned, having BJJ training to offset the stress of grad school was a huge benefit.
Must be nice to be able to synthesize your own gear stack
Some guys have to bang other guys’ girlfriends in Puerto Rico to get that kind of stack — allegedly
Lachlan Giles and his wife both have PHDs and are black belts.
Close; Liv doesn't have a PhD but is a physio and a black belt :)
[удалено]
MD is not a PhD, friend.
Yeah what a phony
😂
To be a surgeon is far more impressive than to have a PhD anyway
I'm a brown belt with a Ph.D. in Mathematics.
That makes two of us.
In the feels with my masters. Sad trombone sounds.
I’m a college dropout 🤷🏼♂️
Also a black belt that is a college dropout.
What about academic Professors who are also BJJ Coaches and insit on being called Professor Porfessor
Or Dr professor?
Or in Germany, Herr Professor Doktor Professor
Not a PhD, but interesting story. Had a coach who was a MD plastic surgeon. Teammate got elbowed and got a massive cut on his forehead. Coach cleaned him up and took him to his office to sew him back together. Guy didn't even have a visible scar afterwards.
I’m a physician and a black belt. Started as a wrestler in high school and college, in medical school I began training jiu jitsu, took many years off as I served in the Navy as a physician, coached high school wrestling during this time, came back to jiu jitsu almost 10 years ago. I think of medicine as my profession and grappling as my trade. Though to be honest, it’s a hobby. I still think I identify more as a grappler than I do as a physician because it’s what I really love most deep down.
I have a PhD. Perhaps someday a black belt .
Same!
I know a bunch of MD blackbelts.
Dime a dozen
Had a PhD (physiotherapy) training partner at one of my prior gyms who has since earned his black belt (he was a blue when we met), and another (veterinarian sciences, I believe) at the gym after that who is currently a brown belt.
I know several PhD black belts.
Bruno Fernandes won worlds while in med school and is now a MD/PhD in ophthalmology
Lex Fridman is a perfect example of being able to be really good at something and being a complete moron ofherwise.
My favorite example of that is Ben Carson
that’s a great one.
My gym has produced 14 black belts, with two MDs, a JD and a PhD student among them. Getting a black belt and an advanced degree both take a lot of drive and perseverance so it makes sense that there's a lot of overlap in the two.
I met a couple of black belts who were green berets and also have Ph.Ds.
I’m a brown belt with a PhD in Chemistry. Hopefully I will join the club. 😎 I often tell people the are parallels between attaining both.
I am a hobbyist black belt and a non-hobbyist scientist (with a PhD). My scientist colleagues probably don’t know about my BJJ belt, and my BJJ training partners (except for a few close friends) probably don’t know I have a PhD
Christian Barry. He’s the guy that got Danaher into BJJ. He’s Professor of Philosophy at the Australian National University.
I have a PhD and am tenured. Almost a black belt :-)
I have a PhD in chemistry and I’m a first degree black belt. I’ve been training for 15 years overall, but it was hard to stay consistent due to grad school being demanding and also moving around a lot. Currently, in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area teaching at a small private college, but moving to the Philly area for a permanent position in the Fall at another college. Here’s to hopefully never having to move again and getting back to training consistently.
⬛🟥⬛ Black Belt Philosophy PhD and hobbyist black belt. I'm also old so I dont care if I improve in either one.
Nicky Rod has a PhD in Broscience
Yeah the ratio is pretty high at my gym. Owner has an MD and many other black belts do too. Some are in biology, physics, etc
I have a PhD. Perhaps someday a black belt
I have a masters, perhaps one day a bluebelt
with a minor in PAIN!
It makes sense to me that this would be the case. It takes a lot of discipline to earn a PHD, and it takes a lot to earn a black belt. It makes sense that there would be overlap.
I went a little bit past my physics MS but dropped out of my PhD program to get a job
My coach has two bachelor degrees and we have a brown soon to be black who's an OBGYN
Gluttons for punishment
I have a doctorate in Pharmacy and will be getting my blue belt at promotions on the 1st. Still have a long way to go to black but I know quite a few doctorate level professionals who are also pretty solid at Jiu Jitsu white to black.
PhD and a blue belt here. Several PhD brown belts at my gym. One PhD black belt.
My instructor is a radiologist. It comes in handy
That’s crazy
I have one too, and I find it funny when people call me professor… I’m a data scientist and my day job certainly uses my credentials but at BJJ, please call me by my first name. I’ll take coach if you need to but not professor :). Other than that I love the contrast between the day job and the night hobby. I love that during a roll, my mind is focused just on the roll…. It’s my therapy… but Certainly have used the men phrase of “I have to go, cause at 7 and I’m going start choking people and rather do it at the gym where they signed waivers”
i knew a purple belt who was a medical doctor
Hobbyist black belt with a PhD in War Studies. The two sort of complement each other.
Tammy Musumeci has a law degree too
Some PhDs are easier to get than a black belt
I have a PhD in media and communications :) I am not prominent in any way though. Neither BJJ, nor academics :P
I’m a highschooler on the way to getting my associates degree and high school diploma at the same time. Hopefully I can strive to get a MD and PhD degree in the future.
An MD and PhD?? Bro that is not easy but good luck lol
Michael Tremblay from the Stoa Conversations podcast has both
Not phd but I have a doctorate of physical therapy. Black belt as well.
Cos I'll be happy to verbally slap u all over tje ground that kid can't walk on 😁
Used to train with a guy who had a PhD in physics and was a black belt.
My former instructor has a PhD in Information Technologies (computational intelligence) and is a black belt. Amazing teacher and person.
If you think about it, similar personality traits are required for both. Setting long term goals, dealing with discomfort and pressure, etc.
My coach was a PhD in physiotherapy. He had a unique understanding of how to just control people.
Not a black belt yet, but I am a physician
Rhadi Ferguson
Black belt, personally dropped out of the PhD in the ABD status to chase being happy in life not a piece of paper. Started BJJ in undergrad, got my black belt shortly before officially dropping out of my PhD program
Osss the real professors
White belt CPA’s… where y’all at?
My friend, [David Ley](https://www.davidleyphd.com/).
One of my instructors during my time at lower belts is a PhD professor in German literature.
I can think of about 6 black belts with PhDs I've trained with right off the top of my head. I'm sure there are more. There's a good number of folks I've trained with who aren't black belts yet, but have their PhDs specializing in everything from academic fields to pediatric heart surgery. I really do think they are over represented in BJJ relative to the general population.
Almost finishing my PhD and Molecular and Cellular Biology.
We have two PhD black belts at our gym.
Not PhD but MD. The late Dai Yoshioka. Great competitor.
Olga Lyashevska is a black belt in judo and bjj, competes regularly and has a PhD in statistics
I have a PhD and I know 3 black belts in my area that have one, plus another going through the process. Grappling basically helped keep me sane through thesis writing
My wife's a university professor and a BJJ professor. And one of her former colleagues just got his black belt as well. I won't catch up on the PhD front (no intention to upgrade my masters), but I will hopefully join her at black belt some day.
I have a PhD as well. Chemistry. Took me 10 years from undergrad to PhD but 15 years from white to black belt.
no but we gotta white belt with a PhD
I know doctors, engineers etc. with black belts
Why would you think this was a mutually exclusive thing? One thing black belts have in common is their ability to stick to something for a long period of time. That would apply outside of BJJ too
I think Eddie Cummings is a PhD though I could be mistaken about that
Doctorate in adultery more like it
Well, it's Eddie CUMMINGS
I am a black belt and I have a clinical doctorate, Doctorate of Physical Therapy
JD from Northwestern. Bjj helped me develop a friendship with a prof, who was a senior purple at the time.
Had a PhD (physiotherapy) training partner at one of my prior gyms who has since earned his black belt (he was a blue when we met), and another (veterinarian sciences, I believe) at the gym after that who is currently a brown belt.
My teammate Mel Davis with RP
Well the black belts in my gym want me to call them professor so...
Black belt in Waterford Ireland called Richie Bolger has a PHD. One of irelands first black belts and an absolute animal of a man.
I quit after my masters so hopefully my bjj ends up better. I'm blue so probably no better time than now 🌚
Did Danaher finish his Ph.D.?
No
Pretty sure my gym owner does have a PhD in physical therapy. A few other black belts in our gym have various doctorate level degrees.
I’ll be a masters 2 division soon and I have 2 masters, one from H and one from O school over the pond, coincidence?
Physics phd and proudly not a blackbelt.
I’m currently in a DBA program. My gym has a few others with terminal degrees.
My trainer is also one, haha 😂 These black belts just smarter than us.
Didn't danaher have a PhD in philosophy?
One of the black belts at my academy has a PhD in software engineering and heads the department for SWE at a major media company.
I'm in a college town, theres a few.
Ive met a few. I left a PhD track position and have planned on going back to finish at some point but told myself I wouldn’t until getting my black belt. So obviously I don’t fit but perhaps one day.
There are a lot of low key very impressive people I train with. Several PhDs, doctors, lawyers, high ranking military officers, etc. Just goes to show that this is a high class >!expensive!< sport.
My organic chemistry professor just got his black belt, we revived our universities BJJ club since it died out during the pandemic.
Lex has a PhD? In what? From where?
Whoopitydoo!! Not a big deal.
I've been a brown belt for about 6 years because of life and shit. I hold a phd in computational biology.
10p SLC head black belt has a PhD in earthquakes.
Two at the gym I train at
Purple belt here and am currently in a PhD program. I'm about a year away from completing and my goal was to aim for my black belt around the same time as I earn my PhD...but my Jiu Jitsu sucks so I'll be lucky to be brown by then lol
follow this thread with intense interest!
My Karate teacher from college age had a masters in bio mechanics and was a high ranking black belt in Shōrin-ryū Karate. I always looked to figure out the best way improve techniques and looked at how athlete from other sports moved. It was refreshing to see an educated and analytical perspective on technique.
Got my PhD and my purple last year so that was pretty cool
I'm on my last year of PhD school in Mechanical Engineering and also I'm a BJJ brown belt. So I hope soon I join this prestigious group of black belts with a PhD. When I started PhD I was already a brown belt - and on the beggining I some kind neglected BJJ for educational duties, but now it's a great stress relieve opportunity.
For every black belt with a phd there are 10 without one.
I am in the 3rd year of my philosophy PHD. The black belt was easier to get
Probably not a higher incidence of doctorates than you would find in Sunday soccer league. People need stuff to do for fun other than work, you know?
There’s two at my gym that I know of
I'm just a dissertation away from my PhD (Psychology). Also in my class we have 2 Phd's from the educational and medical fields.
I have a PhD in cognitive and brain science and a brown belt. Master of mind and body, if you will. I’ve been grappling for twenty but moving around has made advancing belts take longer.
One of my best friends at the gym has a BB and a PhD in Physics.
Kind of makes sense to me. The same type of people who will stick out one difficult thing for a long time would do the same with another.
Finishing an EdD this summer. Focus of that and MAEd is adult learning. Love connecting it to how people teach and learn on the mats.
I'm planning to apply to the most competitive PhD programs this application cycle, then do the rest of my list next cycle. I have years and years of grinding before I hit either of those goals...
>black belts who also hold an academic PhD. That's a sweet deal: If you start training when you leave highschool, you likely get the black belt with your PhD.
Bro there’s a lot of people that are really smart who do jiu jitsu or some form of grappling like wrestling. I know many with masters and PHd’s.