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Brandon Quick’s Brown Belt Controversy
I pulled this off the UG, (mixedmartialarts.com) Link to thread
From: EddieBravo
Posted: 1 hour ago
Edited: 06/24/09 5:02 PM
10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu, www.thetwister.tv Member Since: 5/9/02
Posts: 4723 Ignore | Quote | Vote Down | Vote Up
I did not give Brandon his brown belt.
I have known Brandon for many years, met him at JJ’s a long time ago while he was a student of black belt David Dunn. He also trained from time to time at 10th planet over the years. Many of my students are also full time students elsewhere, so his sporadic training at my school was quite normal.
When he approached me for affiliation he told me he was a brown belt and since I knew him for many years I never verified his brown belt, I just believed him.
Since the ability to teach my system is more important to me than the color of your belt i just checked him on his 10thplanet knowledge, which was pretty damn good.
I am not looking for champions to run my affiliates, just good teachers that understand my strategies, philosophies and have complete command of the 10th Planet terminology, which Brandon had down solid, and so does Ari, who got his purple from me directly.
Now that Brandon’s brown belt is in question, I called him yesterday and asked him exactly where he got it.
Now i know why he’s hesitant to explain how he got it publicly.
Turns out, according to Brandon, he got his brown belt from a bjj black belt while he was in the army. A guy named Sergeant Jason Keen who years later turned out to be a fake black belt.
Srgt Keen claimed he got his black belt from a Gracie military system called G.R.A.P.P.L.E. or something like that, but it turned out he lied, so basically Brandon’s brown belt is not legit.
Now the question is, what am I gonna do about this situation?
There are a few routes I can take, but I will discuss this with my top disciples before I make my final decision.
I take full responsibility for not verifying the legitimacy of his brown belt before official affiliation was complete, I will do my best to make sure this does not happen again 🙂
Why was this posted, it’s only going to embarrass the guy. Everyone knows he’s got mad skills, 10th Planet should come together and support your team mate. I’m saying this and I don’t belong to a 10th planet school. Just a fan of the system
belts…. they are only good for holding up your pants.
he should keep the brown.
and we should all check our underwear for brown also.
As a fan and wannabe student I have to say props to Eddie for his honesty. As for Brandon he looks legit on the videos and Eddie thought he was legit so he was legit. Give him a reprimand if you must and move on. It just sounds like a paperwork problem.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH SNAAPPPPPPPP!!!!!!
Ummm… could you disable that Gracie vid on the first page, it keeps playing whenever I go to the home page. Thanks.. 😀
Brandon gets 10thpjj out there, reps in tournies, is very energetic, and is a great asset, me thinks.
And he is a loyal tenth planet member (the operative word here is ‘member’).
Therefore, I think is wise to treat him as an equal, without assuming an authoritarian position over him.
Allow him to participate in adjudicating his reprimand. This creates a stronger community — a greater respect for each other when one either does well, or messes up.
One of the things I like about tenth planet is Eddie’s democratic and collaborative approach. He demonstrates the ‘we’ and not the ‘i’. This is A+ in my eyes.
My 2c.
This is just lame posting this crap publicly. You guys should be ashamed. Handle your business in house and not try to humiliate a guy. You guys know damn well he’s got the skills to support his brown belt ranking.
fade to black is one of the best instructional dvds ive ever seen, thanks for that bquick
^^ what he said..
From mixedmartialarts.com
Didn’t you work hard to earn you belts? Don’t you care who represents your system? Does it not bother you when someone misrepresents themselves and drags you down with them? I don’t get it. You say you don’t care about belts and don’t train with the gi, then why have a ranking system? In my opinion guys like Ari or Brandon are watering down the meaning of a belt. Something many of us hold in high regard.
Personally, I actually like the fact that you’re innovative and I think giving names to moves, whether they have been around or not, is smart. It helps to learn and to coach. To people who don’t know, it sounds like a different language completely, which is good when you’re coaching against them. I have no problem with your system being a part of BJJ and think it should be learned by every serious BJJ practitioner. However, the people you have repping your system is making you and 10th Planet JJ into a punch line. It seems like a money grab and a big “Fuck You” to the BJJ community.
You give a guy like Ari a purple belt and let a guy like Brandon represent you without even checking his lineage?! I, like many others, always assumed he was a brown under you. This guy knew his belt was fraudulent and instead of being a man and admitting it, he hides the fact and puts some more egg on your face. It’s fucking ridiculous. Don’t you care?! Is there a point where you say, “Okay, I’ve made some bad choices and my system is getting a bad reputation, let me re-evaluate what I’m doing and try and bring some validity and respect back to my name”?
Wow brandon quick, a white belt, teaching other white belts? Sounds good to me.
Well since its up, I assuming its not to bash him, but to support him.
“Sounds like a paperwork problem” sounds right, we all know BQuick has skills on the mat, and he is a great teacher.
Brandon,
Aint no thang but a chicken wing, it will pass when you start winning tournaments with the other generals.
Fade to Black was off the hook.
-DV
TurnbuckleWally, why would you post someone’s highly misinformed rant here?
Just curious..
this was gonna happen eventually…
i wonder how his students feel….
In a professional business environment, if an employer discovers that you were dishonest about your background or possess fraudulent credentials, you lose your job. This is absolute. No excuses. No exceptions. However, I’m not sure if 10th Planet is considered to be a professional business environment.
But lets talk about SKILL and ABILITY. Can Quick tap out legit 10th Planet Brown Belts? I’m guessing he totally can. So it makes sense to have Eddie officially belt him as a Brown to put an end to any doubt of Quick’s skill.
HOWEVER, personally, I would be PISSED THE HELL OFF if my employee and long-time FRIEND had been hiding the truth from me for YEARS. I would be really hurt. It is a trust issue. If I were Eddie, I would officially belt him, BUT I wouldn’t let him teach. There has to be some form of consequence. And no other consequence would be severe enough. My two scents.
i LOL at the nuthuggery and incredibly misinformed replies on this thread.
Brandon’s students (all 100 plus of them) are going to stand by him 100%. There is absoultely no reason to doubt his skills and/or his integrity. It is a fact that we have learned so much from him in a year and a half. He has a gift for teaching, and he knows his stuff inside and out. He is one of the strongest proponents of the 10th Planet system, and is the main reasons why I have believed for so long that I belonged to something more than just a local Jiu Jitsu gym. I personally have gone from getting strangled, to winning my divisions. This isnt much in the grand sceme of things, but its meant mountains to me. It wasnt the 10th Planet patch that I wear on my shorts that helped me win, but the guidance I’ve received from Brandon. I respect Master Eddie’s right to handle this how ever he feels. He is 10th Planet. However, I have, until now, been under the strong impression that we 10th Planet students, worldwide, are part of a small community that is supposed to support each other. I booked a trip to L.A. this summer to train for a week. I was pretty pumped, because it felt like I was going back to were it all started. I would be around like minded individuals that all believed that they too are part of something special. Its like we know something that the rest of the Jiu Jitsu world doesn’t and they hate us for it. I have witnessed fellow 10th Planet students call out my instructor and that reeaaally bothers me. Keyboard warriors trashing each other is one thing, but badmouthing one of your own is (imho) a cardinal sin. Especially when they probably heard it from someone else and are just repeating it. The fact that this information in on a 10th Planet site is a punch in the face, and a metaphorical eating of your own. Its bad enough that we get it from the Gi world, now we get it from our own. Now I’d like to clarify something before I continue. Trash talking is an art form that requires a little bit of the abilitly to back up what your are saying. I personlly have little to back me up, so this next comment should not be construed as anything but a little guy being irritated. I’m not a large individual and my skills are mediocre at best, but I will be the first inline to either 1. choke out anyone that feels it OK to bash one of their own, or 2. throw up on them trying. I do realize that 2 is more likely, but either way, it gets the point across. I will gladly go to any gym and throw up for integrity. I would think others should fell the same way. Same team, Farva. Calling Brandon out like this is damaging in a myriad of ways. His reputation has been hurt clearly. But everything he has done to promote the system is now being called into question. It gives the gi world more cannon fodder, it hurts the system, and in turn all 10th Planet students. I have no doubt Mr. quick has at least brown belt skills. No one can doubt that. I would gladly entertain any evidence to the contrary. I really wish Master Eddie would have handled this inhouse. But I realize that that hand isnt filling up very fast.
@ Jesus Crist: Like Moses and the promised land.
There is always politics & controversy in JJ. It’s pretty ridiculous. I understand that Brandon felt he earned his Brown Belt. He didn’t buy one off Ebay. He worked hard for it. So to learn that your teacher wasn’t legit must have been tough, but I understand that he felt he put the hours and reps in to be where he is at.
On the other hand, even if he didn’t care about being ‘legit’ he still understood that others cared. Like Eddie and almost the entire JJ community and more importantly… his students. He kinds did the same thing his teacher did to him. Who has Brandon promoted? Who isn’t ‘legit’? He’s gotta think about that. And yeah, there should be a price to pay for it. He tricked people.
We can all say that having a title means nothing when we know that our skill is good, but then, why do we all strive for the next level? Why do we go to belt tests?
I want to support Brandon. He is legit in my mind, but he did himself, Eddie and the system a disservice.
The only true solution is for him to Earn his belts the right way. Taking a public demotion to White and working his way up.
Rachel Ray is a cook and she doesn’t pass herself off as a “chef”. Brandon Quick is Rachel Ray except he is also passing himself off as a chef. Subtle difference.
It’s not whether or not Brandon can teach or have Brown belt level skills. It’s that he lied. It’s a question of ethics. For the ppl that are clamoring that belts/rankings don’t mean anything, I want you to try passing yourself off as a NAVY Seal and comeback here and let me know how the real NAVY Seals feel about you doing so.
For all the nuthuggers, if it isn’t a problem or that big of a deal, why do you think Eddie himself made a post about it in order to straighten things out?
I can’t speak about the politics of BJJ. I have always been under the impression that 10th Planet didnt buy into them. But what do I know? Im only a blue. I am not worried about its legitimacy because my skill is the same now as it was yesterday, and I have no problem testing for it when I get to L.A. The thing is, I am not privy to the facts of the matter. I am not in the loop, so I defer to those that do, Brandon and Master Eddie. As to what the outcome is, I’m sure those facts will be weighed and a solution will be hatched. My point is that the laundry, no matter how dirty it is, probably could have been handled in house. The real damage has been done by airing it out for all to see. If Brandon has misrepresented himself to Master Eddie in any manner then let them deal with that. If Brandon has misrepresented himself to me or any other student then let us handle that. I realize that I may have stepped over my boundaries by commenting at all. I have become somewhat of a hypocrite by saying anything. (being just a blue). But it is too easy to pass judgment when you are physically and emotionally removed. I would like to point out that the only belt in question is his GI brown belt. His white through purple have been legitimized.
Sam:
Who did he get his gi blue and purple belts from? Thanks
Again, I can’t speak to whether brandon has lied or not. No one has come out and said that he has. No where in Master Eddie’s post did he accuse Brandon of doing so. And until he does, I think it is prudent that judgemnet be withheld. Being objective personally keeps me from making lame jumps from apples to oranges, and keeps me from coming across like an angry teenager. Let us put down the pitchforks and torches before we have anyting to oust. Keyword: Objective
You know, this sort of problem right here is what we have Kumites for.
“When he approached me for affiliation he told me he was a brown belt and since I knew him for many years I never verified his brown belt, I just believed him.”
So knowing that your “brown” belt came from someone who was in no position to grant you said belt AND misrepresenting yourself to someone else is not “lying”? OK…it’s not lying. Fraud, deception, trickery, whatever, take your pick. Why didn’t he mention this right off the bat to Eddie? Eddie could have then graded him and gave him a brown shirt in 10th Planet JJ. This could have save him from all this drama.
If you want morals, go to church. If you want to choke someone, Brandon can help. 10th pjj is gonna be the And 1 Tour of jj. There are going to be raw driven athletes drilling their asses off with their friends allday everyday that have never been anywhere near a formal class or ever worn a gi. The information is out there and to think that it cannot be aquired on ones own is foolish at best, self richeous and arrogant fit better though.
Why were belts created? I guess to give legitamacy and teach. If the guy didn’t know more or couldn’t help you then don’t pay him. My guess is he does and he can, respectively. This will not change regardless. You don’t have to like someone to learn from them. I don’t know him, but he along with Alder and Herzog have tightened up my game a ton. I haven’t seen these cats in person yet they are all my teachers. Every time I find a hole in my game I can trouble shoot and piece it together on the net. Im sure by some of the posts that a lot of eyes rolled right there, but fuck yall. Pandora’s Box has been opened and there ain’t no shuttin it. So reopen your so called open mind. Cause the future will be full of illegitimate badasses who are more than capable of tapping your ass and teaching you how they did it after. Whether you want the tricks or knowledge he possesses or not, he is still of no ranking and (by the purest of tests) better than you.
The reason I looked to Eddie was not because he was a legitamate black belt under JJ. It was because I wanted to learn jj without the gi and he was better than me at it. Didn’t know that he had a system that was so innovative and effective till me and my friend rolled through the local school(and its legitamate students) on our first day with nothing but two books and the internet. There are a lot of black belts out there but only one Eddie. Its in the person not the title.
I nominated Brandon for Brown
@ Mmm…. maybe Brandon was also deceived. Maybe, Brandon didn’t know it was illegitimate.
I too am a Brandon Quick Blue Belt whom Eddie actually promoted me at his seminar here, but still in yet i will have to agree that this should have been handled in house. We are supposed to be a brotherhood of 10th Planet practitioners and we are supposed to support each other. Now putting this one of your own out to be crucified like this is wrong in my opinion but again hey who am i. I wish this whole situation could have been handled differently.
How can you call someone a liar, a trickster, and what ever else if the person themselves did not know. I am not Brandon so i can only assume (making an ass of myself at the same time) that Brandon did not know that his Brown in the gi was not legit, as far as being brown legit Brandon is skill wise and Eddie knows this that is why he allowed Brandon to be the 1st to Open his own 10th planet school, He is the 1st to put out his own 10th planet DVD.
Like Sam stated before that Brandon is an awesome teacher and can transformer the most ok guy to a good grappler. He took me from being a 215lb meat head to a solid grappler with a nice top game and halfguard. I too like Sam will be in line to strangle anyone Brandon puts in front of me (and i have 90% of the people)and will for damn sure to due my hardest to choke them out.
Ian:
It’s a possibility.
If so, Mr Quick’s BJJ training under JJM and David Dunn would have been minimal at best. A legitimate purple belt would have/should have known whether or not Sgt Jason Keen was fake or not.
This begs the question…did Mr Quick also received his blue and purple belt from Jason Keen? This is the only scenario that would make sense if the premise is that Brandon was also misled/deceived.
well the guy who ranked brandon as a brown belt was a snide black belt, im bettin he didnt say buy the way brandon im not really a black belt so that brown i worth shit…. come on the dude got skills if you dont think so get on the mat with him
It’s NOT about whether or not Brandon has skills or is a good teacher.
If you still think that this is what it’s about…see the post below on mma.tv from Brent (a 10th Planet Brown Shirt)
From: checkuroil
Posted: 2 hours ago
Edited: 06/25/09 1:18 PM
Member Since: 2/28/03
Posts: 25286
forumnewb is safe at tenth planet; no one that i know of at our school in burbank or hollywood harbors ill will towards him. and if they do, then that tenth planet member can talk to me about it as well (note, i said tenth planet member)as for him talking about bq’s brown belt, i spoke up as well. why would i do it? well, i can only speak for myself, but i want the truth to be out there about tenth planet rank as much as you do. i know that some of you here question the legitimacy of eddies system, so i dont want rankings under false pretenses to give you guys an excuse . for, if brandons brown belt gets devalued, then in a way, so does mine. and i worked too hard to put that brown shirt on to see the value disappear cause one or two guys are making up stories. thus, i came here to help clear up an issue of his rank because it is wrapped up in the issue of my rank. if he came up with a legitimate lineage, then i would have walked away.as far as brandon’s knowledge of the fraudulent rank is concerned, i do not know the whole story. i came on here to be illuminate u guys on part of the story, the part about his belt not being from eddie. that being said, i feel bad for him and for anyone who ends up in a situation like his. i mean, he has to support his family and feed his children with bjj. to some of you, its a game or a hobby, but for him, it is his financial survival. i say that because i hope that you guys understand the weight of the arguments on here. this is not just fodder to keep people entertained; it is people’s livelihoods that are being affected. i also tell you that because it took alot for forumnewb to talk about this stuff and for me, as well. now as far as the future is concerned, its up to eddie to decide what he wants to do with brandon. he is the leader. i respect the decisions he makes, for i do not have to walk in the shoes that he wears . as they say “heavy wears the crown.” furthermore, i wont discuss what i want on a public forum because its not appropriate. what i will say is that i came on here and the other threads to deal solely with the issues of his rank and it seems like the truth has been coming to light.
Forumnewb may want to go to a gracie affiliate for saftey….lol
FYI
Forumnewb is also a 10th Planet Blue Shirt from Burbank and I think/suspect that he is also a poster that had been posting on here.
Well, when 10th planet police appears for destroy some videos, Brandon appears giving his 2 cents to the discussion. Where is he now if the post is about him?
can’t we all just get along?
yours truly,
rapeson.
Politics aside, Brandon is a huge inspiration to me as is Master Eddie, Brent, Alder, Ari, Sean, and the mma bad-asses that use the 10th Planet System. I have his Fade to Black DVD set and I (a white belt) taught a friend of mine (also a white belt) moves from the DVDs that he used against a guy 60 lbs. heavier than him…making him tap. Brent can teach and teach well via video. He is a huge (and good) representitive of 10th Planet and deserves PRIVATE disciplinary action from Eddie followed by Eddie giving giving him a brown belt himself. I think he will.
Erik
PS: By the way, Coach Alder, Konstantin hit the Twist-O-Plata on a Judo black belt who recently joined our little group at EA. Thanks for inventing that little move. It works!
First Quick news, then Mj news… all surreal!!
What a day.. I need some serious drinks!
Shut up, Ian (the real annoying one from 10th planet…etc). I hate you. Die.
quoting sam:
“I have witnessed fellow 10th Planet students call out my instructor and that reeaaally bothers me. Keyboard warriors trashing each other is one thing, but badmouthing one of your own is (imho) a cardinal sin. Especially when they probably heard it from someone else and are just repeating it. The fact that this information in on a 10th Planet site is a punch in the face, and a metaphorical eating of your own. Its bad enough that we get it from the Gi world, now we get it from our own. Now I’d like to clarify something before I continue. Trash talking is an art form that requires a little bit of the abilitly to back up what your are saying. I personlly have little to back me up, so this next comment should not be construed as anything but a little guy being irritated. I’m not a large individual and my skills are mediocre at best, but I will be the first inline to either 1. choke out anyone that feels it OK to bash one of their own, or 2. throw up on them trying. I do realize that 2 is more likely, but either way, it gets the point across. I will gladly go to any gym and throw up for integrity.”
***
to sam,
i am forumnewb.
i am the guy (along with checkuroil) who went on a public forum and simply stated that brandon did not get his brown belt from eddie.
i never had the intention to take a shot at brandon. i wasn’t even questioning his rank because i actually thought he was a brown belt.
i also said on a different thread that i was indifferent about brandon. i could careless about him; i’m pretty sure he could careless about me. i don’t know him and he doesn’t know me. but i did know that eddie did not give him his brown belt.
i did not believe what i did was wrong because again, my intention was to just clear up a misconception about 10th planet.
now, since eddie has come out and publicly stated that brandon’s brown belt is not legit, and brandon has publicly apologized for lying, then i don’t believe what i did was wrong.
there is no hiding in jiu jitsu – brazilian/10th planet/whatever. if you choose to mispresent yourself, your skills and your rank will be exposed sooner or later, in one way or another.
you and others can go ahead and say things like, “maybe Brandon was also deceived. Maybe, Brandon didn’t know it was illegitimate”. my reply to that is, “are you kidding me?”
sam, you (or anyone else) can accuse me of trashing one of “our own”, and that’s fine with me.
i compete on a regular and consistent basis flying the 10th planet flag for many reasons, one being that i believe in eddie’s teachings, i believe in his system. i support team 10th planet jiu jitsu, but i cannot and will not support a “teammate” who makes the rest of the team look bad by lying.
now, sam, since you (and other students of brandon and i’m sure brandon himself) feel angry about all of this, then take your anger out on me.
when you (and the rest) come out here to l.a., i will roll with each and everyone of you. take out all of your anger on me.
the rolling sessions will not stop until either guy on the mat physically or verbally submits due to submission or exhaustion.
we film everything and put it up on youtube for the 10thplanetwatchers to enjoy.
— ian quinto/forumnewb
About half the people here seem to believe this situation should have been handled “in house” (privately). SCREW YOU. These people must have something against disclosure of information or something. I bet they like it when the media/government censors the news….
The public deserves to know. Besides, by now, everyone should be very familiar with Eddie’s stance on disclosure of information. He strongly believes that the government should fully disclose everything they know about extraterrestrials, Planet X, etc. If he has such a strong personal stance on freedom of information, then why would he keep Brandon Quick’s situation “in house?” It was his choice to make…and I believe he made the right choice. Thank you, Eddie for not keeping fans in the dark.
P.S. I still have mad respect for B. Quick and his skills.
I’m offering a copy of Gracie Combatives for any one that bring me forumnewbs head on a plate.
I’m offering twenty hours of free privates for any one that bring me forumnewbs head on a stake.
^^ hi dave!
^ hi dave!
Forumnew is really one my affiliates sent undercover to destroy 10th Planet from within, my plan has worked, long live the 1994 guard. The rubber guard is through.
Actually, Royce, I possessed Forumnewb’s body. He ratted out his team mate, because he was possessed.
No more 10th planet revolution!! We shall control forever!! Bawawawawa!!
Ian, I would, under no circumstances, EVER pose as a Gracie. Additionally, I believe I already won this thread with my gut-busting “kumite” comment earlier today, so I would have had no reason to return if not to defend my honor. Just because I’m too lazy to drive to Burbank every day doesn’t mean I have gone Gracie on you. I’m just waiting for the new Legends to open sometime in 2018, by which point I will have reverted back to an entry-level white belt and you will be free to half-guard me to death.
Ian (the real one from 10th planet hollywood & burbank) and Jesus Christ are all true.
Besides, B Quick already apologize himself in the mmaforum.
Royler, you just can´t offer gracie combatives, your´e not member from gracie torrance. You are trying to lie us too or what!
By the way, I´m Sergeant Jason Keen, and i only exist in the BQuick´s mind…
from the mixedmartialarts forum:
Brandon Quick – I am sorry for all of this. I apologize to everyone here and to the 10th Planet people this has effected and to Master Eddie. Also, I should have not said some things that I said on here and on youtube. We as a system are attacked daily and in my misjudgement I stood up for us and in the process started a fire. I acted out of anger and should not have done that. I understand the severity of the situation and hope to resolve this as quickly as possible with my instructor, Eddie Bravo. It is out in the open on a bjj forum and know that you may make this a 100 pages but, at this point I will see Master Eddie a.s.a.p. to hopefully be legitimized. Again, I am sorry and apologize to Master Eddie, 10th Planeteers and the bjj community. Obviously, I wont be on this forum anymore….
HAHAHAH. Sam got real quiet after Ian (real one…etc.) invited Quick’s gang to roll and take out their anger on him. Lets see if Sam is willing to ‘throw up’ like he says.
BTW, Ian really sounded like a big douche in his last post…..openly challenging fellow Planeteers like that. Is there no sense of community anymore? Maybe someone should give him a talk about HIS representation of 10th Planet….