- Full Name: Eddie Bravo (Edgar Cano)
- Birthday: May 15, 1970
- Affiliation: Jean-Jacques Machado, 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu
Eddie Bravo is one of the leading practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Although Eddie is of Mexican descent, he was born in American on May 15, 1970 in Santa Ana, California. Although his parents named him Edgar Cano, Eddie Bravo later changed his name legally and took up his stepfather’s name, Bravo. Unlike other martial arts practitioners, Eddie’s path to stardom involved several twists and turns, including dabbling in wrestling while in high school.
Surprisingly, Eddie’s move to Hollywood in 1991 to pursue a career in music ushered him to the world of martial arts. While in Hollywood, Bravo was inspired by Bruce Lee to learn karate under the guidance of Philip Skornia. At the same time, he learned martial arts techniques that Skornia had developed by combining different fighting techniques. However, Bravo was drawn to grappling when he saw Royce Gracie beat practitioners of other martial arts disciplines including karate at a UFC event in 1993. As a result, Eddie Bravo joined a Jeet Kune Do school and learned Jiu-Jitsu at the Machado Bros academy in 1996.
For about two and a half years, Bravo focused on mastering grappling while at the same time inventing his own submission techniques including the rubber guard, a variation of the open guard. In 2003, Bravo earned the opportunity to compete against top gi competitors and proceeded to beat Gustavo Dantas, a former Jiu-Jitsu champion, and Royler Gracie, a leading martial arts competitor at the time, before eventually losing to Leonardo Vieira. After the tournament ended, Bravo returned to the US and opened a martial arts school in Los Angeles called “10th Planet Jiu Jitsu” based on the no-gi system. Bravo’s school championed mastery of gi and no-gi grappling. Since then, Bravo’s martial arts schools have spread across the US and other parts of the world. In addition, Bravo has become a much sought after coach by grappling competitors like Alan Belcher and Vinny Magalhaes. Bravo and Royler resumed their rivalry on March 2014 in a 20-minute submission only grappling match, which ended in a draw.
Bravo does not shy away from lampooning and questioning traditional Jiu-Jitsu techniques. As such, he has developed several unique Jiu-Jitsu styles including The Zombie, The Electric Chair, and Crackhead Control. In addition, Bravo has enraged some people by advocating and championing the use of marijuana as a performance enhancer.
At present, Bravo lives in Los Angeles where he oversees operations of his 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu schools. Bravo has also published several martial arts instructional manuals including Jiu Jitsu Unleashed, Advanced Rubber Guard, Mastering the Twister, and Mastering the Rubber Guard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FPACIUsLhI
I’m sorry, but I feel like you really glossed over one of the most influential people in BJJ history. His defeat of Royler was on pair with Douglas over Tyson or Holm over Rousey. Royler was a superstar and considered unbeatable. Combine that with the invention of Rubber Guard, and EBI which is quickly becoming one of the premier sub only tournaments out there. Eddie Bravo, love him or hate him, has done more for BJJ than almost anyone without the last name Gracie.