The remarkable story of Brian Glick: I am mostly known through the exploits of my incredible students and their success in MMA and grappling over the years. What is less known is that I have many students who never competed who are every bit as good as the competitors. A true legend and hidden gem of the blue basement is the inestimable Brian Glick, one of my senior black belts. I am often asked by people – can I get good at Jiu jitsu if I start late? If I am small and unathletic? If I'm not a competitive/aggressive person? If I have no background in martial arts whatsoever? If I have a family/career? I always smile and say “look at Brian Glick. When Mr Glick first began Jiu jitsu in the late 1990's classes were very rough with frequent dojo challenge matches and high injury rates. Most of my students in the afternoon class were an odd assortment of cops, criminals, bouncers, unemployable thugs, fitness professionals, wannabe fighters and the occasional dominatrix. Brian was so delicate and shy I actually took him aside on a couple of occasions and gave him a speech that he really wasn't cut out for this kind of activity and he should find another sport. Yet in time he showed the greatest human attribute of them all – stoic persistence that allows for the incredible forces of adaption over time to work their magic. Despite all my doubts he became the small guy that could twist monsters into pretzels. He went through the MMA phase training with Georges St Pierre and chris weidman, the squad grappling phase where he is still a formidable training partner for even the best squad members. He is arguably the single greatest example of the transformative powers of Jiu jitsu training to take anybody from helpless to hardcore. There was scarcely a day in the last two decades where I did not see this remarkable fellow exhibit effortless control over monsters twice his size and strength and then have us all laughing with his New York Jewish humor. They call it the gentle art and Mr Glick was indeed a gentleman and an artist in that domain – he is living proof that you can be too
