Challenges have been rising in popularity ever since the early 80s. The urge to test your skill and to compare it with other martial artists is enormous. This is how a 5th degree hapkido black belt found himself facing a bjj blue belt.
For those unfamiliar with Hapkido it is a Korean martial art practiced the world over. Characterized by joint locks, throws, and dynamic kicking techniques, it is unique among Korean martial arts (Taekwondo, Tang Soo Do) in its emphasis on deflecting an opponent’s attacks instead of forceful blocking. Hapkido is the “anti-martial art”.
Here’s where the story gets super interesting – the man from the video went on to claim he is a former jiu jitsu world champion in an instagram comment:
According to his website bio he is a :
MASTER RYAN YARBROUGH
PRESIDENT OF YARBROUGH MARTIAL ARTS ACADEMY EST 9/11/2017 / ELITE FREE STYLE HAPKIDO ASSOCIATION 2005
FOUGHT 70 MARTIAL ARTS TOURNAMENTS 50 WINS 20 LOSSES
2X JIU JITSU WORLD CHAMPION 2009 & 2015
2ND PLACE SILVER FOR THE JIU JITSU WORLD TITLE 2014
2X SUBMISSION GRAPPLING JUJITSU CHAMPION 2013 & 2014
BARE KNUCKLE KARATE WORLD TITLE BRONZE 2014
7X KARATE NATIONAL CHAMPION / TRI STATE KARATE CHAMPION
FORMER BOXER
FORMER KICKBOXER
BROWN BELT / BLACK STRIPE AMERICAN NINJUTSU
NI DAN AMERICAN KICKBOXING UNDER SIFU BOB YODER
RENSHI IN KARATE UNDER MASTER SAM ALBRIGHT
RENSHI IN JUJITSU UNDER GRAND MASTER DERMAN HODGE
SABUM NIM IN HAPKIDO UNDER GRAND MASTER DERMAN HODGE
2010 FOUNDER OF ELITE FREE STYLE HAPKIDO CURRICULA ON DVD SOLD OUT OF STORE OF MARTIAL ARTS .
NORTH CAROLINA STATE DIRECTOR OF HAPKIDO FOR WORLD MOO SUL KWAN FEDERATION
LIFE TIME MEMBER OF WORLD TAE SOOL ASSOCIATION UNDER GRAND MASTER TROY TRODEAU
MEMBER OF SEI KAI BUJUTSU KAN REN MEI
ALL KOREAN MARTIAL ARTS ASSOCIATION
LIFE TITME MEMBER OF KURO BUSHI MARTIAL ARTS ORGANIZATION UNDER 5X WORLD CHAMP HANSHI ERNEST DUKES
LIFE TIME MEMBER INDEPENDENT MARTIAL ARTS FEDERATION UNDER MASTER ROBERT SHOOK & SOKE KIRK SIMMONS
LIFE TIME MEMBER OF UNIVERSAL KARATE & KICKBOXING ASSOCIATION
TRAINED JUJITSU & KARATE NATIONAL CHAMPS
TRAINED JUJITSU WORLD CHAMPS
TRAINED 40 STUDENTS TO BLACK BELT STATUS IN NC , SC, OH , WI ,TX, KS,MO,AND OR .AZ .
TRAINED SEMINARS ON THE MAT WITH OVER 50 HAPKIDO MASTERS
ATTENDED HUNDREDS OF SEMINARS IN MIX MARTIAL ARTS
TRAVELED THE TRI STATE AREA TEACHING SEMINARS SINCE 2010
ARBITRATOR FOR SPORT JUJITSU DIVISIONS IN KARATE TOURNAMENTS
Interestingly his academy offers Japanese Jiu Jitsu and not BJJ. A further look at his website also revealed that this is the title he was referring to:
We also managed to find a short clip of Yarbrough teaching a very sloppy spider guard sweep to choke combo: