Kit Dale is a perfect combination of a badass BJJ player with serious credentials and real life joker. In this interview with BJJ Eastern Europe he talks about his background, his performance at AD World Pro, the BJJ scene in Australia and his mustache:
1. Hi Kit, can you please introduce yourself to the BJJ Community of Eastern Europe?
My name is Kit Dale I teach at In2Fitness Platinum gym in Australia under team Checkmat. i am 27 years old and a brown belt, I am a two time World Pro champion (blue and purple) Brazilian National Champion (purple) and Silver World Pro Medalist (purple no-gi and Brown gi)
Kit Dale with Yuri Simoes
2. What’s your Jiu-Jitsu story?
I started bjj in february 2008 after watching the UFC, I started at a very small school under a brown belt, but soon moved to a larger school with more higher level training partners, about 6 months ago I joined team Checkmat under coach Yuri Simoes, he was teaching here for 6 months and i learnt a lot off him. Now he is back in America training and i am the head instructor here.
3. Please tell us about your recent performance at the World Pro in Abu Dhabi and what did you think of the whole experience.
I was happy and disappointed at the same time with my performance at the 2013 world Pro.. I won silver in my weight division and lost to Paulo Miyao by advantage in the absolute division.. i was disappointed with my performance in the final against Sebastian Brosche, he is a fantastic competitor and great guy.. i was also disappointed with the ref in my match with Paulo Miyao, he won by 1 advantage given right at the end for nothing.. but i think he still deserved the ref decision, but not the advantage.
Kit facing Paulo Miyao at AD world Pro
4. How popular is BJJ in Australia? Can it be compared to popularity of BJJ in the US? How do you see it growing in the next few years?
BJJ is getting very popular now in Australia thanks to the growing popularity of MMA, but it is still a fair bit behind the U.S, i think with more and more Australians competing and doing well internationally it will give hope to beginners that they don’t have to train with the best in the world to compete with them.
5. What is next for you and your team in 2013? What is your competition plan?
Next big competition for me is the Mundial World Championships in LA.. there i go to correct my mistakes and go one better and win the gold. One of my students Joshua Flint will also be making the trip and representing Checkmat Australia in the blue belt division.
6. If you want to thank somebody or sponsors, feel free
I would like to thank my sponsors MA1, Kapai Puku, SUB Apparel and In2Fintess Platinum GYM.
7. When are you going to shave that mustache 🙂 ?
As for the mustache i am leaving him in charge of when he wants to exit my body and leave me hahaha nah not sure yet. maybe after the Worlds if i win
8. Thanks Kit and all the best!
Thanks guys.
