Photo: Gracie mag

At the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo, on Saturday one of the main events was the Brown Belt Grand Prix. 16 of the best brown belts in the world were put in two 8 man groups and fought each other. The best of the two groups would meet min semi finals and finals matches. At the end of the day, the winner was Tim Spriggs. Competing under the flag of Team Lloyd Irvin, Spriggs came from Maryland, where he trains at Crazy 88 Academy. In This Interview With BJJEE.com he talks about his experience in the GPand his future plans:

Hi Tim, can you please introduce yourself to the BJJ Community of Eastern Europe?

My name is Timothy-Michael Spriggs, I am 22 years old and am a brown belt under Master Julius Park. I’m from Columbia, MD and train at Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Congrats on winning the brown belt GP. How was your training regimen leading up to grand prix?

My training regimen was the same as it always is. I wake up and go to the gym in the morning: drill, spar, and do conditioning. Around midday I eat for an hour then go right back at it. I’m at the gym doing physical training or film study from sunrise to sunset. Everyday.

With whom were your toughest matches? What did you learn from the whole experience?

The final was the toughest because we had been fighting all day. We started at 10 am and the final didn’t start until about 6 pm. I came from Maryland on the East coast the day before, so the 4 hour time difference made it feel later. The one thing I learned from the experience was perseverance. It was a round robin style tournament so there were 7 preliminary rounds just to get to the semis. Most of the competitors I talked to afterwards were under the impression that it was single elimination. I ended up fighting 9 times and all the matches went the distance. There was a time in the final that I couldn’t open my hand because it cramped up so bad, but I kept thinking about the goal I had for that day.

How has your game evolved since the last time we interviewed you? (february 2013)

My game has evolved a lot since the last time we talked. I can’t go into too much detail but I got better at the things I was great at. And I’ve evolved the aspects of my game no one has seen me utilize yet by 10 fold.

What do you do to develop your effective takedown game? 

I train wrestling with Coach Greg Howell at Master Lloyd’s gym. And I train Judo with Carrie Chandler and Olympian Nick Delpopolo. They come to Crazy 88 a couple times a year to work with the competition team guys. Greg, Carrie, and Nick have helped my game tremendously.

Please tell us about your academy Crazy 88 Jiu-Jitsu?

Crazy 88 is my home and the team is my family. I started there when I was 17 years old and been there ever since. I train with Grand Slam medalists and World Champions every day. Master Julius Park is the best coach anyone could ask for. I wouldn’t be anywhere close to this level without his guidance. He has taken the intellectual aspect of the game to another level, both technically and mentally. He makes all the competition team guys read books like Outliers, that aren’t directly related to jiu jitsu but helps us understand the mentality of successful people. Julius Park is an ELITE coach in BJJ. What makes Crazy 88 different then most teams in the sport is that all of our competitors are HOMEGROWN! I’ve been with Crazy 88 since day one and will always be with the team.

What is next in 2013/ 2014?

Next up for me is the European Open! The kickoff to the Grand Slam season. I CAN’T WAIT! I look forward to evolving my game to next level for the European Open.

If you want to thank somebody or sponsors, feel free

I want to thank my family for loving and supporting me and my dream. My coaches Master Lloyd Irvin and Master Julius Park. All my teammates at Crazy 88/ Team Lloyd Irvin. My strength and conditioning coach Shane Davenport. My wrestling coach Greg Howell. My Judo coaches Carrie Chandler and Nick Delpopolo. The legal team at Shapiro and Mack. And the BEST sponsor in the world with the BEST Gis in the business, Ronin Brand!

Thanks Tim and all the best!