21.08.2007

Larry Shealy

The MBA in flip-flops

At 50 years of age, Larry Shealy knows what he wants out of life. Retired from business, he transformed his hobby into his main occupation – and doesn’t regret it for a second. “I spent many years in business, but it was always work,” says the head of Jacksonville Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, or JaxBJJ. “I can now say I will never truly 'work' another day of my life. I went from wearing a suit and tie every day of my life to work, to wearing shorts, T-shirts and flip-flops to my dream job – teaching Gracie Jiu-Jitsu full time. Life is good!” He has also just adopted a newborn baby, and “I plan to run the academy until he is old enough to take over!”

Well, that is a little about Larry Shealy, the superbusy instructor who runs an academy following the Gracie Barra philosophy – “to come together as a family, always putting the team before oneself. For that, we will fight to the end for what we believe is right,” in accordance with Carlos Gracie Jr and Marcio Feitosa’s text, quoted on the JaxBJJ website. A little more about Shealy is that, besides heading an academy with 200 students – 250 by the end of the year, and soon with another branch, he says with the confidence of one used to winning – he has been developing, since 2003 along side Charles dos Anjos, kid-jitsu. It is a method for guiding instructors in teaching the gentle art to kids. “The volume one DVD and Book is already out, and volume two is currently in production. Volume three will be out mid 2008,” says Shealy.

Larry does not compete. Teaching 20 classes and teaching six days a week, is tough. But far from dissatisfied, he has clear objectives in mind. “I will make my mark in this sport through the children and by my instruction,” says the MBA from Jacksonville University, who, besides teaching, went further and stepped up to sponsor athletes in this year’s Worlds: “I thought I'd put together a no-gi tournament as a fundraiser for my guys. We had it last weekend [August 18 and 19, prior to the Worlds] and the guys had a blast. We had about 50 guys who competed and I was able to raise over $500 for the guys to go to Long Beach.”

The Texan Shealy’s story with the martial arts goes back 20 years. But as with so many other Americans, the turning point came with Royce Gracie’s performances in the first UFC’s. At the time, a black belt in karate, Shealy was surprised by the pioneer’s effectiveness. “As I traveled the entire United States as a national manager for the company that I worked for, I spent a lot of time in California and began training at the Gracie Academy any time I was in L.A. I also went to the week-long Gracie Camps and fell in love with Jiu-Jitsu,” he recalls.

His instruction in the Gracies’ art began with Rorion; soon, Shealy met Royce, and took classes with his very idol for ten years. “The best lessons I have learned from them is the fact that one doesn't need to be slick or fancy, but must master the fundamentals to be a good BJJ practitioner. I stress this to my students on a daily basis. We are not real flashy, but my guys always do very well in tournaments. I also learned how to have fun in BJJ with Charles dos Anjos. His attitude is always upbeat and his sense of humor is contagious,” he says.

So now you have a sense of the level of professionalism and talent found at JaxBJJ. For those that don’t want to stop at Jiu-Jitsu, the academy offers muay thai and haganah, a system of self-defense practiced by the Israeli special forces. For those that want to give their kids a chance to learn in an organized manner, there is the exclusive kid-jitsu. And for those that still need an excuse to join JaxBJJ, it’s one mile from the beach!

For more information on available classes, visit www.jaxbjj.com. If you are interested in learning to teach kid-jitsu, visit www.kid-jitsu.net.