Hello,
I’m writing to you today to introduce myself. My name is Scott Burr. I’m a second-degree black belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, a second-degree black belt in Kodokan Judo, and a first-degree black belt in Kuk Sul Do. A more complete CV is included below.
I first started teaching BJJ in 2006… as a white belt in BJJ. The closest BJJ school was half an hour away, and I’d drive out there a few nights a week to train and learn as much as I could to bring back to the handful of students at the MMA gym we’d opened up in my hometown. Was I any good? Of course not. But I was up front about what I knew, and what I didn’t know. I was up front about the fact that I was giving these guys the best information I had, to the best of my abilities. As I continued to progress, I promised them, they would, too.
When I’d been training for about two and a half years, I met Steve Maxwell. Steve was a second-degree black belt at that time, and he was traveling through our area on what would turn out to be a perpetual, decade-long seminar tour. At the end of the seminar he taught at our gym, he promoted me and a few of my training partners to blue belt. As I’m sure you can understand, I was ecstatic. I felt like my two and a half years of hard work had finally been recognized and rewarded. I was over the moon.
Throughout the years that followed, Steve made regular visits to our gym. Eventually, I began to join Steve for stints on the road, assisting at seminars and appearing in his instructional videos. He awarded me my purple belt in 2010 and my brown belt in 2012; in 2014, I was proud to earn my black belt from Steve.
BJJ has spread incredibly since 2006. In traveling across the country, I’ve been surprised to discover black belts running schools in the most seemingly obscure places. This is all for the good: I believe that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu can be a powerful catalyst for positive change in people’s lives, and the farther it spreads and the more people it reaches, the better. I also know that, despite this growth, and despite the wealth of quality instructional materials available online, there are still places where blue and purple and brown belts are in the same position I was in back in 2008 and 2010 and 2012: that there are blue and purple and brown belts running programs and clubs and schools and to whom I might offer the same kind of resource and opportunity for advancement that Steve offered me.
I’m not a BJJ or MMA world champion. Though I’ve trained and shared the mats with some high-level competitors, I am not one myself. What I am, however, is a student who has spent the better part of his life working to develop not only the skills of his chosen pursuit but also the skills of clear and effective communication. I am someone who has worked hard to build a skillset and a knowledge base, and who is interested in sharing those skills and that knowledge base with those who are looking for it and for whom it might provide some value and benefit. In short, if you’re so inclined, I’m interested in sharing those skills and that knowledge base with you.
If you’d like to discuss any of this further, please feel free to reach out to me through Facebook or Instagram (@enclavejiujitsu), through the contact forms available at http://www.EnclaveJiuJitsu.com, or directly via email at either Connect@EnclaveJiuJitsu.com or EnclaveJiuJitsu@gmail.com.
Wishing you good health and good training.
Scott Burr
Enclave Jiu-Jitsu LLC
http://www.EnclaveJiuJitsu.com
// Gracie Jiu-Jitsu second degree black belt professor
// Kodokan Judo second degree black belt
// Kuk Sul Do first degree black belt
// Private student of Rickson Gracie
// Steve Maxwell / MaxwellSC-certified pro trainer, kettlebell instructor (L 1 & 2), and bodyweight training instructor (L 1 & 2)
// Appeared in numerous MaxwellSC instructional videos (MaxwellSC.com)
// Appeared in numerous Rickson Gracie instructional videos (Rickson.Academy)
// Co-author of Richard Bresler’s Worth Defending: How Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Saved My Life
// Co-author of Chris Haueter’s forthcoming memoir
// Editor of Robert Drysdale’s Opening Closed Guard: The Origins of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil
// Author of the training manuals Get a Grip and Suspend Your Disbelief
// Author of the martial arts, health and fitness, and mindset essay collection Superhero Simplified
// Breathology fundamentals and advance course certified
// Ginastical Natural certified instructor (L 1)
// Experienced MMA fighter (3-2-0, amateur) and coach
// Experienced Muay Thai fighter (1-0-0, amateur)
// Over 15 years’ professional experience as a martial arts instructor and fitness trainer
Visit http://www.ENCLAVEJIUJITSU.com for more information, including class and seminar booking information.
Enclave Jiu-Jitsu 