Black belt Spotlight: Mike Reyna

Mike Reyna is someone I just recently met. He was refereeing at a tournament I ended up refereeing at (there weren’t any female purple belts) Whenever there was some down time I talked with Mike, he ended up helping me when a few black belts tried to say I giving away points. Mike had my back and saw the same thing I did. Actually, until the argument, I had no idea he was a black belt. He never mentioned it he just talked about jiu jitsu, techniques who he trained with. Mike is a pretty unassuming guy, he is very laid back, you would never think he had grown up in the area he had, that he has travelled all over the world competing in various martial arts competitions, or that he was even a black belt. After working at a few tournaments with Mike I wanted to interview him. He has found a way to use his martial arts to see the world and to spread his passion for martial arts.

How old are you

I am 30 Years old   

What team do you train with and who is your coach?

I train with Champion Jiu Jitsu, and my coach is Assou Harvard.

How long have you been training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?

I have been around jiu jitsu for 10 yrs but total time I have put into sport jiu jitsu is 4yrs.

What belt rank are you?

I am a black belt

When did you earn your black belt?

I got my black belt at this years Mundial 2010

On the topic of Mundials, where have you gotten to compete because of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?

I have gotten to compete in Brazil two times, California 4 times, Ohio once, and Amman Jordan once

What other martial arts have you trained and competed in?

I have trained in wrestling ,boxing , and muay Thai.

Where have you gotten to go because of your other martial arts training?

I have gotten to go to  Egypt ,Spain, Great Britain , Canadia, Maui, Mexico, Panama, and Texas.

I have also been to Morocco, North Africa. and fought in a K1 tournament (muay Thai) in which I was runner up . It was call Morocco vs. The World

What got you into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu? What Kept you in it?

I have always been a fan of Judo . My father is a brown belt in Judo. I would always ask him if he would teach me. He would at times teach me and my brother some things. But he never wanted to show us too much, he thought we would pick fights with people. Since my dad didn’t want to show us. I joined wrestling in middle school. I learned really fast and was a natural at it. My first year of wrestling I was 25-1, not to bad for my first year! I continued to wrestle in high school. After that I did a few freestyle tournaments a did really well.

My brother started going to this guy Assou, whom I didn’t know at the time. He was teaching my brother jiu jitsu on the northwest sub. My brother was coming home and beating on me with this jiu jitsu stuff, and I didn’t like that at all. So I started going to Assou and it has been the best thing I have done in my life. I had been wanting to get my black belt since I started that was my goal. Now it is to be a World Champion and be one of the best black belts in the world.

What do you like about bjj?

I like how it is so effective for small guys and women.

What weight class do you compete at?

I fight at the 141 Weight class.

Who are some bjj practitioners that have influenced you?

Some guys who have influenced me are Terre, Andre Galvao, and most of all my coach Assou.

What are your future goals with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?

One is to be a World Champion and be one of the best black belts in the World. I also want to open my own gym in the next year.

What advice can you give BJJ practitioners?

Don’t stop training. The moment you think you are good, that is when you get beat.

Do you plan on competing again any time soon?

I am planning on competing in the Pan- Ams in March. I also hope to compete in an MMA match in Brazil afterwards.