John Will (fighter)
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John Will (born 16 April 1957) is a notable martial artist from Australia. Will won the Best Exponent Award in the first World Silat Championships held in Jakarta in 1981.[1] Will also completed his black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Rigan Machado and his brothers, John, Roger and Jean Jacques Machado in 1997; making him one of the first twelve foreign nationals to have earned a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Personal life
Will's background includes training in amateur wrestling, Goju Kai Karate and Taekwondo, training with Benny Urquidez, Gene LeBell, Pete Cunningham, Rorion Gracie and Rickson Gracie and the Machado brothers and teaching Shootfighting. During a trip to India, Will trained in the art of Vajra Mushti under the Jyesthimalla clan in Gujarat, India. Will is also credited with publishing a rare first-hand account of the ancient Indian martial art in western media.
Will is noted for taking several overseas martial arts training trips each year, and has been doing so since 1975; including training in Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, the U.S. and Brazil. After receiving his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt from Professor Rigan Machado in 1997, he became national director of Machado Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Australia. The organisation is the largest in the Australasian region (with over 70 member schools) and is known as BJJ Australasia. He teaches BJJ, as well as Shootfighting, at his REDCAT Academy in Geelong. Will's regular schedule includes a wide-ranging seminar circuit spanning several countries as well as most of the Australian states.
Along with partner David Meyer (based in San Francisco), Will founded authored a BJJ Curriculum (BJJ America) - providing more than 600 schools throughout the USA with a means to facilitate their entry into the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. More recently, he has tailor-designed various curriculi for several notable martial arts organisations including Chuck Norris's UFAF (United Fighting Arts Federation).[citation needed]
Will teaches distilled, accelerated learning-based defensive tactics programs to various law enforcement and military agencies; including the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Defence Forces, the Marine Corps at Quantico in Virginia, USA and many others. This arm of his business is known as D.C.A.T (Defend Control & Arrest Training) He is renowned for his ability to tailor-design both the tactical package and the delivery methodology to go with it. His highly innovative teaching methodologies have earned him a reputation as a 'Supercoach'; and it is in this capacity as a 'trainer of trainers' that he obtains much of his employment. To date, he is the only non military SME' (subject matter expert) that the Australian military has employed to design and teach their MUC (Military Unarmed Combat) package.[citation needed]
Will is a self-published author, with four instructional books directed at the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Self-defence market. His first three books are purely BJJ orientated and cover: Fundamentals, The Guard and Advanced Attacks & Escapes. His fourth Instructional Book is "Fight ~ Logic" a book that covers Will's passion for all aspects of the self-defence game, from Pre-Fight scenarios right through to taking the fight to the ground and conclusion.
Will's recent writing focus has been the penning of his autobiography, which has been released as a 3 part series entitled Rogue Black Belt. The series focusses on a chronological set of life-lessons. As with his instructional books, Will is published these works himself .
- Book 1: Rogue Black Belt: Fear & the Engine focuses on Will's early years growing up in Australia and the path that led him to the Martial Arts and onto Bali and his Silat World Championship win in 1982.
- Book 2: Rogue Black Belt: Challenge & Ownership continues the story after the Bali years and through the forming of Blitz Magazine in Australia and his subsequent travels to India, Thailand, Japan, the USA and Brazil, where he interacts with some of Martial Arts' biggest legends and most famous practitioners, leading to his discovery of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
- Book 3: Rogue Black Belt: Passion & Purpose will take Will's story from his fledgling BJJ and Defensive Tactics teachings to the full blown instructor of instructors of today.
Will resides in Geelong; a large regional town in the southern Australian state of Victoria. He is married to Melissa Will, a notable martial artist in her own right.
Notable students
- Elvis Sinosic - UFC Fighter
- Anthony Perosh - UFC Fighter
- George Sotiropoulos - UFC Fighter