John Will (fighter)
Australian silat champion and early Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt.
John Will is an Australian martial artist who won the Best Exponent Award at the first World Silat Championships in Jakarta in 1981. He earned a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Rigan Machado and Jean Jacques Machado in 1998, becoming one of the first twelve foreign nationals to do so. In 2025, he received his 7th-degree coral belt from Rigan Machado, the first Australian to attain that rank.
Quick Facts
- Born
- Australia
- Notable award
- Best Exponent Award, first World Silat Championships, Jakarta, 1981
- National director of
- Machado Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Australia (BJJ Australasia)
- Number of member schools
- over 70
- Academy
- REDCAT Academy, Geelong
Facts from the source article.
Martial artist
Will's training background includes Freestyle Wrestling, Goju Kai Karate, and Taekwondo, and he has trained with Benny Urquidez, Gene LeBell, Pete Cunningham, Rorion Gracie, Rickson Gracie, and the Machado brothers. He has also taught Shootfighting. During a trip to India, he trained in Vajra Mushti under the Jyesthimalla clan in Gujarat and published a rare first-hand account of that art in Western media. Since 1975, Will has taken multiple overseas training trips each year to Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, the U.S., and Brazil.
After receiving his BJJ black belt in 1998, he became national director of Machado Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Australia; the organisation, known as BJJ Australasia, has over 70 member schools. He teaches BJJ and Shootfighting at his REDCAT Academy in Geelong and maintains a wide-ranging seminar circuit across several countries and most Australian states. With partner David Meyer, he co-founded and authored a BJJ Curriculum called BJJ America, which provides over 600 U.S. schools with entry into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
He has also designed curricula for organisations including Chuck Norris's UFAF. Will teaches defensive tactics programs to law enforcement and military agencies such as the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Defence Forces, and the Marine Corps at Quantico, Virginia.
Writing
Will has published four instructional books on his own, all aimed at the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and self-defense audience. The first three focus purely on BJJ, covering fundamentals, the guard, and advanced attacks and escapes. His fourth book, "Fight ~ Logic," shifts to his broader interest in self-defense, looking at everything from pre-fight situations to taking the fight to the ground and finishing it. More recently, he has been working on his autobiography, a three-part series called Rogue Black Belt that he also self-published.
The first volume, "Rogue Black Belt: Fear & the Engine," details his childhood in Australia, his entry into martial arts, his time in Bali, and his 1982 Silat World Championship victory. The second, "Rogue Black Belt: Challenge & Ownership," picks up after Bali, covering the founding of Blitz Magazine and his travels through India, Thailand, Japan, the U.S., and Brazil, where he met major martial arts figures and first encountered Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
The third, "Rogue Black Belt: Passion & Purpose," traces his path from early BJJ and defensive tactics instruction to becoming a teacher of today's instructors.
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