Sensei Larry Shealy

                              

                                                       

 

 

Presented by Hanshi Daniel Hect

 Martialforce.com

 Online Magazine

 

Owner Gracie Barra Jacksonville  (www.jaxbjj.com)

Founder, Kid-Jitsu®: Gracie Jiu-Jitsu for Children  (www.kid-jitsu.net)

 

Martialforce: Tell the Martialforce.com readers a little about your background:

 

Larry Shealy: I have a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing from Florida State University and an M.B.A. from Jacksonville University.  I spent over 20 years in medical device sales and management with Fortune 500 Companies.  I have served as an elected official on the City Councilman in Neptune Beach and am a Past President of the Beaches Business Association.  I am married to Gail and have 3 children ages 18, 15 and 4 months.  I have been involved in martial arts around 20 years.

 

Martialforce: You have an impressive background, where were you born? 

 

Larry Shealy: I was born in Corpus Christi Texas in 1957, but have lived in Florida the majority of my life.  I live in Neptune Beach Florida.  My home and my Academy is about 1/2 mile from the beach.

Martialforce: How and when did you get involved with Gracie Jiu-Jitsu?

 

Larry Shealy: At the age of 37, I was a black belt in karate and was watching the early UFC's in the 1993-1994 time frame, when Royce was in action showing us all something most of us had never seen before; the effectiveness of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu..  As I traveled the entire United States at the time 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. 

 

                             

Martialforce: When did your training begin with the Gracie’s?

 

Larry Shealy: I began training in 1994 at the Gracie Academy in Torrance and received my blue belt from Rorion Gracie in 1995 at one of the week long Gracie Camps.

Martialforce: Who were/are your teachers/masters and what did they teach you that you consider being most important about BJJ? 

 

Larry Shealy: Rorion Gracie was my first instructor in the early days of my BJJ training. That is where I met Royce who became my teacher over the next 10 years.  Over these years I also have learned a lot from Charles dos Anjos, who is a first-degree black belt under Royce Gracie.  In the past year, for business reasons, I have aligned my school with Master Carlos Gracie Jr. and his team: Gracie Barra.  The structure of Gracie Barra is awesome and is like a big family.  I love being a part of Gracie Barra!!

 

The best lessons I have learned from all of 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. 

 

I have learned early on about how Master Carlos Gracie, Jr. truly cares about his students and his team.  I could not believe how humble he was the first time I spent time with him.  The guys at Gracie Barra have been tremendous: Marcio Feitosa and Flavio Almeida have been a joy to work with.


Martialforce: When did you start teaching BBJ classes? 

 

Larry Shealy: I brought Gracie Jiu-Jitsu to Jacksonville, FL in 1995 under Rorion Gracie with the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Training Association.  As nobody really knew anything about Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, as a blue belt I was able to be a coach under Rorion and began teaching Gracie Jiu-Jitsu at that time.  We were fortunate enough over the years to have Royce Gracie come to Jacksonville several times for seminars and BJJ in Jacksonville has taken off from there.

 

                                      

 

Martialforce: Tell us a little about the beginning of your Academy in Jacksonville?  

 

Larry Shealy: The early days with Rorion's Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Training Association, and in later years with The Royce Gracie Network I ran a 'sweat shop' type of Academy in a commercial garage. No air conditioning in the summer and no heat in the winter.   It was rough, but we had a lot of fun back at that location.  

 

It was a hobby for me as I still worked full time in the Medical Device Industry.  In 2001 I retired from this career and took a few years off.  In 2005, my phone was ringing off the hook so much that my student base grew to a point that I "had to scratch the itch" and take it on as a full time endeavor.  I went down the street and opened a storefront Academy, and one year later doubled our space.   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!

Martialforce: Wow, that’s great; how many students do you have right now? 

 

Larry Shealy: I have close to 200 students at this time.  I am working to get to 250 by years end.

Martialforce: As an instructor, what is the first thing you say to your students when they join?

 

Larry Shealy: The first 2 things I say to every new student is: 

1: "Leave your Ego at the door" and I refer them to our training philosophy which I have on our website www.jaxbjj.com

 

2:  "We are going to train 30 years, not 30 minutes;” I explain to them that we are going to train hard, but we are also going to train safe and train smart.  One dumb move could hurt somebody, including themselves. So be smart when you are training, for your safety and for your training partners.

Martialforce: That’s a sound statement for new students; do you have any funny story’s that happened to you related to BJJ?

 

Larry Shealy: Looking back on my BJJ training, I remember in the early days, I would go out to Torrance and train at the Gracie Academy.  I would learn some things at the Gracie Academy, review the Gracie Tapes and go back to the small group of guys training with me and we would review the videos on the side of the mat on a video recorder.  We would turn the tape off and go straight back to the mats to practice the techniques.  We were quite rough on the edges, but over time, we began to get it. Looking back, this is funny, because since then I've had some very big names come to teach at my Academy:  Royce Gracie, Rodrigo Gracie, Caique and Rolker Gracie to name a few.

 

I've also had the good fortune to learn from the likes of Carlos Gracie, Jr., Marcio Feitosa, Royler Gracie and Charles dos Anjos.  I've also traveled to Brazil a few times to train at Gracie Humatae and Gracie Barra.

 

Martialforce: This year's World Championship will be held in California. What do you think is the importance of that fact to the developing of BJJ in America?  

 

Larry Shealy: I believe that this is positive.  The more exposure we can get in the US with our sport, the better off we will be.  I believe it is important to keep Gracie Jiu-Jitsu pure.  The best and most complete total self defense system in the world is Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and we now have it and can share it to all of America.  The more exposure we get in America, the more influence we can have in lobbying to get competition Gracie Jiu-Jitsu into the Olympic Games.

 

                                                

 



Martialforce: Can you tell us your plans for the future?

 

Larry Shealy: As far as my Academy, I plan to hit the 250-student mark and most likely open another Academy on the other side of town in 2008.  I have some very talented students who are assisting at my Academy in teaching classes and will step up and also assist in teaching at another location.

 

Along with Charles dos Anjos, I have developed and trademarked "Kid-Jitsu®" which is a complete curriculum for traditional martial artists to teach children to learn Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. 

 

We have Certification Seminars, Instructor Manuals and DVD's and are teaching traditional martial artists how to teach Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (Kid-Jitsu®) to their children.  The Volume One DVD and Book is already out, and Volume Two is currently in production.   Volume 3 will be out mid 2008.  Check www.kid-jitsu.net for further details on this exciting new program/curriculum for kids.

 

Martialforce: Do you also offer an Adult program that is tailored to fit into the Traditional Martial Arts Schools?

 

Larry Shealy: Yes, Charles dos Anjos and I have also formed an Adult BJJ program that fits perfectly into the Traditional Martial Arts Arena.  This was done primarily because the majority of our Certified Kid-Jitsu® Instructors wanted to continue their training and also have the ability to instruct their current student base of students who are interested in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

 

Martialforce: Well Sensei, I wish you luck in your future plans and I hope to see you in California for the World Championship.

 

Larry Shealy: Thanks; I will see you in California…

 

 

 

If you have any questions or need additional information, please refer to Larry Shealy websites: www.jaxbjj.com and www.kid-jitsu.net., or email Larry Shealy at jaxbjj@yahoo.com; you can also contact Larry at 904-612-6076

 

Hanshi Daniel Hect is the CEO of the Masters Hall of Fame and is a contributing editor for Martial Force Magazine. For more information on Hanshi Daniel Hect, see www.MastersHallofFame.com or www.AcademyofMasters.com.