John Will

John Will was born on April 16, 1957, in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, into a household shaped by law enforcement — his father worked as a law enforcer. Despite that backdrop of authority, Will experienced bullying at school, an experience that planted the seeds of a lifelong commitment to martial arts and self-development. Seeking both the tools to defend himself and the confidence to carry them, he joined a wrestling club at his local church — his first steps on a path that would eventually take him around the world.

At fifteen, Will added taekwondo to his training, layering striking and stand-up technique onto his emerging grappling foundation. Three years later, driven by a hunger to study martial arts at their source, he left Australia to travel across Southeast Asia and immerse himself in pentjak silat — the traditional Indonesian martial art known for its fluid, weapon-inclusive combat system. That journey culminated in a landmark achievement: Will became the first non-Indonesian to win the Best Exponent Award at the World Silat Championships held in Jakarta. The championship is most commonly associated with 1982, though some sources cite 1981 as the year of the inaugural event, leaving the precise date a matter of ongoing discussion among historians of the sport.

First Contact with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Will's introduction to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu came through the doors of the Gracie Academy in Torrance, California, where he committed to private lessons at $100 per session — a significant financial sacrifice that reflected the seriousness of his intent. The lessons proved transformative, but the most consequential moment arrived during his fifth session, when Rigan Machado stepped in as a substitute instructor. An early language barrier made verbal communication difficult, yet the two men forged an immediate connection through the language of grappling itself, beginning a friendship and training partnership that would span decades.

The Road to Black Belt

Determined to deepen his understanding of the art, Will traveled to Brazil to train more extensively with the Rigan Machado family. That dedication was recognized in 1997, when Rigan Machado and the Machado brothers awarded Will his BJJ black belt — a date confirmed by multiple sources and correcting an earlier, erroneous reference to 1998. The promotion made Will one of the earliest Australians to hold a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and cemented his place in the art's international history.

Will's 1997 black belt promotion placed him among an exceptionally select group: the BJJ "Dirty Dozen," the first twelve non-Brazilians to earn the rank of black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Notably, Will coined the term "Dirty Dozen" himself, giving language and identity to a cohort whose contribution to the art's global spread cannot be overstated. These twelve practitioners formed the first generation of BJJ ambassadors who carried the art beyond Brazil at a time when it remained largely unknown outside South America.

For Australia and the broader Australasian region, Will's inclusion in this group was foundational. His black belt recognition at a pivotal moment in BJJ's international growth established him as the definitive pioneer of the art in his home country — a status that would define much of his subsequent teaching and outreach.

Even as his martial arts training deepened across multiple disciplines, Will channeled his organizational energy into publishing. In the late 1980s, he founded and edited Blitz, a martial arts magazine that emerged from remarkably modest beginnings — the inaugural issue was produced using a Commodore 64 computer. That first issue reportedly sold 12,000 copies, a striking figure that signaled genuine appetite for martial arts media in Australia.

Blitz grew into more than a commercial venture. The magazine became a platform for promoting cross-training — the philosophy of training across multiple disciplines rather than adhering rigidly to a single style — at a time when such an approach remained unconventional in many martial arts communities. The publication mirrored Will's own career-long ethos of exploration, from pentjak silat to wrestling to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and helped shift Australian martial arts culture toward broader, more integrative thinking.

Building a Pipeline of Elite Talent

Operating from his base in Geelong, Victoria, John Will has built a coaching legacy that spans an extraordinary range of students — from children taking their first steps on the mats to members of special operations forces seeking practical grappling competence in high-stakes environments. His approach to instruction reflects the same breadth that characterized his own training: technically rigorous, practically grounded, and accessible across skill levels.

Will's reach extends well beyond Australia. He conducts annual instructional tours in the United Kingdom, bringing his teaching to international audiences and reinforcing his role as a global ambassador for the art. The impact of his coaching is perhaps most visible in the careers of the elite competitors he has developed. Among his most prominent black belt graduates are George Sotiropoulos, Elvis Sinosic, and Anthony Perosh — all significant figures in Australian and international mixed martial arts. These athletes represent the clearest evidence of the competitive pipeline Will helped establish, transforming Australasia into a legitimate producer of elite grappling and MMA talent.

On September 14, 2025, John Will received one of the most prestigious recognitions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu when Rigan Machado promoted him to the rank of coral belt. Jits Magazine reported the promotion on September 15, 2025, noting that Will became the first Australian to reach the coral belt rank — a distinction that underscores the full scope of his contribution to the art across more than three decades.

The significance of the promotion is amplified by the relationship at its center. Rigan Machado, who first encountered Will as a substitute instructor during a single session at the Gracie Academy in Torrance, had grown into Will's primary mentor, long-term training partner, and the figure who awarded him his black belt in 1997. That the same relationship anchored Will's journey to the coral belt — one of the highest ranks in the art — speaks to the depth of a partnership that began, unexpectedly, in a substituted class that neither man could have anticipated would define the course of Australian BJJ.