Third degree black belt, world-travelled fighter, now coaching in Prince George

As a member of the Gracie family, Bellwood explains that he had many opportunities to engage with and grow the sport around the world. The Gracie family, alongside other notable fighters like Carlos Santos, were building MMA in the Middle East in the early 2000s, and Bellwood says he was fortunate enough to be a part of that.

“I showed up in 2003 or 2004, I was there for a couple of years, and it was amazing to watch that being built. I was actually on the ground level, being a part of something very special in this world, which was jiu jitsu being spread around the gulf, and now it’s all over the gulf, right? Jiu jitsu is worldwide, but it wasn’t at that time in the Gulf, so being a part of that was amazing,” Bellwood said.

His travels would later take him to Phuket, Thailand, where he would spend a decade both teaching and working on his own skill. It was during this decade that he earned his third degree black belt as it takes ten years to earn your third degree, and also where he earned his title of professor. He called Thailand an “eye-opening” experience.

“We went to this famous street called Soi Ta-iad, which is the most famous martial arts street in the world. It has all the gyms on it. When I arrived there, there was just two: Tiger Muay Thai, Phuket Top Team, on either side, a swinging light bulb in the jungle, and you’d wake up the morning and you’d hear, ‘hey, hey, ha!’ And it’s just an amazing feeling,” he said.

With all of this experience, what brought him back to Prince George? He says family was a huge motivating factor, as he was away for thirty years, but also that he wanted to reunite with Karmjeet Manhas, the owner of Kaiten MMA, and work together at his gym.

“Together we can really help the the club, get the students up, get them into a higher level, so that was a good opportunity for both of us to get back together and to kind of see what we could do over the next year together,” he said.

Bellwood doesn’t know what his longterm plans will be, as he said he plans on being in Prince George for a year or two, but he knows that wherever he travels to next, he’ll continue to do what he loves: honing his own skills and also helping fighters and gyms across the world grow.

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by Tommy Osborne

Third degree black belt, world-travelled fighter, now coaching in Prince George

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