January 25th, 2014 marked an enormous day for Revolution BJJ, the BJJ Revolution Team, and the jiu jitsu community in the Virginia area as five individuals joined the ranks of the elite: black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu! Four instructors at Revolution BJJ were promoted: Daniel Frank, Dan Staats, Vince Newton, and Keith Parknow, and Absolute Jiu Jitsu’s head instructor Dee Smith made five.

Promoted to brown belt: Fahs Wood, Mark Pushinsky, and Ben Winn.

Promoted to blue belt: Ryan Pope, Dylan Martin, and Jason “Tink” Steed. Huge congratulations to all 10 guys promoted, and a very big thanks to the 19 black belts in attendance, including head instructors of other gyms in the area.

Special thanks to “the Godfather of the BJJ Revolution Team“, Julio “Foca” Fernandez for not only seeing over the belt promotion ceremony, but also giving an epic 3-hour seminar on passing the guard!

An open mat that began at about 4:15 (immediately following the belt promotions) saw dozens of purple, brown, and black belts, and visitors from several different states in attendance. At 5 PM, a feast arrived, including buffet-style Chipotle, hand made spring rolls, and more desserts than anyone could eat, memorializing the day with the best ending imaginable! Huge thanks to everyone who made the trip out, and we look forward to making 2014 a great year at Revolution BJJ.

Check out our Facebook page for an updated gallery of photos, and our youtube page for seminar highlights and belt promotion videos coming this week!