Brandon Mullins' father signed him up for wrestling in 8th grade and Brandon did not take to it right away, actually, for the first several weeks he begged his dad to let him quit. Brandon's father said he had to finish out the season and after that, he could quit if he still wanted to. Luckily Brandon stuck with it, found Judo and then Jiu Jitsu, and became one of the top competitors in the Rooster Weight Division.
In those early wrestling days, Brandon admits there were many tears shed on and off the mats. But with his father's push, his dedicated and understanding coaches, and a voice in the back of his head telling him it would always be so bad, Brandon didn't quit after that first season. In fact, he wrested for two more seasons in high school. Along the way, he was introduced to Jiu Jitsu during the wrestling offseason. In his state, he was not allowed to wrestle during the offseason, but since Jiu Jitsu wasn't wrestling he was able to train in a sport that eventually became his passion.
In 2000, while at a seminar by the legendary Vinicius "Draculino" Magalhaes, Brandon was picked out of the crowd by Draculino, given the nickname Wolverine, and was Draculino's uke. They would see each other several times over the years and in 2010 Brandon became an instructor at Draculino's Gracie Barra Texas Academy.
Since that time Brandon has gone on to win the 2010 U.S. Open, 2010 and 2011 No-Gi IBJJF World Championship, 2013 European Open Championship, and 2014 World Masters Championship. He has also dedicated himself to coaching, creating amazing instructional videos, and recently released the book Nonstop Jiu Jitsu. Brandon continues to instruct at Gracie Barra Texas and is now a 4th Degree Black Belt.
Comments