Jake McKee Has been a lifelong martial artist. He is a 3rd-degree Aikido Black Belt and is also a BJJ Black Belt under the legendary Carlos Gracie Junior. But Jake is best known for his accomplishments off the mats. Jake is the cofounder of Budovideos, a martial arts video company that has been at the forefront of importing and creating BJJ videos since 2003.
Jake spent three years training and living in Japan and was blown away by the amount of martial arts video content he could find in Japanese stores. He knew there was a hungry market back in the United States for these videos, and when he returned to the states Budovideos was born. Budovideos first began selling imported videos, then creating videos, and was even the first to live stream the IBJJF Worlds. The live stream was an enormous undertaking. One that was a huge success and helped propel BJJ into the huge sport we know today.
Jake was still very involved in traditional martial arts around this time, and while he was aware of BJJ he wasn't attracted to the art. It wasn't until he took his first BJJ class at the Gracie Barra headquarters in Orange County California and saw the detailed way Marcio Feitosa taught that he fell in love with the art. This class, as he puts it was the beginning of an addiction to learning the secrets of how to overpower somebody bigger and stronger. Marcio awarded Jake all his BJJ belts except for his Black Belt which he received from Carlos Jr.
Jake is also extremely passionate about Yoga. He has been practicing for 14 years and has even won the World Championships of Yoga. Jake says Yoga, especially AcroYoga can be very beneficial to the Jiu Jitsu practitioner, helping them with both strength and flexibility, two attributes that are often at odds, simultaneously.
Jake continues to create and distribute martial arts videos and instructional material. He also runs a no gi apparel line Nogi Industries and teaches seminars and studies BJJ across the globe.
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