Eddie Bravo is an American jiu-jitsu instructor from Santa Ana, California, and the founder of 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu, a no-gi system. As a brown belt he submitted Royler Gracie with a triangle at ADCC 2003, the result that made his name. He later created the Eddie Bravo Invitational (EBI) and Combat Jiu-Jitsu.

Background and lineage

Bravo was born Edgar Cano and took his stepfather's surname. He moved to Hollywood in 1991 to play music and started jiu-jitsu under Jean Jacques Machado, whose line runs through Carlos Gracie Jr. Wikipedia dates his development of the rubber guard to around 1999. After ADCC 2003, Machado promoted him to black belt, and Bravo opened the first 10th Planet school in Los Angeles. He now holds a fourth-degree black belt.

Competition highlights

• ADCC North American Championship 2002: gold at −66 kg, with a rear naked choke on Mark Ashton and points wins over Shawn Krysa and Alan Teo.
• ADCC World Championship 2003 (−66 kg): a rear naked choke on Gustavo Dantas, a triangle choke on Royler Gracie in the quarter-final after nearly nine minutes, and a points loss to Léo Vieira in the semi-final.
• Metamoris 3 (2014): a 20-minute submission-only draw with Royler Gracie. Bravo had him in a calf slicer as time ran out and Royler did not tap.

His full record is short. Wikipedia lists seven matches: five wins, one loss and one draw.

Style and signature techniques

Bravo's system is built for no-gi, where there are no collars or sleeves to grip. Its best-known pieces are:

• Rubber guard: a high closed guard that controls posture by holding the shin over the opponent's back, used to set up the triangle and omoplata.
• Lockdown: a half guard leg tie that BJJ Heroes lists among his favourite techniques.
• Twister: a spinal lock, usually set up from the truck, and the subject of his 2007 book Mastering the Twister.
• Electric chair: a half guard attack he used against Royler at Metamoris. Wikipedia also credits him with the banana split.

EBI, Combat Jiu-Jitsu and media

Bravo launched the EBI in 2014 as a submission-only no-gi tournament with its own ruleset. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass from 2016, paused after EBI 17 in 2018 and returned in 2022. He also runs Combat Jiu-Jitsu, which allows open-hand strikes on the ground, and the women-only Medusa event. His books include Mastering the Rubber Guard, Jiu-Jitsu Unleashed, Mastering the Twister and Advanced Rubber Guard. He is a regular guest on The Joe Rogan Experience and hosts his own podcast, Look Into It.