Kingz Athlete Spotlight: John Hansen

 Kingz Athlete Spotlight: John Hansen

One of the biggest underdogs in this year’s ADCC World Championships is also probably one of the most interesting individuals in the BJJ community today: John Hansen. childrens kimonos

For those who asked themselves “who is this guy?” – a valid question, considering his relatively low internet profile – John earned his way to the biggest stage in grappling via an astounding 30-second submission against Damon Ramos in the finals of the ADCC East Coast Trials. Though he didn’t make it as far as he had hoped at the World Championships, we know that won’t be the last time we see his name on the ADCC roster.

As stealthy as his internet presence might be, you can’t miss John in a crowd. A giant, even among the giants of the ultra heavyweight divisions, the 6’4” Midwestern native with the unassuming smile makes the likes Nicky Rod and Cyborg look average.

But greater than his sheer physical mass, is his deep humility and sense of self.

So, exactly who is John Hansen?

How long have you been training? 

I started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 2010. Before that, I was training in MMA from about 2008 onward. But I had been watching the ADCC on the internet, and trying to figure out what grappling was, long before I started training. 

How did you start?

In 2005, I graduated high school and went off to college. While at university, I found myself struggling to make friends and engage socially, just like I had my whole life. I was convinced that it was my 6'4" 145lbs frame that made myself invisible to women, and undesirable to engage with socially by men, so I began lifting and eating. By the end of my freshman year, I had successfully gained 25lbs, and was a slender 170. Convinced this was my ticket to positive social engagement, and the ever illusive "girlfriend", I kept lifting and eating.

During this time, I was obsessively interested in combat sports. I loved MMA and, while finding information on the IBJJF was difficult to say the least, everyone knew what the ADCC was. My favorite MMA fighters were Ricardo Arona, and Mark Kerr. They both fought in Pride FC, and commentator Mauro Renallo often listed their accolades; speaking often of their success in the ADCC. I had to know what the ADCC was, so I started searching out content. This was in the infancy of YouTube and the content was difficult to find. BudoVideos had the ADCCs out, usually 18 months later, and those matches were uploaded to YouTube and bitTorrent immediately. To say I was a combat sports nerd (as well as an actual nerd, with a dual major of Astronomy and Physics) is an understatement. But I watched that content religiously. 

What started as watching grappling, turned quickly into me breaking down and zooming in on matches seconds at a time. I wanted to train, but neither knew people who did, nor had the courage to step on the mat.

So, instead, I watched the ADCC matches and practiced everything I saw on my body pillow in my dorm room. I did this for hours a day. Eventually, I went back home and a city adjacent to where I grew up (Omaha, where I now live) was having a BJJ tournament. I had an idea. I would enter the tournament, fight in the division, and expectedly lose. But, in losing, I'd have the opportunity to make a friend, and ask them where they trained and see if I could go with them. It was perfect. It had to work. 

What happened instead was that I accidentally won the tournament. Then, I didn't feel like I could ask someone that I'd just beaten to train with them at their gym. This happened in my first tournament. This happened again, during my second, and third, tournaments. Each time I jumped up in skill division, from beginner, to intermediate, then advanced, then expert or pro. At the time, without guidance, I thought that if you won a tournament you were supposed to go up to the next level, like in a video game. This may seem like a juvenile consideration… but, when you've no resources to ask and no internet to really consult, you just make things up, as best you can, on your own. Within a year I was competing in the Expert or Pro No-Gi divisions, and have been doing so ever since.

For More Info: jiu jitsu belts