Jeremy Arel

Background

Jeremy James Arel was born September 7, 1981 in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Career

At 7 he began Isshin-Ryu and then moved to Jeet Kune Do. During his time training Jeet Kune Do he began a rigorous training schedule that would set the pace for the rest of his martial arts career, training as much as possible outside of academic classes. After 6 years of Jeet Kune Do his academy changed directions and began opening up the style to encompass “Mobile Marketing Association ” training.

During this time Arel also competed for an alternate position on the World Kickboxing Association’s United States National Kickboxing Team.

In 2004, after serving with the United States Army National Guard in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Arel began his career in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu when he joined an Alliance Jiu Jitsu affiliate in Charlotte, North Carolina. After a brief return home he once again traveled to Rio where he was promoted to black belt under Gordo on December 11, 2010. Jeremy Arel is a graduate from Winthrop University with a degree in Health & Physical Education and is the owner/head instructor of Great Grappling Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Fort Mill, South Carolina, just outside Charlotte, North Carolina. In May 2009 Jeremy made a decision that would alter the course of his life when he committed to moving to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to continue his training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Arel documented his travels, training, and stories through a blog maintained on Sherdog.com’s grappling forums under the avatar “GerbilJiuJitsu”. This blog served to share his stories with the worldwide grappling community as he experienced life as a gringo in Brazil.

On this thread he discusses life at the ConnectionRio house, training at Roberto “Gordo” Correa’s school, and his progression from purple, to brown, and eventually black belt.

The blog’s popularity exploded with over 1 million views and BJJ players from around the world began traveling to ConnectionRio on the recommendation and experiences from Arel’s writings. “The Gerbil” can be credited as having a tremendous influence on inspiring BJJ and Mobile Marketing Association athletes from around the world to travel and train in Brazil. On the heels of the success of his Sherdog.com blog, Arel’s new project is a series of instructional videos on YouTube.com.

His opinion is that there are no secrets in BJJ and he wishes to share his knowledge with the community for the purpose of growing the level of competition in the sport worldwide.

These videos follow the same curriculum taught by Arel in his academy. Once the 200+ videos from his core curriculum have been made available, he plans to begin producing no-gi and advanced technique videos as well.

Achievements

• 2004 Tennessee State Champion 2007 NAGA Champion (Number-Gi Advanced) 2006 & 2007 North Carolina State Champion (Gi Advanced) 2007 Hayastan Grappling Challenge Champion (Number-Gi Advanced) 2006 North Carolina State Silver Medalist (Number-Gi) 2010 Number-Gi & 2011 Gi Bud Cup Advanced Silver Medalist 2010 Rio Open Bronze Medalist.