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John Dudley is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) under Samuel Puccio (seen in photograph), a black belt under Rodrigo “Comprido” Medeiros who, in turn, is a black belt under Carlson Gracie.
John’s interest and passion for the martial arts began at a young age. It was in 1993 when he enrolled in a Chinese Kenpo School in Cape Girardeau, MO when he was 15 years old. John went on to receive his black belt in Chinese Kenpo in May of 1996 and received his third-degree black belt in the system under now Grandmaster Roger Arpin in February of 2001. John is also a member of the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu, a traditional form of Japanese swordsmanship and one of the oldest surviving Japanese martial arts; having received his Mokuroku (advanced student certification) in 2009 after many years of training under the tutelage of Dr. Robert Dillon.
It was during his time as a Chinese Kenpo student when John first became interested in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. As with many martial artists during that time, an extreme fascination with BJJ came about on November 12, 1993. It was on this day that Royce Gracie shocked the martial arts world by defeating several renowned martial artists in the first ever Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
It was in 1995 that John began studying BJJ through a set of Renzo Gracie (seen in photograph) and Craig Kukuk BJJ VHS instructional tapes. In 2003 John began taking weekly trips to Paducah, KY to study BJJ under then purple belt Jason Hawkins, owner and chief instructor of Three Rivers Martial Arts and now black belt under none other than Royce Gracie. John received his blue belt from Royce Gracie in 2006 at a seminar Royce put on at Three Rivers Martial Arts. After receiving his blue belt, John’s BJJ training was intermittent for several years simply due to him not having access to a BJJ instructor or teacher where he lived. However, in February 2013 a Gracie Humaita BJJ academy opened in his hometown and he was finally able to train extensively in BJJ full time under the tutelage of Brian Imholz. John climbed quickly through his next two ranks. He received his purple belt in October of 2015 and his brown belt in March of 2018 after winning the Pan-American Championship in Irvine, California; the second largest International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (IBJJF) open tournament in the world. John is an avid BJJ competitor having tournament successes at blue belt, purple belt, and brown belt.
Although competitive, John prides himself on being a student and lifelong learner. However, his greatest passion is passing on to others what he has learned. On November 11, 2019, John was finally able to achieve a lifetime dream of his and open his own Jiu-Jitsu school in his hometown of Cape Girardeau, MO. John has said many times that Jit-Jitsu is the catalyst that brings people to; however, it is the community and friendship that keeps them there. Creating that kind of community and environment is what Carpe Momentum School of Jiu-Jitsu is all about. John takes a great deal of pride in not only being an adept BJJ practitioner but being someone his students look up to and trust.
John and his wife Corrie live in Southeast Missouri and are the parents of three sons: Gabriel, Calvin, and Jacob. In his spare time John enjoys spending time with his family, participating in Jiu-Jitsu competitions, and playing chess. John and Corrie both particularly enjoy traveling, having been to many places all over the world over the past two decades.
