Roy Dean
Roy Dean went from judo in Japan and a live-in dojo apprenticeship to a BJJ black belt under Roy Harris, then began teaching the belts as a language.
Biography
Sources for this profile
Roy Dean (roydean.com), 'Roy Dean Biography', undated official biography.(opens in a new tab)
Roy Dean began martial arts training in Japan at 16 while a Rotary exchange student; offered an after-school Japanese art (options included kyudo, ikebana and kendo), he chose judo.
Where in the source: Timeline entry dated 1991, first paragraph — 'Rotary Exchange student'
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He trained with his Japanese high school judo team six days a week and competed monthly; promotion through the kyu grades required beating a set number of opponents at each rank, and after reaching 2nd kyu he met stronger opposition and lost several times.
Where in the source: Timeline entry dated 1991, second and third paragraphs.
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After a disappointing tournament, a Rotary Club member, Mr. Natsumi, arranged extra sparring for him at the local Budokan and access to the private dojo of judo master Igami Shoten; with the extra wins he received his judo shodan (first-degree black belt) at 17.
Where in the source: Timeline entry dated 1991, fourth and fifth paragraphs.
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Back in the United States he studied Aikikai aikido under Calvin Koshiyama at Aikido North in Anchorage, Alaska, and after several years moved to Monterey, California, to live in the dojo of Julio Toribio as an uchideshi (live-in apprentice).
Where in the source: Timeline entry dated 1996 - 1999, first and second paragraphs.
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According to Dean's biography, Julio Toribio was a 4th dan in Aikikai aikido, trained in the Hakko Ryu aiki-jujutsu system, and founded his own system of aiki-jujutsu called Seibukan.
Where in the source: Timeline entry dated 1996 - 1999, third paragraph, describing Sensei Toribio.
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Under Toribio he received a 3rd-degree black belt in Seibukan Jujutsu, a first-degree black belt in Aikikai aikido and a black belt in Enshin Itto Ryu Batto Jutsu, a Japanese sword system; in the same period he earned his Brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt under Claudio Franca.
Where in the source: Timeline entry dated 1996 - 1999, fourth and fifth paragraphs.
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After moving to San Diego he joined Roy Harris's academy, then called Progressive Fighting Systems, in December 1999; Harris, primarily a Jeet Kune Do specialist and an early American BJJ black belt, took him from blue belt to black belt.
Where in the source: Timeline entry dated 1999-2006, first three paragraphs — 'Progressive Fighting Systems'
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Although Harris did not actively encourage competition, Dean competed for his own development; his biography lists a gold medal at Grapplers Quest (no-gi) and a gold medal at the HCK All Comers tournament (gi), where he also received awards for fastest submission and most technical fighter.
Where in the source: Timeline entry dated 1999-2006, fourth paragraph.
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As a purple belt he and a training partner taught the UCSD Brazilian jiu-jitsu class, and as a brown belt he started a grappling class at Jiai Aikido; students came at once, and he saw teaching as a possible profession.
Where in the source: Timeline entry dated 1999-2006, fifth paragraph.
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After his promotion to black belt in 2006 he moved to Bend, Oregon, and started a new academy, Roy Dean Academy (RDA), meant to combine traditional customs with modern techniques.
Where in the source: Timeline entry dated 2006 - 2014, first two paragraphs.
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His biography says that his instructionals explained jiu-jitsu in clear terms with a distinctive visual style, that he has led seminars in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Africa, Europe and the Middle East, and that he openly published his students' belt-rank demonstrations on YouTube.
Where in the source: Timeline entry dated 2006 - 2014, fourth to sixth paragraphs.
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After promoting his first black belt in Bend he moved to California; since 2015 he has concentrated on building a network of affiliated academies, and only affiliated academies can award rank under him.
Where in the source: Timeline entry dated 2006 - 2014, last paragraphs, and entry dated 2015 - Present — 'Only affiliated academies'
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He is a member of CVBJJ, where he trains and teaches when in California; his seminars and instructionals are available on demand through ROYDEAN.TV, and he leads retreats.
Where in the source: Timeline entry dated 2015 - Present, fourth to sixth paragraphs.
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He lives in both Southern California and Alaska.
Where in the source: Timeline entry dated 2015 - Present, last paragraph.
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Dean's book 'The Martial Apprentice' covers his years as an apprentice under Julio Toribio, and his book 'Becoming the Black Belt' covers the period from his BJJ training through building his academy.
Where in the source: Timeline entries dated 1996 - 1999 and 2006 - 2014, closing sentences naming each book.
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Roy Dean (roydean.com), home page, read 2026-09-28.(opens in a new tab)
Roy Dean holds a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.
Where in the source: Home page, introduction under 'Teaching the Ways of the Warrior' — '4th degree black belt'
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His own website states that he is recognised by the IBJJF as a fourth-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Where in the source: Home page, same sentence as c20, fourth paragraph of the introduction.
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He presents himself as a mixed media artist whose videos combine storytelling, cinematic footage and technical precision, and says he remains a student of Roy Harris.
Where in the source: Home page, first and third to fourth paragraphs of the introduction — 'mixed media artist'
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His home page names 'Groundswell: The Rise of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in America' as his latest project, due to reach readers in September 2026.
Where in the source: Home page, introduction, paragraph after the two book titles.
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Roy Dean Academy Online (roydeanacademy.com), home page, read 2026-09-28.(opens in a new tab)
His academy's online store lists his other ranks as a 3rd-degree black belt in Japanese jujutsu, a 1st-degree black belt in Kodokan judo and a 1st-degree black belt in Aikikai aikido.
Where in the source: Instructor section near the page foot, rank list below the introduction.
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The academy site describes him as treating jiu-jitsu as budo, a warrior's way to be understood and lived rather than only drilled.
Where in the source: Instructor section, introduction — 'treats the gentle art as a budo'
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His instructional library is organised by belt level, from 'The White Belt Bible' through Blue, Purple, Brown and Black Belt Requirements courses; the store sells it as a collection spanning 2007 to 2026, and lists 'Blue Belt Requirements 2.0' (2018) and 'Purple Belt Requirements 2.0' (2023).
Where in the source: Best-seller list and the belt-by-belt course section.
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Groundswell Media (bjjpioneers.com), 'About', read 2026-09-28.(opens in a new tab)
Roy Dean is co-creator, with Josh Gold, of 'Groundswell: The Rise of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in America', a large-format book of first-person interviews and black-and-white photographs of eight BJJ pioneers in America, among them Claudio França, Jean Jacques Machado, Pedro Sauer and Joe Moreira; it is published by Groundswell Media in a first printing of 500.
Where in the source: About page, sections 'Preserving the story of an art' and 'The team behind Groundswell' — 'Roy Dean — Co-creator'
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Robb Wolf, 'Interview with Roy Dean', The Performance Menu, Issue 25, February 2007.(opens in a new tab)
In a 2007 interview he said he grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, played piano as a child and skied, and began judo only when he went to Japan as an exchange student.
Where in the source: Interview by Robb Wolf, answer to the first question about where he grew up.
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He said that at sixteen, alone in Japan without the language, he used judo to channel his frustrations with the new culture, and that living there taught him there were no secret techniques: good instruction and proper training mattered more than the country.
Where in the source: Answer to the question on how he began training, third and fourth paragraphs.
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He said that after Japan he finished his last year of high school in Ontario, Canada, where no aikido was taught, so he read everything he could about the art and came to believe in its special power without any physical test; he later described this as a warning about self-delusion. He signed up for aikido the day he returned to Alaska and took a government job to support his evening training.
Where in the source: Same answer, paragraphs beginning with his move from judo to aikido — 'infinite capacity for self-delusion'
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- Conflicting accounts
He said he was an uchideshi under Julio Toribio for fifteen months and set up a live-in student programme that continued after he left, then stayed two more years in Monterey; Toribio made an exception and let him train Brazilian jiu-jitsu once a week under Claudio Franca in Santa Cruz while living in the dojo, which he said was unheard of in traditional terms.
Where in the source: Same answer, paragraph about Sensei Toribio — 'fifteen months'
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He said he later studied media arts, specialising in computer music, at the University of California, San Diego, then worked for four years as lead audio engineer at a video production company while training BJJ under Roy Harris, and launched his academy in Bend after receiving his black belt.
Where in the source: Answer to the first question, second paragraph.
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His first exposure to Brazilian jiu-jitsu was watching Royce Gracie at UFC 2. He said he liked BJJ's lack of formality, and that Harris's academy was even less formal than Franca's, with most classes no-gi, handshakes instead of bows, and function valued over form.
Where in the source: Answer to the question about his first recollection of BJJ — 'UFC 2'
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Describing his teaching at the new academy in 2007, he said he linked techniques into drilled sequences, for example a side mount escape and guard replacement, a sweep to mount, a spinning armlock, an armlock escape, a guard pass and a return to side mount, and repeated single techniques such as the spinning armlock from knee on belly until students could use them without thinking, comparing each to a letter of an alphabet that later forms words and sentences.
Where in the source: Answer to the question about his curriculum, second paragraph — 'a letter in the alphabet'
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He said Matt Thornton had been a great influence on him and that arts are made better by sparring against live resistance, while accepting that people train for many different reasons.
Where in the source: Answer to the question about traditional martial arts and alive training, second and third paragraphs.
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In February 2007 interviewer Robb Wolf wrote that Dean had recently opened the Roy Dean Academy in Bend, Oregon, and Dean described launching the E-Journal of Jujutsu: Modern Grappling Quarterly, an online martial arts periodical whose first issue opened with an interview with Irie Yasuhiro, founder of KoKoDo Jujutsu.
Where in the source: Introduction by Robb Wolf, second paragraph; answer to the final question — 'Modern Grappling Quarterly'
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Stephan Kesting, 'Podcast EP13: Roy Dean on BJJ, Aikido, Judo, Wrestling, and the Martial Artist's Path', Grapplearts, 8 October 2012.(opens in a new tab)
He said a friend introduced him to Claudio Franca, whom he called one of the first Brazilians in Northern California with a legitimate BJJ black belt, and that Garth Taylor, one of Franca's top students, recommended Roy Harris to him for his intellectual approach; he needed a more verbal teacher with specific advice, and Harris awarded him purple through black belt.
Where in the source: Transcript, answer about his martial arts history, fifth to seventh paragraphs.
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He said he lost every competition match until his first win at Grapplers Quest, a no-gi event; the change came after Harris told him to find a training partner and drill, and he began technique-repetition drilling with his friend Brad Hirakawa.
Where in the source: Transcript, answers about his competition history and 'the quantum leap' — 'lost every match'
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As a brown belt he attended a wrestling camp coached by Mark Munoz and Urijah Faber, which he said taught him the wrestling mentality.
Where in the source: Transcript, answer on judo and wrestling, fourth paragraph.
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He explained what aikido gave his BJJ: permission to blend with an opponent's force rather than oppose it, and body mechanics such as corkscrewing the hips, downward for an aikido wristlock and upward for a BJJ armlock from the back; he also used aikido wristlocks from side control on the ground.
Where in the source: Transcript, answer to the question on what he learned from aikido.
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He described the belts: a new blue belt should be able to defend against an untrained attacker; at purple a student strings techniques together like words into sentences; the step to brown adds conviction, a well-rounded top and bottom game and the ability to chain several attacks.
Where in the source: Transcript, answer to the question about progression from white to black belt.
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In 2012 he said he no longer competed, that he did not think competition should be required for a BJJ black belt, and that he regarded BJJ as an art with a sport component rather than only a sport.
Where in the source: Transcript, answers on his competition history and on whether competition is needed for black belt.
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In 2012 he had affiliate schools in England, had produced DVDs from 'The White Belt Bible' to 'Brown Belt Requirements' as well as phone apps, and planned an online subscription for his affiliates; he said he would not award rank online and had to meet each affiliate face to face, and that he had posted belt demonstrations on YouTube early to make his process transparent.
Where in the source: Transcript, opening answer about England and answers on his videos and apps — 'not comfortable giving out rank online'
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Stephan Kesting, 'Roy Dean History of BJJ in North America', Grapplearts, 12 November 2025.(opens in a new tab)
In November 2025 he appeared on episode 436 of Stephan Kesting's Strenuous Life Podcast to discuss his research into how Brazilian jiu-jitsu started in North America.
Where in the source: Post by Stephan Kesting dated 12 November 2025, first two paragraphs.
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Roy Dean (roydean.com), 'The Language of the Mat' guide page, read 2026-09-28.(opens in a new tab)
His site presents his teaching through a language metaphor for rank: white belt as vocabulary, blue as grammar, purple as one's own dialect, brown as argument and black as fluent retort, with blue belt treated as the foundation every higher belt builds on and never taught out of sequence. The same page gives Roy Dean Academy's founding in Bend as 2006.
Where in the source: Guide landing page, rank summary block and the 'Concept' entry among four scales — 'Belt rank as language'
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Roy Dean (roydean.com), '5 Lessons Learned from Training with John Danaher', blog post dated 11 April (year not shown), read 2026-09-28.(opens in a new tab)
In a video transcript published on his site after he reached fourth degree, he described spending about two and a half weeks training in John Danaher's regular (not professional) classes, where the inversions into leg-lock positions made him and a fellow black belt feel like white belts again.
Where in the source: Blog post, transcript, first and fifth takeaways.
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In the same transcript he said he teaches without a separate warm-up, building from a simple technique into longer sequences, recommends that his affiliates put takedowns at the end of class, and encourages his students to train with other teachers such as Danaher because he wants them to exceed him.
Where in the source: Transcript, second and third takeaways and closing paragraphs.
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He credited Roy Harris with being the first to offer a structured approach to BJJ, with positional escapes, categorised submissions and stated criteria for each belt level, and said this shaped his own training and the technical legacy he is leaving.
Where in the source: Transcript, fourth takeaway comparing Harris and Danaher.
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Roy Dean (roydean.com), 'Roy Harris Biography', read 2026-09-28.(opens in a new tab)
Dean's site describes Roy Harris as a 7th-degree coral belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and the second non-Brazilian to reach coral belt.
Where in the source: Page 'Roy Harris', heading and first paragraph.
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Roy Dean, 'My Black Belt Journey: A Tale Of Resilience, Mastery And Life Lessons', Young Upstarts, 29 November 2023.(opens in a new tab)
In a 2023 article he wrote that he was re-releasing expanded, re-edited editions of 'The Martial Apprentice' and 'Becoming the Black Belt', and that the black belt exam under Roy Harris was a gruelling test in which Harris, nicknamed 'Boa' for his pressure, wanted to see his heart once he was exhausted.
Where in the source: Guest article by Roy Dean, opening paragraph and section 'Achieving My Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu' — 'Boa'
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He wrote that Julio Toribio in Japanese jujutsu and Roy Harris in Brazilian jiu-jitsu each served him as a technical resource, a teaching model and a mentor.
Where in the source: Section 'From Curious Teenager to Black Belt Professor', second paragraph.
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Josh Presley, 'Book Review: Roy Dean "Becoming The Black Belt"', Hot Off The Presley (Substack), 24 January 2025.(opens in a new tab)
According to Josh Presley's review of 'Becoming the Black Belt', Dean lost his first BJJ tournament match, at the Joe Moreira Invitational, on points, and after a neck injury at a later tournament took a break from competing to focus on university.
Where in the source: Review, paragraphs on his first tournaments — 'Joe Moreira Invitational'
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The review reports that, after further losses, Dean won his first match by armbar at Grappler's Quest in 2000, received his purple belt from Harris after an hour-long private lesson, and won his first purple-belt match by submission against the judo and BJJ black belt Dan Camarillo.
Where in the source: Review, paragraphs on Grappler's Quest, the purple belt and his first purple-belt match.
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The review reports that after a later tournament where he saw many injuries, Dean told Harris he no longer wanted to compete, and Harris answered that he had been waiting to hear it.
Where in the source: Review, paragraph quoting his exchange with Harris — 'I've been waiting for you to say that'
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The review reports that as a brown belt, at 31, Dean decided to quit his job, that he went on to open a BJJ academy in Bend, and that his black belt test lasted more than two hours.
Where in the source: Review, paragraphs on the Yosemite trip and the black belt test.
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The review reports that the E-Journal of Jujutsu did not succeed as he had hoped, so he turned to DVDs: his first, 'BJJ Seminars Year One', was sent to Marcelo Garcia, who reviewed it well, and 'Blue Belt Requirements', which he edited himself, became a hit and led to seminar invitations abroad, including in the Middle East.
Where in the source: Review, paragraphs on the E-Journal and his first DVDs.
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Patrick L. Parker, 'Mokuren Interview: Roy Dean', 29 December 2008 (Substack republication).(opens in a new tab)
In a 2008 interview he said he trained judo at his high school near Nagoya, not at the Kodokan, and that in his first randori after six weeks of breakfall practice the team captain, Ichikawa, threw him again and again with uchimata, which made him want to learn the art.
Where in the source: Interview by Patrick Parker, answer on his judo start in Japan, first two paragraphs — 'near Nagoya'
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He described Igami Shoten as a 6th dan who was the dominant figure on the mat at the community dojo, let him attempt throws in randori and then overwhelmed him, and later took him into group classes at his private dojo thanks to Mr. Natsumi.
Where in the source: Same answer, third paragraph.
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In 2008 he taught only BJJ at his academy but let an aikido instructor run classes there, and said he had expected young men but was surprised by how many members were in their 30s, 40s and 50s.
Where in the source: Answer to the first question, first two paragraphs.
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He said the right training environment requires clean, safe mats and a clear start and end to class, and that students who cannot follow gentlemen's rules or moderate their intensity should be shown the door, because a varied membership only stays when training is safe.
Where in the source: Answer on the right training environment.
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He urged aikido practitioners to cross-train in judo, BJJ or boxing and to feel other arts for themselves instead of judging them by eye.
Where in the source: Answers on communicating between arts and on reinvigorating aikido — 'Feeling is believing'
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Josh Gold, 'Our First Instructor Course: Bulletproofing Pins', Aikido Journal, 12 December 2017.(opens in a new tab)
In December 2017 Aikido Journal launched its first online instructor course, 'Bulletproofing Pins with Roy Dean', which drew on his jiu-jitsu expertise to give aikido instructors responses to a partner resisting or escaping a pin while staying in kneeling or standing postures.
Where in the source: Article by Josh Gold, opening paragraph and section 'Our Design Approach'.
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Josh Gold, 'Aikido Journal Podcast: Roy Dean on rediscovering Koichi Tohei's mastery', Aikido Journal, 24 March 2018.(opens in a new tab)
A 2018 Aikido Journal podcast with Josh Gold covered Dean's media work with Aikido Journal, his experience at the 2005 Aiki Expo and his impressions of Koichi Tohei and Bruce Bookman.
Where in the source: Post dated 24 March 2018, summary paragraph.
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Kristiansand Kampsport Senter, 'Roy Dean' workshop page, read 2026-09-28.(opens in a new tab)
Kristiansand Kampsport Senter in Norway hosts an annual Roy Dean workshop, with the next one set for 3-4 April 2027, and describes itself as the only Roy Dean Academy in Europe.
Where in the source: Workshop page (Norwegian), header and section 'Om instruktøren' — 'den eneste Roy Dean Academy i Europa'
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