Joey Diaz Jiu Jitsu: How the Blue Belt uses BJJ to Win at Life!
Joey “Coco” Diaz is a BJJ Blue Belt under Alberto Crane of Legacy Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He developed a passion for Jiu Jitsu and the BJJ community has become a family for him.
Although the Cuban-American stand-up comedian, actor, and podcaster was already successful, he became increasingly popular after he appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast countless times.
Joey Diaz’ close ties to Jiu Jitsu ambassadors like Joe Rogan and Eddie Bravo lead to him becoming a household celebrity name in the sport.
Check out Part 3 of our YouTube BJJ Celebrities Series, which also covers Joey Diaz’s complete Jiu Jitsu journey:
Joey Diaz Jiu Jitsu FAQ
Everything you need to know about Joey Diaz’ Jiu Jitsu journey:
Joey Diaz Promoted to Jiu Jitsu Blue Belt
Joey Diaz Jiu Jitsu journey started out rough but eventually, he fell in love with it and simply kept going. When talking about his first classes he states:
“I did it on my own. I was too embarrassed to tell anyone about it.“
Training Jiu Jitsu helped Joey overcome drug addiction and it became his favorite form of exercise. He became living proof that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is for everybody and that everyone can benefit from training in the art. He states humbly:
“I love it. I’m so bad at it and I love it. I am hooked like a drug addict, I think that if I don’t go I can tell the difference on stage and at home. I focus on what I did well.”
On August 5, 2016, Joey Diaz was promoted to BJJ Blue Belt by his coach Alberto Crane of Legacy Brazilian Jiu Jitsu who proudly posted the following image on Instagram:
Joey Diaz on the Benefits of Jiu Jitsu for Life
Joey knows how hard Jiu Jitsu is and what it takes to stay consistent. However, he states very clearly that the benefits are worth the struggle:
“You know what, If you are gonna go to 24-Hour Fitness you might as well join a martial arts class and that’s your home away from home, that’s your getaway. Every time you get a ‘no’, […] you know what, it’s gonna be fine because you go to Jiu Jitsu which means somebody is gonna choke the f*** out of you. And it becomes a family. And now, no matter what’s going on around you, […] this is where you go.”
Joey ends with a principle that holds for all areas of life. You have to tackle hard tasks to grow and staying in your comfort zone can become uncomfortable in the long run:
“It’s f****** hard, they are not giving nothing away. So what would you rather do? Something that is easy or something that is hard?”
Jiu Jitsu made Joey Diaz a better Comedian
“I’ll tell you what else Jiu Jitsu did. It made me a better comedian.”
He continues to explain that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA broadened his horizon as they allowed him to see all aspects of martial arts, comedy, and life:
“There are so many aspects to comedy and in the same way there are some many aspects to Jiu Jitsu.”
Joey describes how BJJ athletes have to pace themselves and come up with new solutions over and over and applies these concepts to his career as a comedian:
“Sometimes I go back to that joke and I tackle it this way. And that’s also what Jiu Jitsu has done, it opened up my thinking. It opens up your thinking patterns and now you write different types of jokes.”
“In Jiu Jitsu, you can’t go full speed all the way. For me at my age I roll, then I rest for a minute, roll, rest for a minute, and I try to do the same thing on stage.”
Joey Diaz as a Jiu Jitsu Coach
Since Joey is a comedian and Jiu Jitsu practitioner he made a comedy clip about his own form of Jiu Jitsu, called Jersey Jiu Jitsu.
Jersey Jiu Jitsu only consists of dirty techniques but what else would you expect of Joey Diaz:
Conclusion
Joey Diaz has come a long way ever since he started his BJJ journey. For him, training Jiu Jitsu is about more than just physical exercise now. He understands the mental benefits that come with the art and credits a lot of his success to Jiu Jitsu.
Although he started training BJJ at an older age he never backs down but does whatever he can to improve and learn. He is a role model for everyone that wants to turn their lives around and a great representative for the sport.
Check out our complete list of BJJ celebrities:
Complete List of Celebrities that do BJJ
Which stars do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?
Which belt ranks are the celebrities?
Tom Hardy | Keanu Reeves | Jason Statham | Ed O’Neill | Demi Lovato | Russell Brand | Maynard James Keenan | Ashton Kutcher | Guy Ritchie | Jonah Hill | Joe Rogan | Chuck Norris | Jason Momoa | Mario Lopez | Joey Diaz | Jim Carrey | Henry Cavill | Charlie Hunnam | Millie Bobby Brown | Shaquille O’Neal | Dave Bautista | Vin Diesel | Robert Pattinson | Kelly Slater
