Famous actor Ashton Kutcher has just been promoted to BJJ black belt by legendary coach and competitor Rigan Machado. It’s obviously a special moment for Kutcher, as it is for any practitioner, as it’s a form of recognition of all the hard work and hours put in on the mat. It’s been a long journey for Kutcher to get to this point too, as he’s been training in Jiu-Jitsu for around 15 years at this point. Since the very beginning he has been training under Machado; who has become known for having many celebrity BJJ practitioners training under him over the years.
Kutcher’s experience with grappling actually dates back even further than that though, in large part thanks to where he grew up. Kutcher was born and raised in Iowa, one of the biggest hotbeds for wrestling in the US. Other States might produce talented wrestlers in greater numbers but Iowa has one of the highest percentages of wrestlers compared to the total population. Despite being a small State, the wrestling culture in Iowa is so strong that it can still produced some of the best to ever do it. For Kutcher, that meant that he practiced wrestling in High School just like many Iowans.
By his own admission, Kutcher was never particularly good at wrestling and he enjoyed much more success in Football instead. Regardless, he came into Jiu-Jitsu with some time on the mat already and it will have undoubtedly helped him learn some of the core concepts of the sport. Fast-forward a decade and a half later, and Kutcher has joined the ranks of famous BJJ black belts. Some celebrities like Ed O’Neil paved the way by starting very early on in the 1990s but as the sport has grown, the number of actors and musicians who have achieved the rank of black belt will only continue to grow.
Rigan Machado announced the news that Ashton Kutcher was promoted to BJJ black belt in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
