Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker has just started training Jiu-Jitsu under one of the biggest names in the sport, Jean Jacques Machado. It’s surprisingly common in the music world, particularly among musicians that operate in the punk, rock, and metal genres. Thrash metal legend Dave Mustaine and Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan are just two examples and although both of them are black belts, they started the sport relatively late in life. Barker celebrated his 50th birthday just a few months ago., but many practitioners have now found Jiu-Jitsu in their 50s and gone on to become black belts or at least experienced grapplers.
Barker is one of many celebrity BJJ practitioners training under Machado or one of his brothers; due to a combination of their undeniable expertise and the locations of some of their academies. He revealed in a recent interview with Ariel Helwani that the location makes Machado an easy choice:
“Jean Jacques Machado has a spot right down the street from me and I would always run by his gym and I ran into him at the coffee spot I go to all the time and I just rolled in one day and started training again.”
Like many famous practitioners, Barker trains with his coach in a smaller environment:
“I do privates with him… Hour and a half, two hour sessions and he’s right down the street, so it can work with my schedule at the studio.”
He still rolls just like everyone else though, and the topic of testing himself in competition came up too. Although he hasn’t done it yet, Barker sounded interested in the idea:
“I think maybe as I get further in Jiu-Jitsu, it would be fun.”
The full interview with Travis Barker where he talks about starting Jiu-Jitsu with Jean Jacques Machado was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of The Ariel Helwani Show:
