Richard Bresler is one of the earliest pioneers of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in America and he’s just made history by becoming the fourth American to reach the rank of coral belt in BJJ. It’s an incredible honour that takes decades of training and dedication to the sport to receive, and very few grapplers will ever reach it. That’s what makes it so rare to find an American coral belt today, because they would needed to have started training back when the sport first reached the country and never stopped. That’s exactly what Bresler did, and he was actually the first regular student that Rorion Gracie had in Los Angeles.
He actually began his BJJ journey in the late 1970s and was eventually promoted to black belt in 1998, making him one of just a handful of non-Brazilian black belts in the world at the time. Bresler was there for many of the pivotal moments in the growth of BJJ in America and he played an important role in helping Rorion Gracie in his mission to spread the sport around the country. He has continued to train and teach throughout that time and has now spent well over four decades improving his skills on the mat, developing a deep understanding of Jiu-Jitsu.
Richard Bresler now joins Ken Gabrielson, Jeff Hudson, and Roy Harris as the only Americans to ever receive a coral belt in BJJ. He received the promotion from two men younger than him, Rener Gracie and Ryron Gracie, while he was in hospital. Bresler is sadly battling with Stage 3 Cirrhosis of the liver at the moment, and has set up a GoFundMe to help him deal with the associated costs. It was an emotional moment and the promotion is an excellent way to signify the unending dedication that Bresler has to the sport, and the huge impact he has had on Jiu-Jitsu in the US.
Rener Gracie shared the footage of him and Ryron promotion Richard Bresler to coral belt in BJJ in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
