Issue 071

January 2011

It’s been a great year for American Kickboxing Academy’s guru, ‘Guerrilla jiu-jitsu’ founder Dave Camarillo

Being on The Ultimate Fighter was a great experience,” says respected American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) Brazilian jiu-jitsu trainer Dave Camarillo of teaching Team Koscheck this year. “Especially working with a bunch of beginners. To me they’re not elite fighters yet, they’re still in the early stages. It was fresh and exciting.”

But the hard work’s paying off – 32-year-old Camarillo and San Jose-based AKA enjoyed an impressive 2010. Besides the TUF 12 star turn, AKA’s roster boasts new heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez. “I broke down in tears after the fight,” admits Camarillo. “October 23rd is one of the greatest nights of my life. There’s no such thing as the perfect fight, but that was close. It was the best Cain Velasquez we have ever seen, and it was exactly what we expected of him.” John Fitch looks even more formidable than ever: “He’s a very important part of my life. I look to him for strength,” says Camarillo. Josh Koscheck is reveling in his superstar villain status, with his own shot for the welterweight belt in December. AKA fighters Phil Davis and Josh Thomson are all in ascendance, and yet more star power comes in the forms of Cung Le and Herschel Walker.

“On every front I’m winning the battle just now,” Camarillo says. “These championship fights are the culmination of all my efforts since I was five. Even though I’m one small part in the project to make Cain a champion, it’s my greatest achievement. I’ve been doing MMA for a while now, and now I’ve been part of a title. I wasn’t going to stop until we got a title back to AKA.”

Camarillo trained in judo from a very young age under his father’s tutelage. “I’m here talking to you now because my Dad took me to judo, put a gi on me and never let me quit. I call that privilege. But I think my Dad pushed me a little too hard. It should’ve been up to me a little bit more. Everything was great when I wasn’t doing judo but it was tough when I was. I can’t complain; he made me strong because of that pressure. Our relationship got much better when I retired from judo. Now, we shoot guns together. I have no regrets how everything turned out.” He may not have always appreciated his father’s insistence on training in judo, but Camarillo acknowledges it helped make him who he is today. Before beginning MMA training, he was hugely successful in both judo and jiu-jitsu: after winning the lightweight and open weight classes in Rickson Gracie’s 1998 American Jiu-Jitsu Tournament, the BJJ hero named him ‘Most Technical American Jiu-Jitsu Fighter’.

“Part of me wishes I’d competed in MMA. I even remember Javier [Mendez, AKA’s owner] said, ‘Dave will probably go straight to the UFC.’ You can have all the attributes, but if you don’t have it mentally, you’re cheating yourself. I see guys who want to fight to prove something or be cool, not because they want to live the fight life, like Fitch or Velasquez does. I didn’t want to do that; I didn’t have that desire. I wouldn’t have made the instructor I am today if I’d continued fighting. That’s what I pride myself on being – the instructor, the sensei.”

Beyond simply training fighters, Camarillo has a close connection with his warrior regiment. “I’m getting teary eyed. I’m very proud of them. On one level we’re teammates in that we want them to win this MMA game we play,” he says. “But, you get very socially involved with the people you train. I can’t see myself being anywhere else; nothing is more exciting than helping guys that you love to win. In that respect, we’re also family. Javier Mendez is like the father, the one who keeps us all together. The number-one enjoyment in my life is becoming a better person, and in doing that there’s two people on my team, even when it’s difficult, and that’s my wife Shumei and Javier. I spill milk a lot and complain, but this is a dream job for anyone who loves fighting.”

Camarillo joined AKA in 2003 and despite not winning a title he’s enjoyed superb results. But it’s not going to his head. “I have a saying: there’s no such thing as a self-made millionaire. Everyone has help. I pride myself in describing this crazy thing called fighting, intellectually, as a thinking art not just a brutal one – although I respect that it can be both. My success is a culmination of teaching from mentors like John Danaher,” the ‘jiu-jitsu Jedi’ who also stole the show during TUF 12 with his role as Team GSP’s BJJ coach. “My attitude is that I always want to strive to be better than Danaher, but I’ll always admit that he’s better than me. And I’d be a mess if I didn’t have Shumei.”

Camarillo’s enjoying time at the top of MMA. Yet, even with all his achievements as a competitor and now an instructor, he’s not after a portentous legacy. “If you mention my name, I want people to say, ‘He’s a good guy.’ That’s all I care about. Professionally, I want that world title, but in the end, when I’m on my deathbed, I want people to say ‘Dave was a good guy.’ That’s all I need.”

Dave Camarillo’s book Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu is $24.49 on amazon.com, with a sequel out soon.