In Memory of Professor Keith Owen

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I am bereft and my sorrow is immeasurable. I keep wandering the halls of my home in a daze. Just when I think I have no more tears left, another wave hits me. What follows barely scratches the surface of my experience with Keith. 

I was sitting on my couch when I received the call. That was three days ago (Feb 11 2022). It was Alex, Keith's son. He said that Keith had passed away suddenly, in the evening, while attending Master Pedro Sauer's Brazil camp. Keith was just 52 years old. When you receive news like this, it always seems surreal. Your brain just can't process. I was brought to my knees in an instant. I thought about Shirlane, Keith's wife and his three son's: Alex, Carrigan and Chance. They treated me like family. The Owen's opened their home to me and treated me with a mid west hospitality that you see in movies. They were simply "good people" that you just couldn't help but love.     

My story with Keith started back in 2008 and from that point on, we become the best of friends. I consider myself the luckiest man in the world knowing him. This is how it started:   He had emailed me "out of the blue" one day. The email reads:  "Hey there, my name is Keith Owen and I am a black belt under Professor Pedro Sauer. I wanted to let you know that I've seen you take some shit online about some of your videos on Submissions 101. I wanted to let you know that I think your stuff is great and I've learned some great moves from them. I wanted to let you know don't listen to the haters. Yours truly, Keith Owen"  

At the time, I had garnered some infamy from some on the internet in regard to my you tube channel and I was focusing on the noise by a select few haters. Then, some random black belt that I had never met, took the time in reaching out and offer some kind words. I had heard of Keith at the time but did not know anything about him. I wanted to know who this guys was so I wrote him back. 

 "Hello Keith, I really appreciate you reaching out. That means a lot to me. I am just trying to offer some videos to the community as their really aren't any out there (most of the stuff we can get is DVDs and VHS). There is only Sub 101, lockflow and subfighter. I just want to share some of the 10p knowledge I have learned from Eddie. Thank you very much for the email. You're awesome.-Ari"  

This conversation led to Keith asking me to come out to his school to teach a 10p Planet JJ seminar ( I taught a lock down seminar). I was a fresh purple belt and Eddie had only 3 affiliates at the time (my school, Phoenix and Dallas) and was honored to teach what I knew to an open minded BJJ black belt and his students. Keith's school was called "Superkicks" at the time and he hadn't adopted Team Rhino yet! His students were kind and receptive to learning.  

I remember landing in Boise Idaho and waiting for Keith at the airport. I was sitting down looking for him only to find out that he had been standing behind me against the wall the whole time. This became an ongoing joke with us for the next 14 years. We would constantly try to sneak up on one another and just wait to see how long it look for us to sense one another. I stood up and immediately was surprised by his size and presence. I'm 6'1'' but Keith was several inches taller than me and around 250 lbs. He was a big man. 

"Hey Ari-Mr. Keith. Nice to meet you! (Mr Keith is just what everyone called him at his school).  After the seminar, I attended several classes of his over the next few days. I was struck by his teaching ability and the way he could control a room while doing it. This guy was a BJJ black belt but his gift as a teacher was evident. And the type of Jiu Jitsu he was teaching was unlike anything I had seen. This was Jiu Jitsu from his instructor, Pedro Sauer. It was different. I soon learned that Professor Sauer was a direct student of Rickson and Helio Gracie.   

I had at the time, already had a couple black belts in stand up martial arts and was a purple belt in 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu, but this Gracie Jiu Jitsu was pretty cool. I threw on a white belt and soaked it in. As the weekend came to end, I approached Keith and asked if I could be his student and learn "gi Jiu Jitsu." After him speaking with Professor Sauer, we started our relationship.   I can only describe my experience meeting Keith like that you see in a movie. When the student finds the "master" and you just wonder why it took so long to happen.   It is impossible to include 14 years of experiences in writing but my relationship with Keith soon went from teacher /student to mentor and then best friend.

 I had Keith at my academy over 20 times and he taught and tested scores of my students. He is heavily featured on Submissions 101 with some incredible Jiu Jitsu tutorials. I became Keith's first affiliate and I remember my gruelling 2 hour blue belt test with my friend (and fellow black belt) Dan Phillips. Keith put us through a hellish test to prove a point to the internet hate that had surrounded me. He told me "let it be said that you earned this belts and that they weren't given out." I've never been so exhausted in my life and at the same time, so proud. And this was "just a blue belt".   

Keith often espoused that he wanted to be in his 80s and still hitting the mats. In order to do this, you need to "train for a lifetime not the next match" he would say to me. His philosophy on training hit home and I fell in love with BJJ in every way.

VIDEO>>>"In order to get your black belt, you will tap 10 000 times." Keith Owen 

 As is the custom in the Pedro Sauer lineage, those who earn their belts are ceremoniously "choked" as a rite of passage. I was unaware of the ritual (I had heard about belt whipping) and Keith said "remember to tap or you won't get your belt." In my massively exhausted brain after my test, I heard "Don't tap or you won't get your belt." What followed was me passing out and Keith literally holding me up. I came to about 5 seconds later. The video is on you tube and it makes me laugh every time.   

 I visited Boise, Keith's home many times and he and his wife Shirlane, were impossible not to love. They were kind, giving and the most genuine of people. They took to the time to help me and wife with business. In fact, Keith's advice over the years helped so much that I went from earning a few hundred bucks to building a 6 figure Jiu Jitsu academy. I, and my wife Lindsay, owe so much to Keith and his wife Shirlane. We would constantly bounce ideas off one another and grew together during this process.  

He would say " You need to be a black belt in business as well as the mats. You also need to be a good person to get a black belt from me. What you do for people, your students and jiu jitsu is very important."

VIDEO>>> Grappling the Anti-You!

Around 2012, I connected with my friends James Foster, Piet Wilhelm and Classy Grappler. I started featuring them on Submissions 101 and we decided that wouldn't it me awesome to all get together for a seminar. Keith was brought on board and the Black Belt Chain Reaction was formed. I was just a purple belt hanging out with some amazing black belts but they all looked at Keith as the leader. He was so respected by his peers it was amazing to see. We had some crazy adventures together and a brotherhood was formed.  

{Update: I am adding this paragraph as the news just broke publicly and my social feeds are flooded with Keith Owen tributes. Like hundreds upon hundreds and they keep coming.  He really did reach a massive section of the BJJ community}

A week after this seminar in 2012, November, I received a call from my sister telling me that my dad had passed away suddenly of a heart attack.  My world was upended in an instant. My father had been golfing with his best friend of 50 plus years when he had made the best gold shot of his life. Then, he collapsed and was gone. Keith was there for me in a way seldom few are. Keith became in some ways a father figure to me even though we are only 4 years apart. His kind and reassuring words and constant check ins helped me navigate the worse period of my life.   Four months later, I tested for my brown belt and dedicated my test to my dad. I can recall Keith, in his usual fashion, giving a great speech during that test. His encouragement was constant and NEVER wavered. 

He would also take the time to message everyone back you reached out to him. We spent hours talking about Jiu Jitsu and the many personalities that inhabit it. 

MY LAST AUDIO INTERVIEW WITH KEITH:

My Last podcast Interview with Keith Owen. We had literally just finished a 7 hour conversation about jiu jitsu and said "we need to record this." 

Part 1

Part 2

 I can recall many times asking Keith about his journey in Jiu Jitsu and asking his advice on how to navigate the 'tough times'.  If you pause and shut your eyes, you can hear Keith say "don't quit. Come back to the mats. Jiu Jitsu will give you so much. There will be lots of hard days but get off the couch, put down the remote and just come to class. THAT is my wish for everybody."

He always amazed me on his answers and sage advice. In fact, it became customary every time he visited, that he would open with a speech. We used to literally sit down the night before a seminar and he would ask "Ari, what do you want me to talk about tomorrow?" Sometimes I would offer suggestions, based on what I thought my students needed to hear. Other times, it was spontaneous and often incredible. 

I recorded these and placed them up on the Submissions 101 you tube channel as I thought they would have merit for others. Little did I know that the videos would garner tens of thousands of views over time. Keith had a way with words and influenced so many people .      

As time went on, Keith and I spoke more and visited more. I was struck by his intense loyalty to Pedro Sauer and Keith's convictions to what he believed in. Keith would often say that he was "just a cheap copy of Pedro Sauer and his Jiu Jitsu". What I learned over time was that Keith was in fact not a cheap copy at all, but a man who was masterful in his own right. He ALWAYS put Professor Sauer first and never took credit for anything "I owe everything to the Professor" Keith would often say.  

I was very lucky to have been introduced to Pedro Sauer by Keith and had many opportunities to travel and train with him as well. What I found out was Pedro Sauer was who Keith would call "the worlds most interesting man. The Motzart of Jiu Jitsu." He wasn't wrong. Pedro Sauer, Keith and I had many hours of conversations, especially in the early days. I heard stories that were utterly crazy. Keith, Pedro and I (along with others) raced go karts against one another, went white water rafting and zip lined 70 feet above the forest floor. We had some epic adventures. One of the best experiences is when I invited Master Sauer to Victoria for a seminar. It was the largest one ever held here and it was incredible.   

I am blessed to have met Pedro Sauer through Keith....truly.  

 In 2016, I received my black belt from Keith Owen. My journey was not easy but Mr. Keith was there in my corner every step of the way offering encouragement and advice when needed. I, along with Dan (whom was my first student when I started teaching in 2003) and my other student and friend Geoff, had Keith wrap those belts around our waists. I am a Keith Owen black belt and could not be more proud. I am part of a small group of men who can say that.      

I am thinking of his other black belts, in particular Matt, Tren, Josh, Dustin, Dylan and Todd. I know they are hurting just as much as I am.     

It wasn't all Jiu Jitsu. As the years past, we became steadfast friends. His love for Superheroes, guns, freedom and Bigfoot would take up hours of time together. He was fascinated by cryptozoology and we would debate forever on the topic. In the middle of a rather animated conversation once, he looked at me and said “Ari, do you want to know how big Bigfoot really is?”  I of course said “yes!”  Without skipping a beat, he jumped off the couch and stood on one of my chairs and said “THIS BIG!” And then said “ this is what they sound like!” That’s when he started going “ wooooooop…wooooooop” while standing on the chair in the middle of my living room.  I never laughed so hard in my life. 

Keith also said that he went looking with James Foster once and had a very odd encounter when camping. He  said Matt Owen was there.

He was full of life and had a fantastic sense of humor.  I have hours of video of Keith that I took over the last 14 years. I find some comfort knowing this. I found that his Jiu Jitsu was really peaking in the last couple of years. He was a 4th degree black belt under Master Pedro Sauer and a General in that association. He never needed the credit and loved Jiu Jitsu fiercely. He always gave props to those around him and he always told me his legacy was to pass on Jiu Jitsu to those who could use do it into their 70s and 80s.   

And he was a very proud American. He made that known and never apologized for it.

In June 2019, I was honored to have Keith help teach at the inaugural Invictus Law Enforcement Jiu Jitsu Collective mega seminar in Houston.   As a former Sheriff and the primary use of Force instructor for the Idaho Police Academy for several years, he was a welcomed guest at the event.

I always picked up small details that I had never seen before when he taught.  I remember when I was a fresh brown belt , I once I told Keith "Hey, when you teach today, can you show something fancy? Not like a mount escape but something else." So Keith says "no problem". Moments later, he gets up in front of 80 people and says "I am going to teach the Upa mount escape."  He looked at me and winked.

What happened next was Keith showing details about the escape that I had never seen before. I was not only blown away by it but it taught me a valuable teaching lesson. Always look deeper into techniques. Keith always said that he wasn't the greatest grappler in the world but strived to be one of the best TEACHERS of the art. I know those who attended his seminars knew how good he really was.

VIDEO>>> A LIFE TIME of Jiu Jitsu.

Of all the pictures I have, this one really sums up Keith's personality. He REALLY wasn't bothered by much. His sense of humor was appreciated by all.

I can tell you with absolute certainty that Keith would want a few things from us moving forward.

• to continue to be open minded and train smart so we can do this into our 80s
• Which is better: Gi or Nogi? His answer "Yes"
• Honor what you have learned. Be a good person.Help others.
• If you quit jiu jitsu, come back. It will reward you. 
• Don't take shit from people. Know your worth  and don't let other's set the value.
• "Drop down and geeetttt back up." (if you have done Keith's blue belt test, you know exactly that this means!)
• What is YOUR legacy going to be? Get to work at it. Fast Start  Mondays!
• God Bless America.
• When life give's you lemons, just give it the middle finger.
• Bigfoot has never proven to exist. ;-)

And to quote from one of his favorite movies Gladiator….”Honor Him”. 

Ari Knazan

Keith Owen Black Belt

February 15 2022