Who I am and what I'm trying to do

Advance the sport of
jiu jitsu through education and intelligent
​discussion
The goal is simple - foster discussion about the sport of grappling with a focus on rules and officiating.  Educate coaches, spectators, and especially competitors on the intricacies in the current rules of various tournament organizations as well as the requirements, skills, and insight into the job of a grappling official.


​Provide a resource for  referees
The grappling community is small, and the referee community is just a tiny subset of it.  Some of the best information comes from peers and mentors, and there are simply not a lot of resources that offer referees a chance to knowledge share.




​Encourage the next generation

The sport is exploding with new and exciting tournament organizations that need quality officiating, and that demand must be met.  And while old, salty veterans of the sport are great to have, officiating has a shorter lifespan than jiu jitsu does for most referees.  As current experienced referees move on and hang up their wristbands, it's important that an honest understanding of the role is explained, and the future generations can be encouraged to carry the officiating torch.
                                       'Silverfox' 
Silverfox was awarded his black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in June 2012 and has been training for more than 19 years.   His martial arts background includes a black belt in Tae Kwon Do he received in 1993. His BJJ journey began at Gracie Thornwood, NY in 1999 after he took a seminar with Royce Gracie and became hooked on the art.

In addition to training and instructing, Silverfox has focused the last ten years on officiating grappling competitions and has officiated more than 4,500 gi and no-gi matches at over 89 events for multiple organizations. He's written articles on officiating for Jiu Jitsu Magazine as well as other online grappling sources. He was a previous head referee at Grapplers Quest, Tap Cancer Out, Rickson Gracie Cup, FIVE Grappling, UAEJJF New York Open, Copa NoVA, Rollmore SuperComp tournaments, and routinely officiates events in North America.

                                               Jiu Jitsu Lineage:    Helio Gracie > Relson Gracie > Phil Migliarese III > Steve Kardian > Silverfox   

    

I’ve reffed over 4500 matches of gi and no-gi, kids and adults, white to black belt; I’ve reffed point systems, sub-only, and scoring systems in between; I’ve reffed 10 second flying submissions and 20 minute wars; I’ve revived unconscious competitors; I’ve disqualified competitors for illegal slams and unsportsmanlike conduct; I’ve called over EMTs for broken bones and torn joints; I’ve seen grapplers knock themselves out; I’ve stopped matches because of convulsions and seizures; I’ve decided winners in the closest of matches; I’ve reffed matches on PPV and those with big prize money.  Feel free to disagree with my opinions, but please don’t tell me that mine isn’t valid.
My Event Resume
​