Wanki Chae was born in Pocheon, South Korea. He has been training since age 16 and is now 33, which means he has 17 years of training under his belt. His introduction into BJJ came from learning Aikido, his Aikido teacher then learned BJJ from elsewhere and passed it on to himself.
Now a black belt, he lives in Goyang city, 10 miles northwest of Seoul. As he puts it, “The city is teeming with youth, passion, energy and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu”. In Goyang, Wanki Chae is the owner and head instructor of The Beast Gym. He was the youngest ever Korean to receive a black belt at age 27 under John Frankl, a fourth-degree black belt and the first person to ever start teaching BJJ in South Korea.
His Beast Gym is nicknamed after his moniker, as Wanki Chae is referred to as “The Beast” due to his relentless style and tenacity whilst training. He likes to teach this style to his students and has high demands of his pupils, claiming “Be a beast on the mat and leave everything on the mat”. Whilst still competing, The Beast Gym also has the likes of Sehoon Jin and Jacob Kim as teachers which has led to it cementing its reputation as one of the best BJJ gyms in South Korea for both hobbyists and full-time competitors.
This mentality can be further seen when he talks about why people quit in BJJ and the mental resilience needed to stay on the right path, he adds “South Korea has rapidly become a BJJ hub within the Asian circuit. Nowadays, I see a lot of blue belts quitting. They tend to see the blue belt as a goal rather than a process of becoming a black belt. During my time as a blue belt, I never lost focus and never quit. Maybe [BJJ is popular here] because South Koreans overall are interested in self-defense.”.
He also claims the future is bright for South Korean Jiu Jitsu which is growing at a rapid pace, stating “I think it varies with each individual. Generalizing it would be wrong, but I believe that anyone who has trained BJJ or MMA long enough, male or female, has a strong mentality and a never-die-spirit. It is true that compared to the USA and Europe, BJJ is relatively new. But who knows? Maybe in a few years’ time, South Korea might produce its first world champion. Never say never in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu!”
In terms of positions, his favourite guards are De La Riva and Worm guard, which he frequently uses to sweep opponents. From here, he enjoys using the knee slice to pass the guard and take the back. This leads to his favourite submission which is the Read Naked Choke, his most common attack. According to Wanki Chae, his game is mostly influenced by Rafa Mendes – which generally matches his weight and guard style.
Whilst competing he weighs in at light featherweight (under 64KG) and says “My biggest achievement so far is when I got second place at the UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Pro in 2018, losing to Joao Miyao in the finals.” This is alongside countless medals at various international competitions. Another example of his quality could be seen in 2017 where he lost by a single advantage to the legendary Cobrinha, who Wanki Chae lists as his hardest ever opponent.
However, his success has come at a price as he also mentions a list of injuries, stating “I have been suffering chronic spinal pains for more than 10 years since I was a purple belt”.
Wanki Chae isn’t done yet however, and sets his sights on becoming a future world Champion. With his team and previous accomplishments behind him – this may very well turn into a reality in the next few years.
