Jake Mackenzie is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu athlete from Truro, Nova Scotia in Canada. He began BJJ aged 12 after his father encouraged him to start training for self-defense reasons. Since then, Mackenzie earned his black belt at age 24 from Cyborg Abreu. He is known for his competing under the GFTEAM Rio De Janeiro and is currently coached by Julio Cesar Pereira. However, he lists Eduardo Telles, Roger Gracie and Bernando Pitel as his biggest influences.
We asked Mackenzie about his favorite positions when training – he said “When on bottom it’s half guard and on top I like pressure passing and cross grip passing.” He also likes using the Pitel sweep and Jedi mind trick back take from reverse half guard. When submitting, his favorite technique is the Ezekiel choke from the back.
Throughout the years, Mackenzie has been known for his love of competition and typically competes at below the 77KG mark. To date, he marks finishing in 2nd place at the 2018 Abu Dhabi World Pro adult 77kg division and 2018 IBJJF Master 1 Lightweight World Champion. He also adds Lucas Lepri and Leandro Lo as his toughest opponents and says his future plans include “Competing to the best very best of my ability for as long as I can all over the world.”
Q&A
You’ve trained and competed in Brazil a lot. How different is this compared to the US and Canada? It seems more intense there with the crowds and training etc. Secondly, have you ever been on the end of a ‘Brazilian decision’ or is that a myth?
“I believe the training in Brazil compared to the rest of the world is very similar now. But for a long period of time, Brazil was way ahead. I believe that the training in hot spots like Rio, São Paulo and Manaus has a higher number of high level competitors and high level gyms because they have had jiujitsu much longer than other parts of the world. This helps because you see a much broader spectrum of all different types of games. Places like California have rooms stacked with some of the best guys in the world but I believe there is a higher number of academies in Brazil with these types of training rooms, but the gap is shortening every year. The United States and Europe especially have really been closing this gap more and more. In terms of the competition atmosphere, the energy is something that every jiujitsu competitor should experience. The tradition and passion that you see in Brazil is like nowhere I have ever seen before, I strongly encourage anyone who has the chance to experience this first hand to experience this at one of the major comps in Brazil.
For the question about the ‘Brazilian decision’, I have experienced this earlier on in my career but I believe it is happening less and less. I think federations like AJP are making a strong push to make jiujitsu as global as possible and I think you are going to see more and more refs from all over the world reffing at the biggest events.”
You got your black belt from Cyborg. Do you think it’s a coincidence that you’re both still competing a lot? A lot of guys from that era are done with competing but your bodies still keep going.
“Cyborg is a huge inspiration to me, he has produced some amazing results into his late thirties. I think training hard all year round helps the body stay in shape and helps it adapt to make it possible to compete at high level into your mid and late thirties. I also think training with the right people has a huge impact on this. I honestly won’t train with someone that I feel is dangerous to roll with and I try to listen to my body during training. I am very selective of who I train with and I think has helped me over the years technically and kept my body healthy.”
Do you think deep half or even general half is under-rated these days? It seems a little overlooked at times but has been proven to be highly effective
“I definitely think half guard is being overlooked in modern competition jiujitsu these days, I see lots of high level competitors that have holes in their half guard passing and in approaching the half guard from the bottom as well. The problem is we only have a certain amount of time to invest into each day of training and there are very few half guard specialists on the circuit these days. I really feel like the very best guys who have a deep understanding of jiujitsu in general are the guys that have been through a couple generations of competing at the highest level because they have seen trends come and go.”
Do you prefer teaching to competing and what do you think makes a good teacher compared to a good competitor?
“I honestly prefer competing but really enjoy teaching as well. I think two main qualities that are crucial for competing and teaching are constantly studying and acquiring new information and understanding each position as much as possible, and making sure to be as present as possible in each training session.”
You can find out more information on Jakes on his Youtube channel as well as his deep half specialist instructional video.
