Although Paul Walker was best known for his role in the Fast and Furious series, less is typically known about his love of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. During his career, he’d also train BJJ when he could and learned under Ricardo Miller.
Over the years, Ricardo Miller has commented his status as one of the best teachers in the game, having notable students such as Jeff Glover and Bill Cooper under his roster. He taught the pair at his Paragon BJJ gym, which is where he also taught Paul Walker.
Whilst alive, Paul Walker earned the rank of brown belt under Miller which took years of training to achieve. This meant in terms of time spent, he was close to black belt anyway and may have already been there in terms of skill. Sadly, Walker never got his black belt whilst living.
After his death, his teacher Ricardo Miller gave a posthumous black belt to Walker’s father. According to Miller, Walker had been training close to 10 years anyway, so at this point he would have been very close to getting his black belt. Walker’s father was given the best and kept it, apparently proud of his son’s achievement.
This is yet another example of how BJJ can create something wonderful that money can’t buy. Interestingly, Freddy Prinze Jr also credits BJJ for creating his friendship with the late Hollywood star.
