# John Frankl

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## Overview

**Name:** John Frankl

**Date of Birth:** April 29, 1967 (age 59)


## Bio

Rickson Gracie blue belt and Roberto Maia black belt, John Frankl took an unusually long road to BJJ, starting with Kuk Sool Won in San Francisco under Byung-in Lee before a 1989 visit to Hawaii convinced him grappling had gaps—a test against Relson Gracie student Glenn Uesugi proved it. After buying the early Gracie tapes and running a garage group in Seoul, he joined Rickson’s academy at the Inosanto Academy in 1994, then moved to Boston to train under Maia, earning his black belt in 2002. Frankl opened his first gym in 1999 as a brown belt, initially to secure training partners for his doctoral research, and later affiliated with Straight Blast Gym before relocating to Korea in 2004, where he built multiple academies.

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**Last Updated:** September 24, 2026

**Data Source:** bjj.space (https://bjj.space/people/john-frankl)