Joel Gingery

Joel Gingery was one of the top competitors in jiu-jitsu’s Masters Division during the 2010 decade when he conquered numerous tournaments of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF), after an illustrious career in judo. In BJJ, Gingery beat legends of the sport such as Júlio César Pereira, Egan Inoue, ‘Megaton’ Dias, or Nelson Monteiro.

Joel Gingery Jiu Jitsu

Full Name: Joel T. Gingery

Nickname: N/A

Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Carlson Gracie > Murilo Bustamante > Adriano Pereira > Joel Gingery

Main Achievements:

• 1st Place IBJJF World Masters Championship (2014/2015/2016/2017 Master 4)
• 1st Place IBJJF World No-Gi Championship (2014/2015 Master 4)
• 1st Place IBJJF Pan American Championship (2012 Master 4)
• 2nd Place IBJJF World Masters Championship (2012 Master 4)
• 2nd Place IBJJF World No-Gi Championship (2016 Master 4)

Favorite Position/Technique: North-South Choke & Miragaia Position

Weight Division: Peso Médio (82,30 kg /181.5 lbs)

Team/Association: N/A

Joel Gingery Biography

Joel Gingery was born on August 18, 1965 in Long Beach California; growing up in Millington Tn. – United States of America.

Gingery became a successful judo player during his teens, a sport in which he competed from the age of 8 up until his 21st birthday. He spent the following 5 years at the service of Team One of the Navy SEAL’s, returning to martial arts in 1995 on time for a return to high-level judo while making the elite roster weight US team during his mid-thirties – a tremendous deed at the upper echelon of a highly competitive sport.

In 2001 Joel saw judo and BJJ black belt Dave Camarillo competing at a judo national tournament. Camarillo was using jiu-jitsu to defeat his opponents and Gingery saw plenty of merit in this style of groundwork. Soon after this tournament, Gingery joined a jiu-jitsu class to improve his newaza, taught by David Ferguson and Mike Pyle in Memphis Tennessee.

The interest in BJJ continued to grow, taking over Joel’s training schedule. This newfound love for the ground led him to drop judo altogether as he attended seminars and traveled as much as he could to get the best jiu-jitsu instruction he could find. Gingery’s initial gradings occurred at workshops led by Renzo Gracie (blue belt) and Royce Gracie (purple belt) before linking with the Brazilian Top Team Academy (BTT).

As a purple belt Joel started coaching BJJ at his gym, later (2003) Gingery joined forces with David Ferguson to form a united martial arts academy.

At BTT Gingery was coached by Adriano Lúcio and Adriano ‘Nasal’ Pereira, who promoted Joel to his following belts, the black belt grading occurring in May 2008 (handed by Nasal). The partnership between Gingery and Pereira came to a halt in 2009 when the Brazilian moved to Southern California. Being a big fan of Marcelo Garcia and his coaching methodology, Gingery pursued an affiliation with Marcelo that same year.

JOEL GINGERY IMPRISONMENT

In August 2022, Joel Gingery was arrested by Ormond Beach Police and booked into jail on charges of false imprisonment and sexual battery, as reported by Fox News Orlando (check article here). The incident took place at the Volusia County Hospital where he worked as a nurse anesthetist and where he was said to have trapped a woman in one of the hospital’s on-call rooms, where he then sexually assaulted her. The person was later confirmed as being an 18-year-old student of Mr. Gingery at his jiu-jitsu academy.

Gingery testified that he and the teen had consensual sex but was found guilty of two counts of sexual battery after a jury deliberated for about two-and-a-half hours. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Blackburn sentenced Gingery to 20 years in prison (sentence report here).