09/13/2026
Today, I had the honor of promoting Doug Miller to purple belt.
Doug is the gym manager by day, coach by night, competitor on the weekends, and then wakes up and does it all over again.
He helps run our kids program. He coaches MMA, adult fundamentals, wrestling, and takes over regular classes when work pulls me away. And somehow, between all of that, he finds time to compete nearly every month — IBJJF, Grappling Industries, super fights and anything else he can get his hands on.
The progression through jiu jitsu is about more than learning more techniques. You start by learning how to defend yourself and building a foundation. Eventually, you take what you’ve learned and make it your own — developing a game, testing it, finding its weaknesses, making adjustments, and sharing what you’ve learned with the people around you.
That’s been Doug’s blue belt journey.
Now, as a purple belt, the expectation changes again. It’s about building on that game, understanding positions at a higher level, and becoming an even greater resource for the people coming up behind you.
Today, Doug demonstrated exactly that by teaching a half butterfly sweep with an overhook when his knee shield gets smashed. It’s a simple, effective technique that became a staple of his game at blue belt — something he’s tested, refined, and can now pass on to others.
We’ll continue that tradition with future purple belt promotions: share something from your game with the room that helped get you there.
Doug started his jiu jitsu journey at OJJ, and today became our first homegrown purple belt. That’s an incredible milestone for him and for this gym.
Congrats, Doug. You earned every bit of it.
Thank you for everything you do for me and for all of us at OJJ.
