Ray Stevens: Olympic Judo Throws for BJJ
When we first shared this clip of Ray Stevens walking through a handful of his favourite throws, the standup phase in BJJ was — politely put — undercooked. The average academy spent its warm-ups…
Words: Jiu Jitsu Style
When we first shared this clip of Ray Stevens walking through a handful of his favourite throws, the standup phase in BJJ was — politely put — undercooked. The average academy spent its warm-ups on shrimping and its open mats on guard work, and "stand-up" usually meant the eight seconds between the slap-bump and somebody dropping to half-guard. Ray, an Olympic silver medallist in judo and a black belt in Jiu Jitsu under Roger Gracie, had been quietly reminding the Roger Gracie Academy in London of the obvious for years: every match starts on the feet, and you might as well be good at it.
For anyone meeting him for the first time, Stevens is one of those rare athletes who has competed at the very top of two different grappling sports. Silver at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in judo. Black belt under Roger Gracie — the most decorated gi competitor of his era — on the BJJ side. The combination is what makes the video worth re-watching now. He isn't a judoka dabbling in jiu-jitsu, and he isn't a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu coach borrowing a few throws off YouTube. He's spent decades in both rooms, and the throws he picked for this clip were the ones that survive contact with a Jiu Jitsu opponent who is happy to drop into guard the moment you commit to a takedown.
The throws he chose, and why
Watch the clip back in 2026 and the choices read like a curriculum. Nothing flashy, nothing that requires a lifetime in a judo dojo to pull off. Ray was teaching the throws that finish in a top position a BJJ player already knows how to use — the ones that don't strand you in a scramble or a turtle when your opponent sits to guard. Cross-grip entries, short steps, a finishing position that lands you in side-control or knee-on-belly rather than ankle-deep in a leg entanglement. The standup details are pure judo. The framing — "what happens after the throw" — is pure jiu-jitsu. That's the bit a kid in a gi school in 2014 couldn't get from a judo black belt who didn't grapple, or from a BJJ coach who didn't throw.
What the sport did with it
Twelve years on, the case Stevens was making has more or less won. ADCC's evolving ruleset has put a real cost on a lazy guard pull. The IBJJF's standup penalties have done the same on the gi side. The result is a generation of players you'd struggle to imagine pulling guard in a final — Felipe Pena and Roberto Jimenez carrying a real takedown game into the open weight bracket, Nicholas Meregali setting up uchi-mata-style entries off the cross-grip, Ffion Davies bringing a serious judo background into the women's lightweight division at the very top. The Ruotolo brothers have been opening matches on their feet for years. Travis Stevens, retired from competition, now spends his time teaching judo to Jiu Jitsu rooms full-time. The cross-pollination Ray was nudging the Roger Gracie Academy toward in 2014 is simply the default in 2026.
The takeaway hasn't changed
For the rest of us, the lesson Stevens has been quietly making for forty years stands. You don't need to become a judoka to use judo. You need a small handful of throws that fit your body, a grip game that doesn't crumble the first time someone fights for the lapel, and the patience to drill the entry until it costs you nothing to commit. Pick two throws and live in them for a year. Find a judo room one night a week if there's one in your town. Watch the clip with a notebook and steal the bits that fit your game. The first phase of every BJJ match is either something that happens to you or something you do — and twelve years on, that part really hasn't moved.
See you on the mats.
Originally published in Jiu Jitsu Style, 10 November 2014. Refreshed for 2026.