Pictured: Ivan Salaverry (left) looks on as Eddie Bravo instructs at a seminar at Salaverry’s academy in Seattle.

It’s impossible to miss the passion Eddie Bravo brings to training students in his unique system of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

He exitedly yells to students at today’s seminar at Ivan Salaverry’s academy in Seattle, alternating partners as they try their hands at Bravo’s take on the art. “Over to Mission Control! To New York!” goes one guard sequence which he has adapted. The students each would eventually walk off the mat all smiles at the seminar’s conclusion. Many would return moments later with one of the three jiu-jitsu instructional books that Bravo has authored, looking for an autograph. While always controversial, Bravo’s innovations has clearly won him many fans.

But what lurks beneath the surface is that Bravo’s real passion has nothing to do with his unique setups for triangle chokes and shoulder locks that have earned him his fame.

“My music is what really drives it,” the founder of “10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu” says. “The jiu-jitsu is what took off first. Now I’m trying to get into the music industry through the backdoor.”

Pictured: A “glamor shot” of Eddie Bravo

“It’s hard. I came to Hollywood to get into music. I got into jiu-jitsu to get in shape so I wouldn’t be a fat rock star. I started training at 24, but I’ve been producing music since I was ten.”

A passion developed in his jiu-jitsu training under legendary Jean Jacques Machado, who Bravo calls his “grandmaster.” It just never quite superceded his music.

Bravo’s jiu-jitsu competition culminated a win over Royler Gracie at Abu Dhabi World Submission Wrestling Championships in 2003. While then still a brown belt among black belts, Bravo stepped onto the mat confidently. “I looked at him and he looked so small,” he says of the man he describes as his “idol” in jiu-jitsu. “I seriously thought I’d run though him.” Bravo admits he later feel completely “shut down” throughout most of the bout, but he would finally defeat the legend with a triangle choke. As he put it, “I totally pulled that out of my ass.”

He describes continuing in the tournament as difficult mentally. “It was like winning the Super Bowl, then having to win again.”

Bravo failed to win the tournament, but he continued to apply his creativity to the “gentle art.” His “rubber guard” has been particularly influential, along with the setups for a wrestler’s guillotine which he calls the “Twister.” Now in demand as an instructor from everyone from Chuck Liddell to BJ Penn, Bravo sneaks music videos and performances into his instructional DVDs, and works in the studio when not running his academy in Hollywood.

“People don’t want to hear a ‘part time guy,’ especially an athlete, doing music,” he says, shaking his head. “They want someone skinny and miserable. Shaq didn’t make it. They like him in basketball, not on a rap album. Even going from acting to the music industry is hard. Come on. Kevin Bacon? He’s still not the radio.”

“I don’t know, I can’t blame people in a way,” he admits. “If (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion) Nino Schembri came up to me and tried to show me his rap album, I wouldn’t take him very seriously.”

“But he’s Elvis,” I offer, reminding Bravo of the nickname Schembri earned for both his prominent sideburns and his love for the rock icon. My joke fails to generate a smile.

As he struggles to increase visibility for his acts like Arc Ascending (who sound quite good in this video), Bravo enjoys continued success in his jiu-jitsu instruction. A network of academies across the US and Canada has already begun, with more to come. All espouse his training philosophy without the traditional uniform and in a style oriented to MMA fighting. Bravo disagrees with the many jiu-jitsu practicioners, including his old idol Royler Gracie, who feel that continued training in the uniform (or gi, as its known) is beneficial to MMA.

“Back in the day, you could only train with the gi, and at a fight, just get the guy’s back and choke. Now everyone knows some jiu-jitsu. You need something new.”

“I probably only have 1% of the Brazilian jiu-jitsu market. I want to turn that into more than half, with more people at least open to my style. That’s what I’m doing.” Back to music, Bravo mentions, “If you can sell your stuff to 1% of the US, that’s huge. That’s U2 numbers.”

Bravo the musician may never reach the audience that the Irish megagroup enjoys. But maybe he will. As his jiu-jitsu system continues to gain momentum, perhaps he could take a lesson from their classic 2000 album, “All That You Can’t Leave Behind.” It was clear that attendees of Bravo’s seminar today enjoyed a “Beautiful Day,” and I hope he too savors every moment of this happy accident of a career. As the song’s chorus goes, “don’t let it get away!”

Total-MMA would like to extend our gratitude to Ivan Salaverry for helping make this interview possible.