David Lang--Wallid Ismail BJJ BB?

[DuckofDeath]

Someone on the NHBGear board PM'd me about a David Lang of Lang MMA in Ithaca, New York, who claimed to be a black belt in BJJ under Wallid Ismail:

http://www.langmma.com/aboutus.htm

David Lang

Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Under Wallid Ismail and Black Belt in Judo Jiu Jitsu Under Gilbert Pouillart . 8-1 in mma fights, 78-1 in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competition and 8-0 tai kick boxing.

I started a thread on NHBGear asking if anyone was aware of any American black belts under Wallid Ismail, and no one could come up with a single one. For those who might not be familiar with Wallid Ismail, he's a BJJ BB under Carlson Gracie, Sr., and he is probably best known for his spectacular chokeout of Royce Gracie. I learned that Wallid Ismail was busy in Brazil with his "Jungle Fight" promotions, and I PM'd the MySpace for that organization directing the message to Mr. Ismail asking if he had a black belt under him named David Lang; so far no response.

David Lang also lists himself as a black belt in "Judo Jiu Jitsu" under Gilbert Pouillart, and the only reference I could find for a Gilbert Pouillart having anything to do with Judo was for the author of a beginner's Judo book. I had actually seen the book before, and if I remember correctly, it stated that the author lived in France. I had someone check for me on a Judo forum for contact information on Gilbert Pouillart but none was to be found.

Finally, David Lang makes a couple of references to a BJJ BB in Brazil named Rafael Lang, wishing him well in a competition and posting a link to a Rio BJJ Camp hosted by Rafael Lang. I sent an email to Rafael Lang asking if he had a relative named David Lang teaching BJJ in the US but have so far received no response.

I find it interesting that those who could vouch for David Lang are out of country and either do not have accessible contact information or are not particularly disposed to answering email from those they don't know.

[DKJr]

http://www.ibjjf.org/listapan2009cat.pdf

Only listing I could find as far as competitors for David Lang, or any listing attached to bjj for him. Very strange for a bjj black belt to have no internet foot print.


Rafael Lang however has a large foot print and is real. Couldn't find a connection between the two. Here is Rafael's fbook.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000523973009


Here is David Lang's.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000580818061


They are facebook friends if that counts?

[Team Python]

Well that is weird considering Wallid has never had a school in the U.S. Maybe he lived in Brazil and trained with Wallid there. A lot of Americans are moving to Brazil to train.

[DuckofDeath]

Rafael Lang however has a large foot print and is real. Couldn't find a connection between the two.

Perhaps the only real connection is the coincidence of the same last name, which David Lang is attempting to exploit for his benefit.

[DuckofDeath]

Well that is weird considering Wallid has never had a school in the U.S. Maybe he lived in Brazil and trained with Wallid there. A lot of Americans are moving to Brazil to train.

But even if David Lang got a BJJ BB in Brazil under someone like Wallid Ismail, you'd think there would have been some fanfare about it somewhere along the way and that David Lang would have some reputation for being an American black belt under Wallid Ismail. By the way, here's a video of Royce Gracie being choked out by Wallid:

YouTube - Royce Gracie Wallid Ismail

You'd think that anyone who was a BJJ BB under Wallid Ismail would be fairly well known in BJJ circles--and yet the only reference to David Lang being a BJJ BB under Wallid Ismail is David Lang's statement of such on his own website.

[Brazzzuka]

I checked the website and i saw that the other instructor has a Wrestling record of 1397-83... Wow that's a lot of wrestling fights. I'm wondering if he counted pushing people at the mall as a wrestling match .......

[NoTeefa]

We feature over a 1000 sq ft of grappling mats along with world class instruction from a Real Black Belt. Certified United States Judo Jiu Jitsu and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation Lifetime member.

the USBJJF website does not have him listed as a blackbelt
https://www.usbjjf.org/diplomados-ordem-atleta.htm
maybe the promotion is super recent??

[JBliss]

the pictures of him on his Fb are of amateur MMA competition, indicated by the use of shinpads, for the New Breed promotion. For what it's worth.

[Uncle Skippy]

the USBJJF website does not have him listed as a blackbelt
https://www.usbjjf.org/diplomados-ordem-atleta.htm
maybe the promotion is super recent??

The way it is phrased on the page:

Certified United States Judo Jiu Jitsu and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation Lifetime member.

It implies that the school itself is a member of the "Federation." The IBJJF/USBJJF does have a "Registered Academies" list:

http://www.usbjjf.org/official.htm

But Lang MMA is not listed.

My guess though is that he isn't claiming association with the IBJJF/USBJJF but rather one of the smaller organizing bodies. The inclusion of 'judo' and 'jiu jitsu' in the title leads me to think this even further.

For example, some searching turned up the following organizing body:

http://www.usjjf.org/

which does have a "Lifetime Memberships":

http://www.usjjf.org/programs/life_members.html

My guess is that the Certification comes from an organization LIKE this one (but not necessarily this one; it is an example).

[Necroyunus]

http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Wallid-Ismail-154

same guy?