Karel Pravec - Founder Of Silver Fox BJJ

Karel Pravec was born in Czechoslovakia and is a 4th-degree black belt under Renzo Gracie. Pravec is known as the hand behind creating accomplished fighters such as 2009 ADCC Runner-up Jerry Rinaldi, EBI 12 champion Erin Blanchfield, mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters Sergio DeBari, Frank Roberts, Enrique Galarza & Juan Galarza, and many others. He is also known as Silver Fox. Pravec is also the author of “Fluid BJJ” which helps in training BJJ. He is named as one of the top BJJ instructors in New Jersey who owned multiple schools.

Karel Pravec is also known as Silver Fox, a nickname given to him by his fellow in Renzo's academy. He starts mocking Pravec as he has grey hair and used to vanquish him in the game so he calls him “Silver Fox” to make fun of him and the name simply stuck with Karel Pravec fo

Born in Zlin the city of Czechoslovakia, in 1963. Karel Pravec spent his childhood in Prague the capital of the country.

Pravec left the country when he was 17 and moved to the United States, as his father raised his voice against the government ruling at that time because of this, in 1980 he was forced to leave his homeland along with his family which included Pravec.

After landing in America Pravec spent some time completing his college, and after spending 3 years in college, he went to Columbia University to get his MBA done.

In 1986, after getting his dark belt under the World TKD League, while studying for an MBA he began preparing in Taekwondo from Expert Byung Sung Cha and continued onward to earn his third college education.

Pravec was so curious to learn about BJJ that in 1991 he decided to take a seminar on BJJ by Helio Gracie, Rorion Gracie, and Rickson Gracie, along with their other family members.

His curiosity remained the same for the next two years, as at the time there was no BJJ institute in New York, until 1993, when the first American Black Belt, Craig Kukuk, moved to America and opened his own BJJ teaching academy.

Pravec, who was already fascinated with Gracie’s sports techniques, instantly signed up as the first student for Craig’s academy.

In 1994, Craig decided to make an instructional video series by doing a partnership with Renzo Gracie. This partnership led the Gracie family to open their gym in New York.

In the beginning, Karel Pravec was learning Jiu-Jistu just to make his grappling considerable.

But on the teachings of Renzo, he made TKD primarily and started practicing Jiu-Jitsu solely. Pravec was working for an established company in that period, so he split his working and practicing time.

He used to practice in the early hours before he went to work, in his basement. In his spare time, he also started practicing a progression of solo penetrates in the pool. This further led him to develop the training method in underwater “Fluid BJJ”, on which he wrote a book to help the new practitioners.

After twelve years of training, In July 2006, under Renzo Gracie, Karel Pravec acquired his black belt. Simultaneously, at the same time he was teaching a few people in his garage.

At the age of 42, Karel Pravec decided to compete in professional tournaments. He earned a lot of fame in the world of BJJ. He also competed in adulthood with much younger players. Pravec, with his efforts, soon entered the World Championship. In 2007, he also earned a gold medal in the NAGA World Championship and the IBJJF European Open.

In 2010, Karael took his retirement from BJJ as a fighter as his demand started accumulating steadily, furthermore, he chose to commit himself as a teacher, by completely focusing on his students and academy.

After being promoted to black belt the requests to open his gym started frequently. In September 2006 Karel Pravec opened Silver Fox BJJ, an affiliate of Renzo’s Fight Team.

Karel Pravec as an instructor is so patient and calm, that he never rushes while training. He teaches every technique thoroughly. He is very dedicated to his students and helps them in improving their skills. He keeps the environment of his class very positive so that it will help the kids to learn more efficiently.

Photo Credit: @silverfoxbjj