Shawn Williams Record, Net Worth, Weight, Age & More!

Posted by Fanatics Authors on January 25, 2019

Who Is Shawn Williams?

Shawn Williams is a 4th degree Black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under the famous Renzo Gracie. Shawn has over 30 years of experience in martial arts, and he is known as “The Encyclopedia Of Jiu Jitsu” for his detailed knowledge of BJJ. Shawn has also studied in Escrima, Karate and Shootbox. Shawn is famous for developing “The Williams Guard '' which is a unique style of guard that he utilises against opponents to stifle their striking attacks, whilst attacking armbars, triangles and omoplatas.

Who Is Shawn Williams?

The Complete Williams Guard by Shawn Williams can be yours with one click to BJJFanatics.com!

In 1996 Shawn moved to New York city after seeing Renzo Gracie compete in a Jiu Jitsu tournament. He fell in love with the dynamic and systematic approach that Renzo utilised so he started training directly under the Brazilian champion. After a couple years of training Shawn accidentally stumbled upon a high guard position that he would later make famous as the Williams Guard. As a Brown belt Shawn tested his position out in various tournaments including the ADCC Trials, Pan Americans and World Championships and only just missed out on a podium finish.

In 2002 Shawn Williams was awarded his Black belt by Renzo Gracie at the same time as his good friend John Daniher. Shawn became the fifth athlete ever to be awarded his black belt at the famous New York City Renzo Gracie Academy, he joined an illustrious group of athletes like;Ricardo Almeida, Rodrigo Gracie, Matt Serra and Nick Serra.

Over the next 8 years Shawn would compete on the world circuit, winning multiple championships at Grapplers Quest and the NAGA Grand Prix events. In 2003 Shawn placed third in the IBJJF Pan American Championships, and won the Ohio Pro Am Championship. In 2004 Shawn was a Regional Qualifier, and in 2008 he won a Bronze medal in the ADCC Qualifier. With the permission of Renzo Gracie, Shawn Williams started his own academy in Southern California called 5 Star Martial Arts. His gym quickly gained popularity and became one of the most successful academies in the United States.

In 2010 Shawn Williams was hired to be an assistant coach alongside his good friend John Daniher on the 12th season of The Ultimate Fighter. The coaches helped represent team GSP as they developed the up and coming UFC talent, the show resulted in team GSP taking out the series.

Shawn Williams is also known for his expert analytics and commentating for prestigious martial arts events. He has been heavily involved with;Abu Dhabi Combat Club World Championships, Abu Dhabi World Professional Championships, IBJJF World Championships, IBJJF Pan Championships and the Kasai Elite Grappling Championships. Shawn Williams was a part of the only US BJJ Team and is also the very proud host of the IBJJF Hall of Fame awards ceremonies.

The Essential Shin To Shin System by Shawn Williams is available now at BJJFanatics.com.

How Old Is Shawn Williams?

Shawn Williams was born in Bluffton Indiana on the 7th of April in 1975, he is currently 46 years of age.

Shawn Williams’ Family!

Growing up in Bluffton Indiana for Shawn Williams was full of action, as a 6 year old boy he loved sports. His parents encouraged him to play sports and be healthy and active, he enjoyed Baseball, Soccer, Hockey and he loved to swim most of all. Shawn was inspired by old martial arts movies that starred Bruce Lee, Jean Claude Van Damme, Chuck Norris and Rocky. When Shawn was 12 years old he started training at a Karate dojo in Indiana, Shawn learnt calmness, discipline and persistence that he used as an integral part of his journey through life. Shawn attended Hunter College where he studied exercise science to gain more knowledge of the human body. Shawn also wrestled in college and trained at world class boxing gyms in order to further his expertise of martial arts. After seeing Renzo Gracie compete at the World Combat Championship, Shawn found Renzo’s academy address, in the back of a blackbelt magazine. He saved his money and then moved to NYC to train alongside the Brazilian champion.

Shawn Williams had his son Atticus in 2017 with his wife Annie, they set down long term roots in Nashville, where they run Renzo Gracie Nashville.

How Much Is Shawn Williams Worth?

Shawn Williams has had an extremely successful career, he has achieved notoriety through their world famous gym 5 Star Martial Arts. After selling the gym Shawn moved to Nashville and set up a new successful academy that has become quite popular. Shawn has also acquired remuneration through working on the Spike tv series The Ultimate Fighter. Shawn has also increased his finances by commentating on many prestigious events and selling many online instructional series. Shawn has an estimated net worth of well over a million dollars and rapidly increasing due to his popularity amongst martial arts enthusiasts.

How Tall Is Shawn Williams?

Shawn Williams is 5 feet and 11 inches tall which is the equivalent to 180 centimetres.

How Much Does Shawn Williams Weigh?

Shawn Williams weighs in at 76 kilograms or (167 lbs) Shawn fights in the lightweight division.

Shawn Williams Fight List!

Shawn Williams has fought and trained many athletes in his career, from training in the gym with many beasts, to competing on the world stage. Guys like Diego Sanchez, Luiz de Souza, Nakapan Phungephorn and John Hasset. Shawn has also trained incredible athletes like;George St Pierre, Rodrigo Gracie, Matt Serra, Royce Gracie, Gordon Ryan and Frank Trigg.

Shawn Williams Best Fight Of All Time!

Shawn Williams has won a lot of Jiu Jitsu fights on the competition mats, from winning numerous NAGA titles and Grapplers Quest events to Pan American Bronze medals and the Ohio Pro Am Championship. One of his golden wins came at the 2005 World BJJ Championships when he went the distance and won the decision in a Gi fight with the highly accomplished Luiz de Souza.

Who Did Shawn Williams Lose To?

Shawn Williams is an expert technician on the Jiu Jitsu mats, he has lost many fights on his way to becoming a Black belt. Numerous times he fell short in the Pan Americans Championships, the World Championships and the ADCC trials as a coloured belt. Shawn did lose a close match in Grapplers Quest Welterweight Pro 4 against the UFC veteran Diego “The Nightmare” Sanchez.

Shawn Williams’ Record!

Shawn Williams has excited the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world with his ingenuity in developing expert techniques. His Williams guard has fast become one of the most decorated guards used in BJJ and MMA. Shawn has battle tested his guard against some really tough opponents at some world class events. Shawn has a list of accolades like;Black Belt rank achieved from Renzo Gracie (2002) Ohio Pro Am Champion (2004) Pan American Bronze medalist (2000 blue belt) Pan American Bronze medalist (2003 Black belt) ADCC Qualifier Bronze medalist (2003) FILA Regional Qualifier (2008) Shawn has also won a string of Grapplers Quest and NAGA Grand Prix events.

Achievements

Shawn Williams has had a very distinguished grappling career. Besides his numerous titles and accomplishments on the mats, Shawn is also one of the most sought after grappling coaches. Coming up through the ranks at Renzo Gracie’s with monsters of the sport such as Danaher, Matt Serra, and Ricardo Almeida help mold Williams into a very knowledgeable and technical grappler. Describing his time at Renzo’s he describe it as training like animals, but technical animals because Renzo always made sure the technique was there. Due to his vast knowledge of grappling Shawn has been asked to coach for many top MMA fighter’s camps, such as GSP, Rodrigo Gracie, Matt Serra, Royce Gracie, and Frank Trigg. He was also head grappling coach for team GSP on the 12th season of the Ultimate Fighter. He is also a top commentator for some of the largest grappling events in the world, including;ADCC World Championships, Abu Dhabi World Professional Championships, IBJJF World Championships, IBJJF Pans, and Kasai Elite Grappling Championships.

Some of Shawn’s accomplishments on the mats include:

Ohio Pro Am Champion (2004)
FILA Regional Qualifier (2008)
ADCC Qualifier Bronze Medallist (2003)
2x Pan American Bronze Medallist (2000 blue belt, 2003 black belt)
NAGA 8 Man Invitational Tournament Champion
Grapplers Quest Champion

Shawn Williams’ Injuries!

Shawn Williams has had several injuries that have hindered his career. When Shawn was asked in an interview if he had faced any challenges, his reply was “Yikes, more like a pothole filled, gravel road in which several bridges were out on the way to my destination” Shawn has had several broken bones as well as a few torn tendons. Throughout his career his injury setback has forced him to have 5 different surgeries, Shawn has always found a way to recover and rehab his conditions.

Shawn has also suffered from some mental injuries which are mainly stress and depression in relation to his businesses. Shawn built his first academy up to a quarter of a million dollars, only to have it taken away by his business partner due to incomplete paperwork. This caused significant stress for Shawn but he never gave up on his dream.

Is Shawn Williams Retired?

As a 46 year old Shawn Williams has retired from competitive Jiu Jitsu, he now resides to the fact that he will just be coaching other aspiring athletes. After his first failed business attempt Shawn headed back to University where he studied in business and finance at UCLA. After selling his second and extremely successful academy 5 Star Martial Arts in southern California, Shawn took the leap and moved with his wife and son to Nashville. After a short run of BJJ camps and seminars that Shawn conducted, he put down his roots. It is here just outside of Forest Hills in Nashville that Shawn Williams has opened a really successful academy “Renzo Gracie Nashville” Shawn has developed outreach programs in Nashville, and organises all kinds of charitable events including food, toy and clothing drives as well as self defense clinics. Shawn Williams is dedicated to the development of young athletes and the preservation of the art of Jiu Jitsu.

Williams Guard

Shawn Williams actually discovered the Williams guard quite by accident after a chance visit by fellow guard innovator Nino Schembri. Nino visited Renzo’s near the end of 1998 and was using his early version of Rubber Guard, Shawn saw this and began to play with it himself. During a MMA training camp for Rodrigo Gracie, Shawn found opponents were slipping out of his guard pretty easily. During this, totally by accident, he laced his arm through his leg as he was attempting the Nino Rubber Guard and Bam, the Shawn Williams Guard was born. Shawn continued to work on this new guard and improve the position and attacks from it until it became the powerhouse of a guard system it is today.

The Williams Guard is a very powerful guard position similar to the Rubber Guard. But unlike the Rubber Guard, the Williams Guard uses angles instead of flexibility to break your opponent down. The guard is a tight clinching type of closed guard where you over hook your opponent’s arm angle your hips out and lace your overhook arm through your own leg.

Once in this position your opponent’s posture is kept down by rotating your hands and knee toward the mat, putting tremendous pressure on their shoulder making it very difficult for them to posture back up regardless of size. This position does however take away some of your hip mobility negating your ability to sweep or take the back. It makes up for this with its amazing posture and positional control and the numerous submission attacks available from here. The Williams Guard is ideal for Mixed Martial Arts because of how easily it makes defending strikes from your opponent. Once you are able to angle out and break their posture down they are unable to land any significant strikes on you. Also due to the control it offers you, you could just stall and force a stand up, or there are countless submissions to attack from the Williams Guard. One of their arms is completely isolated from their body making elbow and shoulder locks incredibly easy. The Omoplata and many variations of the Triangle choke are redily available too. There are so many options to work for off of the Williams Guard and you can always use it as a transition to other kinds of guards. A very interesting and detailed write up on the Williams guard can be found here: https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/the-williams-guard-a-compendium-gif-image-heavy-long-post.2650585/

Instruction

Shawn Williams’ 3 DVD set on his Williams Guard is phenomenal instructional that will help elevate your guard game with a detailed breakdown on the guard that made him famous.

THE WILLIAMS GUARD 3 DVD SET BY SHAWN WILLIAMS

https://bjjfanatics.com/collections/all/products/the-williams-guard-3-dvd-set-by-shawn-williams

BUY NOW

SNotable Techniques

Shawn Williams is definitely most well-known for the guard bearing his name. He turned a position he discovered totally by accident into a very powerful guard system.

Shawn Williams - Getting To The Williams Guard