On Monday June 6th, 2011 Jean Jacques Machdao was promoted to the rank of 7th degree black belt in the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. This rank is represented by the transition from a regular black belt to a red and black belt.

Jean-Jacques is one of five Machado brothers, all of them earned black belts under Master Carlos Gracie Jr., their cousin. Jean-Jacques was born with Amniotic Band Syndrome, which is a disorder when a fetus’ limbs fail to develop normally, and in his case it resulted in Machado not having any fingers on his left hand. Because of this when learning to grapple he couldn’t make extensive use of gi gripes and had to rely heavily on under and over hooks to control opponents. As a result he was an elite no gi grappler and has won a gold and two silvers at ADCCs.

The Red and Black Belt is taken from the Judo Red and White belt and is an award with vague requirements based mostly around being an instructor. Jean-Jacques' academy in Southern California is one of the oldest U.S. schools, home of over 32 black belts, including Eddie Bravo and Ricco Rodriguez. (also Joe Rogan has brown belt under him but left to train with Bravo)