Hawaii's own, BJ Penn has done something that no one else has been able to accomplish. He has become the first non-Brazilian to become a World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Champion in the black belt division. There have been other athletes from Hawaii to win a world championship in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but never at the level of black belt. In fact, there has never been a world champion in the black belt division that was not a Brazilian. To top it off, Penn won the peso pena or featherweight black belt division after being a black belt for only five days!

Hilo's lack of activities for the youth brought attention to the small town for all the wrong reasons. BJ, on the other hand, is very optimistic about Hilo. "There's a lot of talent out there that I see, in Hilo itself. There are guys that could be really, really good if they had the chance to compete with all these people [Brazilians] all the time. I am happy, knowing that I'm from Hilo, a small place." BJ's parents have always stressed that dedication and hard work will overcome all odds. "It's not something that we said one time. We used to whisper it in their ears when they were babies, repeating it over and over again," said the boy's father. For a little over four years, Hilo's BJ Penn has been quietly focusing his efforts into one thing, a martial art called Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It seems that the Penn brothers had found their calling when BJ introduced his brothers to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is an evolved form of Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, which was introduced to the Gracie family in Brazil by a Japanese champion. The Gracie family refined the art on the mean streets of Brazil into an even more effective martial art. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu's popularity peaked when Royce Gracie won his third Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the mid 90s. The UFC is a competition that allows martial artists of all styles the opportunity to test their skills against each other in a caged octagon. BJ Penn saw the UFC and started training soon after.

Over the years, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu's popularity has exploded all over the world. It is currently the fastest growing martial art. Along with this growth, tournaments are held all over the world, so it is only logical that the world championships, which began in 1996, would be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This year's world championships hosted over 850 competitors. BJ's progress in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has not gone unnoticed in the Jiu-Jitsu community. "There's not too many people in Hilo that know what I'm doing. There's a lot of people in Brazil that know what I'm doing though. It's kind of weird in that sense."

All of BJ's brothers currently train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In 1998, BJ, with only a year of training, and his brother, Reagan, with only six months of training, traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to compete against the best in the world at the 1998 World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships, also known as the Campeonato Mundial de Jiu-Jitsu. Against incredible odds, Reagan won his division and BJ had achieved a second place finish at the Mundial, pronounced "moon jawl." From that point, BJ got a hunger for the world championship. "I was real happy that Reagan won, but I felt like I could have won the whole thing, but I messed up and made some mistakes." They both competed in the blue belt division, which is the second belt that is awarded in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The next year, BJ embarked on another journey to Brazil to test his skills. The Monday before the tournament he was promoted and had to compete in the brown belt division. Even though he entered the next heavier weight class, BJ's performance earned him a third place finish. Many believe that he would have won his division, except a controversial loss in the semi-finals.

This year's trip to Brazil would be different. BJ was determined to win the world championship that eluded him the past two years. Last year's defeat only made BJ train even harder, refining his techniques and bringing his conditioning to new levels. This was a far cry from the often disappointing town of Hilo, where there is often little to do, but get into trouble for Hilo's youth. BJ wanted to prove to the world that a local boy from Hilo could not only aspire to greatness, but achieve it.

BJ arrived in Brazil focusing on capturing the world title at the brown belt division, but this changed four days before the tournament began. The BJ's instructor, Andre Pederneiras, awarded BJ a black belt six days before he would compete. This promotion alone is an incredible achievement. There are only about 15 Americans that were awarded black belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. On top of that, BJ earned his after only four and a half years, which is unprecedented. There are a lot of people that have trained for over 10 years and have still not earned a black belt yet.

Most people would have mixed feelings about this promotion. On one hand, BJ achieved the black belt that he has been training for, but on the other hand, he would have to compete against seasoned black belts, but not BJ. "I wasn't really disappointed because I fought in the brown belt division last year and I kind of wanted to fight in the black belt division this year. I felt that I was ready. I wanted to see how good I was against the best in the world at Jiu-Jitsu, so I was really glad that I got to fight in the black belt division to put myself up against the best."

It would seem that a world championship would again, elude BJ Penn. BJ, however, had different plans. BJ entered the peso pena, or featherweight division, which is the toughest weight class at every belt class. And, when the dust settled, BJ had beaten all 5 opponents and had accomplished something no other individual has ever done. He had won the world championships in the black belt division and at the tender age of 21 years old. "I've never pictured myself being there [winning the division], but I was finally there. It was a dream for me, so when I was finally there, I didn't even feel like it was that big of a thing. I guess that it didn't hit me then, maybe I was in shock. I don't know. But as every day goes by, I start to feel like I did something good," Penn responded.