James “300” Foster is a renaissance man, a lover of jiu-jitsu, art, charity work, and open-minded attitudes. I met him at his academy in Kent, Washington, where he hosted 10th Planet athletes Nathan Orchard and Phill Schwartz for a joint seminar. He walked in carrying a Chewbacca lunchbox and I knew this was going to be a great conversation.

He’s also an accomplished competitor, having won the black belt master world championship. We talked about that, about how marketing labels can undermine the growth of jiu-jitsu, about what each belt level means to him, about his favorite comic artists, and how he uses jiu-jitsu as a tool to make a difference in people’s lives.

Thanks as always to our sponsors, US Grappling, Toro BJJ, and Cageside MMA — and welcome to our latest sponsor, Gold BJJ! To get a discount on anything at GoldBJJ.com, just enter DirtyWhiteBelt10 at checkout or follow this link and it will be directly applied:
goldbjj.com/discount/DirtyWhiteBelt10

Register online at usgrappling.com to compete on July 14 in Charlotte or July 28 in Richmond, Virginia — and if you need gi or nogi gear to compete, find the best products at cageside.com! If you want access to bonus content, you can support us at patreon.com/dirtywhitebelt, as Cody Maltais, Karl Krebs, Chris Holmes and Betty Broadhurst did this month — thanks, y’all!