Renzo Gracie Black Belt -2nd degree
5th Blackbelt awarded by Renzo Gracie in the United States:
-behind such noteables as Ricardo Almeida, Rodrigo Gracie - Matt Serra (same day), Nick Serra , John Danaher (same day as Shawn)

Shawn Williams was born in Bluffton, Indiana on April 7th, 1975. Nurturing a love of the combative arts from an early age, it wasn't long before he began climbing the ranks in Gojo Ryu Karate. Having previously excelled and won awards in school for Soccer, track, football, baseball, swimming, and just about everything else he put his mind to, he soon found that the martial arts were no different. Slowly phasing all other sports out of his life, he obtained his black belt at the age of 20 with a single mindedness of purpose. In 1993 with the introduction of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Shawn Williams witnessed what countless others did and decided to incorporate ground fighting into his game. Having seen Renzo Gracie fight in the World Combat Championship and realizing that he had a school that taught Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in New York, it wasn't long before he relocated to New York city for the sole purpose of training under one of the greatest Jiu Jitsu fighters alive. Shawn Williams became an instructor at the Renzo Gracie Academy as a purple belt in 2001 winning countless tournaments up and down the East coast. He received his black belt on April 4th, 2002, making his learning curve one of the most vertical and rapid in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu history. After obtaining his black belt he became the head instructor at the revered Renzo Gracie Academy in downtown Manhattan. Some of his more notable wins include such prestigious events as Grapplers Quest (2X champion), North American Grappling Games (4X champion), Pan American Games of BJJ (3X bronze medalist), and Ohio Pro Am Champion. He also competed at the 1999 Abu Dhabi Trials (the highest tier of submission grappling tournaments) where he finished in 3rd place and was also awarded "Best Fight Of Tournament".

With a litany of accolades to his Jiu Jitsu resume', it wasn't long before Renzo Gracie personally requested his assistance in the making of the instructional book "Mastering Jiu Jitsu" from inception to realization. With the success of Renzo's book, Rodrigo Gracie also decided to create his own instructional, and without hesitation requested the assistance of Shawn Williams to create "The Path To The Black Belt". Rodrigo Gracie's respect for Shawn's technique is such that they are regular training partners and have been through all of his recent fights such as K1 Hero's, and MARS. The fact that Rodrigo will not enter the ring without Shawn Williams in his corner is a testament to his skill as a teacher and trainer, as well as his technique on the mat.