Wanki Chae

Wanki Chae is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under John Frankl, as well as a top contender in this sport’s featherweight division while being also one of the first high end competitors to come out of South Korea. Chae is well known for his submission oriented game and for his wins in important tournaments such as the IBJJF London Winter Open, UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tour and Rickson Cup.

Wanki Chae Jiu Jitsu

Full Name: Wanki Chae

Nickname: N/A

Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie Sr. > Carlos Gracie Junior > Roberto Maia > John Frankl > Wanki Chae

Main Achievements:

• IBJJF London Winter Open Champion (2018)
• IBJJF London Fall Open Champion (2015)
• UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, Tokyo Champion (2017)
• Rickson Cup Champion (2016)
• IBJJF Asian Open 2nd Place (2016)
• IBJJF American Nationals 2nd Place (2015)
• UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Pro 2nd Place (2018)
• UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, London 2nd Place (2018)

Favorite Position/Technique: Berimbolo

Weight Division: Peso Pena (70,00 kg / 154.5 lbs)

Team/Association: John Frankl Jiu-Jitsu

Wanki Chae Biography

Wanki Chae was born on June 25, 1987 in a small town named Pocheon – one hour drive from Seoul, South Korea.

The country of South Korea is one of the strongest martial arts hotbeds in the world, a landmass where popular combat systems such as hapkido and taekwondo were created. As such, most of South Korea’s youth is introduced to these activities early on. This was also the case for Chae who started practicing at the age of 14, going on to become a 4th degree black belt in both martial arts.

Chae found jiu jitsu as a 15 year old through a fellow hapkido training partner, who was one of the few BJJ blue belts in the country at the time. Wanki immediately liked the dynamics of BJJ and started training regularly, later becoming a John Frankl student – a pioneering American black belt who developed one of the very first grappling programs in South Korea.

From the very get go Wanki Chae decided to train full time, and believed he would achieve greatness in the sport. On June 13, 2014 he earned his black belt in jiu jitsu from Mr Frankle and quickly established himself as one of the leading athletes in Asia’s professional circuit.

Wanki Chae vs Spataro Stephane