‘The Crank’ gets jiu jitsu blue belt

Mainland-based MMA practitioner Frank “The Crank” Camacho continues to earn the respect of his trainers in the fighting arena.

Saipan’s young jewel was recently promoted to blue belt at Lloyd Irvin’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy in Maryland.

Trench Tech Inc. president and promoter Justis “Cuki” Alvarez said blue belt is a milestone promotion in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Alvarez said it usually takes two years to accomplish this feat, but Camacho did it in just under a year.

“He continues to compete in BJJ tournaments around the U.S. and continues to win and represent the CNMI proudly. He is a great ambassador to the CNMI and continues to make us all proud,” said Alvarez.

Camacho moved from Guam as a teenager to personally train with Team Lloyd Irvin.

In an e-mail message yesterday, Camacho said it is a great honor having his grappling background with Trench Tech Purebred Saipan under the tutelage of Alvarez and Tetsuji Kato.

That humble beginnings, he said, helped him in his pursuit for greater heights for his BJJ/MMA dreams at the Camp Springs.

“It’s a great honor to be a blue belt under Master Lloyd, one of the best in the business,” he said.

Camacho was glad and thankful for the opportunity to give his message to the youth of Saipan, not only to the fighters but also to all the kids who are humbly pursuing their dreams, whatever it may be.

He said that his dad tells him all the time that, “when you have a goal, don’t let anyone or anything stop you or slow you down from reaching your goals.”

With the right mindset, Camacho said anyone can have his/her dream come true.

“And in all honesty, you can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it. It is working really well for me. Whether you want to be a doctor or an engineer or a professional MMA fighter, when you have the right mindset you can accomplish any goal. Don’t let anything stop you,” Camacho said.

He said there is no limit on what one can do to make things work and into the right direction.

Camacho reported that his training has been going really well.

“Right now I have a lot of teammates who have upcoming fights and they are in one group for the training programs.

“So we have been putting in three to four hours a day workouts. I’m working on my MMA game as a whole, but concentrating more on my BJJ. I want to learn Master Lloyd’s system and be good at it. It’s awesome,” Camacho said.

He is currently training for the Pan-American and the World Championship this coming March and in June to be held in California.

For now, he has taken a break on the MMA fighting scene.

Camacho said he is trying to get better at all aspects of the game.

He is working on his boxing with coach Bernard Roach, his Muay Thai with Kru Jose Villarisco, and his ground game/ Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with Master Lloyd Irvin, who is his overall coach.

“Aside from all these awesome coaches, I have world class/high level sparring partners in all aspects of the game,” he said.