KAREL “SILVER FOX” PRAVEC

Biography

Karel Pravec was born in Czechoslovakia. His father was a well-known diplomat who spoke out against the Russian occupation of the country in 1968, and because of this, his family immigrated to America and Karel landed in the United States in 1980.

Karel went on to earn his Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Albany and then his Master’s Degree from Columbia University. He began his martial arts training with Master Byung Sung Cha in 1986, learning Tae Kwon Do, and reaching the rank of 3rd degree black belt in the World Tae Kwon Do Federation in 1995.

In the early 1990′s, while studying and teaching Tae Kwon Do, Pravec expanded his martial arts knowledge by attending numerous seminars, including a weekend-long seminar in 1991 that was held by Gracie family members. This was the first time Pravec learned about the Brazilian style of jiu-jitsu.

However, BJJ did not come to the NJ/NY area until 1993, when Pravec started studying BJJ, along with his striking art. He became one of Renzo Gracie’s 1st American students when Renzo moved to the U.S. and eventually turned his martial arts focus to BJJ solely. All of his spare time went to practicing, and he earned his Black Belt in 2006 from Renzo Gracie. It wasn’t until this time that he started to compete himself, when he was in his mid 40’s! Despite this, he was still able to compete in the adult division at the highest level. In 2006 he opened the Silver Fox Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy.
He has become a sought after instructor around the world, but continues to pursue constant improvements, honing his skills and knowledge for his students, and regularly training with BJJ & MMA champions.

Karel is also the author of the Fluid BJJ book and Digitsu video series, Roll with the Fox video series, and is regularly featured on the Tristar Gym YouTube channel with renowned MMA coach, Firas Zahabi.

Karel has demonstrated the success of his style focus on submissions by winning:

1st Place – 2006 Tenth Grapplers Quest West (Master Lightweight Division) – all matches won by submission
1st Place – 2007 NAGA World Championship (Advanced Master – Open Weight) – all matches won by submission, lightest competitor in the division
3rd Place – 2008 Pan Am Championship No-Gi (Black Belt – ADULTS – Lightweight)
1st Place – 2010 European Championship (Black Belt Masters – Absolute Division)