Black Belt of Honor

Fourteen years ago, Shane Harrelson stepped on a Jiu-Jitsu mat for the first time and discovered a lifelong dedication to discipline, character and honor.

BY TERI R. WILLIAMS PHOTOS BY RUTH ENGLISH

“Action!”

Shane froze. Recovering quickly, he stepped into character as Frank Cosgrove, Jr., son of the Kansas City Mob boss on the Netflix series Ozark. Until that day, he had never even been on a film set. But no one would ever suspect that the man in the ballcap strolling through the riverboat casino on the set for Ozark was Toombs County businessman Shane Harrelson, a Procurement Forester, co-owner of Ohoopee Land & Timber, LLC.

The call came only the day before. According to the casting company, Shane’s height, weight, and overall appearance made him a perfect match for a body double for actor Joseph Sikora. It was not exactly the kind of work he had in mind when he submitted his profile, but Ozark was one of his favorite Netflix series. The opportunity was just too good to pass up.

“Joseph Sikora is a great actor,” said Shane. “He also played Tommy on the crime drama series Power. Jason Bateman,” one of the main characters on Ozark, “is also one of my favorite actors.” Shane smiled. “Between takes, I looked over, and he was sitting next to me eating peanuts. It was surreal at times,” quickly adding, “and a lot of work. It may take twenty times to get one scene right, which is why they use a body double for some scenes.”

As much as Shane enjoyed the experience, acting had never been his goal when he submitted his profile to the casting company. His hope was to make connections and get some experience in film so that he could eventually offer input in his area of expertise in mixed martial arts, particularly, Jiu-Jitsu. The idea came after seeing the fight scenes on movies like the neo-noir action thriller John Wick in which Keanu Reeves applied “numerous martial arts like Brazilian Jiu- Jitsu, Wushu, Boxing, and Krav Maga,” according to jiujitsu-news.com.

“With all the filming they were doing in Atlanta and Savannah, I thought I might could be a stunt double and perhaps help choreograph fight scenes,” said Shane. For someone else, such a statement might have seemed outrageous. With a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu, an accomplishment that takes an average of ten to fifteen years of disciplined practice to reach, it was quite reasonable.

There were no martial arts classes where Shane grew up. “I lived on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere near Alamo, Georgia. I don’t say that as a bad thing,” he said with a smile. “I grew up running the forests and creeks at my house, which helped make me who I am. I wouldn't have wanted to grow up any other place.”

Even so, there wasn’t a lot of opportunity for kids to do any sport other than football, basketball, and baseball. But while other kids were playing school sports, Shane was either working in the diesel mechanic shop with his father or skateboarding. Every time a new Thrasher Magazine arrived in the mailbox, he would study the trending skate tricks and freestyling maneuvers and then spend hours perfecting each skill. By the time he was fifteen, he and his parents had worked together to build an entire skateboarding park in his backyard.

Shane was always active growing up, whether he was working in his father's diesel shop, karting, or skateboarding. Even with fitness being a priority in his life, Shane wasn't prepared for the hard work and dedication Jiu-Jitsu would require.a place of contentment and consolation. Work among the trees seemed the perfect career choice for Shane. In 1997, he graduated with his associate’s degree. Shane took the state board exam and became a registered Forester. In 2002, he moved to Statesboro to work with Sabine and Waters, Inc., a forestry consulting company. While working full-time, Shane enrolled in classes at Georgia Southern University (GSU). In 2006, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business management and took a job with Gillis Ag and Timber out of Soperton.

After high school, Shane moved to Tifton, Georgia, to pursue a degree in forestry at ABAC (Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College). An introvert by nature, he had always found the woods a place of contentment and consolation. Work among the trees seemed the perfect career choice for Shane. In 1997, he graduated with his associate's degree. Shane took the state board exam and became a registered Forester. In 2002, he moved to Statesboro to work with Sabine and Waters, Inc., a forestry consulting company. While working full-time, Shane enrolled in classes at Georgia Southern University (GSU). In 2006, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in business management and took a job with Gillis Ag and Timber out of Soperton.

Even though his athletics had not followed a conventional path, fitness had always been a priority for Shane. One day, at the gym where he regularly worked out, a friend invited him to a class in Jiu-Jitsu. “This was in 2007. I’d put on a few pounds during those years working and going to school full time, so I was looking for something more to do than just weight-lifting. He said, ‘Man, it’s unbelievable. It’s total body conditioning. You’ve got to try it.’”

Shane spent his first trip to the Jiu-Jitsu studio watching from the sidelines. “I had no idea what they were doing. I went back the next week and watched again. At the end of class, a guy came up to me and said, ‘Hey, I saw you here last week. Why don’t you come out on the mat?’ He showed me a couple of moves, and I thought, ‘I can do this.’ The following week, there were guys on the mat half my size. I thought, ‘This is going to be a joke.’ But when I got out there, they just slaughtered me. Right then and there, I decided this was something I wanted to do.”

Jiu-Jitsu, which is “a combination of grappling, wrestling, and judo all mixed into one with the addition of joint manipulations and chokes,” according to Shane, became popularized in the early 90s by Brazilian Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Royce Gracie. “He dominated guys from every other combat sport.” Royce’s father, Hélio Gracie, and others in the Gracie family founded what became known as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (also called Gracie Jiu-Jitsu).

“The progression of belts,” said Shane, “begins with white for beginners and progresses to blue, purple, brown, and black. Each belt has four degrees or ‘stripes.’ Each stripe can take a year or two to accomplish. The black belt has nine degrees of expertise, and it takes on average from ten to fifteen years for someone to advance to the level of black belt.”

At the time, Shane was thirty years old. It was no small challenge to balance the responsibilities of life. “I’m married. I have a business to run. But I knew practicing Jiu-Jitsu wasn’t a sprint. It was a marathon.”

In 2009, Shane and his wife, Sandra, moved to a place on the Ohoopee River in Tattnall County, which allowed him a more central location for his work. Continuing Jiu- Jitsu was his greatest concern. “Back then, it was hard to find anywhere to train.” Fortunately, he found BrentColeman, a Jiu-Jitsu instructor in Hazlehurst. “He has since relocated to Baxley, which is perfect for me. His school is part of Southeast Jiu-Jitsu under the leadership of Scott Devine. Scott is out of Brunswick. He was a student of Relson Gracie and one of the first to black belt on the East Coast from someone in the Gracie family,” which is an especially meaningful detail to anyone who practices Jiu- Jitsu. Timber, LLC. I couldn't do it without her.”

In December 2021, Shane hired Jonah Smith as a fulltime Procurement Forester. Jonah is a forestry graduate from Abraham Baldwin Agriculture College. He and his wife Dahlia live in Montgomery County. “Jonah's skills in procurement are a great asset to everything we do,” said Shane.

In 2020, Shane and Sandra made the move to Toombs County. Since Ozark, Shane has worked on several other films, including Underground Railroad and Intentions (both on Amazon Prime), Lovecraft Country (HBO), a 2021 reboot of the Marvel movie Suicide Squad, The Sim Racer (set to release on Amazon Prime this year), and others. “I was able to choreograph and act in my first fight scene in The Sim Racer,” said Shane. He also landed lead roles in Delusion and Choice, two SCAD films currently in postproduction. Each experience has been an opportunity to move him closer to his true passion and the reason he began his journey in acting: to utilize his skills in Jiu-Jitsu on screen.

It’s been fourteen years since Shane first stepped onto his first Jiu-Jitsu mat in Statesboro. He continues his practice in Baxley and Brunswick as well as with a few friends each week in his own home. From time to time, he will teach a class of Jiu-Jitsu for self-defense. “It’s been proven that about 90% of the time, someone much smaller than an attacker can get free by just knowing three or four moves in Jiu-Jitsu.”

According to toplevelmartialarts.com, “There is [ ] no contention on the fact that the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt is considered the most difficult black belt to earn in all of the martial arts.” The result of Shane’s fourteen-year “marathon” came on November 6, 2021. Standing before Scott Devine, he was presented with his black belt in Jiu-Jitsu. The precedent for such an honor is based on more than skill alone. “You have to prove you have both commitment and character. Scott has said again and again that he can only honor those with a black belt who not only have the skill, but also have the kind of character he would want his children to grow and become like,” said Shane.

People talk about commitment. They praise character. But the true test for both cannot be measured in weeks or months but in years. In decades. In a lifetime of choices. In what we do with both victories and failures. In winning and losing. Real victories are measured in lifetimes rather than weekend retreats. There are no shortcuts. When Shane began his journey with Jiu-Jitsu at thirty, he never saw his age a limitation or considered himself too old for the challenge. Jiu-Jitsu was not something he set out to conquer but the person he committed to become. Whether he’s procuring trees or using hooks and sweeps for a fight scene on a movie set, Shane has proven himself worthy of the distinction and honor of a Jiu-Jitsu black belt.