By Hywel Teague

“The way my enemies saw it, they said it was garbage! Not my enemies, I mean my rivals. They didn’t think it was good, they thought it was horrible and not technical. That’s just high-level hating. I just changed the game for all of us and you’re mad!?” 

In February 2017, Marvin Castelle had one of those rare transcendent moments. The clip of him falling, spinning on his shoulders like a breakdancer, entangling his opponent’s leg, and cranking on it to force a submission went viral like no other grappling video has ever done before. 

One million views. Five million. Ten Million! The count kept climbing as more and more people around the world marveled at the fluidity and sophistication of the technique, a rare attack known as an Imanari roll after the Japanese athlete it was (formerly) best associated with.

Now a black belt under renowned grappling innovator Eddie Bravo, Marvin was a brown belt at the time and his moment of fame came during a submission-only grappling bout at Fight To Win Pro 24 in Los Angeles.

With exposure came attention, says Castelle — some good, some bad. 

“I felt like I finally got to showcase the highest level of jiu-jitsu to the world, open up people’s eyes to how it makes me feel and it makes me feel amazing,” he recalls. 

Some were enthralled by the move, claiming they accounted for dozens if not hundreds of the video’s views as they obsessively replayed it. Others saw it as an opportunity to lash out at the up-and-comer. 

“I got a ton of messages from people saying I’m one of the best guys on the earth, just reckless stuff like that!” Castelle says. “I’m striving for that. But I got a lot of callouts. The more disrespectful stuff you say about me online, it doesn’t go well for people talking shit.” 

Eddie Bravo (left) and Marvin Castelle. "My master, friend and brother," Castelle says. 

Those on his 10th Planet team knew Castelle well enough to expect something flashy. Bravo himself commented on his student’s obsessive drilling of the technique, a process of constant refinement until it became a reflex. What people don’t know is that it almost never happened due to a skin infection just days out from the match. 

“Before the roll, I caught ringworm and I couldn’t train,” Castelle says. “I only had three days to train for it, and I did Imanari rolls for three days. I just went with what I drilled.”  

Drop, roll, and crank — it sounds simple. The move is anything but. Castelle’s newfound fame saw him booked for seminars all over the world, but interestingly people didn’t want to learn the Imanari. 

“They wanted to see it, more than anything else — they didn’t want me to teach it,” he says. “I feel like the Imanari roll is not the first thing you want to learn, there are smaller movements you should learn first. It’s a high-level technique, and you don’t want to do damage to people.” 

A former veterinary technician, Castelle is now living the jiu-jitsu life full-time, teaching, training, and spreading the good word about the discipline. He’s still an active competitor, but the role he found himself in is like a messenger for the art of grappling. 

“Only the jiu-jitsu community knew what it was, I felt I brought thousands — if not millions — to jiu-jitsu," he says. "I’m really proud of that. I want people to be like, this technique changed my life, inspired me. 

“I got a lot of love from around the world and from a lot of people who didn’t do jiu-jitsu. Messages from people who were inspired to train, who dropped weight from training, who had never seen technique so fluid. I totally felt like I changed the jiu-jitsu world, in a way.” 

It’s back to business for Castelle. He’s working on projects such as opening a 10th Planet affiliate in Bangkok, Thailand, and he’s got big ideas about taking jiu-jitsu into the educational system. 

Next up is a return to the Fight To Win Pro stage, almost a year to the day he became an internet sensation. The young prospect is fully aware of his position and knows there will be eyes upon him. 

His goal is simple: “Just keep promoting jiu-jitsu in the best way possible. I want to be a great public figure.”