Lorraine Shin, who is of Korean and Hawaiian descent. At the age of 17, Penn began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu after being introduced to it by his neighbor, Tom Callos. Callos had put up fliers in local gyms looking for people to train with, and B.J.'s father Jay Dee Penn had called Callos and said his boys were interested. Callos then taught B.J. and his brother what he knew. Shortly thereafter, B.J. moved to San Jose, California, to begin training at the Ralph Gracie BJJ academy with Dave Camarillo, with whom he lived and became close friends. It was here during his time in San Jose that he decided to pursue a martial arts career. Mixed martial arts career Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu In 1997 Penn began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Ralph Gracie, eventually earning his purple belt from Gracie. At that point he moved to Nova União, where he was eventually awarded his black belt in 2000 by André Pederneiras. A few weeks later, he became the first non-Brazilian to win in the black-belt division of the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While Penn's most well-known and prestigious achievement was placing first in the black belt division in the 2000 world championships, he had success at the Mundials in previous years. In 1999, at the age of 20, Penn finished 3rd, earning himself a bronze medal in the brown belt division, losing only to Fernando "Tererê" Augusto, and in 1998, earned a silver medal, placing 2nd in the blue belt division. Penn is thought to have earned the fastest legitimate black belt of all active Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners. Ultimate Fighting Championship His accomplishments in the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship caught the attention of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which convinced him to switch to mixed martial arts. Penn made his mixed martial arts debut with the company on May 24, 2001, with a win over Joey Gilbert at UFC 31. He then demonstrated strong striking skills, knocking out lightweights Din Thomas and Caol Uno before suffering a decision loss in a championship fight against UFC Lightweight Champion, Jens Pulver. In 2003, after Pulver left the UFC and relinquished his title, a tournament to crown a new champion flopped when Penn fought Uno to a draw in the finals at UFC 41, a failure which caused the UFC to later suspend its lightweight division. Penn bounced back later in the