Why Chris Burns is a Next Level Guy

At first glance, Chris Burns looks like someone who built his life around martial arts. A Rickson Gracie black belt, academy founder and respected coach, it’s easy to assume his story is about technical mastery. Spend an hour talking to him, though, and something very different emerges.

Chris’s journey wasn’t really about learning to fight. It was about learning where he belonged.

Growing up adopted left him carrying questions about identity and connection that many people never have to face. Jiu-jitsu became more than a sport; it became a place where he found purpose, community and eventually the opportunity to create those same things for other people. Rather than simply building a successful academy, Chris built a tribe—a place where people could feel accepted, challenged and supported.

What separates Chris from other successful coaches isn’t just his knowledge. It’s the qualities that repeatedly surface beneath everything he does: humility, curiosity, service and an ongoing willingness to question himself. Despite decades of experience, he still speaks openly about depression, self-doubt and days when he doesn’t particularly like himself. There’s no performance of having everything figured out. There is simply a commitment to keep doing the work.

For Chris, “Next Level” has very little to do with achievement. It means paying attention to what genuinely makes life feel worthwhile. It means mastering the fundamentals instead of endlessly chasing complexity. It means choosing presence over image, community over status, and purpose over recognition. Even now, he continues to evolve by asking bigger questions about meaning rather than collecting bigger accomplishments.

An ordinary man doesn’t need to become a black belt to learn from Chris. He can slow down and notice what genuinely makes him feel alive instead of chasing what looks impressive. He can invest in relationships instead of reputation, focus on the fundamentals instead of shortcuts, and recognise that helping other people often becomes one of the fastest ways to help himself.

If I had to complete the sentence, I’d say:

A Next Level Guy is someone who builds a life around meaning instead of image, and helps others find a place where they can belong.

The moment that captures Chris best isn’t a victory on the mats. It’s hearing him describe happiness as reading a book, watching the ocean, spending time with his son or helping another human being. For someone whose life has been built around elite martial arts, those simple answers reveal far more about his character than any medal or belt ever could.

The standard Chris refuses to compromise is authenticity. He won’t pretend life’s deepest questions have been solved simply because he’s been successful. Instead, he continues to choose honesty over ego, curiosity over certainty and service over self-importance.

The price of becoming this version of himself has been significant. He has lived through questions of identity, periods of depression, injuries, self-doubt and the slow work of letting go of the belief that achievement alone could ever make him feel complete. That willingness to keep searching—not for success, but for meaning—is what makes Chris Burns a Next Level Guy.

We as men spend years hunting for money, power, success, anything external to cling to, to justify our worth. Chris is living life as he wants, not letting his past hold him back. If you are truthful to yourself, are you living your life as you truly want, or to fit in?