Ebert is a fat blow-hard first of all. Don't believe a thing he says. Mike was a ranked black belt and you can only get that bestowed on you by another black belt (as seen in the movie). Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has a very specific culture that rose to prominence through so called 'dojo challenges' involving full-on fights with other instructors. In this spirit, one could never get away with declaring themselves a blackbelt with an academy without it being awarded by a recognised instructor that thay had trained with directly. It just wasn't mentioned in the movie as it would have done nothing for the plot. However, people who have trained will often use reference books as just that.. a reference. Also, the specific part you are referring too was actually him looking at a manual for filipino martial arts-- a weapon based system popularized by Dan Inosanto (bruce lee's top student and the actor that played 'the professor'). Of course, this was not made clear by Mamet who I honestly think was making a movie for people already involved in this culture (who obviously wouldn't need such clarifications) as opposed to making something palpable for the masses. That is characteristic of Mamet and is why I think he is such a polarizing figure in the entertainment industry.
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