In the summer of 2001, Shields received a wrestling scholarship to San Francisco State University. At that time he began training with the Cesar Gracie Fight Team, resulting in a dramatic improvement of the jiu jitsu variety. He is a three-time Grapplers Quest Advance Champion, Pan American Championships Jiu Jitsu Champion, Pan Am Open Advance Submission Champion, Gracie Open Superfight Champion and finished 3rd place at the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in 2005. His victory at the Pan American Championships (which requires wearing a uniform) as a purple belt is notable because Jake Shields claims he has trained "about four hours with the gi in life," and the Pan Americans is one of the largest Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitions in the world. He continued to improve on the kickboxing skills he picked up with Chuck Liddell, by cross-training with the professional Muay Thai kickboxing team at the Fairtex combat Academy, training with Muay Thai Champions Jongsanan Fairtex and Alex Gong. He was awarded the rank of black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu by Cesar Gracie in February 2007.