Before They Were Stars: Renzo Gracie
Come on guys… do we really need to write anything about Renzo Gracie? He is the most charismatic member of the Gracie family. Win or lose, this lion of the sport is not afraid of anyone, I think when he is 90 years old, he will still want to fight someone in their 20′s. Below is partial a transpiration of an interview he gave to … Continue reading
Position Of The Month: Wk #3 Takedowns – Dave Camarillo (Double Feature)
To close out the month, we are going to focus on “attacking” with the guard. There is no one better to talk about this subject than the head of Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu, Dave Camerillo! In Dave’s mind, jumping guard is a nonsensical technique given the leverage your opponent has when they are standing to pass your guard. So, Dave is an advocate of attacking a … Continue reading
Young Guns: Garrett Beck
Today’s “Young Guns” segment features Garrett Beck, a young man whom we have gotten to know through our travels. Garrett is a Robert Drysdale JJ/Fairfax JJ representative and a purple belt under Abmar Barbosa. Some of his wins includes the 2010 Pans (2nd place – featherweight) and the 2010 New York Open (3rd place – featherweight and 2nd place – Absolute). Standing at six feet … Continue reading
Pioneers of the Sport: Andre Pederneiras
With the rise of Jose Aldo, lately, there has been a lot of talk about the Nova Uniao team. Nova Uniao is a fairly old BJJ mega-team with roots that lea ds back to the late great Carlson Gracie. For a few years, the team did not have active Mundial champions in its stable, but there is a compelling reason for this… and it all … Continue reading
Match of The Week: Bernardo Faria vs. Rafael Lovato Jr
Today’s “Match of the Week” features a very slow and meticulous battle between two of the top BJJ fighters in the world, Bernardo Faria vs. Rafael Lovato Junior. This very calculated match between these two champions took place at the 2010 Brasileiro absolute finals. Bernado Faria started his BJJ career at the young age of 14 under the guidance of Ricardo Marques (a Carlson BB) … Continue reading
Today’s “Pioneers of the Sport” features one of the first BJJ black belts that planted his roots in the United States, Carlos “Soneca” Machado. Carlos, the oldest of the Machado brothers, started his BJJ training under Helio and then Rolls Gracie. After Rolls’ untimely death, Carlos along with his brothers Roger, Rigan, Jean Jacques and John, all trained under Carlinhos at Gracie Barra. In … Continue reading
Today’s “Young Guns” segment features a young lad from the coastal city of Swansea, Wales. Ash Williams is a purple belt under BJJ Superstar Braulio Estima and Chris Rees. At the young age of 19, this future star has ripped through his peers in the UK grappling scene and massing fifteen medals (10 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze) along the way! Watch for this … Continue reading
Today, we feature a match between two world champions from different generations, Bruno Malfacine vs Wellington “Megaton” Dias. As many of you may know, Bruno Malfacine is the current Galo BB Champion after defeating the very gamed and skillful Caio Terra in the 2011 Mundials. Malfacine started BJJ in 1998 at age eleven (so… how many of us feel really old right now) and since … Continue reading
“Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence.” – Henrik Tikkanen Within the Renzo Gracie Academy and its affiliates, John Danaher has been known as the Mad Scientist of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for over ten years now; however, it was not until recently his name garnered international recognition. With the success of Roger Gracie, Matt Serra, Georges Saint Pierre and Chris Weidman, the “Mad … Continue reading
I hope you liked the last move from Serra Jiu Jitsu instructor Mike Piccolomini. Today, it’s my turn! I’m a brown belt under Matt Serra and I am also an instructor at Serra Jiu Jitsu in Huntington, NY. I started my martial arts career at Kazan Dojo in Deer Park, NY. Kazan is a traditional Japanese Jiu Jitsu school led by a 5th degree JJJ … Continue reading
Today’s “Pioneers of the Sport” features the first BJJ black belt in the Land of the Rising Sun, Yuki Nakai. As many of you may know, Nakai fought Rickson Gracie in the Vale Tudo Japan tournament in 1995 with only one healthy eye. It is a misconception that after his fight with Rickson, Nakai decided to learn BJJ. The truth is that Royler Gracie was … Continue reading
Today’s “Match of the Week” features a great battle between two gamed competitors currently active in the tournament circuit… Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes and Mario Reis! This match between these two amazing athletes took place in the absolute division of the 2010 Sul Americano’s. Augusto Mendes of Soul Fighters is considered one of the top five BJJers in his weight class; he has beaten some of … Continue reading
Today’s “Before They Were Stars” segment features the undefeated “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey! As many of you may know, Ronda’s accomplished a lot in her short time as a professional MMA fighter (including securing a title shot this March against Miesha Tate); however many of you may not know that she was breed for combat sports. Ronda’s mother Dr. AnnMaria DeMars, was the first-ever American to … Continue reading
Hope you all had a great new years and that your training is back to full swing! We are doing something different with today’s theme. As we stated before, the Submission Control staff collectively have about 30+ years of martial arts experience (both teaching and practicing). We wanted to share our extensive experience with our loyal readers, but we lacked the funding to do so. … Continue reading
Today’s “Pioneers of the Sport” focuses on Mauricio Gomes. To many he is simply known as Roger Gracie’s dad, but in addition to being the father of the most dominating figure in BJJ, Mauricio is also a member of Roll Gracie’s “Famous Five”. This seventh degree coral belt paved the way for BJJ in Europe. In 1998, Gomes opened the first Gracie Barra … Continue reading
