Today’s “Young Guns” segment features DJ Jackson, a young man who has quickly become a popular name in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu/Submission Grappling scene. Under the guidance of Master Lloyd Irvin, this one time wrestler has become a BJJ submission specialist. Under Lloyd Irvin’s watchful eye, DJ has won some of the most prestigious titles in both Gi and No-Gi. While his background may be … Continue reading →

Today’s “Young Guns” segment features one of the few competitors out there that has won the unofficial IBJJF Grand Slam title. In 2011, Jimmy won the Mundials, Pans, Euros and the Brazilian Nationals as a brown belt. As a result of his stellar performances, Master Lloyd Irvin awarded Jimmy his BB in July 2011. As a newly minted black belt, Jimmy has a huge road … Continue reading →

Today’s “Young Guns” segment features a newly minted BB, Diego Borges. Diego is one of the newer stars to come out of Checkmat. This Medio-Pasado (sometime medio) took second at this past World Championships as a brown belt and recently beat champion Claudio Calasans as a BB at the World Pro Trails in Manus, Brazil. Watch for Diego to perform well in one of the … Continue reading →

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 →

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’s Young Guns segment features a bjj practitioner from a distant part of the world where martial arts has historically been a striker’s art form. In a country where a modest youth can change himself to an international superstar, today’s Young Gun, Ralph Go is trying to replicate Manny Pacquiao’s success with boxing in BJJ. Ralph Go, a brown belt under Makoto Aramaki, is one … Continue reading →

Today’s “Young Guns” segment features one of my old friends and the first member of Renzo Gracie’s kid’s program… Gianni Grippo! I was a white belt when Gianni first stepped foot into Renzo’s academy in New York City. As the sole member of the Renzo Gracie kid’s program, at nine years old, he competed in tournaments up and down the east coast and eventually around … Continue reading →

  Today’s “Young Guns” segment features an exciting competitor who would rather lose a match going for submission after submission rather than to win a match by stalling. Sean Roberts achieved the rank of faixa marrom in five years from Ralph Gracie. As a consummate competitor, Sean is always looking to challenge himself. For example, only two days after receiving his brown belt, Sean entered … Continue reading →

Today’s “Young Guns” segment features a stand out from the “Great White North” (or Canada, for our non-American readers). Hailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Joshua Presley is one of the top BJJ representatives from Canada’s eastern most Provence. Since he started Jiu Jitsu four short years ago, Presely has collected medals from international competitions such as the Mundials, the NY Open, Miami Open, Lutador and … Continue reading →

    This week, we feature one of my former training partners at Serra/RGA, Eric Sherman. Eric has beening training for about five years and has racked up multiple titles in organizations such as NAGA, Grapplers Quest and IBJJF. His highly competitive personality and his intense work ethic has taken him very far in this sport. Watch for this “Young Gun” to make waves in … Continue reading →