BJJ in Canada Blog: 2008

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Minotauro rolling

Good video of Minotauro rolling no-gi with a student.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Renzo Gracie Legacy documentary

Simply amazing this guy history. Enjoy!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

2008 Nova Scotia Open BJJ Championship

The maritimes is on fire! Just on the last two months they had 3/4 BJJ tourneys. The next one is the 2008 Nova Scotia Open Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Championship to be held in Truro, NS by Jake Mackenzie.

2008 Nova Scotia Open Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Championship, being held Sunday, November 16th, at MarMac Athletics on Inglis Street, Truro, Nova Scotia. The Cost of registration will be 40 dollars to compete in one division, or 50 to compete in both. There will be beginner, intermediate and advanced divisions, for gi and no gi. If you plan on coming please message me and tell me, what divisions you will be fighting in, we will be taking registration at the door. The weight classes are as follows:

featherweight - 149 and under
lightweight - 150-167.5
middleweight - 167.5-181
middle/heavy - 181-194
heavyweight - 195 and up

For more information, contact Jake ( jake_mackenzie_@hotmail.com )

Monday, November 3, 2008

JJ Machado - 5 favorite submissions

JJ Machado 5 favorite submissions:

Friday, October 31, 2008

BJJ inspirational picture

That's halloween for the guy on the bottom.

Do I need to say anything else?

Monday, October 27, 2008

Rickson gracie quotes

Rickson Gracie gave an interview to Sultatame (Brazilian magazine) after a seminar and these are some of the more remarkable quotes from it:

About the current BJJ in the world:

"As a teacher I always like to give a full view of jiu jitsu to all my students. From self defense, to competition and no-gi techniques. If you get too focused on a helicopter sweep or on the x-guard and spend years training only that, you will find a lot of trouble without the gi or in an mma fight."

About food:

"Nutrition is the beginning of our health. We are what we eat."

About the use of BJJ in MMA:

"Jiu jitsu is MMA. Since the beginning our main concern was always to put jiu jitsu to the test and that's where mma came from. We were always open to challenge matches, since the time of the capoeira fighters, to boxers, street fighters and now with the MMA/UFC."

Final message to the readers:

"It is only with a lot of training and dedication that we can achieve something. A brave man, a real fighter is not measured by how many times he fall, but how many times he stand up. Always be ready to fight, to win and to forgive when necessary. Good luck and train hard!"

Thursday, October 23, 2008

BJJ in the big (and small) screen

It is almost Friday, so nothing like some entertainment. First, Chuck Norris and the Machado brothers:

And some RedBelt (movie) Behind the scenes:

Yes, yes.. Nothing much to do over here :)

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Jacare x Marcelo Garcia - Sticking to the basics

I just finished watching the 2005 ADCC fight between Jacare and Marcelo Garcia. The interesting thing is how this all went. Jacare pulled guard, worked to break Marcelo's posture and finished with a Kimura from guard... Nothing like sticking to the basics..

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

BJJ half guard drills by Rigan Machado

As a complement to my last post, BJJ drills by Rigan Machado, I am adding some half guard specific drills by Rigan Machado from the same DVD Secrets of the Half Guard.

*Btw, if you like what you see, make sure to purchase his DVD set. It is the most complete and detailed half guard DVD ever!

Monday, October 20, 2008

BJJ drills by Rigan Machado

I am a big fan of Rigan Machado and I love his style of teaching (funny and very detailed). On his Secrets of the Half Guard DVD, he shows some good drills that I've been using for a while during my warm ups. Hope you enjoy it.

*Btw, if you like what you see, make sure to purchase his DVD set. It is the most complete and detailed half guard DVD ever!

Friday, October 17, 2008

1st annual BJJ championship with Shane Rice

Steven Williams from Team Saigo and Shane Rice (Rickson Gracie BB), will be hosting a submission-only gi/no-gi tournament on Oct 26th (Sunday) in Moncton, NB. Information below:

Sunday Oct 26th , 1642 Mountain rd, Moncton, NB .
Reg: 8am-9am
weigh ins: -9am-10am
10am - Gi tournament starts followed by no gi in the afternoon.
cost is $40 in advance $50 at the door
Novice -limited experience-Under one year
Intermediate-2-3 years
Advance-Experienced

weights:
150lbs and under
151lbs-165lbs
166lbs to 180lbs
181lbs -195 lbs
196lbs -220lbs
221lbs plus

The absolute finals are 170lbs and under and 171 and over.

Contact Phone: 15068607204 or Email: stopu@rogers.com

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

History of martial arts

A 10 minute video showing the history of martial arts by the History Channel. They explain how BJJ came to Brazil, how the UFC started, etc. Old, but good stuff ..

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Results from the Abhaya BJJ Championship

The results are in for the Abhaya Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championship, held on Oct 11, 2008 (NS, Canada):

Beginner Lightweight
1st Mooky Khalil (Fitplus)
2nd John Barr (Fitplus)
3rd Christopher Howse (Marmac Athletics)

Beginner Middleweight
1st Steven Jellicoe (Fitplus)
2nd Chuck Mitchell (BTT)
3rd Ryan Connor (Fitplus)

Beginner Heavyweight
1st Mark MacDonald (Titans)
2nd Shanam Bean (Infinity Fighting Systems)
3rd Rob Wainwright (Functional MMA)

Beginner Super-Heavyweight
1st Matthew McKeen (Truro Gracie Barra)

Intermediate Lightweight
1st Josh Presley (Titans)
2nd Tanner Abbott (Truro Gracie Barra)
3rd Mark Brace (Titans)

Intermediate Middleweight
1st Steven Grant (Fitplus)
2nd Daniel Vanderlans (Truro Gracie Barra)
3rd Denny O'Brien (Abhaya)

Intermediate Heavyweight
1st Nathan Smith (Titans)
2nd Jon McWaid (Abhaya)
3rd Scott Nauss (Marmac Athletics)

Advanced Lightweight
1st Josh Wincey (Titans)
2nd Joe Dugas (Titans)
3rd Oden Robicheau (Titans)

Advanced Middleweight
1st Josh Albright (Bushido-Kai)
2nd Demetry Furman (Positive Impact)
3rd Scott Rose (Titans)

Advanced Heavyweight
1st Mike Kitson (Titans)
2nd Jason Stuart (Abhaya)
3rd Craig Ferguson (Fitplus)

Absolute Division:
Josh Presley and Mike Kitson closed out the division (both from Titans)

More information: http://www.abhayaapparel.com/news.html

Butterfly guard sweep with over hook

Variation of the butterfly guard sweep with the over hook (by Eddie Bravo).

Friday, October 3, 2008

Helio Gracie 95th birthday

Helio Gracie and his 95th birthday by Tatame TV (in Portuguese). Both Rickson and Helio speak about Jiu jitsu and how much they like it :) Good video.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

BJJ internet growth from 2001 to 2008

If you wonder how much bjj has grown from 2001 up until today, just take a look at the google results from 2001:

http://www.google.com/search2001/search?q=bjj returns Results 1 - 10 of about 11,300 for bjj. (0.01 seconds)

Compared to now (Oct 2008):

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=bjj which returns Results 1 - 10 of about 3,010,000 for bjj. (0.23 seconds)

That's 11,300 results in 2001 compared to 3,010,000 on 2008. wow!

*btw, if you wonder how we were able to search based on the results from 2001, google just released a 2001 search as part of their 10th aniversary celebration.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Canada Nov, 2008 tournaments

November 9th. 2008 - Toronto, ON: Canada Joslin's Canadian Open Grappling Championships. More details at www.joslinsmartialarts.com.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Pendulum (flower) sweep

The guys from the Maine BJJ academy, just posted a very detailed video about the Pendulum (flower) sweep. As always, excellent material from them to improve your game.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Criminal choked by a BJJ practiocioner

Very interesting section of a news channel in Brazil detailing how a criminal got chocked out by a BJJ practitioner while trying to steal his money in a Brazilian bus (around the 30s mark is shows the RNC).

Bad luck for him...

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Canada Oct, 2008 tournaments

October 4th. 2008 - Montreal, QC: Canada 2008 GI Grappling tournament. More details at montrealmartialarts.com.

October 11th, 2008 - Windsor, NS: Abhaya BJJ Championship. More details at http://abhayaapparel.com/championship/.

October 26th, 2008 - Moncton, NB: 1st annual BJJ championship with Shane Rice. More details at http://bjjeh.blogspot.com/2008/10/1st-annual-bjj-championship-with-shane.html.

BJJ academies in Canada

I am constantly traveling and it is often difficult to find good places to train across Canada. Sometimes I google for it and end up on a traditional jiu jitsu place or on some weird mc-dojo.

Because of that, I plan to keep in here a list with all legit BJJ academies in Canada that I can find. If you see one that is missing (on any city), let me know and I will update this list.

Fredericton, NB

>Fredericton BJJ

1229 Prospect Street, Fredericton, NB.

Montreal, QC

>BTT (Brazilian Top Team)

429 Mayor Street Montreal, QC H3A 1N9

Ottawa, ON:

>OAMA

1673 Carling Avenue, Suite 215 Ottawa, Ontario

>Ronin-MMA

3059R Carling Ave. Ottawa, Ontario

Toronto, ON:

>Toronto BJJ

813 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, M6G1L8

>SalvosaBJJ

11 Progress Avenue, Unit 25, Scarborough, ON

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Side-control positioning (by Cesar Gracie)

First of all, if you never watched Cesar Gracie BJJ instructional, you don't know what are missing. It is one of the most detailed and complete instructionals out there. I really recommend buying it.

Anyway, on the beginning of volume 3, he describes the proper side-control positioning, which I would like to share (just 2 minutes long):

Remember, before you go to a submission, you need to make sure you hold the position (and gain the points). I specially like his suggestions regarding the foot movement and far-arm control.

Back on track

After a long time way due to injury (knee problems), I am back to training full time and updating this blog. More to come soon.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Sequence of submissions from the Guard

Another awesome video by Marcos Schubert from Gracie Parana. This time he shows a sequence of submissions from the guard (in Portuguese, but you can understand from just watching it).

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Triangle Escape

Awesome triangle escape by Marcos Schubert from Gracie Parana:

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Triangle - Proper technique

The triangle is the "official" BJJ submission, yet very few people (specially white and blue belts) seem to get it right. These videos from Dean Lister and the Gracie Insider should be enough to understand how to do it right.

Dean Lister on the proper Triangle technique:

Gracie Insider:

Triangle in a competition from Ryron Gracie:

No more excuses now..

Monday, February 11, 2008

Butterfly guard moves

The guys from infighting.ca posted some great videos about the Butterfly Guard. Worth checking out.

Butterfly Guard Sweep:

Butterfly Guard Sweep to the Back Position:

Butterfly Guard- Cartwheel Pass:

Butterfly Guard- Over/Under Pass:

Butterfly Guard- Punch Pass:

Butterfly Guard- Pull Pass:

Butterfly Guard- Homerun Pass:

Arm Drag from Butterfly Guard:

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Canada Grappling

It seems that the biggest grappling forum from Canada, Canada Grappling, has been hacked and is out for almost a whole week.

There were some great discussions regarding Canada competitions (NS open, New Brunswick Grappling Grand-Prix), training, etc. If you were going to post your event in there, please send it to me (bjj.ehh @ gmail.com or via the comments) and I will post it in here.

Here is a summary of some of the tournaments that are going to happen:

Nova Scotia (NS) BJJ Open: February 2nd.
New Brunswick Grappling Grand-Prix: March 15, May 17, July 12 and the finals on September 13.

*Send me details if you got them.

Monday, January 28, 2008

European Jiu-Jitsu Championship

The European BJJ championship just finished this weekend in Portugal and the official results are not in yet. However, I am glad to say that Alexandre Souza (yes, I trained with him!) won the absolute division and his weight category (middle). I will post more information when I get them...

Update (Jan 29 2008):Black belt results posted on gracie Magazine:http://www.graciemag.com/news/144/ARTICLE/9318/2008-01-27.html

The champions of each category Black belt are as follows:

Rooster
1 - Wekcilley Lima (Swiss Morges Team)
2 - Pablo Teixeira (Brazilian Fight)

Feather
1 - Reinaldo Ribeiro (Brasa)
2 - Anderson Silva (Alliance)

Super Feather
1 - Felipe Costa (Brasa)
2 - Bernardo Pitel (Nova União)

Light
1 - Michel Maia (Sul JJ)
2 - Eduardo Pessoa (Nova União)

Middle
1 - Alan do Nascimento (Brasa)
2 - Otávio Souza (Gracie Barra)

Medium Heavy
1 - Alexandre Souza (Gracie Florianópolis)
2 - Ricardo Oliveira (NCT Suisse)

Heavy
1 - Valdir Bebê Monstro (Osvaldo Alves)
2 - Renato Tavares (Front Line)

Super heavy
1 - Marcel Fortuna (Gracie Floripa)
2 - Hakim Gouran (BJJ Belgium)

Super Superheavy
1 - Luis Teodoro Big Mac (Godói JJ)
2 - Márcio Corleta (Winner)

Absolute
1 - Alexandre Souza (Gracie Floripa)
2 - Luis Teodoro Big Mac (Godói JJ)

Saturday, January 26, 2008

BJJ and flexibility

Flexibility is essential for most competitive sports, but on BJJ it is a must if you want to be in the top and master a lot of the techniques.

Awesome links about it:

Yoga for grappling:
http://www.grapplearts.com/Yoga-for-Grappling.htm

Eddie Bravo on Flexibility:

Rickson's "natural" exercises:

Yoga for fighters:

Saturday, January 19, 2008

BJJ Vocabulary in Portuguese and English

If you practice and compete in BJJ, you probably already heard some expressions in Portuguese that you wish you knew what they meant.

Well, the guys from the The Fightworks Podcast came up with a big list of BJJ expressions in Portuguese and their translation in English.

Check out at: http://thefightworkspodcast.com/2008/01/18/bjj-vocabulary-in-portuguese-and-english/

Some corrections (or new words) from me:
bota pra baixo: put him down
vale tudo: MMA (people call MMA as vale tudo in Brazil)
raspada: sweep
raspa ele: sweep him
derruba: put him down

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Marcelo Garcia Fights