Jorge Britto (head instructor of TorontoBJJ) invites all Jiu Jitsu academies to help us carry the flag of this sport into the future. Join us on Saturday August 7th, 2010 at Downsview Park in Toronto. This tournament is a celebration of Jiu Jitsu and we are giving an opportunity to everyone to become part of the next page in the history of Jiu Jitsu in Canada. This tournament will showcase the sport of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, we need you to be part of the revolution of this sport in North America. We need to be unified, we need to show solidarity by coming together to honor the tradition of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competition. We want to demonstrate great Jiu Jitsu, we want to show who we are, we want to exhibit the glory of healthy rivalries between teams and how they help the sport to progress, develop, and grow.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is more than a sport, it is deeply rooted in tradition, and a tried and tested methodology since it was founded in Brazil. In this tournament we aim to honor this heritage and lineage by organizing the tournament in the same manner as the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation. We want to pay tribute to the sport’s founders by not just coming to compete and determine who is best on the day but, we want to live the Jiu Jitsu ideology, philosophy and lifestyle.

This type of competition readies competitors for the highest level of international competition by adhering to international rules, regulations, and standards. We are already seeing the fruits of previous tournaments which produced several champions at this years mundials (worlds championships). The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu format of competition has lead to greater things for many of the stars of the sport, champions like BJ Penn, Marcelo Garcia, Demian Maia, Rodrigo Noguerra, and many more got their starts on the tatami’s of Jiu Jitsu.

What makes the Toronto Jiu Jistu Classic Special?
Divisions will have a specific start time that will be released two days prior to the event along with the brackets. No waiting hours and hours, wondering when your division is going to start.

75 Carl Hall Road,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
MAP

More information on the official site.

Carlos Gracie Junior

This week’s episode of the FightWorks Podcast is really two episodes in one. Each of the two interviews we present here would normally be a week’s worth of content but we are feeling especially generous with the 2010 BJJ World Championships on the way this coming weekend!

The first feature interview is with Carlos Gracie Jr.. Many of the Gracie family are key characters in how jiu-jitsu became what it is today Carlos Junior is no exception. He is the head of all Gracie Barra schools, the president of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, and the publisher of GracieMag. Influential indeed!

The second of our interviewees is none other than Jean Jacques Machado. One of the five Machado brothers (and a cousin to Carlos Gracie Jr.), Jean Jacques won his weight class in the 2001 ADCC Submission Grappling Championship and is highly regarded for his teaching skills. Another terrific interview brought to us by FightWorks Podcast contributor Christian Simamora.

Of course we will also review some listener email, voicemail, and go over the plans to cover the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship coming up this weekend at the Long Beach Pyramid in Los Angeles!

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (recommended)
[mp3] Download the show

In the past 7 days there have been at least three threads on different forums where some have suggested that the guillotine is somehow no longer an acceptable submission in International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation events.

• The Underground: Guillotine choke and rules?
• Sherdog: So apparently the IBJJF is outlawing the standard guillotine in gi tournies …
• EFNSports: guillotine choke now illegal with no arms in (ibjjf)

Thanks to the Mighty 600,000 for informing us of this meme. We reached out to IBJJF head referee Alvaro Mansur, to see if there was any truth to this:

There are many people who have read online that the rules regarding the guillotine choke have changed. Have there been any rule changes to the use of the guillotine this year?

Please let me know and I will post your response to let everyone know.

Mansur responded:

Caleb, the rules don´t change, you can stay calm, becouse you are right.

So everyone can relax. The rules about guillotines in IBJJF tournaments have not changed. This confirms a response I received from an IBJJF official who wrote me back to the same question, saying:

Nothing has changed

This is a lesson that when we read something that sounds unlikely, it might be a good idea to take a deep breath and wait for confirmation before announcing the death of BJJ as we know it. Heck, even if you read something crazy on our site, please question it.

Michael Langhi (Alliance) defeats Phillip della Monica (Gracie Barra) at the 2009 World Championship.

Remember the word back in 2008 about the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation ramping up its push for membership? This year the IBJJF is taking some very concrete steps in that direction which affect the way the 2010 BJJ World Championships will be carried out. I’ll post them below but as you read them, if you have any questions about them, please email them to me by Monday! I will be interviewing an IBJJF representative this coming week on the matter!

Starting at the worlds 2010, at any IBJJF event. It is mandatory for all the black belts to carry their federation membership id cards. Its required to present the I.D card to the event official prior to the match.

IBJJF Membership ids and affiliated federation ids accepted for this event; IBJJF (for non US, Brazil, Japan, France and Portugal residents the IBJJF id is applicable), USBJJF for US residents, CBJJ for Brazil Residents, Japan federation for Japan residents, France Federation for France residentes Portugal federation for Portugal residents, Australia Federation for Australia residents.
For the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2010, IBJJF will release complimentary membership ids for the black belts registered in the world jiu-jitsu championship 2010. This includes the coaches with athletes registered in the event.

If you do not follow the guidelines, IBJJF reserves the right to deny participation of any athlete in this division. All registers in the Black Belt division are under IBJJF approval.

On Sunday during the black belt finals, coaches will be allowed next to the mat for the first time. Here are the rules about coaching that are new.

In any event, when coaches are allowed to be inside the competition area, the coach must wear the vest supplied by the event. The coach must present his/her black belt membership id from the authorized entities, valid for the current year. The coach must return the vest once he leaves the competition area, after the athletes match is over.

There will be 2 chairs located by the score keepers table per ring area, behind the publicity panels, where the coach will be seated.

The coach is responsible for the athletes conduct from the moment you enter and exit the event.

The coach’s action inside the competition area is limited to the communication to the athlete. Tactics and strategies advises, motivating, instructions to umpredictable situations, injuries.
The coach must remain seated during he whole match.

More details about the coaching situation can be found here, and full details about black belt registration requirements are here.

Like I said, if you have any comments about these changes, please email them to me as soon as possible so I can get those questions answered for you.

Xande Ribeiro watches from the sidelines at a 2009 Grapplers Quest in San Diego.

So much to talk about this week on our humble Brazilian jiu-jitsu internet radio show! This week brought a lot of chatter about the convergence of BJJ and yoga. So we brought on Phil Migliarese, of Balance Studios in Philadelphia. Phil’s been a subject matter expert in both yoga and jiu-jitsu forever, having practiced both for over twenty years. (He was also one of our first ever guests on The FightWorks Podcast, for those who remember back that far!) Phil will share some insights on the best steps jiu-jitsu folks should take if they’re making the wise move of trying yoga. More of his work can be found on Yoga for Fighters.com.

We’ll also speak with Xande Ribeiro, the two-time black belt adult absolute champion in International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation competition (and four time champion in his weight class). Xande has been absent from jiu-jitsu competition for two years, as he was pursuing a career in mixed martial arts. For the time being that plan is on hold according to a blog post from Xande earlier this week. We met Xande at the University of Jiu-Jitsu in San Diego and discussed his return to action. As you’ll hear in the conversation, he is pursuing his third absolute title, which will be a record for anyone! But his old friend Roger Gracie has the same dream this year, setting the stage for a very exciting 2010 BJJ World Championship!

Finally we catch up with Brazilian jiu-jitsu researcher Alex Rosenstein. Earlier this year Rosenstein began work on his thesis for his graduate program in psychology, investigating character traits in jiu-jitsu practitioners. He returns to The FightWorks Podcast this week to share his results, and discuss future wishes for ongoing study into what makes Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners different from others. If you are interested in his work you can connect with him on the website for his research.

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (recommended)
[mp3] Download the show

Gustavo Dantas Jiu-Jitsu Events in association with the Arizona State Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (AZSBJJF) is proud to announce the 2010 Arizona Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu State Championship. There will be a $1000 Cash Prize for the Black Belt, Open Class Division Champion.

Gracie Mag will be covering the event. Don’t foret to check out their upcoming May issue which will feature an article on the 5th AZ International Open of BJJ.

Westwood High School
945 W. 8th St.
Mesa, AZ 85201
MAP

More information is available on the official site.

Rodrigo Cavaca (Check Mat) has his hand raised after defeating Andre de Freitas (Gracie Fighter) at Grapplers Quest in 2009. Both will be competing at this weekend’s 2010 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

To limit the influence of super large jiu-jitsu teams overwhelming a certain bracket to ensure points for earning a medal, each team can only enter two competitors in a single division.

Here’s what I mean. Let’s imagine that you manage a large team of Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitors and have a dozen black belts that can compete at medium. While having a dozen competitors in a single division on one’s team does not absolutely ensure a medal for any of them, it would make the work of a team with far less competitors much harder, reducing the chances that they make it to the podium at the end of the day. Because the tournaments are supposed to represent who the best individual fighters are and not whose team is the largest, the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation prohibits you from entering all twelve of those athletes under your flag in the event. Your team’s leadership can only pick two of them.

Here are a couple of examples coming from this weekend’s 2010 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship. Take these competitors in the notoriously competitive lightweight division:

Alliance Lucas Lepri
Alliance Michael Langhi
Alliance Atlanta William Cooper

Gracie Barra Bruno Amorim
Gracie Barra Sergio Rodrigo de Oliveira
Gracie Barra America Joao Sobrinho
Gracie Barra America Rodrigo Freitas
Gracie Barra Long Island Joe Scarola

You’ll notice that there are only two names listed next to Alliance, and two names listed next to Gracie Barra. This means that if Lucas Lepri or Michael Langhi earn a medal, only their points would go to the Alliance team points. (A gold medal earns 9 points, a silver medal earns 3 points, and a bronze medal earns one point.) If Bill “The Grill” Cooper wins a medal, his points would be accumulated with everyone else’s who was registered under the team named Alliance Atlanta.

The same thing goes for Bruno Amorim and Sergio Rodrigo de Oliveira. They bear the responsibility for bringing home the points for Gracie Barra’s main team.

Of course, should Cooper, Sobrinho, Freitas, or Scarola do well and bring home a medal, we in the public will still associate them with their parent organization (Alliance or Gracie Barra). But in terms of how their points are counted this weekend, only two athletes will be under that pressure. They are their organization’s “A Team”.

Tony the Announcer at last year’s Pan Jiu-Jitsu tournament, using his powerful voice to coordinate the action.

As we mentioned back in October, the Pan Jiu-Jitsu tournament will be held in a new location this coming weekend to accomodate what is likely the largest Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament ever. Last year attendance was about 2,500 competitors. This year the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation is reporting that there will be approximately 2,800 athletes participating on the mats.

On Monday I learned that contrary to last year’s set up, the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation will be holding matches on ten different mats from Thursday to Saturday, and Sunday will be set up to contain eight different mats. Original plans were for 8 and 2, respectively.

If you are one of those 2,800, please remember that you can only wear all blue, all white or all black gis. No other colors are permitted.

With the 2010 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship coming up this weekend I thought it would be a good time to post a list of the different weight classes as listed by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. Of course you are weighed while wearing the gi, so make sure you take that into account.

ADULT, MASTER, & SENIOR

Galo = Rooster 126.5 lbs (57,50 kg)

Pluma = Light Feather 141.0 lbs (64,00 kg)

Pena = Feather 154.0 lbs (70,00 kg)

Leve = Light 167.5 lbs (76,00 kg)

Medio = Middle 181.0 lbs (82,30 kg)

Meio-Pesado = Medium Heavy 194.5 lbs (88,30 kg)

Pesado = Heavy 207.5 lbs (94,30 kg)

Super-Pesado = Super Heavy 221.0 lbs (100,50 kg)

Pesadissimo = Ultra Heavy Over 221.0 lbs (Over 100,50 kg)

FEMALE

Pluma = Light Feather 118.0 lbs (53,50 kg)

Pena = Feather 129.0 lbs (58,50 kg)

Leve = Light 141.0 lbs (64,00 kg)

Medio = Middle 152.0 lbs (69,00 kg)

Meio-Pesado = Medium Heavy 163.0 lbs (74,00 kg)

Pesado = Heavy Over 163.0 lbs (Over 74,00 kg)

To be honest, I sometimes confuse these myself too!

Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu in action at the 2009 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship. Cyborg earned a silver medal in 2009 but did not register for this year’s event.

Heading in to this coming weekend’s 2010 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Irvine, California, we wanted to reflect a bit on who will be returning to defend their titles from last year. As the second most important event held in North America under the auspices of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, the Pan (formerly referred to as the “Pan-Ams”) has traditionally been a “must compete” event for jiu-jitsu’s most talented athletes. For those of us with lower expectations of ourselves (or let’s face it, less talent!) who enjoy it as an opportunity to observe from the sidelines, the Pan is always an amazing event to watch and seems to foreshadow what will happen at the World Championship a few months later.

Below is a list of the various weight classes in the men’s black belt and women’s black/brown belt divisions. You will find the name of last year’s champion and whether they will be competing based on the final list of competitors that the IBJJF has provided now that registration for the event is closed.

Men’s Black Belt

• Roosterweight: Joao Carlos Kuraoka, Axis. There’s a Joao Paulo Kuraoka from Axis signed up, so I presume it’s the same person who will be competing. However this year he’s added a little weight and will be competing in the light feather weight division.
• Light Feather: Yoshihiko Matsamura, Paraestra. Not returning this year.
• Feather: Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles Maciel, Alliance. Cobrinha is signed up and took the gold medal in this division at the Pan tournament from 2007-2009.
• Light: Lucas Lepri, Alliance. Lepri will return and earned the silver medal here in 2008 and the gold in 2009.
• Middle: Lucas Leite, Check Mat. Leite will return and earned the bronze medal in 2008 and the gold in 2009.
• Medium Heavy: Otavio Sousa, Gracie Barra. Sousa will return and earned the silver medal here in 2008 and the gold in 2009.
• Heavy: Roberto “Tussa” Alencar Camargo, Gracie Barra. Tussa will return and earned the silver medal here in 2008 and the gold in 2009.
• Super Heavy: Antonio Braga Neto, Gordo Jiu-Jitsu. Not returning this year.
• Ultra Heavy: Marcio Corleta, Winner Jiu-Jitsu. Not returning this year.
• Absolute: Antonio Braga Neto, Gordo Jiu-Jitsu. Braga Neto will return.

Women’s Brown / Black

• Light Feather: Claudia Martinez Kvenbo, Pinnacle Jiu-Jitsu. Returning, although this year she is listed as affiliated with C Quence Jiu-Jitsu.
• Feather: Fabiana Borges, Gracie Barra. Borges is returning.
• Light: Carol Vidal, Gracie Humaita. Not returning. As Penny Thomas mentioned in our interview on Sunday, Vidal is expecting so will likely be out of action in 2010.
• Middle: Valerie Worthington, Carlson Gracie Team. Val is returning.
• Medium Heavy: Ana Laura Cordeiro, Gracie Barra. Not returning, likely due to injury.
• Heavy: Luciana “Luca” Dias, Gracie Humaita. Perhaps one of the most consistent of athletes at the Pans, Luca is returning. She earned a gold medal at every Pan since 2005!
• Absolute: Ana Laura Cordeiro, Gracie Barra. Not returning, likely due to injury.

So of the 17 divisions described above, seven of the champions from last year did not register for this year’s event. Of course, we have not examined whether the silver and bronze medalists from last year will be present, so as always there will be cutthroat competition the day of the Pan. However, what we do know is that we will definitely see at least seven new champions this year.

The most consistent competitors from the list above like Dias, Lepri, Souza, Tussa, and Cobrinha, certainly are looking to return home with another gold medal around their neck so their opponents can expect them to come out with all guns firing this weekend.

Remember that the 2010 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship will be streamed live online on Sunday for free courtesy of Budo Videos. Make sure to tune in!