For people who were not able to attend the July 21 seminar Master Rickson Gracie decided to offer a second and final day of instruction to the foreign jiu-jitsu fighters who are in Brazil for the International Open, Masters & Seniors Championship.

Please note that the techniques covered in the seminar will not be the same as the last one.

Don’t miss this special opportunity to learn the Invisible Jiu-Jitsu Techniques. First time presented in English in Brazil.

Time: 9am to 1pm

Spaces are limited. Price: $200 or R$380

Register at the Botequim Informal Restaurant, Rua Domingos Ferreira 215 – Copacabana from 11:30am to 9:30pm

Information phone : 9667-9474

CIB
Rua Barata Ribeiro 489
Copacabana
Brazil
MAP

Rickson Gracie advises an attendee at his seminar in Brazil. All photos courtesy Dev Kostal.

Rio De Janeiro, 21 July 2010

I’m going to start this review by prefacing everything I say with this: I am a blue belt. I have just enough experience to know that I don’t have nearly enough experience to have gotten everything I could have out of this incredible seminar. So for everything I missed, or didn’t understand… I apologize.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way…

Master Rickson Gracie’s seminars on “Invisible Jiu Jitsu” have become the stuff of legend. Pirated bootlegs of older seminars have made their way through the underground market to our clamoring hands, because it always seems as though we just can’t find anything. Is he a ninja? Is he a ghost? Shrouded in mystery, it seems as though no one has ever actually attended one of these mythical seminars… maybe The Man himself doesn’t even exist? Except that he does. And he’ll be the first to tell you: There is no secret. Just technique.

I had the extraordinary opportunity today to attend a seminar given by Master Rickson Gracie. The seminar was the first time Master Rickson has presented in English in Brazil, and the intent was to appeal to the visiting international competitors who are here for this weekend’s Rio Open and Master/Senior Mundials.

Apparently the seminar was put together only 9 days ago, and I’m not entirely sure the word got out enough. That said, Master Rickson will be conducting another seminar this coming Monday, 26 July 2010. I’m hoping this review will help get the word out, and I know they’re going to announce it heavily during the tournament.

A who’s who of black belts was in attendance, not least of which were Kron and Kyra. I’m guessing about 100 total people were in attendance, and there was a film crew there, apparently recording it for a future documentary. Choke II, anyone?

We started off with a series of drills revolving around the concept of “connection.” In every movement in jiu jitsu, be it sweep, escape, submission, there is a fulcrum point (my word, not his) around which your body must move to be successful. We all know “hips, hips, hips,” but in many cases, the hip movement is enabled by the connection of another point of your body on your opponent’s. A shoulder, or a hand, etc.

Beginning from standing, he demonstrated these concepts through application in basic escapes or control positions, then we worked in pairs to drill them. Collar control, defending a rear choke, and a few others.

Everything after this revolved around that same idea of connection, and focused on the tiny details in basic movements.

We then went to the ground. We began with the simplest movement, the upa, and its use in the escape from mount. Master Rickson showed how just the smallest adjustment of head position can make this movement that much easier for the person trying to escape.

Much of the time was spent in side control, and we worked details and connection points for escapes from head-control kesa gatame with arm control and without, kesa gatame with far-side underhook with near-side arm control and without, and several other types of top side control. Master Rickson demonstrated how a connected shoulder or hand can control the position enough to get your hips out, or under, your opponent, depending on the situation. We also worked several techniques from bottom guard.

Since this is my review, I’m going to tell you what I took from the seminar. As a blue belt, I grasped this (new-to-me) concept of connection, and the idea of solving the problems from each position by enabling your hip movement with those points. As a concept-oriented person, this really took on the life of Master Rickson’s “invisible jiu jitsu.”

Additionally, one practical thing he highlighted really struck home with me, and that’s shoulder movement. I know it probably seems elementary, but the amount of difference in some of these escapes and movements that is created with larger shoulder movement was astonishing to me.

At the end, Master Rickson sat down and provided several thoughts on his BJJ philosophy: the larger concept of using jiu jitsu for self-defense – which is his entire focus as espoused, of course, by his father Master Hélio. And he discussed jiu jitsu as a metaphor for life, the idea that while these techniques benefit us for self-defense and tournaments, the larger picture is that we can use them to build confidence in ourselves and in our children, our friends, our coworkers.

So… the mysticism? Secret ninja techniques? Nope. What we got was even more valuable: a way to think about each movement, a way to connect our bodies to our opponents’, and enable our own techniques to work better. A way to think about jiu jitsu. A way to carry ourselves. I don’t want to make it sound like I’m pulling back the Wizard’s curtain. What Master Rickson showed us today is there is no curtain to pull back.

I feel privileged and honored to have attended this seminar and shared the mat with 100 of the most professional jiu jitsu practicioners out there. Many, many thanks to Master Rickson for his time and patience, and for providing us the opportunity to attend.

PS I apologize for the pictures, too. In my own defense, I was more worried about training than filming, so I only got the camera out during breaks. And my obligatory picture with Rickson didn’t come out, darn it all. Sorry.

Devlin Kostal is a blue belt under Daniel “Ventania” Thomas at Zeus BJJ in Monterey, CA. He has been traveling through South America, and has been fortunate to train in Lima, Peru, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. His blog, Fueled By Fear, can be found at http://devbjj.blogspot.com.

Dev Kostal and Kron Gracie. Dev: “Why yes, that IS a ‘Fueled By Fear’ patch on the front of my jacket. Thanks for asking!”

Luis “Limao” Heredia will be offering a Brazilian jiu-jitsu seminar in San Diego. Heredia is regarded as Rickson Gracie‘s right-hand man for many years.

Time: 12-3pm
Cost: $100

Robert Lovi Academy
3504 Adams Avenue
San Diego CA 92116

MAP

Luis “Limao” Heredia will be offering a Brazilian jiu-jitsu seminar in San Diego. Heredia is regarded as Rickson Gracie‘s right-hand man for many years.

Time: 12-3pm
Cost: $100

Robert Lovi Academy
3504 Adams Avenue
San Diego CA 92116

MAP

Luis “Limao” Heredia will be offering a Brazilian jiu-jitsu seminar in San Diego. Heredia is regarded as Rickson Gracie‘s right-hand man for many years.

Time: 12-3pm
Cost: $100

Robert Lovi Academy
3504 Adams Avenue
San Diego CA 92116

MAP

Luis “Limao” Heredia will be offering a Brazilian jiu-jitsu seminar in San Diego. Heredia is regarded as Rickson Gracie‘s right-hand man for many years.

Time: 12-3pm
Cost: $100

Robert Lovi Academy
3504 Adams Avenue
San Diego CA 92116

MAP

Sergio Penha is one of the newest members of an elite club in Brazilian jiu-jitsu who have earned the red and black belt. After being a black belt for thirty-one years, he was awarded his red and black belt on June 7th at the 2010 BJJ World Championship alongside Romero “Jacare” Cavalcanti and Mauricio Motta Gomes (Roger Gracie’s father).

Perhaps you have also heard of Sergio Penha for being “the man who almost beat Rickson Gracie“. That’s right, Penha was the closest to breaking the aura of invincibility of the lion of the Gracie family: Penha had racked up a significant lead against Rickson when in the final moments Rickson came back and submitted Penha just before the whistle blew.

And how many jiu-jitsu practitioners who have reached black belt do you know that were never a brown belt? I didn’t know any, until now. That’s right, Penha skipped brown belt altogether.

We will hear about all the above stories and much more straight from Rio de Janeiro native Sergio Penha himself in this episode of The FightWorks Podcast. But if there is one theme in the show, it is his sincere appreciation for the wonderful benefits that jiu-jitsu brings us.

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

Sergio Penha displays the certificate awarded by the IBJJF certifying that he has reached red and black belt.

Despite suffering a relatively one-sided TKO loss at the hands of Matt
Lindland, Rickson Gracie jiu-jitsu brown belt Kevin Casey proved the
"King" of paydays by picking up an event-high $10,000 for his main-event
defeat at this past weekend's Strikeforce Challengers 8 event.

MMAjunkie.com recently requested and today received the list of disclosed paydays from
the Oregon State Athletic Commission.

The total disclosed payroll for the prospects-driven May 21 event was
$46,500.

Sometimes even a "King" isn't above "The Law."

Crafty 13-year-veteran Matt Lindland survived an early scare from
Rickson Gracie brown belt Kevin Casey before launching into a vintage
mauling attacking en route to a third-round TKO win.

The bout served as the main event of Friday's Strikeforce Challengers 8
event at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore. The main card aired live on
Showtime.

Rickson Gracie will be offering his first ever seminar in the state of Texas.

A clean white gi is required to attend this event. This two day event will be held on:

May 29th 3pm to 7pm
May 30th 12pm to 4pm

The cost is $200 per session.

Leonardo Xavier Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
2595 Cordes Drive
Sugarland, TX 77479
MAP

More info available from the official site.