Things you should never do at a BJJ tournament

So there is always some form of etiquette for every situation. Big no- no’s if you like that better. At BJJ tournaments it’s the same thing. there are always certain things, that is said or done that may not be the best idea. Here are just a few that should really be avoided if possible.

1.   Do not talk about how it only took you 18 months to get your tae kwon do black belt.

2.   Quoting Karate kid, probably not the smartest idea. Actually so is quoting Never Back Down, or any other predictable MMA/ martial arts/ fighting movie..

3.   Don’t brag about how you learn your techniques from real life, and youtube, how you don’t train with a team, and how you don’t abide by any belt system.

4.  If there is a female carrying a gym bag, don’t assume it’s her boyfriend’s.

5. If said girl then changes into her bjj stuff, do not use your best bjj pick up lines, she’s probably not interested.

6. If you MUST get naked to make weight, do not go to the ONLY female working weigh ins and get naked in front of her. If she’s the only person working weigh ins, get someone to hold a towel or something in front of you.

7.   Again if you have to get naked to make weight, make sure there aren’t little kids around… parents shouldn’t need to explain that.

8.   Don’t force your child who is under the age of 12 and at a normal weight, to cut weight. That’s just not right.

9.  Respect the officials and the table workers, you want them on your side.

10. Don’t sand bag. Challenge yourself.

11.  Unless you are sponsored by TapouT or Affliction, try not to wear their stuff… 

12.  Do not say you are a relative of the Gracie family. Unless you really are.

13.  If you bring your friend who does not train and they claim that they will never tap for a submission, someone will most likely put them in one until they tap…  Just so they know how it feels.

14. Being the competitor that goes to sleep, or gets something broken, is not fun. So please tap… there’s no shame in tapping.

15.  Do not scream at your kid for losing their match. They are competing, doing a sport and it should be something fun, that they love. 

16.  Insult/ bash someone’s coach. That may come back to bite you in the butt.

Now all of these were to be taken with a grain of salt. They are supposed to be fun. But others do have some truth to them. Either way hopefully they are enjoyable, or at least made you go, yea, I’ve seen that before at a tournament..

Brazilian Portuguese words every BJJ’er should know

So many of us will never make it to Brasil to train BJJ. But there are some words that every bjj practitioner should know in Portuguese. Occasionally at a tournament there’s a Brasilian that doesn’t speak English, or a coach shouting in Portuguese, or maybe you just want to listen to what a Brasilian is saying and catch a few words. Well here are some great ones for Brasilian Jiu jitsu, and may make life a little easier.

Combate- fight                    Parou- stop

Porra (Poh- ha)- bad word, don’t use it,

Boa- good                          Vai- go

Raspa (Hah-spah)- Sweep    Passa (Pah-sah)- pass

Obrigado (male) Obrigada(female)- thank you

Faixa (fi- shuh)-belt

Branca(bran- kuh)- white    Azul(a-sool)- blue

Roxa(ho-shuh)- purple         Marrom(mah- hom)- brown

Preta (pray- tuh)- black      cem kilos (cem kilos)- side control

Por Favor (poh fah-voh)- please

desculpe(des-kool-pee)- excuse me

Nao falo  portugues (now- fah-lo poh- tu ges)- I don’t speak Portuguese!

So yea that is just a little Portuguese to help if you’re competing, or if you hear a Brasilian talking about bjj. This way you can at least get some of the basics. there is more, of course, and I am not fluent in Portuguese, far from it. But it’s fun to pick up the words, and rely less and less on mixing Spanish or English in with the Portuguese.

Night at the Fights 1 Premier Cage Fighting 6

June 12 brought Premier Cage Fighting: Total Warrior Challenge 6 to the Indiana State Fairgrounds. 18 bouts were scheduled, with 10 of them being sanctioned Professional bouts. The main event of the night was a major fight between Joao “Pitbull” Herdy Junior, and Dustin “The Beast” Neace. Both men had known each other for a few years, and were ready to end all of the talking. One of the special guests of the night was Chris ‘Lights Out’ Lytle. He talked some about his future mma plans, and modeled some impressive new shades.

Amateur Fights

Fight 1- Larry Pavey vs. Duane Gray. 145 lbs.

Larry and Duane Started off the fight and ended it quickly. Larry had a few good strikes in before Duane took the fight to the ground. Larry accted quickly though and pulled guard, and a guillotine. In only 28 seconds, Larry won by Guillotine choke.  

Fight 2- Matt Perry vs. Andrew Kepchar. 155 l bs.

Matt and Andrew put on a great fight going the full three rounds. Matt started out Taking Andrew to the ground but Andrew got the fight back on their feet, and the fight kept going. During the second round Andrew got deducted for an illegal strike to the back of the head. Matt never really seemed to regain his stamina for the fight. Andrew controlled all three rounds for the win by Unanimous decision

Fight 3- Gary Riggs vs. Ethan Gronk. 185 lbs.

Ethan started of strong kicking, punching, getting the clinch and throwing some painful knees into Gary. On the ground Ethan kept controlling the fight until the end of round one. In round two Ethan made short work of Gary and took him down. Gary turned his stomach down and Ethan sank in a Rear naked choke. Ethan won 47 seconds into round two by rear naked choke

Fight 4- Jesse Parsley vs. Brandon Hockman 185 lbs.

Jesse clearly had the upper hand in this fight. From the moment he started he was in control,stiking Brandon hard, taking the fight to the ground at will, and keeping the pace for the fight. During the second round Jesse made sure to keep control of the fight and after Brandon threw an illegal elbow, Jesse ended the fight. Jesse won by TKO 1:11 into the second round

Fight 5-Jason Clouse vs. Jeremy Baughman 205 lbs.

Jeremy Baughman made this a quick match. he took Jason to the ground and didn’t let up once. Jason made the mistake of turning on all fours while Jeremy kept hitting. The referee stopped the fight 1:05  into the first round in favor of Jeremy, Baughman

Fight 6- Abe Garcia vs. Jesse Turner 155 lbs

This was another fight that went the full three rounds. Abe noticeably had the upper hand, though. He controlled the first round even though Jesse had two guillotine attempts. After the first round Jesse seemed to run out of gas and wasn’t able to keep up. Abe connected with the majority of his punches, while Jesse could not seem to get his timing down. At the end of three rounds the judges awarded the win to Abe by unanimous decision.

Fight 7- Bobby Thilman vs. Bryant Whitaker 170 lbs

Bobby and Bryant went the full three rounds, but other than a good first round kick by Bobby, Bryant dominated the whole fight. He took bobby down whenever he wanted, had a few submission attempts, and kept Bobby on the defensive the whole time. At the end of the fight Bryant was awarded the win by Unanimous decision.

Fight 8- Casey Claybourn vs. Rob Arnett Heavyweight

Casey and Rob both seemed ready to fight at the beginning of round 1. Rob quickly got the upper hand on Casey and kept pushing the fight. Rob did a great job of controlling the first two rounds. At the bell signaling the start of round three Casey was too tired to answer. Rob was awarded the win.

A group of fans watch the fights

Pro Fights

Fight 1- Casey Dyer vs. Matt Singleton 135 lbs.

Matt started off with a great kick to Casey’s head. He took down Casey and was doing a great job trying to control the fight. unfortunately he made a small mistake and Casey was able to go for a triangle choke. Casey won 2:46 into round one by triangle.

Fight 2- Ryan McIntosh vs. Toney Alvey 145 lbs

Another short fight., Toney tried to take down Ryan but Ryan ended on top. After standing up Ryan kept control, and show some impressive stand up game. Ryan got a good head kick to Toney and drops him.Ryan McIntosh won by TKO 2:32 into the first round.

Fight 3- Chris Johnson vs. Andrew Zook 145 lbs

Earning the honor of fastest fight of the night were Chris and Andrew. Chris took down Andrew but Andrew was able to turn it into an armbar. Andrew Zook won by armbar :15 into round one.

Fight 4- Bryan Nevvile vs. Rob McIntyre 145 lbs.

Bryan and Rob both decided to keep the fight standing for a majority of the fight. They traded strikes the whole first round, with Rob coming out ahead and controlling the full first round. In the second round Bryan tried to pull guard and guillotine Rob. Rob escaped and kept control of the fight. Rob kept up his assault and Bryan tapped out due to strikes, 4:22 into the second round.

Fight 5- Kevin McIntosh vs. Justin Allen 185 lbs.

Justin Immediately got the upper hand in this fight and ended it as quickly as he could. Kevin was too cautious and gave Justin the openings he needed. 1:21 into the first round Justin landed a big knee and was awarded the TKO.

Fight 6- Marvin Lemlock vs. James Powell Heavyweight

Another extremely short fight by these two fighters. Marvin gets a good kick in, James tried to shoot and take down but left his head on the outside. Marvin took advantage of his mistake, and sunk in a standing guillotine. Marvin won in only :42 into round one by submission.

Fight 7- Jerry Burns vs. James Shaw. Heavyweight

Jerry and James were very slow to start. both men did not seem to have the conditioning and weren’t moving or fighting very hard. Every once and a while there was a good hit but nothing too notable until the third round. In the third round James made a move and pounced on Jerry. The ref called a stop to the fight 2:55 into the third round, awarding the fight to James.

Fight 8- Garrett Whiteley vs. Miles Shrake 170 lbs

Miles tried to make the first move by taking down Garrett, but Garrett got the top position, and worked to keep Miles on the ground on all fours. Garrett used his ground and pound to loosen up Miles before getting back mount. Garrett got the back mount and worked to get the Rear Naked Choke. 3:14 into the first round Garrett finished his Rear Naked Choke.

Fight 9- Terry Mellotte vs. Jimmy Jenkins. Super HVWT

Jimmy came out striking, got trapped on the cage once or twice. Jimmy kept up the pressure and Terry tapped out due to strikes in the first round.

Main Event

Joao ‘Pitbull’ Herdy, Junior vs. Dustin ‘The Beast’ Neace 145

This fight was well worth the wait. It went all three rounds and showed off both fighters techniques. Both worked their stand up, Joao getting in a few impressive knees, kicks, and punches in, and Dustin firing back. Joao had a few good take downs and a few good submission attempts. This fight was by far the most technical of the night, neither fighter gave up. At the end though the judges unanimously scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Joao.

Round 1

Rounds 2 and 3

It was a great night of fights with some amazing up and coming fighters showing their talents. Thank you so much to Premier Cage fighting for allowing me this opportunity to get back into the MMA reporting game! And sorry it took so long to get everything up, my computer had a few hiccups this week but everything should be back to normal!

To Fight Sports South Beach

On the final day of Mundials, there were victories to celebrate, and a teammate to remember for team Fight Sports. Fight Sports coach Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu finished second today in the Black belt ultra heavyweight division. They also had two more athletes win their division, and one get third.

One of the athletes that went was a guy named Peter Bivona. And Although I do not know Peter very i thought it was necessary to talk about him. He added me as a friend a few weeks ago on Facebook, and from the little bit of talking we did he seemed to really love Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He competed at Mundials, and although he did not do so well, he vowed to come back next year more prepared and ready to do his best. Unfortunately Peter won’t have another chance to compete at Mundials. Saturday night a status update appeared on his profile “In pain can’t sleep” Sunday morning one of his teammates Asked everyone to pray for Peter because he was in the hospital. By the end of competition on Sunday, Pater had passed away. So far what is known is that Peter Died of a blood clot in his lung. And since the news of him passing broke, there has been an overwhelming response to it. Pictures, videos, prayers to his friends and family.

 Peter, Saturday after competing at Mundials

I know I cannot do him justice, because I barely knew him. But it is always devastating when someone in the jiu jitsu community passes. Peter was described by one of his teammates as being “like a brother and a dad to him, he was the life of the team.” My sincerest condolences to Team Fight Sports and to all of Peter’s friends and family.

A paypal account has been created for donations to Peter Bivona and his family. All of the proceeds will go to help defray the coasts of the service and ceremony.  Peter Rage Fund

 

Peter training at Fight Sports.

Mundials!!!

Well this week has been IBJJF’s Mundials. And I wish I would have put this up earlier but, if you would like to watch the live feed of Sunday, the final day of brown and black belt competition, I have two websites for you! Live video feed from Budo videos, and live up to date results from the Fightworks podcast. I know of a few people competing over at Mundials and I plan on getting some interviews done with them once they get back to their respected schools, so keep checking back!!

 

 

*Mundials is World championships. Other competitions groups have a world championships, but Mundials are the most prestigous

The New Obstacle for Jiu Jitsu Women

As women in a male dominated sport we have a lot of things things working against us. Lack of other females to train with, different body make up than the men, the occasional social stigma of being a ‘female fighter’ and now another thing that seems to be happening more and more frequently, the possibility of becoming a mother. I am not at all saying becoming a mother is something bad, it is an amazing and miraculous thing. There is a big difference though when a female teammate is expecting and a male teammate is expecting. The male teammates can of course still go to practice and train their butts off. What happens to the females though? sometimes the pregnancy is planned, sometimes it is not, either way it starts to pose a few obstacles when sparring goes from one on one to, two on one.

The first female I remember this happening to was Lindsay. Lindsay and her boyfriend came along to class and jumped in full force. Not long after they started though, Lindsay got pregnant. She gradually stopped coming to class, but ended up with a beautiful baby girl named Mia. Lindsay is back at class and is a hard working blue belt. Her and Ken have worked out a way to where they are both at as many classes as possible and we have even gotten to see little Mia once or twice. She knows how to get mount, and armbar.

Last year one of our blue belts moved back from Wisconsin. Allison is a great competitor and a great girl to have around in class, she was always asking questions and her amazing base made all of us better for having her around. When she left we were all sad to see her go. So when Alison and her boyfriend Aaron moved back we were all happy to see her back. Maybe two months after, Alison pulled us aside and told us she was pregnant. She comfortably trained up to about 4 months before she stopped training bjj. Recently Alison showed back up to practice with baby Aiden in tow. Aiden is about four months old now and he loves to watch practice. he watches on the side, laughing. If anyone is sitting on the side taking a break during sparring we play with the baby while Alison spars.

                             Aiden enjoying class                             Alison and baby Aiden

And now Vanessa, our brown belt, is pregnant. She is 5 1/2 months along and still coming to jiu jitsu. When she is there she trains the techniques, and will occasionally spar, but she is unsure how long it is okay for her to keep up what she’s doing. No one really knows the doctors tell her to be careful but they aren’t really sure what Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is, and what she should  or should not do.  So as she is changing weight classes Vanessa keeps training, and planning for her baby girl.                     Vanessa at 5 1/2 months pregnant

So now the thing we need to do is figure out how much is too much… if there is too much. Or do we just keep training until it becomes too uncomfortable for us? In no way am I condoning doing a tournament 5 months pregnant, I am strictly talking about the training. The hardest thing to do is come back after a layoff, and pregnancy can make for a very long lay off. So if any of your fellow female teammates/ friends that do jiu jitsu get pregnant, encourage them to keep training as long as she feels comfortable, and after the baby encourage them to some in when they can, so #1 we can meet the newest teammate, and #2 see her and get her back on the mats! we have a new generation of jiu jitsu fighters being born by some tough moms, lets make this beneficial to everyone!

UFC comes to the Circle City

So waking up this morning was definitely interesting. I woke up to hear the news talking about how the UFC will be coming to Indianapolis! The prospective date is September 25, 2010. It will be UFC 119, and this is a huge step for Indiana. MMA has only been sanctioned in Indiana for around a year, and the UFC deciding to have a show here means its working. No more tiny shows where people are grossly mismatched or judges not knowing how to score, or referees not being required to go through any sort of training. With the fights being sanctioned MMA has become much safer, and made opportunities like bringing the UFC to Indiana a possibility.

The potential main event for UFC 119 would be Matt Mitrione vs. Joey Beltran. Mitrione’s most recent fight was against Kimbo Slice. Kimbo after losing the fight announced his retirement from the UFC. Regardless I can’t wait to see the fights, and you better believe I’m going to try and find a way to be there!

As more information on this show comes out check back for details!

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