The Plan for this Blog.

Ok so I should probably give everyone a brief overview of what I hope to do with this blog. First and foremost it will be a mainly Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blog that branches occasionally into MMA, wrestling, muay thai, etc. What I want to do though, is have any tournaments that I go to will be put up on here, with any major fights being highlighted, and possibly even a few interviews from the tournament. I am gong to try my hardest to get interviews from coaches, and black belts, I don’t know how good my connections are, but believe me, I will use them to hopefully get good ones as often as possible. I really want to be able to show how BJJ is affecting different areas or communities.I hope that the Athlete spotlights, will become a weekly article. Some of the ones I have in mind are

1. Manuel de Celis, Gracie Barra Sevilla
2. Omar Sabha, BTT Long Beach, but Living in Prague
3. Ruben Alvarez, Fight Sports South Beach
4. Vanessa Smith, Marcello C. Monteiro
5. Mike Reyna, Champion Jiu Jitsu
6. Jean Phellippe, GB Montreal
7. Luke Summerfield, Neutral Ground

And finally, I have been offered by a few different teams the chance to visit and train, either by the coaches or by students who have become friends through jiu jitsu. I already have a pretty long list of schools that I can’t wait to visit. Here they are in no particular order, including where they are located.

1. Brazilian Top Team Long Beach.   Long Beach, CA
2. Fight Sports.   Miami, FL
3. Team Helio Soneca.   Louisville, KY
4. Champion Jiu Jitsu.   Chicago, IL
5. Gracie Barra.   Chicago, IL
6. Robert Lovi BJJ.   San Diego, CA.
7. Texas, there are a few schools out there.

I am sure there is one or two that I am missing, and if there are I am truly sorry, let me know and I will update the list! Team Marcello C. Monteiro is always my home, but I have to say thank you to everyone who has invited me to visit!

So yea! there will be the occasional random post put in here of course. I can’t promise I won’t ramble, because that is normal for me… I really look forward to seeing what I can get done. The next main articles will be training with Brazilian Top Team, Long Beach; and interview with their coach Marcelo Perdomo; and my experience at No Gi Natoinals in Las Vegas, Nevada.

As always suggestions are not only welcome, they are encouraged! If there is something or someone you want to see, let me know and I will try my best to get it done! Stay tuned, this is about to get very busy!

Turning 24 and Celebrating it My Way.

So Saturday the 31st. was my 24th birthday. non of my family was able to be home but I found my own way to celebrate it. The night before I went with my friend Lauren to have sushi, and quite honestly, it was amazing sushi… After an early night, I woke up super early, and drove up to the C-3 tournament put no by Braulio Corral. Since getting my purple belt i gussed there wouldn’t be any females to compete with, but I brought my stuff just in case. I didn’t really want to compete on my birthday, but I wanted to cheer on my teammates. So when I got up there we ended up having a group of the kids compete and they all did amazing jobs. After the kids Easton competed for the first time in the adult women’s division. She got first place in adult white belt absolute, and second in the no gi women’s division.

After that I really did not see many of the fights. Braulio needed extra help with refereeing. I actually got to referee the rest of the gi divisions. I have to admit it was a lot of fun! It’s kind of stressful. There are coaches on the side that are trying to coach, but at the same time if they do not think you are doing a good enough job at keeping the fight moving they yell at you, or they are arguing points/ advantages. So you have to tune everything out and watch. The worst part is when there is no score. If there are advantages given it’s better but it’s not fun when there is a tie and you have to decide who wins. At the end of the day I ended up making a few good contacts from the Chicago area.

Oh and I got two great presents for my birthday. My younger brother Collin got me a Jiu Jitsu Progear ranked rash guard. M parents said that they would pay my entrance fee for No gi Nationals. So now I’m pretty much all set! I can’t wait to go!!!

Hitting a Huge Milestone.

Monday night after working a fairly long shift at the pool I went to train with my team. Marcello was back in to and having a seminar. He showed a bunch of great half guard positions, and some new submissions to work on. It was overall an amazing seminar, and it was great to have Marcello back in town.

 

Not only was it a seminar but Monday night was a stripe and belt promotion. Many white belts were given more stripes, a few blue belts were awarded stripes. Even Big Mountain and Brad Maddox two of the brown belts were given another stripe on their belts.

Pat McPhereson who has been training on and off with Marcello since the very beginning was promoted from his ‘permanent’ blue belt, to purple belt.

After Pat was given his purple belt, Marcello turned his attention towards me. He said a few words then awarded me my purple belt! I was a nervous wreck I won’t lie. I’m very honored that Marcello feels I’m ready for my purple belt and I want to do nothing more than represent the academy as well as possible. So now there is even more to work at. Competition will be much more difficult, with even less females at the Purple belt level. So now I’m going to work hard to just better my teammates, be a good teammate, a good competitor. and Keep everyone informed of anything coming up.

I am so blessed to have a great team, great coaches, and people to support me. You guys definitely make every practice better!!

 

An Interesting Weekend

So this week has been a little bit of a ride. It started with the doctors deciding I needed to get some blood work done, which came back with one of my hormone levels being off, and a few other things. So more blood work and getting that taken care of is in my near future. It’s nothing dangerous or life threatening, but it’s something that needs to be taken care of, to better my standard of living.

So after finding out my main sponsor has moved to another country and sut down his company, I’ve had to look for other ways to get funding for no gi nationals. So  a few things will be happening. I’m looking for new sponsors, and will not wear anything from my old sponsor to no gi Nationals. Leaving it to the last minute to inform me really stinks. But with stress and adversity usually comes opportunity. So that brings me to my fund raising event to get to No- Gi Nationals. I’m having a Car Wash!! That’s right, what better way to raise the funds than to do a car wash? So here are the details. It is July 25th from 12:30 to 6 ish. Donations only, and I have friends who are promising to help out! And it’s going to take place in the parking lot next to my bjj school. So if you need your car washed, live in Indiana and want to help out please come! I promise it will be a great time!

Over 100 Views!

Thank you so much to everyone!!! I've had over 1000 views on my blog in a very small amount of time!! I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been reading, who have answered any of the polls, and who have decided to subscribe and follow my blog!!

I have some great ideas for the blog that I will be going into detail with later! I just wanted to say thank youand much love!!!!!

Athlete Spotlight: 4 Junior Adults

In an effort to start giving exposure to BJJ'ers who you may not normally hear from, I’m going to start doing an Athlete Spotlight. This first one will be from four students from Marcello Monteiro’s Junior Adult class. These are the pre-teen/ teenage student who have their own class and are allowed to train with the adults some. So we have Mikey Garcia, 14; Hollie Miller, 14; Beca Stockman, 11; and Edwin Calderon, 15. They all agreed to be interviewed and are definitely god hard working jiu jitsu students.

Hollie Miller The Teacher

After coming back from Spain I met Hollie, who was an energetic girl in the Junior adult class. She was part of the first women’s only classes, and now it is normal to see Hollie helping out with the kids’ class before her own class even starts. At every class she is smiling, and when she spars she give the guys a hard time, and even some of the adults.

How old are you?  I’m 14.

What belt are you?  I’m a gray belt.

How long have you been training Bjj? What made you start?

I’ve been in bjj for about a year. my dad saw it and thought it would be good for me so I tried it and I really liked it.

Do you train any other martial arts, or play other sports?

I used to play volleyball but I’m not going to in high school.

How has Bjj helped you?

It’s helped me become more confident.

Have you competed? how did it go? 

I have competed. I lost. I was nervous before and after I was upset, but I expected that. I didn’t have the best time. I mostly did it because my dad really wanted me to. I don’t think I’m going to do it again any time soon.

Who do you look up to in Bjj?

I don’t particularly look up to anyone.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

BJJ is an amazingly fun sport and I recommend it to all of my friends, but they don’t listen to me. ha ha.

 

Mikey Garcia The Gym Rat

Mikey is a Gym Rat in the very best sense of the word. He is there every day, training in every class he is allowed to take. He has shown as much dedication as you would see in a professional athlete, and it pays off. He’s a big kid for his age, but Mikey gives every adult he goes against a surprise not only is he strong but technical, and he helps make every one of his teammates better.

How old are you?  14

What belt are you?  Gray

How long have you been training Bjj? What made you start?

15 months. My Mom saw Marcello’s car with his advertisement on it and told me about it. My Dad and I went to the academy and I signed up that day.

Do you train any other martial arts, or play other sports? 

Hockey, Muay Thai, MMA

How has Bjj helped you?

I’m in better shape, I’m able to control my anger better

Have you competed? how did it go?

yes, I lost both matches. [I was] Very nervous and afterwards disappointed. I'm looking forward to competing again. After the competition I worked on what I did wrong.

Who do you look up to in Bjj?

Marcello, Blake, Junior, Katie, Jake, Hawaiian

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Beca Stockman- The Legacy.

At the age of 11 Beca is easily taller than the junior adults, and as tall as most of the adults. She has been around brazilian jiu jitsu since she was a baby, her father is a brown belt, and her mother is from Brazil. With her always being around it Beca naturally started doing jiu jitsu, and for her age is surprisingly strong and technical.

How old are you? I’m 11.
What belt are you? I’m a 2 striped gray belt.
How long have you been training Bjj? What made you start?

I’ve been in bjj for about a year. I did it because I had grown up around the sport and finally decided to try and sort of fell in love with it after my first class.

Do you train any other martial arts, or play other sports?

I’ve played basketball for the past four years.

How has Bjj helped you?

It’s helped my confidence and it helps me keep in shape.

Have you competed? how did it go?

I haven’t competed but I want to!

Who do you look up to in Bjj?

Mo one specific but I do look up to higher belts.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

BJJ is an extremely fun sport that really increases your confidence and keeps you in shape while having fun and making friends in the process!(dont put this on the blog but I think I’m sounding like my dad while he’s making a sale)

Sorry Beca I had to put it…

 

Edwin Calderon The Pioneer

Edwin started Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at 11 and was the first kid in class. He has been training a few months longer than me, and can pull off black belt moves without hesitation. At his first tournament he went for a flying arm bar, but his opponent fell to the ground before Edwin could complete it. Although he is small for his age, Edwin is extremely fast, and very technical. He soaks up everything like a sponge and even if he is at a weight disadvantage he make up for it in heart.

How old are you?  I am 15 years old

What belt are you? I am a green belt

How long have you been training Bjj?

I have been training bjj for the past 4 and a half years

What made you start?

what made me start was that I wanted to learn self defense and I want to fight in the future

Do you train any other martial arts, or play other sports?

I did judo for 6 months and right now I am training boxing.

How has Bjj helped you?

bjj has help me improve my strength, keeps me out of trouble, and it has help me meet good people.

Have you competed? how did it go?

I have competed 5 times, I got first in two tournaments and 2nd in 3 tournaments.

Who do you look up to in Bjj?

I look up so many great people that it is hard to mention any names.

Is there anything else you would like to add? I love training with Marcello C. Montiero team together we all make a great team and i feel like a great future training with team Marcello.

 

Why you don’t give me too much down time at work..

Well I started working again as a Lifeguard/ crew leader in training/ swim lessons instructor etc. for a pool. yay right? It’s money so no big deal. It also gives me time to train brazilian jiu jitsu. Which of course is the main goal that i have most days… Nothing like being obsessed. Anyway one of the guys I guard with has been asking a lot about what I train in He got really excited and started asking me about techniques, positions, how the points work, everything. So while we had a break, we decided to go over some basic moves, and positions. So they learned about mount, back mount, sweeps, side control, and knee – on- belly. Also the two guys learned an arm bar from mount, a rear naked choke, and finally a kimura from guard. So here is pictures of lifeguard bjj. It’s fun to breakup the monotony!!

trying the Rear naked choke.. not right, but I fixed it..

 

showing the armbar, poor supervisor..

Like I said it was fun. and hey, if there are any injuries, we can do ffirst aid to ourselves!