Dedé Pederneiras teaches how to flip an opponent who's baring his weight down over your guard. Photo: Junior Samurai.

Widely regarded as the greatest Brazilian MMA coach, Jiu-Jitsu teacher André Pederneiras (Nova União) flew to the city of Fortaleza to tie up the final loose ends before the next Shooto event in the Northeast Brazilian city.

Coach to José Aldo, Vitor Shaolin and a plethora of other top-notch MMA stars, Pederneiras visited the local affiliate of his team, Nova União, where he taught a class to more than 50 practitioners studying under gym leader Guilherme Santos.

GRAB BELT AND SWEEP

Speaking with Junior Samurai, a GRACIEMAG.com contributor, André Pederneiras shared a lesson for Jiu-Jitsu players who are sick and tired of stallers keeping them down. Remember: the key is to sit up and use your elbow; with a helpful nudge from your foot, you should flip that pesky staller without much effort at all.

Master Carlson ringside in Japan / Photo by Susumu Nagao

Gutenberg Melo, one of the 109 black belts produced by late Grandmaster Carlson Gracie, was in the city of Fortaleza, Brazil, last weekend. In that land of scathing hot sun, the teacher held a seminar exclusively for the Ceará-state branch of his academy, Ação e Reação, as well as handing out belts to some of the aces on the team. Plus he taught plenty a slick move.

JIU-JITSU WITH THE CARLSON SEAL OF APPROVAL

GRACIEMAG.com contributor Junior Samurai attended the class and had a chat with the five-stripe black belt, who proffered pointers for teachers needing to stoke the fire of motivation under their students. Moreover, he demonstrated a bulldog-pedigree choke. According to Gutenberg, Carlson preached that the key to the move is sticking the four fingers of the first hand deep into the collar behind the neck. The position begins 2:15 minutes into the video.

Now how about sharing your own position with our readers: what’s your favorite and most effective choke?

Caio Magalhães in action / Photo: Carlos Ozório

Holding three belts in his undefeated, two-year career, Caio Magalhães is the latest UFC signee. The Jiu-Jitsu black belt, who this season snapped up the Rio Open title and a WPJJ berth by winning the tryouts in Natal, Brazil, will face Fabio Maldonado on January 14 at UFC 142.

The submission ace from Dragon Fight/Nova União shall step in for Stanislav Nedkov, who had visa woes and will be unable to make it. “I still can’t believe it. So much training, so much fighting—I am speechless,” he told GRACIEMAG.com with excitement.

The beast from Ceará, Brazil, who recently won the Shooto Brazil middleweight title, gave hints as to his game plan for his octagon debut: “I’ll do my game, take him down and show him Ceará Jiu-Jitsu’s might. I expect a lot of positive energy from Ceará.”

This Friday, another three fighters were confirmed for combat at the HSBC Arena. Carlos Prater steps in for an injured Siyar Bahadurzada, Ricardo Funch returns to the promotion in place of Paulo Thiago against Mike Pyle, while Gabriel Napão rejoins the fray against Ednaldo “Lula”. Check out the card:

UFC 142
HSBC Arena, Barra, Rio de Janeiro
January 14, 2012

José Aldo vs Chad Mendes
Vitor Belfort vs Anthony Johnson
Rousimar “Toquinho” Palhares vs Mike Massenzio
Erick Silva vs Carlos Prater
Edson Barboza vs Terry Etim
Thiago Tavares vs Sam Stout
Mike Pyle vs Ricardo Funch
Yuri “Marajó” Alcântara vs Michirio Omigawa
Fabio Maldonado vs Caio Magalhães
Ednaldo “Lula” Oliveira vs Gabriel Napão
Felipe “Sertanejo” Arantes vs Antônio Carvalho

The diminutive fighter relied on his acrobatic guard to put him at the top of the podium at both competitions. Check out the black belt’s performance:

With his pesky guard, Neném has been showing the competition scene that his nickname may be diminutive (meaning “baby”), but his Jiu-Jitsu is all grown up – like in this position, where he teaches how to defend a single-leg takedown and attack back with an omoplata.

Mourão at the top of the podium / Photo: Junior Samurai

Last weekend the Brazilian state of Ceará held the Campeonato Cearense de Jiu-Jitsu (Ceará Jiu-Jitsu Championship), overseen by the CBJ. The competition saw a record 700 competitors signed up and fast-paced action on the mats, delighting the spectators crowding the stands.

Among the standouts, Helio Mourão (Gracie Barra) defeated Witano Sorriso in the heavyweight and absolute finals, profiting with two gold medals.

Besides Mourão, some of the other black belts to turn some heads were Tiago Barreto (Brasa-RN) at featherweight, medium heavyweight winner Carlinhos Taz (Gracie Barra), and Abraão Amorim (Evolution), who took top spot at lightweight.

The FJJCE organization promoting the show promises two more events this year, the next coming up in October.

(Collaborator: Junior Samurai)

Tá Danado with another finish in photo by Sebastian Kappes.

A black belt making his UFC debut next Saturday, Carlos Eduardo “Tá Danado” Rocha is a well known entity in Germany, where the 122nd promotional event will take place.

Following a poor upbringing in the Brazilian state of Paraíba, Jiu-Jitsu entered his life later in the state of Ceará, at the team of Darcio Lira. The gentle art took the fighter to Hamburg, Germany, where he amassed a record of eight wins, seven by way of submission, as well as a knockout, nearly all in the first round. Better still, in the lead-up to his fight against Kris McCray, “Tá Danado”, with the approval of his master, fulfilled a dream: he went to train under Coach Roberto Gordo.

“He inspired my Jiu-Jitsu game and he has some of the best fighters on his team (Gracie Fusion-Evolve). What I experienced while training in Rio was a dream come true. I’d seen the guys on TV and then I trained with them. That motivated me more than ever,” he told the UFC website.

His debut will be against McCray, runner-up of season eleven of the TUF reality show, who holds a record of five wins (one loss) with four submissions. Is it likely there will be some lively ground action in the fight?

“For the fans who see my fights and only see submissions, I have a warning: ‘My life is a continuous learning process. I don’t focus on feet, necks or arms in training. I’m going into the octagon to show the best of what a martial arts practitioner has: wisdom.’”

Check out the card for the event headlined by Nate Marquardt against Yushin Okami, also featuring the promotional debut of Alexandre Cacareco:

UFC 122
Oberhausen, Germany
November 13, 2010

Nate Marquardt vs. Yushin Okami

Jorge Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara

Dennis Siver vs. Andre Winner

Amir Sadollah vs. Peter Sobotta

Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Goran Reljic

Rob Kimmons vs. Kyle Noke

Alexandre “Cacareco” Ferreira vs. Vladimir Matyushenko

Pascal Krauss vs. Mark Scanlon

Duane “Bang” Ludwig vs. Nick Osipczak

Seth Petruzelli vs. Karlos Vemola

Kris McCray vs. Carlos Eduardo Rocha

Against all odds, he left his hometown of Nova Russas, in the grasslands of Ceara in 1968 to become a fixture among the skyscrapers of Tokyo, the hotels of Las Vegas and the kickboxing gyms of Holland, where he first went to train in 1995. With him he took a talented young fighter named Pedro Rizzo for polish.

Luiz leaps, in a rare scene where he sports a gi. Photo: Personal archive.

After arriving from Ceara, Luiz Alves started practicing judo in Rio de Janeiro, and went on to find fame in muay thai after winning titles in taekwondo. Owner of an open mind, discipline and kick respected mainly for his aim, Luiz taught class scolding his students (“You got it all wrong”), phrases he would swap for words of encouragement when he was in a fighter’s corner. Things like, “Believe! Take his head off!”

As a fighter, Alves would always believe. At a time when no one would train using pads, but shin on shin, he gained respect after knockouts like his win over the legendary Budi, a feared soccer hooligan. Alves beat Budi with a powerful kick to the abdomen, precisely where his adversary had been shot years earlier.

As a trainer, the grandmaster did not subscribe to rivalries or traditions, and in 1998 decided to teach muay thai to a Jiu-Jitsu black belt preparing for an MMA fight. The outcome? The debuting Andre Pederneiras knocked out Rumina Sato after an unforeseen kick, at Shooto Japan.

As president of the Muay Thai Confederation, working with kids for the future of the sport.

There was, however, a night when Luiz Alves could do nothing for his student. It was one of the coach from Ceara’s most enjoyable evenings. In November of 2003 in Japan, TV reporter Gloria Maria barged into the lobby of the hotel summoning everyone for breaking news to be shown on the Fantastico television program: a showdown between Wanderlei Silva and Rodrigo Minotauro, at a videogame arcade in Shinjuku. The next day, Wand would face Yoshida and Rampage, and Minotauro would fight Cro Cop.

His eyes glued to the videogame, Alves was one of those most excited. He advised Minotauro what to do, hollering throughout, but there was nothing he could do. The heavyweight was in dire straits, getting knocked out by the Chute Boxe star six times, to cackles from everyone present, especially Gloria Maria. “The Wand avatar is really strong, he only loses to Royce, who submits everyone in seconds,” said Rodrigo in resignation.

Guided by Minotauro, the Nogueira on the screen tries to escape the Wand's onslaught and close the distance, egged on by Alves. Photos: Marcelo Dunlop.

It was a sort of virtual revenge for Chute Boxe. Six years earlier in Sao Paulo, the Boxe Thai team Alves had founded in 1984 and Rudimar Fedrigo’s team had a memorable showdown. The two academies were born of the seeds left by Master Nelio Naja, one in Rio and the other in Curitiba, two teams that believed a fight, regardless of the will of those involved, would one way or another end on the ground. They differed only in their training philosophies.

“We always prized the combination of moves, while Chute Boxe would work the hands separate from the legs, etc…” said Artur Mariano, a student of Luiz’s since 10 years of age and a Jiu-Jitsu black belt, in an article in NOCAUTE magazine.

After 19 minutes of fighting, Artur Mariano overcame Wanderlei Silva by doctor’s intervention for a giant gash on the forehead, in the final of the IVC tournament.

A victim of brain hemorrhage this Friday, March 19, after a stroke suffered on January 26, Luiz Alves the winner returns to his hometown of Nova Russas for burial with his mission more than accomplished. He leaves a wife, his grown children and a legion of fans and followers.