O campeonato All Star 2 reuniu a comunidade do Jiu-Jitsu em Santa Cruz, na Califórnia, no último fim de semana. Os dois dias do torneio de Claudio França foram de muita ação, boa técnica e emoção até os últimos segundos.

Se você não estava no evento, o competente produtor Daniel Carettoni preparou este vídeo com seus principais destaques.

Check it out the All Star 2 highlights video

The All Star 2 Tournament gathered the Jiu-Jitsu community in Santa Cruz, Calif. this last weekend, and for or two days gentle art aficionados were thrilled with the display of heart and technique.

Even if you missed all that, Daniel Carettoni prepared this video with the event’s highlights.

Check it out!

All Stars Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 2013 from Daniel Carettoni on Vimeo.

Nathan Mendelsohn on his way to pass Rice’s guard

Protagonist of the most thrilling moment of last Sunday’s All Star 2 Jiu-Jitsu Tournament in Santa Cruz, Nathan Mendelsohn talks exclusively to GRACIEMAG about the last seconds guard pass over Tanner Rice and also reveals bold goals for his career as a black belt.

Watch our exclusive interview in the player below.

Nathan Mendelsohn checks if the three points are in the scoreboard

Nathan Mendelsohn was behind in the scoreboard by one advantage against Tanner Rice. It was the only fight of the black belt adult middleweight division of the All Star 2 Jiu-Jitsu Tournament, in Santa Cruz, Calif.

Rice had one advantage for a nearly sweep after pulling guard.

Playing on top all the time, Mendelsohn tried to pass the whole match, but had no luck in it.

“I thought I was ahead on advantages for the near guard passes, but when I looked up I saw I was going to lose,” he confessed.

A local talent training under black belt Claudio França, Mendelsohn had all the support he needed from the crowd.

“It was great to compete in Santa Cruz again!” he said “It was my first competition as a black belt and I’m glad it was here, a place that brings so maany good memories to me.”

Back to the match, there were less than 60 seconds left on the clock when he looked up. It was time for one last try and he went for it.

“I know his guard is really good, as we have fought five times now and it’s 3-2 for me,” he said, “but I had all the confidence I needed in my passing technique.”

The confidence paid off and the last try was the charm.

Finally, Mendelsohn managed to overcome the dangerous rubber-guard that Rice plays.

The crowd went nuts as Nathan held on until he saw the ref raising his hands with three fingers out.

Soon after, the buzzer sounded and it was all over.

After the victory, he already made big plans for his life as a black belt:

“Now I want to go out and win everything,” he exclaimed. “People say it’s gonna be hard and that in the first year you have to start in the smaller tournaments, but I’m not gonna put myself in that mindset. I want to win Pan and Worlds in my first year.”

Also in the black belt adult division, Osvaldo Moizinho had no problems to tap out Steven Cocos with a choke with the lapel.

As it was meant to be, only Rice signed up for the absolute and there were no fights there, saving the spot of “Moment of the Weekend” for Medelsohn’s guard pass.

All Star 2’s creator and organizer, Claudio França, already invited all for his next big event, The American Cup, scheduled next April 20-21, in San Jose, Calif.

Check out the complete results at allstartournament.com.

For GRACIEMAG’S full coverage, go to GOOGLE+.

The team results were as follows:

ADULT MALE

COALITION 95 – 90pts

CAIO TERRA JJ – 53pts

KAIJIN BJJ – 31pts

FEMALE

PARAGON BJJ – 21pts

CAIO TERRA JJ – 18pts

PENINSULA BJJ – 12pts

MASTER/SENIOR

COALITION 95 – 117pts

BAY JJ – 30pts

CAIO TERRA BJJ – 28pts

JUVENIL

ALLIANCE – 9pts

ONE WORLD – 9pts

COALITION 95 – 6pts

Here’s a exclusive photo gallery of All Star 2 this Sunday:

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Manny Diaz dominated the brown belt!

FOLLOW THE ALL STAR FULL AND LIVE COVERAGE HERE.

The first day of the All Star #2 Jiu-Jitsu Tournament went by without hicups.

The event hosted by Caludio França with IBJJF’s Alvaro Mansor as referee director followed the schedule to the letter, allowing the 380 competitors to get the most out of it.

First the kids took over the mats and displayed the usual intensity and devotion to the gentle art.

Children and teens from 4 to 15 years old put on a great show for nail-biting parents and anxious professors.

After all the thrills, the final teams kids results were as follows:

1st – Coalition 95 – 113 pts
2nd – Rice Brothers – 50 pts
3rd – Guerrilla – 46 pts
4th – Bay JJ – 46 pts
5th – Amazonas BJJ – 31 pts

Then it was time for the adults, beginning with the blue belts.

A lot of stories unfolded on the four mats set at the Civic Auditorium of Santa Cruz.

For instance, do you remember the Baywatch carachter Hobie Buchannon? He is now a Marcus Vinicius’blue belt in Beverly Hills.

In Santa Cruz, actor Jeremy Jackson conquered the middle-heavyweight master division and also ventured in the absolute, losing to a much heavier Jason Gustus.

The day ended with the definition of two absolute champions.

Luke Pollard became the blue belt open class male champion. He also won the ultra-heavy division. In the absolute, Pollard fought four times and submitted three opponents. The final was against Casey Rubinoff, defeated him with an armbar. Luke has train in Jiu-Jitsu for three and a half years at Kaijin BJJ.

Manuel “Manny” Diaz was the brown belt absolute champion. In the final match he choked Keith Fukumai from the mount. Diaz, who trained with Caio Terra for a year and a half and has trained for four years, tapped out two out of his three opponents in the open class. In his division, the ultraheavy, he also tapped his two opponents.

The action continues Sunday, when the black belts enter the stage.

As usual, follow GRACIEMAG’s up to the minute coverage at Google+.

Here are some of the best pictures of the day of action in Santa Cruz

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Nathan Mendelsohn

There is still a chance for you to register for the All Star #2 Tournament! Regular Registration for the All Star #2 Tournament will end on Friday, Feb. 8 at 11:59 p.m. PT. The price for Kids is $75 and the price for Juveniles, Adults, Masters and Seniors is $90.

There are new divisions this year at the All Star #2 Tournament! A kids division is included for all ages and belts, and also a new Women’s Master division! Check out the website for more information!

Also, the official hotel for the All Star #2 is the Continental Inn in Santa Cruz, Calif. There are special rates during the dates of the tournament, as well as a day before and after.

Information for the hotel is as follows:

Continental Inn

414 Ocean Street

Santa Cruz, California 95060

Hotel: 831-429-1221

Reservations: 800-343-6941

Call the Continental Inn and mention the All Star Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Tournament to receive the discount:

$58 One Bed Per Night

$78 Two Beds Per Night

One of the big stars of the All Star #2 Tournament will be recent black belt Nathan Mendelsohn. Here is an exclusive interview with him where he talks about his career, diet, a trip to Brazil, Jiu-Jitsu in Northern California and much more.

GRACIEMAG: How’s Jiu-Jitsu  in North California?

Nathan Mendelsohn: Jiu-JItsu in Northern California is really strong. Our sport has been growing here for a long time and the teams from this area are producing lots of high caliber competitors. I’ve watched as the level at our academy (Claudio França BJJ) specifically has risen immensely since I started training in 2000 and how the number of students with high belts is much larger than back then. When I started going to Brazil in 2007 I was amazed at how many black belts were on the mat at once. Now I’m starting to see a lot darker colors on the mats across Northern California as well. Our academy just promoted nine new black belts at our annual belt promotion in December and the other academies in the area are constantly growing as well.

What were your best results in BJJ competitions?

Well as a brown belt I was champion of weight and absolute at the 2011 CBJJO Mundial in Brazil and the All Star BJJ #1, was Absolute Champion at the 2011 American Cup and 2010 IBJJF Honolulu Open, got gold in my weight division at the 2010 American Cup and IBJJF Las Vegas Open, silver weight and absolute at the 2012 IBJJF S.F. Open, and silver in my weight and bronze in the open at the 2012 IBJJF U.S. Nationals. I was five-time U.S. Open Champion, three times at blue and twice at purple, and at purple belt I also won the 2009 IBJJF U.S. Nationals, American Cup, CBJJO World Cup, and the FJJD Rio Circuito Mineirnho 3 Etapa Ranking, and also took silver at the 2008 Rio Open and bronze at the 2009 IBJJF Pan, among many others.

You are American and you started practicing BJJ when you were ten years old . Not too long ago, you got your black belt under Claudio Franca. What’s the impact that BJJ have been causing in your life? What’s the importance of BJJ in your life, in and outside of the mats?

BJJ has definitely been the most positive influence in my life except for maybe my parents who have always been incredibly supportive. Jiu-Jitsu really is a lifestyle for me, and it helped me to find my identity when I was younger and still figuring out who I was. I started in martial arts when I was four, with Karate and then Ho Kuk Mu Sul, and I used to play water polo and play in the band and do a lot of other things as well, but once I started Jiu-Jitsu it was only a matter of time before it became clear what my path through life would be. In Santa Cruz a lot of people identify with the surf and skateboard culture, and while I liked doing both those things I never felt exactly like a “surfer” or a “skater.” Once I found Jiu-jitsu, I really identified with the culture and it became a source of self-esteem for me and gave me something that I feel like I belong to more than anything else. It has given me something constant in my life that I can always count on to keep me happy and on track. A lot of young people don’t have something like that in their lives and it’s very easy to lose your way. In Jiu-jitsu you have to be honest with yourself because your lies don’t help you on the mat, and if you’ve been falling off track your training partners will always let you know it when you get back on the mat. A Jiu-Jitsu team really is like a second family and my instructor, Claudio Franca, is like a second father to me. I thank Jiu-jitsu and my team for making me the person I am today.

Did you ever get bullied at school or experienced any situation that you had to use BJJ to defend yourself?

I never got bullied too much, partly because a lot of people at my school had heard that I was a Jiu-Jitsu competitor. My cousin and I, who also trained Jiu-Jitsu with at the time, would invite our friends over for MMA sparring sessions in the garage sometimes, too. I never had a tough guy attitude, though; I’m really the opposite of that. I think the confidence that you gain from Jiu-jitsu takes away some of that need to prove yourself that young men feel, so I’ve always been pretty good at letting things slide to a certain extent. There were definitely some older kids who were disrespectful to me at times, but the fact that I really take the philosophy seriously — that Jiu-jitsu should only be used physically off the mats if it’s completely unavoidable  — has kept me out of trouble for the most part.

All Star 2 will be the first time that you’ll be competing as a black belt . What are your expectations?

I’m expecting it to be really exciting! I love competing so any chance to get on the mats and do what I enjoy most is a real blessing. So far its just me and Tanner Rice, last year’s brown belt lightweight world champion, in the bracket. I beat Tanner here in Santa Cruz at last year’s All Star and then he went on to beat me at the Pan so I’m looking forward to the rematch. Should have a lot of great support from my friends and family at the event so I’m stoked to have the chance to compete in front of them in my hometown!

Please talk a little bit about your diet.   

My diet in competition season is really strict because I typically have to lose a lot of weight to be in my weight class. Really, I bounce between two weight classes depending on the tournament because making the lower of the two is really difficult, so I save that for the most important competitions. When I’m going for the lower weight class I have to eat really lean and cut out all non-essentials, eating a lot of salad with no dressing, grilled, unseasoned chicken and fruit. When I’m going for the higher weight class I can be a little more relaxed but I still only eat things that are going to be good fuel for my body. This is hard for me, though, because, truthfully, I love junk food and on the way back from fighting a tournament in L.A. I always make sure to make one or more stops at In-N-Out Burger.

Because of the fact that there are a lot of kids practicing BJJ, do you think that there’s a strong new generation of American black belts rising?

Most definitely! At our team we really focus on the kids’ program because the kids are our future and we have quite a few talented young ones that are sure to be top black belts one day as long as they stick with it. When I go to the kids’ tournaments like the American Cup or the Pan Kids or now the All Star, I’m always amazed at the level of BJJ the kids display and how many of them there are. Some of those kids look like little mini purple belts! When I was a kid there weren’t a whole lot of big tournaments for kids. The Copa Pacifica used to be one that had kids that I would get excited to travel to L.A. to compete in, but it wasn’t on the scale of the ones we have today. It’s going to be really fun watching the new generation of munchkins grow up to kick all our butts in the future!

Please talk a little bit about your trip to compete in Brazil …

I love Brazil. I’ve been five times, last year was the first year that I didn’t go since I first went in 2007 when I was seventeen. It’s a paradise. It’s got great food, amazing beaches and it’s the mecca of Jiu-Jitsu. There’s no place I would rather go so that’s why I keep going back! I’ve been lucky that my parents have been willing to open our home to many Brazilian competitors over the years who have come to Santa Cruz to teach and/or compete, and they are always happy to put me up when I go to Brazil so I always have a place to stay and train. Over the years I’ve spent time at the homes of competitors Theodoro Canal, Rodolfo Vieira, Marcus Antelante and Joao Gabriel among others. My Brazilian friends and their families have always been extremely welcoming and have taken care of me really well every time I’ve gone to visit them. Most of them live in Rio de Janeiro so that’s where I’ve always gone, all five times. While I’m there I train with GFTeam and Soulfighters, compete as much as possible and always make huge improvements to my Jiu-Jitsu.

Are you going to participate at the IBJJF rules seminar with Alvaro Mansor? What’s the importance of this seminar in your opinion?

I probably will attend the rules seminar with Alvaro, though I’m not 100 percent sure. I’ve done it before and its extremely helpful. The rules in our sport are full of intricacies and nuances, and it really helps for a competitor to understand them. I try to run away from reffing as much as possible because it’s really difficult and a lot of pressure — a different kind of pressure than it is to be one of the combatants — but I think it’s just as important for competitors to know the rules as it is for the refs.

What can you say to the folks that will compete at the All Star competition in Northern California?

You’re in for a treat! If you’ve never been to Santa Cruz before then you’re going to love it, and if you have then welcome back! The tournament is sure to be well run and fair and a good experience for everyone. Good luck, fight hard and see you on the 16th and 17th!