As part of a charity opportunity, Rafael Mendes has opted to sell the competition gi he wore when he recently competed and won his superfights in Chechnya.

The proceeds for the gi will go towards Kristen Gustavson, who was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer.

The gi is a white Shoyoroll Comp Standard that has patches for Art of Jiu Jitsu Academy, Atos Jiu Jitsu, RVCA / Barry McGee & Bull Terrier Fight Gear.

You can also donate directly to Kristen here: https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/hbm7/-kristensjourney?utm_source=giveforward&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=dashboard&shareid=3048862

Bid here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/261794621914

The Stronghold awarded top fundraising team. Photo: Tap Cancer Out

On Jan. 17 the Tap Cancer Out Winter BJJ Open was held in San Diego, CA. Unlike a regular tournament, competitors could opt for fundraising instead of simply purchasing the registration fee. There were also opportunities to donate and fundraise as an individual and as a team.

In total, the tournament raised over $16,000 for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding childhood cancer research. The top individual fundraiser was Samuel Martinez of Moore Jiu-Jitsu and the team award for fundraising went to The Stronghold. There were 72 fundraisers and 362 donors total and because of this event’s contributions, Tap Cancer Out has now raised over $100,000 for St. Baldrick’s Foundation since 2014.

But it wasn’t only the charity who received donations–the family of Jeremy Montes Jr., a young Jiu-Jitsu competitor who recently passed away from cancer, received $500 from the event via shirt sales by DeuS Fight Co. You can still purchase the shirt here.

The team totals from the competition are as follows:

1. The Stronghold – 78 points
2. Checkmat – 52 points
3. Victory MMA – 45 points

See full list of divisions winners here.

Learn more about Tap Cancer Out and follow their tournament schedules at www.tapcancerout.org

On Jan. 10, the Nava family of Nava BJJ welcome you to compete in the second edition of the D.A.N. tournament to help bring awareness to neurofibromatosis type 2.

The rare disease occurs in 1 out of every 25,000 births yet Leslie Nava and both children live with it. They have multiple tumors located in their brain and spine as well as on the hearing nerves that often result in deafness.

Husband, father and head instructor Paul Nava says, “My goals is to bring a broader awareness so that people will feel the desperate need to help support finding a cure for those that have and continue to live with the results of such a disease. This tournament is a great opportunity for our Jiu-Jitsu family, and community to come together for this cause.”

This tournament is open to all white, blue and purple belts with one age division for all older than 16. Weigh-ins will be held the day before at Nava BJJ on Jan. 9 from 5 – 8 p.m. but you can also weigh in on the day of the tournament.

All competitors will receive a D.A.N. t-shirt and receive medals for first, second and third as well as a team trophy.

The fee is $50 per competitor and $10 per spectator. To learn more, go to www.navabjj.com or call 480-491-5440.

The tournament will be located at Nava BJJ, 1660 S Alma School Rd Suite 118, Mesa, Arizona 85210.

You can make donations at the website, too.

Check out a highlight of the first edition last year:

Filip Matos and some of the gi donations. Photo: Personal archive

In Canada, a special charity project has been growing in numbers. What started as a small idea to bring gis back home to Brazil turned into a large pool of donators who have helped accomplish much more than anticipated.

Professor Filip Matos of Gracie Barra North Vancouver started the project without realizing it would become a project at all. Here is how almost 200 gis were gathered to be donated:

“It started when my boss surprised me with airfare for a flight to go home to Brazil to see my family (I hadn’t seen them for 3 years). I was touched by his generosity. I wish I can do something so generous one day.

I knew one guy in my town who teaches Jiu-Jitsu at his home for kids/teens/adults who cannot afford it. I had three old gis still in good condition that I wasn’t using, so I thought to bring them with me and give them to him for his students.

More gi donations. Photo: Personal archive

I thought to maybe text some of my friends and ask if they had any old gis to give as well. I have good friends. Kabir Bath, Jason Gagnon and Walter Buse–they all got on social media and asked all their friends and students to give gis, too. The BJJ community came through. I started going to the gyms to teach classes, take pictures and pick up gis. The first week I got over 20; I was so happy. The next week I got over 50! I was happy but worried. I didn’t know how I would get all the gis to Brazil. Me and my girlfriend were folding so many gis every night. I talked to a friend of mine and he told me: “Charity is not easy, but it’s worth it.”

Again I asked for help and the BJJ community supported me. People started to give donations for shipping, too. I’ve been to schools from Chilliwack to Squamish, and had donations from as far away as Vernon.

After just 3 weeks people have donated almost 200 gis and given over $1200 cash. Now I can send gis to Brazil and to the Philippines. This idea to take three gis has turned into being able to help students who can’t afford at many schools. This is important for me.

Even more important for me is seeing how well the BJJ community in British Columbia, Canada is growing. We can train together, compete together and support each other.

Kabir Bath of GMA Kaboom BJJ was one of the connections Filip had made to get the word out. His response to the outpouring of donations:

Donations at GMA Kaboom BJJ. Photo: Kabir Bath

“When Professor Filip first messaged me telling me about his plan for the gi drive, I thought it was a great idea. Over the past two years, I’ve been working to really unite the BJJ community in BC. It’s been a great success, and it’s very satisfying to see our BJJ community unite to help support the community at large. I knew the community would pull through again if we could spread awareness, so the first thing I did was get a video out on social media letting everyone know about the cause. Raising awareness was one thing, but I wanted to really help Professor make this a success. I followed up with more videos giving academy owners tips on how to motivate their students to contribute to the cause. A lot of the participating academies adopted some of the ideas, and it was a great success. It was beautiful to see the BJJ community unite to raise over $1000 dollars for shipping costs, as well as over 200 kimonos. I am proud of how our community has grown closer in the last two years. I’m excited about all the great work we can do in the future together!”

You can still donate. If you’re in the BC area you can donate at your gym and Filip will find a way to pick them up. If not, you can always donate funds here: http://www.gofundme.com/ijtrlo

Also, you can stay in contact with Filip for how to spread the word to your own academy: filipmatosbjj@live.com

All the professors involved. Photo: Personal archive

Tap Cancer Out, a Jiu-Jitsu based 501 (c)(3) nonprofit, in partnership with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, will host a grappling tournament to benefit the fight against pediatric cancer.

The event, Tap Cancer Out Winter Open, will be held at the University of San Diego Sports Center on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015. This will be Tap Cancer Out’s fifth Jiu-Jitsu Open since 2013 and its first event in California.

In addition to merchandise sales, sponsorships, and cash donations, Tap Cancer Out raises money and awareness by hosting grappling tournaments.

Recently, at the Tap Cancer Out Boston Summer Open, the organization announced that they will donate over $97,000, the largest gift to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation by a charity partner.

For this tournament there will be male and female divisions in both gi and no-gi. There will be no registration on the day of the tournament so you must register prior.

There are two ways to register:

If you are able to raise $250 or more in donations via the Tap Cancer Out fundraising platform then you can compete for free.

If you choose to pay the registration fee, you can register now for the early bird discount of $40 per person for one division or $56 per person for two division. After Dec. 17 the registration fee will be go up.

For anyone interested in more information about Tap Cancer Out or how to participate in future events, please visit: www.tapcancerout.org.

For anyone interested in making a donation, please visit: https://www.classy.org/san-diego/events/tap-cancer-out-2015-winter-bjj-open/e38500

For anyone interested in volunteering, please contact: oliver@tapcancerout.org

A team of passionate Jiu-Jitsu lovers are about to prove their passion for something else– awareness for men’s health. On Nov. 22, Gravity BJJ in Surrey, BC will hold their third annual Movember Rollathon.

For 24 hours straight, there will be at least two people sparring on the mats. At 9 a.m. there will be cross-training for the kids and the adults will step up and train in a class at 10 a.m. By 8 p.m. there will be a Mustache Strut-Off Competition to keep the mood light along with raffles from sponsors.

This charity event will raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer research, a topic that doesn’t get enough attention. Organizer Sofie Zambas has run these events successfully twice now and the outcomes have always proven that each year it can make a difference.

If you aren’t around the area in Canada you can donate here: http://ca.movember.com/team/1525017 

If you would like further information or would like to learn how you can get involved, please contact Sofie Zambas at sofie@gravitybjj.ca or 604-780-5154.

Murilo Santana is a dedicated Jiu-Jitsu athlete who, like many others, can be found on the mat at all hours. But on Sept. 13 he didn’t leave the mats from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and rolled for twelve hours straight.

This wasn’t because he lost a bet or because he was really missing Jiu-Jitsu (although that we may never know), but he didn’t stop because he was part of a grapplethon for charity. The goal of those in attendance at BETA Academy in Washington DC that day was to raise awareness for victims of sexual assault.

There were 175 grapplers in attendance from over 25 academies and overall there was a grand total of over $10,000 raised. Proceeds went to the sexual assault response services of the Network for Victim Recover of DC (NVRDC).

Luiza Monteiro also taught a seminar during the same day.

Organizer Laurie Porsch led the grapplethon to its success but Murilo Santana also put in his time with no water, no bathroom and no rest other than the minute in between each 5-minute round.

Check out his day and if you would like to support the cause you can still donate here: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/murilosantana/murilosantanasfundraisingpage

Tai Thai of the Aloha Marrow Factory. Photo: Personal Archive

The movement “Aloha Marrow Factory” will be at GMA member Gustavo Dantas’ next event, the 6th Southwest BJJ Classic on October 25 & 26 at the Phoenix College.

They will be spreading awareness and helping the “Be the Match” Foundation raise critical funds to help match volunteer marrow donors with patients who have blood cancers such as leukemia or lymphoma. And YOU can help by joining their team or supporting the fundraising efforts with a contribution! Every four minutes someone is diagnosed with blood cancer. Often their only hope for cure is a marrow transplant. Your contribution to the “Be the Match” foundation will help adding new potential marrow donors to the registry, helping patients struggling with uninsured costs and funding research.

The leader of the movement “Aloha Marrow Factory”, Tai Thai, is a cancer survivor. “I was diagnosed with Leukemia in March of 2014, right after winning the 2014 AZ International Open (Blue/Master 3/Super Heavy). After enduring two rounds of intense chemotherapy with a 60 day stay in the hospital, I beat cancer! My cure was to have a stem cell transplant. Luckily for me, I have three brothers and four sisters. My brother was my perfect match,” said the AZ International Open Gold medalist.

But after beating cancer, he did not want to stop there. His goal became to raise as much awareness as he possibly can so that other lives may be saved as his own was.

Tai will be at the “Aloha Marrow Factory” booth where he will be selling t-shirts & ribbons with proceeds going directly to the “Be the Match” Foundation, as well as educating people on how they can take the next step towards saving a life.

So, come on out & support The Aloha Marrow Factory!

The 6th Southwest BJJ Classic
October 25 & 26 2014
Phoenix College
1202 W. Thomas Road
Phoenix, AZ 85013

Visit www.gdjjevents.com for information on the 6th Southwest Classic

Tap Cancer Out leader Jon Thomas presenting the grand donation. Photo: Gabriel Richard

The non-profit Tap Cancer Out raised more funds on Saturday, Aug. 16 to beat cancer through the support of the grappling community. At the Tap Cancer Out BJJ Open in Danvers, MA the tournament gathered over $20,000.

The organization is proud to announce that they will be donating a gift of $97,500 to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation in order to fund two research fellows in 2014 at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital. This is the largest gift to St. Baldrick’s Foundation ever by a charity partner.

Prior to this beneficiary, Tap Cancer Out spent two years funding the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in which they raised $85,000.

Learn more about the St. Baldrick’s Foundation here: http://www.stbaldricks.org/

And learn more about how to support Tap Cancer Out here: http://www.tapcancerout.org/

Check out the photo gallery of the event courtesy of Gabriel Richard: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.691694277565947.1073741838.395910250477686

On Sunday June 22, Live To Fight, that is a non-profit organization whose mission is to help those in the martial arts community who are facing life-threatening illnesses is hosting a charity seminar at Serra BJJ in Huntington for a father diagnosed with brain cancer.

Last month, Live To Fight hosted a seminar to help a 2-year-old boy battling Cancer with Matt Serra, Karel Pravec, Mark Staniszewski and Joe Scarola and raised $5.000 dollars.

In an exclusive interview for GRACIEMAG, The founder of Live To Fight, Kristen Brown talks about her personal fight with Cancer and what motivated her to create the organization. She also comments the event this weekend for Brian Baney, and what are her plans for the future with this charity.

Kristen Brown, the founder of Live To Fight training Jiu-Jitsu.

GRACIEMAG: Kris, what motivated you to start this charity project?

KRISTEN BROWN: I was first diagnosed with cancer, Hodgkin’s disease when I was only a teenager. I went through chemotherapy; radiation, surgeries and I best my disease. I remained cancer free but was in and out of hospitals for the next twenty years of my life due to of my long-term side effects. I always loved volunteering and helping people and I’ve also been a diehard fan of MMA and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for several years. I attended a BJJ seminar in 2011 for the son of UFC fighter Dan Miller who was suffering from a kidney disease. I walked out of that seminar thinking our community; the martial arts community needs an organization in times of crisis.

Two years later, I underwent a double mastectomy for breast cancer. At the same time my best friend, Reggie “Wreckker” Cardiel, a professional fighter was undergoing treatment for stage 4 Neuroendocrine cancer. One month after my surgery my BJJ teacher, Mark Staniszewski’s 15 month old baby boy got diagnosed with a rare pediatric cancer. I remember lying in bed, in so much pain, and just crying. But I wasn’t crying for me, I was crying for my friends who I loved who were sick; I felt helpless. Being sick and being the patient had become such a normalcy for me, but when the people I loved got sick it was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I started Live To Fight to bring together and empower the fight communities to help our own win the toughest fights of their lives. Live to Fight seeks raise awareness and money to support individuals in the martial arts, MMA, combat sports community – our community suffering from life-threatening illnesses.

In your opinion, how the BJJ community is embracing the cause?

The BJJ community has been amazing! I love BJJ! I started training a few years ago. Because of my health it’s been hard to train consistently. I think it’s the most beautiful sport in the world, and the people that I have encountered in the community have been so supportive. To me it’s like an extended family.

We have had a few BJJ seminars and the turnout was great! My first event was a No Gi BJJ seminar at Renzo Gracie’s in NYC with Chris Weidman, Jim Miller, Renato Laranja, and John Danaher. Charlie Liu of Digitsu filmed it and LTF gets the proceeds of sales. Last month we had another seminar with Matt Serra, Karel Pravec, Mark Staniszewski and Joe Scarola. We raised $5,000 for a 2-year-old boy with cancer. I’m so excited to have Renzo teaching our event this weekend! The community as a whole has really embraced my charity. I’m especially grateful for Matt Serra, Ottavia Bourdain, Renato Laranja, Mark Staniszewski, Joe Monihan, Alex Aristides, Bobby Razak, Karel Pravec, Charlie Liu, Renzo Gracie and our newest Live To Fight supporter Rose Gracie.

Kris, you are promoting an upcoming charity event to support a dad with brain cancer. How many people you are expecting to support? If someone is not able to attend, how can they still donate?

On Sunday June 22, at Serra BJJ Academy in Huntington, LI we are having an event for Brian Baney. Brian is the father of a local fighter who is undergoing treatment for brain cancer. There is an MMA seminar in the morning 10-12 with Ray Longo and then 1-4 there’s a BJJ seminar with Renzo Gracie. I’m hoping for over a hundred participants and we already have a lot of people preregistering. After the seminars we have set up a dunk tank so people can come and dunk their favorite fighter. It should be a great day. It’s a chance to train with some of the best in the world while helping someone in our community. If anyone can’t attend we are always accepting donations at our website, www.LiveToFight.org 

What is next? Tell us your plans for the future with LiveToFight?

There are so many things that I want to do! In the long run I want to make Live To Fight a household name amongst MMA and BJJ fans and practitioners. I want to the organization to be big enough so we never have to turn anyone who needs help away. In the immediate future we are going to be working very closely with Rose Gracie. I’m very excited about joining forces with Rose! We have also been picked as the beneficiary charity of Fit To Fight; a national 12-week fitness challenge started by celebrity Top Chef Mike Isabella. We will be doing more events with Live To Fight supporters Matt Serra, Jim Miller, and Daron Cruikshank. We are always looking for new people to do seminars with and to work with. If anyone is interested contact me at Kristen@LiveToFight.org

I am so grateful for the support of the BJJ community. Unfortunately there are so many people like Brian, and I really believe together we can make a difference and help them in the biggest fight of their lives.

This Saturday, June 21, head instructor Kabir Bath will be holding a charity seminar at his GMA academy, Kaboom BJJ in Surrey, BC. The seminar will be a no-gi experience from 12 to 2 p.m. with Kabir who is a brown belt under Rafael Lovato Jr.

The event will be donation only and support the organization, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD.

The location is 12066 86 Ave Surrey, BC Canada V3W3H7.

For more information go to www.kaboombjj.com

This Friday, May 23th, Gracie Magazine Associated (GMA) Toronto BJJ in Canada will be hosting a special “Ginastica Natural” and rolling class to help people in need from the Balkan Floods that devastated homes in Bosnia and Serbia last week.

According to Bosnian President Bakir Izetbegovic and neighbor from Serbia, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, the flood damage to both countries will cost billions. Both countries already have opened negotiations with the European Union to support reconstruction efforts. The biggest issue now is the people who lost their homes with this tragedy. Bosnia and Serbia have one of the weakest economies in Europe and a high unemployment rate; therefore almost no one has property insurance, meaning many residents lost practically everything.

The special class for humanity will happen from 6pm-8pm, May 23th at 813 Bloor St West in Toronto, Canada.

If you would like to attend to this special class or make a donation, please contact Toronto BJJ at www.torontobjj.com, phone number: 416-744-6868 or email: info@torontobjj.com