First at the 1st Copa Elite de Jiu-Jitsu earning cash prize. Photo: Arena Jiu-Jitsu

Nova Uniao’s Christian Broadnax began his endeavor to Brazil three months ago with hopes of learning, competing and developing as an athlete and a person. The brown belt under GMA member Gustavo Dantas left his home in Arizona to rid himself of his comfort zone and put his trust in Rodrigo Feijao to help him mature.

Results have shown as Christian topped the podium of the 2013 IBJJF South Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship, the 7th Maringa Open and most recently the 2013 IBJJF Floripa Open where he also placed third in the open class. He also competed in the 1st Copa Elite de Jiu-Jitsu where he finished first in the brown belt absolute earning 800,00 reais equivalent to about $350.

Before he returns home soon, he will compete in the Brazilian Nationals by Teams competition for Nova Uniao.

Check out the flying triangle submission he used in the Floripa Open:

Christian Broadnax at the 2012 IBJJF Toronto Open. Photo: Gustavo Dantas

Americans travel to Brazil often to gather knowledge from legends who are deeply rooted within the art of Jiu-Jitsu. One competitor, Nova Uniao brown belt Christian Broadnax, set up a way to train and learn from Nova Uniao professor Rodrigo Feijao in Maringa, Parana. “This will be a great life experience for Christian, who is only 19 years old,” says Gustavo Dantas, the leader of Nova Uniao Arizona. “He will be competing at the South America, Rio Open, Sao Paulo Open and the Brazilian National by teams.”

On his way to Brazil, Christian Broadnax took time to talk with us about his journey and how he feels it will benefit him:

GRACIEMAG: You’ll be training with Rodrigo Feijao who is known for turning good competitors into great competitors. What are you hoping to have him help you with while you’re with him?

CHRISTIAN BROADNAX: Well I want him to help me with patience and maintaining positions. This is something Gustavo [Dantas] has been helping me with for a while and I have somewhat improved upon, but I feel sometimes I get too antsy during my matches. The last tournament (The Arizona State BJJ Championship) I competed at I slipped up and got caught in a triangle in the finals of my division. Luckily there was only 30 sec left in the match and I held my composure and won (I was up by 7pts). I got antsy because I wanted to make the match exciting and pass the guy’s guard and submit him. I know Feijao will help me with more than patience though when I train with him. I still have a lot to improve on in my game.

What happened at Worlds this year?

I won my first match 4 – 0 and I got DQ’ed in the second match. I was winning the match and I went for a knee bar on my opponent and he escaped. When he escaped he turned his body in a way where it seemed as if I was reaping the knee. The ref stopped the match and I got DQ’ed. I was very disappointed I trained really hard and sacrificed a lot, but it’s a part of the game. I have to look forward to the future and train harder.

As a 19-year-old, you’re ahead of the game. A two-year degree, a BJJ brown belt around your waist and titles galore. What advice can you offer to kids and teenagers looking to follow similar footsteps?

My advice is to always follow your dreams, keep an open mind, always believe in yourself and have a positive mindset. Also you should always keep positive people around you and surround yourself with people that have the same goals as you do. This will create better productivity and more motivation for attaining ones goals. I’ve been training since I was 11 yrs old and I told myself that the first time I go compete worlds I will win first place. Many people have discouraged me and told me that I wouldn’t be able to even win when I first compete at worlds but in 2009 I won the juvenile division for blue belts when I was 15.

Do you think heading to Brazil on your own and living there for three months will help you mature even further? What kind of qualities do you think you’ll gain while there that will better yourself as a person?

I think the experience I will get from this will be very beneficial for me as a person. Lately I’ve been through a lot of bad personal situations and my coach Gustavo and I know that I need this. I know I will learn to relax more (laughs). I know that I will be more confident in myself and my abilities. I’m sure that I will have a different perspective on many things not only in Jiu-Jitsu but also in life. I love Jiu-Jitsu and without it, I’m not sure where I would be. I’m blessed to have this opportunity. I just would like to thank my coach Gustavo Dantas for believing in me. He has been with me through all my up and down times and he’s always helped if I need anything. He means a lot to me and my plan is to become the best I can for not only myself but for him and my team.

I would like to thank God for bringing me this far, my sponsor living canvas tattoos Gentle art x Body art, Arizona Biomechanics and Shoyoroll. P.S., another word of advice for kids is to always stay consistent in everything you do and work hard; you can never go wrong there haha.

See Christian in action at the 2012 IBJJF Toronto Open:

Christian Broadnax faz guarda-aranha contra Ben. Foto: Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG

Você usa o fim de semana para descansar? Para Ben Henderson, campeão peso leve do UFC, a vida não funciona assim.

O americano deixou as luvas de lado, amarrou sua faixa-marrom na cintura e caiu dentro dos tatames da oitava edição do Arizona Open, em sua terra natal.

Ben, atleta da JCBJJ, teve um único adversário na divisão dos médios, o jovem talento Christian Broadnax (GD JJ).

Veja como foi a peleja duríssima:

Staying true to his word, Gustavo Dantas brown belt and Nova União standout Christian Broadnax has been busy building back up to his winning form. In a GRACIEMAG interview from a couple months back, the lightweight shared his struggle with keeping his training, school, and job in balance and how his Jiu-Jitsu had been suffering with the juggling act.

Revitalized by a double-gold performance at the 2012 AZ BJJ State Championship, Christian remained adamant about not letting his winning momentum come to a sudden halt. “You either keep going or you quit, and I’m not going to quit. I don’t have that kind of spirit,” stated a more reserved and mature Christian.

With the fire once again lit in his belly, Christian set off to compete at the IBJJF Toronto Open where he was able to claim gold in the lightweight division. The very next weekend, the 18-year-old traveled back down to Southern California to compete at the 2012 Samurai Pro and captured the gold at lightweight there as well.

Watch this clip of Christian at the Toronto Open doing what he does best: winning in impressive and athletic fashion.

Christian in action / Photo by Deb Blyth

Christian, who is now a brown belt, was recently spotted at Gustavo Dantas’s AZ BJJ State Championship, doing what he does best: showing some serious athleticism and good, technical Jiu-Jitsu skills on the mats. He competed in both his lightweight division and the open class at the event, and won both to take double gold for the day.

The 18-year-old told GRACIEMAG that he and his twin brother, Christian, have had to take some time away from their Jiu-Jitsu training to attend college. Christian was able to compete at the Worlds, though, and made arrangements to reprioritize his school and work schedules to train twice a day for a few weeks before he got there. He lost in the quarterfinals and was disappointed with his finish, but he did receive his coveted brown belt shortly thereafter. “I still love Jiu-Jitsu,” Christian says, “but it’s hard to train and go to school. My ultimate plan is to refocus on Jiu-Jitsu. I want to make Jiu-Jitsu my job.”

Christian says this last year has taught him patience. Because he hasn’t been training as much as he did in the past, he’s not been winning as much either. But what he’s discovered through this journey is that it’s not all about the “win.” “I’ve learned that Jiu-Jitsu is all about dedication,” a toned down, quiet, and seemingly resigned Christian says. “You either keep going or you quit, and I’m not going to quit. I don’t have that kind of spirit.”

After winning the lightweight final against Gerson Atoigue, Christian ended up facing him yet again in the open class final at the AZ BJJ State Championship. Once again, Christian took the match, and upon having his arm raised, he looked visibly relieved. “It’s been a year since I’ve won gold,” he sighed. “It feels good. I still have a lot to work on. I didn’t want to compete in the absolute. Gerson tired me out the first time! But this time my base was good and my positions felt strong. Everything’s improving.”

Christian atop podium / Photo by Deb Blyth

Christian’s take on Jiu-Jitsu has really matured over the years, and he feels like he’s truly beginning to understand what Jiu-Jitsu is all about. “Because it’s like a chess game you can’t really be better at just one thing,” he says; “you have to be good at everything and strengthen your weaknesses. You can’t rely on just one part of your game.”

Christian has one more year of college left before he graduates, and then he is committed to being back on the mats full time. Until then, he is simply committed to continuing his Jiu-Jitsu journey of learning more about patience and dedication.

Ultraheavyweight black belt champion Bruno Bastos / Publicity photo

Bruno Bastos won the ultra heavyweight division of the adult black belt contest and took third in the open class “It’s an honor to have Bruno competing in Arizona, I tell all my students, I think he is the most experienced black belt from NU, he has been competing nonstop for twenty years.” said Dantas about his counterpart. In the purple belt division, the featherweight Christian Broadnax, middleweight and absolute runner-up Issa Able and medium heavyweight Daniel Hampton dominated their divisions against some stern competition: “There were a lot of good out-of-state competitors, and with the Arizona Jiu-Jitsu community growing strong, the Phoenix Open will grow a lot in the next few years.”

Nova Uniao will be back in action at the Dallas Open and Long Beach Spring Open.

Nova Uniao restarted their mission of again winning a World Championship title a few years back, and this year of 2012 they are planning on bringing a strong team: “Winning the Worlds, it’s a big challenge, but we are realistic and we will get there at some point. We are setting the goal of getting on the podium, but I would not be surprise if we accomplish our main goal sooner,” asserted Dantas.

Overall team standing:

1 – Nova União – 273
2 – Gracie Barra – 182
3 – BJJ Revolution Team – 117

For complete results from Phoenix Open 2012, click here.

Caio Terra against Queixinho / Photo: Andrew Koeller

Tempe, Arizona, saw its fair share of action last weekend, when Gustavo Dantas’s Arizona Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu State Championship rolled into town. Three thousand dollars was up for grabs between the winners of the two black belt divisions, further upping the already scalding hot temperature in the region.

Among the big standouts was 2011 Pan-American champion Caio Terra (Gracie Fighter), who took the decision over Osvaldo Augusto “Queixinho” (Soul Fighters) in the light absolute decider. Now number one in the heavy absolute was Marcel Fortuna (Ralph Gracie), who overcame Brazilian champion Daniel Garcia (Nova União) in the grand finale.

But there was a host of other gentle art aces putting on shows. At brown belt, Daniel Madrid (Gracie Fighting Systems) took the medium heavyweight division and the absolute.

At purple, Gustavo Dantas disciples Issa Able and Christian Broadnax did well in their respective weight classes and then closed out the absolute.

At blue, Alex Centner (Lopez Jiu-Jitsu) took top spot on the super heavyweight and absolute podiums for the double gold.

Check out all the action in the photos by Andrew Koeller below:

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Caio Terra contra Queixinho. Foto: Andrew Koeller.

O último final de semana contou com muita ação em mais uma edição do Arizona Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships, na cidade de Tempe, evento organizado pelo faixa-preta Gustavo Dantas. Em jogo, o total de 3 mil dólares para os campeões das divisões na faixa-preta, o que esquentou ainda mais o verão escaldante na região.

Entre os destaques, o campeão do Pan 2011 Caio Terra (Gracie Fighter) bateu Osvaldo Augusto “Queixinho” (Soul Fghters) na decisão do absoluto leve. Já o número 1 do absoluto pesado foi Marcel Fortuna (Ralph Gracie), que venceu o campeão brasileiro Daniel Garcia (Nova União) na final do absoluto pesado.

Mas muitas outras feras da arte suave fizeram bonito. Na faixa-marrom, Daniel Madrid (Grace Fighting Systems) foi o melhor no meio-pesado e absoluto.

Na faixa-roxa, os alunos de Gustavo Dantas Issa Able e Christian Broadnax foram bem nas suas respectivas categorias e fecharam o absoluto.

Na faixa-azul, Alex Centner (Lopez Jiu-Jitsu) subiu no alto do pódio no super-pesado e absoluto para faturar duas medalhas de ouro.

Confira abaixo toda a ação nas fotos de Andrew Koeller:

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Antonio "Cara de Sapato" will be making things rough on the other black belts. Photo: Carlos Ozório.

The prospects and latest standouts to join the scene GRACIEMAG.com tipped to make waves in 2011 (refresh you memory here) are getting set for the biggest test of the season: the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship about to get underway this Thursday in Long Beach, California.

“I’m well trained and I’ve got my head in an excellent place. I hope it all works out. I want to thank everyone for the encouragement I’ve been getting; I hope to pay you all back at the championship!” brown belt João Gabriel said over Facebook just before embarking on his flight to Los Angeles.

João is one of the many who have lived up to the predictions posted on this website. In May, the Soul Fighters whiz won weight and absolute at the Brazilian Nationals. There are, however, a number of other star-material prospects who’ve been on a tear, and they’ll be at the pyramid, too.

Nova União rep Marcio André is also on his way to California, as is Atos’s Denílson Bishiliari, who is now a purple belt. From the USA, Christian Broadnax and Mackenzie Dern will add further spice to the mix. At brown belt, Michel Langhi is yet another we put our chips on, as is black belt Antonio Carlos “Cara de Sapato”, who will have his work cut out for him in the heavyweight division.

Add to them promising up-and-comers like dynamic purple belt duo Paulo and João Mayao… In a nutshell, the 2011 Worlds promises fireworks at every belt level. And the time to prove who’s here to stay is now.

To keep up with all the latest on the 2011 World Championship, stay tuned to GRACIEMAG.com and the GRACIEMAG at the Worlds Blog.

Antonio "Cara de Sapato" deve dar trabalho na faixa-preta. Foto: Carlos Ozório.

Apontados pelo GRACIEMAG.com como candidatos a novos destaques em 2011 (lembre aqui), as feras já se preparam para o grande teste da temporada, o Mundial de Jiu-Jitsu, que tem início nesta quinta-feira, em Long Beach, Califórnia.
“Estou muito bem treinado e a cabeça está ótima. Tomara que de tudo certo . Obrigado a todos pelo treinamento e pela moral, espero poder retribuir isso a vocês lá no campeonato!”, postou no Facebook o faixa-marrom João Gabriel, pouco antes de embarcar para Los Angeles.

João é um dos tantos que confirmam nesta temporada as apostas deste site. Em maio, a fera da Soul Fighters venceu peso e absoluto no Brasileiro de Jiu-Jitsu. No entanto, outros candidatos a ídolo, que vêm fazendo bonito, estarão em ação na Pirâmide.

A fera da Nova União Marcio André também já embarcou e Denílson Bischiliari, da Atos, também está confirmado, agora na faixa-roxa. Pelos Estados Unidos Christian Broadnax e Mackenzie Dern engrossam o caldo. Na faixa-marrom, Michel Langhi também foi uma das nossas apostas, assim como o faixa-preta Antonio Carlos “Cara de Sapato”, que vai ter vida dura entre os pesos pesados.

Junte aí outros novos talentos como a dupla da faixa-roxa Paulo e João Mayao… Enfim, o Mundial 2011 promete emoção em todas as graduações. E essa é a hora de provar quem veio para ficar.

Para ficar por dentro de tudo, siga atento ao GRACIEMAG.com e ao Blog GRACIEMAG no Mundial.

Mackenzie Dern celebrates with her dad, Megaton, stepmom, Luka, and boyfriend Augusto Mendes. Photos: Deb Blyth

Dern received her purple belt last June, but over the last nine months, she’s proven herself more than capable of competing at that level, including recently winning the European Open in both her weight and absolute, and qualifying at the World Pro JJ Tournament in Montreal, Canada. As for the latter, she’ll be traveling to Abu Dhabi in April with her father, Wellington “Megaton” Dias, and her stepmother, Luciana “Luka” Tavares, both of whom also qualified for the prestigious event. All three will be competing in the UAE as a family affair. “My dad, my step mom, my boyfriend (Augusto Tanquinho Mendes), and five girls from our program are going. We will have a big girls team there. I will have a good experience competing against brown and black belts.”

Dern is moving to Brazil in June to “up” her training routine and spend time with her family. She’ll be back in June for the Worlds. “I have so many tough girls to face,” she said, “I want to be consistent as possible. I don’t want to wait too long to compete between any tournaments.”

Dern said one of her goals for 2011 is to help Leticia Ribeiro with her seminars, so she can get better herself. “You can be the best competitor, but a bad instructor. I want to be the best teacher. I want to work on my instructional skills.” As for the 2011 Pan, Dern said she had a great experience. “This was my first ever Pan win!” She said, “It was so exciting!”

Gianni Grippo and Christian Broadnax following their respective gold and silver place finishes

In the men’s adult feather division, Gianni Grippo of Renzo Gracie made sure he did his homework before stepping foot on the mats at the 2011 Pan. Grippo, who admits to having a “secret notebook” he created with his coach John Danaher, of everyone in his division and their talents and strengths and weaknesses, said his division was stacked. “My goal was to not surrender any points,” he said, “I’ve been working really hard on my defense this last year.”

In the finals, it ended up being Grippo, who’s only 19 years old, facing another very young and skilled competitor in Christian Broadnax of Nova União, who’s a mere 17 years old. Each of them worked diligently through their respective brackets until they met up in a much anticipated final match. In the end, it was Grippo who came out on top to take gold in their division.

At one point in their match, Broadnax went for a flying armbar and almost submitted Grippo. “Christian is just a kid at 17,” Grippo said, “But he feels like he’s a 22 year old. It was a fun match. He’s so athletic. He went for a flying armbar – it was close – it was extended and almost popped, but I was able to get out. I felt in control for the rest of the match.” Grippo said he was very impressed with Broadnax’s athleticism. “That was in my notebook,” he laughed.

Grippo was really happy with his performance at the Pan and said he enjoyed his experience immensely. “When I came in here today, I was hoping for the best. This is the second biggest tournament of the year and it felt good to come out on top in the feather division. This is the real build up to the Worlds.”

Although Broadnax was clearly disappointed with his finish, he had to be happy about one thing: during his match against Grippo, Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles stopped to watch the two competing. Although Broadnax lost to Grippo, Cobrinha grabbed Broadnax by the arm as he walked off the mats and commented on his athleticism and talent in the sport. At one point, Cobrinha said, “Your balance is amazing!”

Will Durkee taking it easy after his big divisional win

Will Durkee of the Avengers won his middleweight division, beating DJ Jackson of Lloyd Irvin in the finals. Durkee knew he was up against a real talent and took the match very seriously. “I’ve seen him fight before,” he said, “I knew he’d won his weight and the open at the Europeans. I was really looking forward to fighting him.”

The majority of the fight was spent standing up. In the last 30 seconds, Durkee was able to get a takedown that secured the points necessary for him to win the match. “It was a really good fight,” Durkee said, “I’m sure I’ll run into him again in the future.”

Durkee trains with Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu in Miami and said he really enjoys it. “He’s helped my game so much,” he said. Durkee wrestled at Northwestern in Chicago and also coached there. “I just started getting into Jiu-Jitsu when I moved to Miami and found Cyborg,” he said, “It’s an awesome training environment. His energy is as important as the training itself.”

Durkee is hoping to get to the Worlds in June, but he’s getting married and that takes precedence. “I’d really like to compete at the Worlds,” he said, “We’ll see. Maybe I can pull it off.” Regardless, plan on seeing more of Durkee at future tournaments, including the no-gi events. “I love gi training, but as a wrestler, I find no-gi more natural for me and more closely related to wrestling.” Durkee won gold at the 2010 No-Gi Worlds blue belt open class and in his middleweight division. “I will keep competing as long as my body holds up,” he said, “I love that Jiu-Jitsu still allows me to have that competitive edge.”

Willy Leonard with teammate DJ Jackson after their absolute match

In the purple belt adult open, it was Willy Leonard of Lloyd Irvin who won gold, beating his fellow teammate and friend DJ Jackson in the final. Leonard, an ultraheavyweight, and Jackson, a middleweight, did not hold back as they fought it out on the mats. “We’re trying to get away from closing out the brackets and not fighting,” a victorious Leonard said, “We want to give the crowd something to watch. We’re trying to start a new trend.”

After two matches in the ultraheavy division, Leonard was also able to grab gold in his division, making him a double gold medal winner for the day. Once again, he closed out the bracket with a teammate, Kenny Brown, but they fought it out, with Leonard coming out on top, shutting down his teammate with a brabo choke.

Leonard is no stranger to the medal podium. At last year’s Pan, he won both his weight and the open class, then won the same at the Brazilian Nationals. Shortly thereafter, he was awarded his purple belt. He competed at the 2010 Worlds and won his division, but lost a close one in the absolute. Then he moved onto the 2010 No-Gi Worlds and won his weight and the absolute. Next up for Leonard, who is a high school P.E. teacher and wrestling coach, are the Brazilian Nationals and then the Worlds in June. With a track record like Leonard’s it’s not hard to imagine what the results are going to be.

Gustavo Dantas and Pan bronze-medalist Kristina Barlaan / Photo: John Cooper

How was Nova Uniao’s performance at the 2011 Pan?

We are pretty happy with the results, we got 26 medals. We took second in the novice division just one point behind first place. We did a good job organizing the team, which is another step to get towards our main goal: to win the adult division at Worlds again. I know that we are not there yet, but hopefully we can hope to see some of the competitors from Brazil compete in the US in the future. There are some really tough and hungry representatives there that unfortunately don’t have the means of making it to the US. Regardless of that, there is a lot of new talent being produced from the NU Instructors in North America and if we organize right, I believe we can do it in a few years.

Who were the team’s standouts?

At black belt, Bruno Bastos did a great job as usual and took second in the super heavy division. Also, Bruno’s student Danny Alvarez did awesome taking second place at master/light feather. Danny’s daughter, Danielle Alvarez, took third in the blue belt/feather. Bruno is a great example of what Nova União is about, very passionate about the team and a great leader in Texas, and in a few years his team will be huge.

And from Arizona, Christian Broadnax took second in the tough purple/feather, and Kristina Barlaan took third in the purple/feather/female division. In the blue belt division, John Van Buren took third in light feather/adult – he is one of our new upcoming competitors. We expect big things from them this year.

What is next for Nova União?

We have the Phoenix and Dallas International Open coming up, and we are going for first place in both of them. And of course with the Worlds coming up, we know that it will be hard, but we will be doing our best to be on the podium. Also, we’re really working on building a strong female team this year and I really believe that they can shine this year.

For further information regarding Dantas’s team Nova União USA, visit www.novauniao.com.