Flavio "Cachorrinho" Almeida jockeying for grips / Photo: John Cooper/2010

Mike Swain, 51, is one of the most respected judo teachers in the USA, and his students have solid reasons to admire him. Solid and golden. Mike is the first American ever to win the World Judo Championship, in 1987, at lightweight, and the next year he snapped up a bronze medal at the Seoul Olympics.

The owner of a classic style of fighting, Mike lives in Campbell, California, and trains in San Jose. He recently encountered another teacher admired for his teaching methods and the titles he has won in Flavio “Cachorrinho” Almeida.

“We were searching for a high-quality mat for Gracie Barra, and the Swain company has an awesome product. That’s how we came to be friends, and he did a seminar at my school. I wanted to return the favor, so I went to teach at his judo school in San Jose,” remarked Flavio. “Some of the judokas there are getting ready for the London-2012 Games, and I was glad to help out a bit.”

Check out the training session between Olympic medalist and the GB professor of Jiu-Jitsu. Don’t forget to share what you learned in and what you thought of the video, in the comments field below.

Flavio Almeida, o Cachorrinho, com as pegadas em dia. Foto: John Cooper/2010.

Mike Swain, 51 anos, é um dos mais respeitados professores de judô dos EUA, e os alunos têm motivos sólidos para admirá-lo. Sólidos e dourados. Mike foi o primeiro americano campeão mundial de judô, em 1987, como peso leve, e no ano seguinte beliscou a medalha olímpica de bronze, em Seul-1988.

Dono de um estilo clássico, Mike mora em Campbell, Califórnia, e treina em San José. Recentemente, encontrou-se com outro professor admirado por sua didática e seus títulos, Flavio “Cachorrinho” Almeida.

“Estávamos buscando um tatame de alta qualidade para a Gracie Barra e a empresa de Swain tem um produto bom demais. A amizade surgiu assim, e ele veio dar um seminário na minha escola. Eu quis retribuir o favor e fui ensinar na escola de judô dele, em San José”, comentou Flavio. “Alguns dos judocas ali estão se preparando para Londres-2012, e fiquei feliz de poder ajudá-los um pouquinho”.

Confira o treino entre o medalhista olímpico e o professor da GB. Não esqueça de comentar o que você aprendeu com o vídeo e o que achou, no espaço para comentários abaixo.

Flavio Almeida, por cima, no Las Vegas Open de Jiu-Jitsu, em 2010. Foto: John Cooper.

A raspagem helicóptero é uma posição tão surpreendente quanto eficiente, e que todo mundo fica admirado ao vê-la em execução no Jiu-Jitsu.

No site da Gracie Barra, o professor Flavio Cachorrinho deu uma aula de como botá-la em prática (em inglês apenas, infelizmente), a partir da guarda aberta, ou guarda-borboleta.

Mas os segredos a gente traduz aqui para vocês, no GRACIEMAG.com.

Ceder, para ganhar

Segundo o professor da Gracie Barra Dana Point, na Califórnia, um dos primeiros detalhes é ceder a esgrima, permitindo que sua mão vá exatamente para onde você deseja.

Outro ponto é manter o gancho sob a panturrilha do oponente, lance vital para a manobra plástica.

Confira e diga o que você achou. Se você não entendeu algum ponto específico, só perguntar que a gente, ou outro leitor sabido, explica na hora.

Flavio Almeida, on top, at 2010 Las Vegas Open / Photo: John Cooper

The helicopter sweep is a position as surprising as it is efficient, and the whole world marvels when they get to see one carried out in Jiu-Jitsu.

On the Gracie Barra,

website, Professor Flavio “Cachorrinho” taught a class on how to put it to practice starting from open or butterfly guard.

But we’ll translate the secrets for you right here on GRACIEMAG.com.

Concede, to win

According to the teacher at Gracie Barra Dana Point, California, one of the primary details is to give up the underhook, clearing the way for your hand to go just where you want it.

The other key point is to keep a hook on your opponent’s calf, which is vital in performing the intricate maneuver.

Check it out and let us know what you think. If you don’t get something in particular, just ask us and we, or one of our savvy readers, will break it down for you.

Gracie Barra tournaments are all about families competing; moms, dads, kids, brothers, and sisters. If one family member signs up, chances are there’s usually another family member not too far behind. The Wilner brothers, Max and Maza, both signed up to compete at Compnet 11, and they had a great time in the process.

Max Wilner going for the rear naked choke / Photos: Deb Blyth

Max, a nine-year-old yellow belt, and his 13-year-old green belt brother, Maza, both train at GB America in Irvine with Professor Otavio Sousa and Instructor Cedric Chamouille. They also train at GB Cerritos with Professor Renato “Babalu” Sobral. They love Jiu-Jitsu and have been training for quite some time: Maza for seven years and Max for about five.

Max, whose favorite move is the triangle, had two matches at the GB tournament. He won one by armbar and one by decision, making him a gold medal winner for the day. He says he was a little nervous before his bouts but he competes a lot and knows, once he starts, the butterflies go away. “I just make sure I stay safe and don’t get hurt and always try my best,” Max says, “I like winning first place medals.”

Max says there are a lot of things he loves about Jiu-Jitsu. “I like to roll and I like getting promoted,” he says, “I like spending time on the mat with my friends, Brennan and Toby. They’re my best friends in Jiu-Jitsu.” Max says he and Babalu grapple for fun. “I can’t beat him but I want to,” he says. He also rolls with his older brother, Maza, at home. “We play, but one day I want to beat him,” he says.

Max hanging out with his friend Professor Babalu Sobral

Max obviously has a competitive side and says he wants to be a world champion black belt one day, but for now he will continue to emulate those he admires most in Jiu-Jitsu: Babalu, Master Carlos, Otavio Sousa, and Cedric Chamouille.

Brother Maza had a different experience at the tournament, which turned out to be a good learning experience for him. Being a green belt, there weren’t too many competitors in his division, so he was placed with another green belt who was older and bigger than him. The match was more like an absolute than a divisional bout and the uncertainty was clear on Maza’s face as he took to the mats to face his competitor.

Maza Wilner stuck in a triangle

Early on, Maza held his own, but when his opponent pulled guard, Maza says he was hit in the groin. He posted his arm on his opponent’s chest, who took full advantage, locking Maza up in a triangle. Maza did his best to defend but ultimately time ran out and Maza lost the match. “I lost fair and square,” the mature 13-year-old says, “He was the better man this day.”

Maza says he loves to compete but hates the feeling of being nervous. “I hate losing more than I love winning,” he laughs, “I’m a competitive guy.” Regardless of the loss, though, Maza says it was a good experience. “I haven’t lost in a long time,” he says, “So I’m going to learn from this. I’m going to go back and train on how to defend better.”

Maza, who also trains in wrestling and Thai boxing, wants to be a black belt one day. “I want to be the best at whatever it is I do,” he says, “I’m going to keep training to get better and be number one.” Maza would like to thank his family for all they do for him. “I’ll be back stronger next time,” he says.

David Kopelev is an eight-year-old yellow belt from GB San Clemente. This mature little guy says Jiu-Jitsu has taught him a lot of really important life skills. “I’m a small guy,” he says seriously, “It’s taught me how to defend myself against people who pick on me.” Asked if he gets picked on a lot, David replies, “They’ll pick on me once, then they don’t do it anymore. I have my birthday parties at Gracie Barra, so they know what I’m capable of.”

David Kopelev and his BJJ family

David had two matches at the GB tournament. His favorite takedown is the double-leg, and he put that skill to good use in his first match, which he won on points. He also had an impressive sweep during the bout, which drew a collective, “Wow!” from the crowd seeing such a little guy pull off such a beautiful technique.

Although he lost his second match on points to take silver for the day, the positive-minded competitor felt good. “I’m happy!” he says, “I had a great experience.” And no doubt he did. It was a major feat for David to be at the tournament at all. He’d just had his appendix out six weeks earlier and was already back competing and feeling no pain. “I have no pain and I’m not tired at all,” he says.

David’s favorite technique is the keylock, and he takes his training very seriously. “I have my own rule when I train,” he says, “I practice one kind of sub per round. Otherwise, I would only train the keylock.”

David’s goal is to one day become a black belt. He recently started taking wrestling classes at GB Dana Point with coaches Kanai and Cody. “I want to compete as much as I can and be just like Professor Flavio (Almeida) when I grow up.”

Both David’s parents train in Jiu-Jitsu as well. “Our whole life is Jiu-Jitsu,” dad Sergio says, “All our friends are Jiu-Jitsu friends. We take our gi’s on vacation with us. We just trained at Ricardo Almeida’s school and loved it.” Then Sergio goes one better, “It’s the best marriage therapy ever,” he laughs. “Yeah,” says David’s mom, Christy, “We get it all out on the mats. We lock up chokes on each other!”

Jude Irons with his family after winning gold

GB Encinitas Jude Irons comes from a famous family, but there is no pressure to perform for this light-hearted nine-year-old. As his last name implies, Jude comes from the famous Irons surfing family. His dad, Ricky was a professional surfer, along with his cousins Andy, who recently passed away, and Bruce. But it was Jude’s big day as he took to the mats to compete in his three matches.

In his first match, Jude says he was caught off guard, “He went for a double-leg and I was like, ‘Whoa!’ Last year’s tournament was easier!” Jude ended up winning the match on points once he regained his composure. He says his second match was “gnarly.” “He was very strong,” Jude says, “In the last second I took him down. He was so much taller than me!” In this third and final match, Jude found his flow. “I took him down and passed his guard,” he says, “Then I just kind of held on to him.”

Jude says it was pretty cool to win a gold medal but there was some pressure to try to keep it real in the winner’s circle. “I was so happy standing on the podium,” he says, “I don’t like to make fake smiles, but I was nervous up there. There were so many people watching. There were so many cameras. I’m not one for cameras.”

Like his illustrious family, Jude also surfs and apparently has picked up some of those surfing genes from the one’s who came before him. “I acknowledge that a lot of people are better than me,” he says, “But in my opinion I’m good at it.” Jude can’t pick which he likes better between surfing and Jiu-Jitsu because he loves them both. He’s not sure what he’s going to be when he grows up but says, “I’m gonna let life flow and see what happens.”

Regardless, Jude thinks Jiu-Jitsu is fun and he’s going to keep training and competing. His mom got him into the sport, and he loves his parents for encouraging him to do it. And let’s face it, he was sick of baseball anyway. “There were too many treats in baseball after the games… like cupcakes,” he says, “I wasn’t having enough fun. Now I’m having a lot of fun.”

Austin Gerrard and his new blue belt

Austin Gerrard of Gracie Barra Lake Elsinore got more than he bargained for when he showed up to compete at the GB Compnet 11 event. This was the 15-year-old white belt’s second tournament, after recently competing at the American Nationals and taking third, and he was excited about it. At the GB event, he had three matches. Two he won by points and one he won by armbar, which is also his favorite technique, allowing him to claim a gold medal for the day.

Austin, a sophomore in high school, says competing helps him become more confident in his Jiu-Jitsu. Also a high school wrestler, Austin trains in wrestling three hours a day and then goes to Jiu-Jitsu three to four times a week. “Both BJJ and wrestling help each other a lot,” he says, “I think I’ll be better in wrestling this year, from the Jiu-Jitsu training I’ve been doing.”

Austin’s day came to an exciting close when he got a big surprise on the podium. His instructor, Hector Tapia, and Professor Gustavo Pires wrapped a blue belt around his waist to Austin’s and the crowd’s delight. “I feel pretty excited!” Austin says, “I didn’t expect it today.” In Jiu-Jitsu, one must always expect the unexpected.

Flavio by Mike Pesh

About to compete at the Las Vegas Open, Flavio Almeida has been studying Jiu-Jitsu under Master Carlos Gracie Jr. for more then 17 years, and won all the major tournaments he competed in from blue belt juvenile to brown belt, and was undefeated in his weight division throughout all those years.

Today a 3rd-degree black belt, Cachorrinho’s competitive career was interrupted right after he received his black belt at 19. Admitted to a renowned university in Brazil, he could no longer train full time and slowly disappeared from the competition arena.

In 2007, Flavio hit the competition circuit with a vengeance and came back as a more mature fighter. That year he pulled out many important accomplishments such as 1st place at the No-Gi Pan, 2nd place at the Gi Pan, 2nd place at the ADCC, and 3rd place at the Worlds. He took gold at the Pan in 2009, but then his other callings came to pass again, and his involvement as an important decision maker at Gracie Barra, along with his pregnant wife, Vivi, took him away from the competition scene once again.

These days, Flavio leads the way as Director of the GB Association and is responsible for many of the changes to GB’s business strategy and its successful evolution over the years. With over 300 schools worldwide, and the aim of opening many more, he works diligently towards the goal of getting every GB school around the world to be uniformly run so that it is as though Master Carlos were overseeing each one of them himself.

Flavio with wife Vivi and daughter Valentina

“We’re working on bringing Jiu-Jitsu to as many people as possible through the hands of GB instructors worldwide,” he says, “We have a clear vision of how Jiu-Jitsu should be taught that is slightly different from the way most core competitors see it. We are reconnecting with the roots of the gentle art and resurrecting Carlos Gracie Sr.’s vision of Jiu-Jitsu as a practice aimed to support individual development.”

Along with his GB Association work, he also runs two successful GB schools: GB San Clemente and  GB Dana Point, which keep him even busier. Being so involved in business, Professor Flavio hasn’t competed since the 2009 Pan.

Lately, Flavio’s gone back to the mats to dedicate some time to getting his body back in competition shape. “I’m training for the Worlds No Gi, so results will come in a few months,” he says, “I feel much better already and the training with the other GB professors in Irvine definitely helps.” Flavio also enjoys training with his students. Although most of them are blue belts, he says they create a good challenge for him and help him develop new strategizes into his game.

Flavio Cachorrinho and Vivi. Photo: Gustavo Aragão

Flavio also adds physical training and cardio to his routine. “I power lift and run a lot,” he says, “I love the open trails in San Clemente and Dana Point. They give me extra motivation to get out there and work on my cardio.”

Flavio misses competing on a regular basis. “I miss the adrenaline, the training, and the excitement of it,” he says, “I truly believe every martial artist should be involved in some kind of competition. It keeps us on edge and connected to the best we are as fighters.”

He doesn’t usually look at the brackets before a tournament, but this year, he says he hears through the grapevine that Rafael Lovato may be competing in Las Vegas. “That would be awesome!” he says, “Every time I compete I truly want to grapple with the best guys out there and having big names like him keeps me even more motivated.”

Like many seasoned black belts, Flavio believes that competition is one of the best ways to grow as a fighter and as a person. “Master Carlos always told me that learning to handle the pressure of a contest makes us more prepared to deal with life and I agree,” he reflects, “I remember being a kid and my dad would tell me that life is like a Jiu-Jitsu tournament; just a little bit bigger and longer. That kind of good advice has taught me a lot. I have been blessed with great mentors.”

As far as winning or losing goes, Flavio likes to borrow words from the great John Wooden, a famous UCLA and Hall of fame basketball player and coach, “’Success is the peace of mind derived from knowing you prepared to perform to the best of your abilities.’ That is a very accurate way of defining the competition philosophy we learned from Carlinhos,” he says, “The tournament is not an end to itself. It’s a tool we should all use to achieve our potential as fighters and grow as individuals. We can’t control the results from a tournament, but we can control how much we prepare for it.”

And let’s face it, with Flavio’s crazy-busy life, he needs the distraction of competing once in a while. “By committing to a tournament, something changes within me,” he says, “I get out of my damned chair, put my tired laptop aside, leave the 100+ emails aside that I get in a day, and go train. I train to exhaustion. I eat better, I sleep better, I am overall happier, and that’s my goal.”

It’s this type of preparation that Flavio believes allows a person to perform at their best. He tells his students to not be obsessed with the victory. “Winning is a consequence of a strong commitment to do all we can to perform to the best of our abilities,” he philosophizes. He himself is going to show up to the Las Vegas Open a focused fighter with a strong desire to win, but above all else, he says he’s just happy to be back on the mats.

Jiu-Jitsu is Flavio’s life. You can often hear him saying, “I see my life through Jiu-Jitsu.”  Meaning that the art has shaped his character and has a strong influence on the way he makes decisions in his life. “Jiu-Jitsu training has made me realize the importance of noble values like respect to others, mutual support, discipline, and commitment to growth,” he says, “It has taught me the ethos of a warrior that ultimately allows me to make better decisions for the benefit of my family, my teammates, my friends, and myself.”

GB roots: Pedrinho Brandão with flake-gray shorts, Marco Joca with arms crossed and Cachorrinho doing the funk. Photo: Personal archive

When Marcelo got home and went there, he signed up right away to start training. “It was the best thing I did in my life,” he says. His instructor was Marcio Feitosa, who was a purple belt at the time. His professor was José Leão Teixeira, aka Ze Beleza. “Everything I know – my fundamentals – I got from Professor Marcio and Professor Beleza. Professor Soca was my 2^nd teacher. He is now the owner of Soca Jiu-Jitsu. I learned all of my submissions from him.”

Marcelo says GB Rio is like GB America in Irvine. It’s a two-story building with two mats. The adults trained upstairs and the kids trained downstairs. Marcelo says he trained every day, five days a week, two hours a day. Some of the other students he trained with included Professor Marco Joca, Igor Gracie, Gregor Gracie, and Professor Rafael Ramos (GB Encinitas). “I never trained with Professor Flavio (Almeida),” Marcelo says, “He went upstairs to train with the adults as soon as possible. He’s always been a pretty big guy.”

Marcelo finally got his chance to train upstairs when he became an orange belt at the age of 15. “Everybody was there,” Marcelo says, “Ryan Gracie; Renzo Gracie used to come train; Flavio, and Marcio – you got to see all the black belts – the one’s who’d win all the tournaments. It was a privilege to watch them train. It was even more of a privilege when I got to train and spar with them. It was amazing.”

Marcelo showing his students a technique

Marcelo says the students also got to train and spar with Master Carlos, which he says was an honor. Master Carlos was at the school every day. Sometimes he would teach classes and sometimes he would spar with the students. He set a good example for all of the instructors and students to follow.

“When I got my purple belt, I asked Professor Marcio if I could help instruct,” Marcelo says, “He said, ‘yes,’ so, I started coaching on the mats. Gustavo (Pires) and Marcelo (Souza) used to help, too.” Eventually, Marcelo started teaching the morning classes at GB Rio. He received his black belt at the end of 2005.

In 2009 Marcelo had the opportunity to teach for Gracie Barra in the U.S. His first stop was Tennessee and then was asked to teach in California. Marcelo started teaching at GB America in Irvine for a couple of months, then moved on to GB Anaheim Hills. Soon after, Marcelo started teaching at GB Dana Point and GB San Clemente.

Marcelo with Carlos Eduardo Ferreira Guimaraes at a GB Instructor's Meeting

Students should know that they are in very good hands with Marcelo. He’s a 3-time national champion, a multi-time state champion and he took 3^rd in the Worlds as a purple belt. “I love competing, but teaching is my passion,” Marcelo says, “I think it’s the best thing you can do. I really enjoy passing my knowledge on to others. I followed what Master Carlos, Professor Marcio, and other professors did. I don’t have to be the best; I just have to help others and pass along my knowledge. I love to do that. My students have become my friends.”

Marcelo says he’s having a lot of fun at all the GB schools where he teaches. “All the students are really cool,” he says, “I’m meeting a lot of new people and they’re really nice. I’m glad to be here.”