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

The Nova Uniao team takes first at the 2014 IBJJF Vegas Summer Open. Photo: Personal Archive

For the second year in a row, the IBJJF Vegas Summer International Open first place trophy went back to Arizona. The one-day tournament on Aug. 9 was a big day for the Nova Uniao team.

Led by GMA member Gustavo Dantas of GDJJ, team Nova Uniao took 34 competitors to Vegas and captured a total of 37 medals! That’s 17 gold, 11 silver and 9 bronze medals

“Winning is the result of being technically, physically and mentally prepared,” says the BJJ Mental Coach. “I am the leader of the team, but I’m not the only one responsible for the win, this was a team effort. This result would not be possible without the help of all coaches and assistant coaches of GD Jiu-Jitsu Association,” stated Dantas.

For more information about Gustavo Dantas and his team, please visit www.gdjiujitsu.com

Leader Gustavo Dantas. Photo: Personal Archive

Gustavo coaching. Photo: Erin Herle

Gustavo Dantas, the BJJ Mental Coach. Photo: Personal archive

Professor Gustavo Dantas is bringing a wealth of knowledge/experience to the students of Horizons Martial Arts. He is a fourth degree Jiu-Jitsu black belt with nearly twenty years of coaching experience. Gustavo has competed in tournaments in Brazil, United States, Japan and United Arab Emirates, including his most recent accomplishment, the gold medal at the 2014 Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the black belt master 2 featherweight division.

A motivational speaker, certified mental & life coach with a bachelor’s degree in physical education from UFRJ (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro), Gustavo left Brazil in 1999 with three thousand dollars, two bags, and one teenage dream: to have his own 100% Jiu-Jitsu academy and make his living through the passion of his life, Jiu-Jitsu. The Gustavo Dantas Jiu-Jitsu Academy was established on March 6th, 2012, re-enforcing the statement, “Believe in your dreams. Hard work pays off”.

Gustavo was the Jiu-Jitsu coach of the Mixed Martial Arts Gym, Arizona Combat Sports for eleven years, where he achieved his 2-0 MMA Record. During that time, Gustavo started the mission of promoting Jiu-Jitsu in the State of Arizona, becoming the vice-president of the Arizona State Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation and turning a small, 40 competitor, “in-house” tournament in 2001 to an impressive 705 competitors in 2011, helping Arizona to be recognized as one of the Jiu-Jitsu power houses in the United States, where he produced nearly thirty World Championship medalists.

Well respected in the Jiu-Jitsu community as well as a great competitor, coach, and human being, Gustavo continues to build champions on the mat and in life in Arizona and he hopes to spread out his coaching philosophy to more Jiu-Jitsu practitioners for years to come.

Don’t miss the chance to learn from him at GD Jiu-Jitsu North PHX on the mat Monday through Thursday 7-8:30 p.m. or Tuesday or Thursday 10-11:30 p.m.

Learn more at www.thebjjmentalcoach.com

The BJJ Mental Coach (right) with Leo Santos (left) and Thales Leites (middle). Photo: Personal archive

Do you feel that you perform better than you compete?

On Saturday, June 14, Gustavo Dantas will be teaching his Mental Skills Training seminar called “Inner Discovery For Outer Success” at the Embassy Suites located at 4400 S. Rural Rd in Tempe, Arizona from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

This ninety-minute presentation will inspire you and give you tools to handle some of the mental blocks that prevent you from performing to the best of your ability. The BJJ Mental Coach, Gustavo Dantas, breaks down five tips that can help you to discover what is holding you back from reaching your full potential and achieving the success that you desire.

Full information available at www.thebjjmentalcoach.com

Check out what Gustavo has to say about the mental skills training below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4heLJL5Vxk

Two different states will hold three different chances to enhance technique and mental skills for both men and women from any team.

The Fusion Jiu-Jitsu Seminar with Robson Moura & Gustavo Dantas is going back to Tampa, Florida on April 5. This will mark its fifth edition at Robson Moura’s JJ Academy located at 11220 W Hillsborough Ave Tampa, FL 33615. The seminar will be held from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Learn knowledge that covers specific techniques, tips, and drills focused on strengthening and fine tuning in your competitive game. The seminar will also feature three special guests: Bruno Bastos, Marcelo Pereira and Jean Rotondaro.

Also, in addition to the Fusion seminar, Gustavo Dantas will be teaching a Mental Skills training class called “Inner discovery for outer success” on Friday, April, 4 at the Robson Moura’s Academy from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Do you feel that you perform in competition the same way you do in practice?

This one hour and a half presentation will inspire you and give you tools to handle some of the mental blocks that prevent you from performing to the best of your ability during competition. Gustavo breaks down five tips that can help you to discover what is holding you back from achieving the success that you desire. For more info about Gustavo’s program, please visit www.thebjjmentalcoach.com

Another event going on that same weekend is on Sunday, April 6, is the women’s camp. Women’s coach, judo black belt & #1 IBJJF rankings purple belt adult lightweight competitor Sarah Black of GDJJ will be conducting a female-only camp from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

All school are welcome at each event. For full into, go to www.gdjjevents.com

See what Gustavo Dantas has planned for his mental skills seminar in this video:

Teams on the podium. Photo: Personal Archive

GMA member Gustavo Dantas ran another successful tournament in Arizona. The 9th Arizona International Open held on Feb. 22-23 at Phoenix College brought together 670 competitors.

Here are some of the standouts of the weekend:

Ben Henderson wins gold. Photo: Personal Archive

Daniel Hampton won double gold. Photo: Personal Archive

Horlando Monteiro wins gold. Photo: Personal Archive

Nathan Hagberg wins gold. Photo: Personal Archive

Sarah Black wins double gold. Photo: Personal Archive

On Feb. 15 GMA member Gustavo Dantas will hold a mental skills training class for Jiu-Jitsu practitioners who are interested in improving their performance in tournaments. The fourth degree black belt is also a certified mental coach and life coach.

The seminar will take place at his academy, the GMA GDJJ Academy in Tempe, Arizona located at 1848 E. University Dr. #108,
Tempe, AZ, 85281.

For more information visit www.thebjjmentalcoach.com

Do you want to know what “inner discovery for outer success” is about? Check out this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BL_84gB-NQ