A ação no Sul-Americano de 14 de outubro, no Rio. Fotos: Ilan Pellenberg/ Divulgação

Os astros e estrelas do Jiu-Jitsu estão deixando o kimono no armário este mês.

Enquanto os melhores lutadores sem pano seguem a esbanjar com suas técnicas e movimentações lisas e escorregadias, a IBJJF já prepara a montagem de mais um evento que promete. Dos dias 26 a 29 de outubro, o Campeonato Europeu Sem Kimono será realizado em Lazio na Itália, com grandes nomes da arte suave no Velho Continente.

Enquanto isso, no Rio de Janeiro os campeões ainda celebram e relaxam após a guerra. O Sul-Americano Sem Kimono, realizado pela IBJJF no sábado 14 de outubro, coroou mais uma vez Pedro Alex “Bombom” no absoluto, após fechamento com o parceiro da GFTeam/Jiu Art Wallace Costa. No feminino, a rainha sem pano do continente foi a bravíssima Maca Vicentini (Dream Art), que venceu Julia Boscher por pontos na final. Ela ficou com o ouro duplo, ao vencer também o peso pesado.

Os resultados completos estão aqui.

O início de outubro já começara quente no cenário sem o paletó. Em Houston, Gordon Ryan voltou à ativa no grandioso Who’s Number One 20, em 1º de outubro, quando o astro americano finalizou Patrick Gaudio na chave de braço. “Parem de me chamar de o melhor do mundo, eu sou o maior de todos os tempos na modalidade”, declarou o autoproclamado “Rei Gordon”, dias após o triunfo.

Na mesma data, houve o Pan Sem Kimono da IBJJF, em Dallas. Nos tatames azuis do Texas, a grande campeã foi Roberta Ribeiro (Double Five), ouro duplo no superpesado e no absoluto. No masculino, o absoluto foi dominado por dois irmãos que representaram a Alliance: Pedro Rocha ficou com o ouro ao fechar com o astro veterano João Gabriel. Será que teremos uma luta Pedro Rocha e Gordon Ryan em breve? A conferir.

Nas divisões de peso do Pan, Gianni Grippo (Alliance) voltou a vencer no pena. Francisco Lo (meio-pesado), Adam Wardzinski (pesado), Dante Leon (superpesado) e Roosevelt Souza (pesadíssimo) foram outros destaques. No absoluto marrom, a Gracie Barra dominou com Luke Michael Griffith em primeiro e Henrique Camargo em segundo.

Relembre os resultados completos do Pan Sem Kimono 2023, aqui.

By Erin Herle

[Continued from here.]

Drilling outside of class is like doing your homework. Working on technique, situations, your weaknesses are all important and can be done outside of class. We often don’t allow ourselves to play with weaknesses when training in class and the time allotted for technique is used for a new move, adding to the list of homework assignments to ingrain into your muscle memory.

Now that you have your training partners, the mats to train on and a time to meet up let’s put the timer to use with some lesson plan ideas.

Here are some examples of drills/specific training situations to help you run your class that Gianni Grippo has adjusted through trial and error in his own competition classes at Renzo Gracie Academy NYC:

3-minute rounds of choice drilling

Drilling a guard pass of choice with a partner / Photo by Erin Herle

Every person will pair with someone near their size if possible and drill a move of their choice. SwitchStay with the same move and if you choose to do more rounds with another move, keep them similar. Extend the move into a counter defense move, a submission into another submission and ultimately all bottom game or all top game. It makes it easier to implement and gain many repetitions.

3-minute rounds of chosen drill

Leg drag drills / Photo by Erin Herle

Dictating the move to drill is a great way to have everyone secure a staple move. This could be a very common move, counter, defense, motion, etc. There are guard passes, guard recovery, positional moves and defensive techniques that everyone must know so using this time to implement these required moves into everyone’s game is beneficial for all. Even if they aren’t fancy and are sometimes even boring, making time for them is important.

5-minute situational sparring

Working situational sparring from the back / Photo by Erin Herle

Training in a position and only that position is a good way to understand the mechanics and leverage of a situation. Being in both top and bottom side control allows both defense, maintenance and offense to improve. Start with a position and state exactly how everyone should start. If you are working on back mount should the person have hooks and a seatbelt grip or should it start from turtle and the person on bottom only needs to recover guard? Focus on who needs to do what, the goal, the grips and rules. When the timer starts, shake hands and roll normal speed within the position and rules. Switch between positions with same partners then switch partners for each round.

5-minute rounds of guard defense

Guard defense rounds with adamant passers / Photo by Erin Herle

The person who plays guard must defend their guard while the person on top tries to pass. The focus of this is guard recovery and defense while the person on top can work their guard passing without the threat of sweeps or submissions. Start with open guard so that the guard player must take what the guard passer gives. If the guard is passed, start over.

90-Second Losing Situation

Losing opponent must act quickly / Photo by Erin Herle

Mostly for competition-oriented people, this drill is important for acting quickly yet smart. The person in guard is down on points and must sweep or submit to win the match. With 90 seconds left in a match it can create a type of adrenaline or hastiness that will cause mistakes. With this drill focus on the application of sweeps and submissions and acting quickly when it is most important. The person on top can work the pass like normal but you are forced to play smart and pay attention to your base. If you are winning in a match, you should always keep working instead of stalling but you don’t want to cost yourself the match. Switch partners with this drill.

8-Minute Matches

Live sparring with 8-minute matches / Photo by Erin Herle

Include regular rolling into your routine like you would any other class as it can be the best way to apply anything you’re currently working. Also, more mat time is always a good thing. Try to work on what you have drilled and focus on your weaknesses. Remember, there is no ego in the gym and what happens in training stays in training. Don’t be afraid to work on what you need to work so that you can improve in all areas. If you compete, you’ll be more prepared and have more to work with in your muscle memory. Switch partners and have at least four rounds.

Submission-Only Match with 30-Minute Time Limit

Submission-only matches create submission-oriented people / Photo by Erin Herle

You can save this round for last or have multiple matches in one session. These types of situations, especially when tired after a training session, are great for focusing on finishing an opponent. Focus on gaining dominant positions and attacking. This works the defense and offense. The 30-minute time limit can and will be reached but is a good stopping point should anyone go the length.

Gianni Grippo’s planner with lesson plans and drilling notes.

Remember that these drills are examples. The time limits, the numbers, the details can all be manipulated but are a great jumping off point. A good way to run these classes is to determine a lesson plan before so you can state to everyone involved what the itinerary will be for each class. A planner or designated notebook will be efficient.

And the most important tip for your drilling Jiu-Jitsu classes?

Enjoy yourself!

Drilling is fun! / Photo by Erin Herle

All you need is a place, like-minded training partners and a timer / Photo by Erin Herle

By Erin Herle

Sometimes classes aren’t enough to refine your technique. A lot of training can and will be done during scheduled classes at your academy but in order to really do your homework and solidify techniques, you must drill the moves repeatedly. Many athletes run into problems when organizing drilling sessions becomes difficult. Do you have partners? Do you have time? Do you have a location? Do you have a routine?

Getting started is the hardest part but with some guidance from Gianni Grippo at Renzo Gracie Academy NYC, you can organize your own Jiu-Jitsu drilling classes. Established after he returned from winning his fifth world title at the Long Beach Pyramid in July of 2011. As he reached the higher levels he knew he had a need for focused, consistent and technical training. He filled the need by gathering like-minded individuals at his academy and organized his own classes.

Here are some tips for how you can organize your own specific Jiu-Jitsu training:

What you need: Location, Like-Minded Individuals, Timer

Plan a location

If necessary, clear any permissions with your instructors or facility owners. You may have to designate the mat time beforehand, ask for space every time or if you’re lucky, you can block the space and time for a regular basis. Should you be unable to gain access to your school, consider buying mats and training at a garage or home base. There are many options.

Find interested candidates

Part of running your own class is the benefit of choice. Choice for where, when and especially who. If you have a certain standard for who you want to train with, make your class entirely invitational. You can add restrictions or you can make it an open class. Remember that if you are a higher belt, you may spend a lot of your time teaching than training should you allow lower belts or beginners.

Have a lesson plan

If you want to run your class similar to the way your instructor organizes classes, it would be limiting your opportunity. Save the type of training you do in class for just that — your scheduled classes. Use these drilling classes to make sure you are working on what you feel is lacking. Plan a lesson plan each time that designates how much time is spent on each aspect. Remember, you can warm-up, drill, spar, focus on submissions, competition aspects and anything else.

Use your time wisely

Designate how much time will be spent on each type of training. Make sure you spend a good amount of drilling and specific situation. The lesson plan you write should have a set time or amount of reps so that no time is wasted. Don’t take too many breaks and when there are breaks, plan them ahead. Try to let everyone know the lesson plan before the class starts, that way everyone knows how to pace themselves and what to expect.

Be consistent

Try to set a date and time that works best for everyone. Start a public or secret group on Facebook purely for your members and make sure communication is open. Make it a democracy, allowing suggestions that way everyone can feel they are gaining something of this type of opportunistic and unique training. If you want to switch the schedule for who is running class, organize one-on-one last minute drilling sessions, create a group calendar or anything else to stay organized, these can all be accomplished through Facebook.

Most importantly, know that you are in charge of your own training regardless of how you see it. How much appreciation you have for the art, how much energy you put forth in training, how much dedication you place on the lifestyle, it is purely your own doing. Create your own training atmosphere, start today.

Part two has lesson plans for your convenience!

Last Saturday the city of New York hosted another edition of Kasai Pro Jiu-Jitsu. In its fourth spectacle, Kasai held a no-gi GP featuring eight athletes.

Augusto Tanquinho, a world champion and UFC fighter, shared the bracket with other stars of Brazilian BJJ — Paulo Miyao, Bruno Frazatto and Kim Terra — as well as the Americans Gianni Grippo, Geo Martinez, Frank Rosenthal and Ethan Crelinsten.

The finalists were known after three rounds with six-minute matches where each submission was good for three points, each win by points was good for two, and ties meant one point for each opponent. By the end of these three rounds, Gianni Grippo and Paulo Miyao had made it.

The final duel went as expected in this clash of old rivals: lots of ground action with intertwined legs and an incessant pursuit of forcing a mistake. A good chunk of the fight played out cautiously on the 50/50 guard, and one peculiar play determined the result: After reaching a score of 1–0 due to a foot attack (advantages are counted as one point each) and seeing Miyao score two points with an a reversal on the 50/50, Grippo picked up the pace and came up to add two points of his own. The maneuver was made near the edge of the mat, and Miyao spun into all fours before the interruption. The ref counted the two points, and Grippo won 3–2, as can be seen in the video below.

Gianni Grippo is your @KASAIGrappling Pro Featherweight Champion! ??? pic.twitter.com/250LQ0H86Y

— FloGrappling (@FloGrappling) 11 de novembro de 2018

Additionally, Renato Canuto beat Vagner Rocha on points, Matheus Luthes finished Jeremiah Vance via choke from the north–south. Check out the complete results:

Kasai Pro 4
New York
November 10, 2018

Round 1
Geo Martinez def. Bruno Frazatto, points
Paulo Miyao def. Frank Rosenthal, points
Gianni Grippo def. Ethan Crelinsten, points
Augusto Tanquinho def. Kim Terra, points

Round 2
Frank Rosenthal def. Bruno Frazatto, W.O. (injury)
Paulo Miyao def. Geo Martinez, points
Augusto Tanquinho def. Ethan Crelinsten, points
Gianni Grippo def. Kim Terra, points

Round 3
Frank Rosenthal def. Geo Martinez, points
Ethan Crelinsten def. Kim Terra, points
Gianni Grippo def. Augusto Tanquinho, decision
Paulo Miyao def. Bruno Frazatto, W.O. (injury)

3rd-place match
Augusto Tanquinho def. Frank Rosenthal, points

FINAL
Gianni Grippo def. Paulo Miyao, points

A famosa Manhattan, em Nova York, recebeu no último sábado, dia 10 de novembro, mais uma edição do Kasai Pro Jiu-Jitsu. Em seu quarto show, o Kasai trouxe para os fãs da arte suave um eletrizante GP sem kimono de oito atletas para disputar o título do evento.

Entre os escalados para a disputa, o campeão mundial e atleta do UFC Augusto Tanquinho integrava a chave com outros craques do Jiu-Jitsu nacional, como Paulo Miyao, Bruno Frazatto e Kim Terra, além dos americanos Gianni Grippo, Geo Martinez, Frank Rosenthal e Ethan Crelinsten.

A definição dos finalistas foi feita em três rodadas de combates, com lutas de seis minutos onde cada finalização contava três pontos, vitória por pontos no placar contavam dois pontos, e empates um ponto para cada lutador. No fim das três rodadas, Gianni Grippo e Paulo Miyao ficaram com a vaga na finalíssima.

O duelo rolou como o esperado entre os dois antigos rivais: muita disputa no solo com pernas emboladas e busca incessante pelo erro adversário. Boa parte do duelo foi estudada na guarda 50/50 e um lance curioso definiu o resultado final: depois de somar 1 a 0 no placar por um ataque no pé (as vantagens valem pontos únicos) e ver Miyao somar dois com uma inversão na 50/50, Grippo aumentou o ritmo e subiu para somar outros dois. A manobra foi feita perto do limite do tatame e Miyao girou para quatro apoios antes da interrupção. O árbitro da luta marcou os dois pontos e Grippo venceu por 3 a 2, como você pode conferir no vídeo abaixo.

Gianni Grippo is your @KASAIGrappling Pro Featherweight Champion! ??? pic.twitter.com/250LQ0H86Y

— FloGrappling (@FloGrappling) 11 de novembro de 2018

Ainda no evento, além das lutas preliminares, Renato Canuto venceu Vagner Rocha nos pontos e Matheus Luthes finalizou Jeremiah Vance no estrangulamento do norte-sul. Confira abaixo os resultados completos!

Kasai Pro 4
New York, EUA
10 de novembro de 2018

1ª rodada
Geo Martinez venceu Bruno Frazatto nos pontos
Paulo Miyao venceu Frank Rosenthal nos pontos
Gianni Grippo venceu Ethan Crelinsten nos pontos
Augusto Tanquinho venceu Kim Terra nos pontos

2ª rodada
Frank Rosenthal venceu Bruno Frazatto por WO (lesão)
Paulo Miyao venceu Geo Martinez nos pontos
Augusto Tanquinho venceu Ethan Crelinsten nos pontos
Gianni Grippo venceu Kim Terra nos pontos

3ª rodada
Frank Rosenthal venceu Geo Martinez nos pontos
Ethan Crelinsten venceu Kim Terra nos pontos
Gianni Grippo venceu Augusto Tanquinho na decisão
Paulo Miyao venceu Bruno Frazatto por WO (lesão)

3° lugar
Augusto Tanquinho venceu Frank Rosenthal nos pontos

FINAL
Gianni Grippo venceu Paulo Miyao nos pontos

Gianni Grippo attacks from the back.

Last Saturday was a day of triumph for American black-belt Gianni Grippo of Alliance. A lightweight, Grippo fought in the IBJJF’s Boston Open and won double gold.

In his weight division, after getting past three opponents, he was faced with Felipe Simplicio (Soul Fighters) in the final. The fight, which you can see in the following video, was decided after a nice spin from the guard to the back that ended in a choke.

Later, in the absolute final, Grippo won again, this time against Diogo Moreno (Soul Fighters).

Check out the lightweight final and the tournament’s results below.

Black / Adult / Male / Light-Feather

Black / Adult / Male / Feather

Black / Adult / Male / Light

Black / Adult / Male / Middle

Black / Adult / Male / Medium-Heavy

Black / Adult / Male / Super-Heavy

Black / Adult / Male / Ultra-Heavy

Black / Adult / Male / Open Class

Gianni Grippo ataca no estrangulamento pelas costas. Foto: Reprodução

O último sábado, dia 28 de julho, foi de sucesso duplo para o americano Gianni Grippo, faixa-preta da Alliance. Atleta do peso leve, Grippo entrou em ação no Boston Open da IBJJ e voltou para casa com o título tnto na sua categoria de peso quanto no absoluto.

Na divisão de leves, após encarar três lutas na sua chave, Grippo ficou frente a frente com Felipe Simplicio (Soul Fighters). O duelo, que você confere no vídeo abaixo, foi definido após um bom giro da guarda para as costas, que terminou com um estrangulamento.

Mais tarde, no absoluto, Grippo voltou a vencer, desta vez sobre Diogo Moreno (Soul Fighters) pelo ouro no aberto.

Veja a final do peso leve no vídeo abaixo e os resultados na faixa-preta.

Black / Adult / Male / Light-Feather

Black / Adult / Male / Feather

Black / Adult / Male / Light

Black / Adult / Male / Middle

Black / Adult / Male / Medium-Heavy

Black / Adult / Male / Super-Heavy

Black / Adult / Male / Ultra-Heavy

Black / Adult / Male / Open Class

Keenan Cornelius stood out. Gallerr.com

Last weekend was a busy one for BJJ in America, with two open tournaments held almost simultaneously. One of them took place in Boston, Massachusetts on Saturday. The name to come out on top in the end was Keenan Cornelius. Still in the process of a comeback, the Atos fighter walked away with two gold medals.

In the heavyweight division, Keenan beat Charles Mcguire (ATT). In the absolute final he beat Gianni Grippo (Alliance), who had taken the lightweight title.

João Miyao took light featherweight gold, and Lucas Valle (Start JJ) beat the middleweight field.

You can watch here the absolute final between Keenan and Grippo, and check out the tourney’s results.

BLACK / Adult / Male / Light-Feather

BLACK / Adult / Male / Feather

BLACK / Adult / Male / Light

BLACK / Adult / Male / Middle

BLACK / Adult / Male / Medium-Heavy

BLACK / Adult / Male / Heavy

BLACK / Adult / Male / Super-Heavy

BLACK / Adult / Male / Ultra-Heavy

BLACK / Adult / Male / Open Class

BLACK / Adult / Female / Middle

BLACK / Adult / Female / Open Class

Keenan Cornelius brilhou em Boston. Foto: Gallerr.com

O final de semana foi movimentado nos EUA com dois opens realizados quase simultaneamente. Um deles rolou em Boston, Massachusetts, no último sábado, dia 29.

O nome de destaque na disputa foi Keenan Cornelius. Ainda em ritmo de retorno aos campeonatos, a fera da Atos enfileirou seus adversários tanto na divisão de peso quanto no absoluto, e levou dois ouros para casa.

Na divisão de pesados, Keenan bateu Charles Mcguire (ATT). Na final do absoluto, o craque encarou e venceu Gianni Grippo (Alliance), que já havia faturado o ouro no peso leve.

Outros campeões de destaque no torneio foram João Miyao, ouro no peso-pluma, e Lucas Valle (Start JJ), campeão entre os médios.

Confira abaixo como foi a final do absoluto entre Keenan e Grippo e veja a seguir os resultados do torneio.

BLACK / Adult / Male / Light-Feather

BLACK / Adult / Male / Feather

BLACK / Adult / Male / Light

BLACK / Adult / Male / Middle

BLACK / Adult / Male / Medium-Heavy

BLACK / Adult / Male / Heavy

BLACK / Adult / Male / Super-Heavy

BLACK / Adult / Male / Ultra-Heavy

BLACK / Adult / Male / Open Class

BLACK / Adult / Female / Middle

BLACK / Adult / Female / Open Class

Victor Silverio. Dan Rod/ GRACIEMAG

Big names of BJJ went to work last weekend at the New York Spring International Open at the Nat Holman Gym. Saturday saw the gi contests take place, with Victor Silvério (GFTeam) winning absolute gold as he defeated Orlando Monteiro (Nova União) in the final. Silvério also took bronze in the middleweight division.

Also in the gi, João Miyao won gold in the light featherweight division as he beat Tadashi Nakashima in the final. At lightweight, Márcio André beat Rodrigo de Freitas in the final.

JT Torres shone at middleweight; the student under André Galvão defeated Abmar Barbosa (Zenith BJJ) in the final.

Gianni Grippo. IBJJF

In the no-gi section, which unfolded on Sunday, lightweight Gianni Grippo stood above the competition by winning two gold medals. Victor Silvério took middleweight gold. Aaron Johnson suprised by winning the ultra-heavyweight final over Mahamed Aly, who had been unstoppable lately, having won titles at the Euro, Pan and No-Gi Euro.

Click here to see the complete gi results, and here for the complete no-gi results.

Polaris 3

The third edition of Polaris Professional Jiu-Jitsu invitational will take place April 2, in Poole, UK.

The all-star card has Garry Tonon vs. Rousimar Palhares as the main event and several other great matches

The card includes: Jake Shields vs. AJ Agazarm; Augusto Tanquinho vs. Eddie Cummings; Darragh O Connall vs. Jon Satava; Gezary Matuda vs. Laurence Foillat; Bruno Frazzatto vs. Gianni Grippo; Geo Martinez vs. Dan Covel; João Miyao vs. Yukinori Sasa.

Click here to know more and also how to watch the matches.

Sixth degree black belt Ricardo De La Riva is celebrating another birthday this Thursday, January 28.

The developer of one of the most widely used guard styles in Jiu-Jitsu history, De La Riva sure has made a name for himself in our sport.

We celebrate the date and his influence in today’s BJJ giving you three examples of how the DLR is used as base for new guard styles and techniques.

First, Keenan Cornelius uses the DLR to start a sweep and a guard pass.

Then, Gianni Grippo uses the inverted DLR along with the x-guard to sweep his opponent.

Finally, the Miyao Bros teach several set ups for the berimbolo, which would not exist without the De La Riva.