See the full technique of how Flavio wraps his arm around his opponent’s leg to complete the move:

Learn more about Flavio Almeida and GMA Gracie Barra Dana Point at www.gbdanapoint.com

Check out his piece of advice:

The belt levels grow from white belt to orange belt to all the way up to brown belt. The ages range from teenager to mother but the appreciation for Jiu-Jitsu, no matter the specific reason, is a shared thread. They all come from Gracie Barra schools in Northridge, Irvine, Dana Point and more.

Some compete, some train for the health benefits, some appreciate the confidence they gain and all of them recommend Jiu-Jitsu for everyone.

Check out the video of this women’s class at GB Manhattan Beach and see how, why, where, you can and should train Jiu-Jitsu:

Learn more about GMA Gracie Barra Manhattan Beach at www.gbmanhattanbeach.com

Flavio Almeida teaching. Photo: Gracie Barra

GMA Gracie Barra Georgia will be hosting Flavio Almeida of Gracie Barra Dana Point for a seminar on Wednesday, August 28. The long-time competitor and recent IBJJF Las Vegas Summer Open black belt adult heavyweight champion will be in the area for the seminar and also the IBJJF Atlanta Open that has already reached full capacity.

The time of the event will be from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. and the cost is $50 until Wednesday August 21 and $60 thereafter. The location is 5505 Bells Ferry Road #220 Acworth, GA 30102

Space is limited so reserve your spot today.

To register, click here.

For more information about Gracie Barra Georgia go to www.gbgeorgia.com

GRACIE BARRA DANA POINT

PROFESSOR:

Black Belt Flavio Almeida

ADDRESS: 34085 Pacific Coast Hwy, Dana Point, CA, ZIP: 92629

PHONE: (949) 769-4663

WEBSITE: www.gbdanapoint.com

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/gracie.point

ABOUT:

The Gracie Barra Martial School in Dana Point, offers world-class level Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instruction for individuals, families, and Law Enforcement Officials of Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Beach and Laguna Niguel.

Over the past tow years our school has become a reference for physical education, character development, self-defense, and world class Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training at the communities of Dana Point, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Beach and San Juan Capistrano.

The Gracie Barra Dana Point Martial Arts classes are aligned with the Gracie Barra Program Structure developed by Master Carlos Gracie Jr. to meet specific learning needs from people with different ages, gender and levels. Our clean, friendly and progress oriented environment allows the students to have a challenging, inspirational and warm learning and training experience that always make them feel like coming back.

Gracie Barra Dana Point is for anyone who values discipline, wellness, martial art, respect and is looking for a life-style that embraces and constantly improves all this aspects. It doesn’t matter if you are a person with no training background that wants to loose weight or learn self-defense, a busy business person looking for a stress relieving activity, a parent searching for an something to complement the education of your kids, or a experienced martial artist aiming for th further development of your fighting skills, come to the school. We are sure you will find an exciting and challenging place that will allow you to achieve your goals. Contact us for a Free Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Introductory Program.

VIDEO:

Jiu-Jitsu starts on the feet. Photo: GRACIEMAG.com archives.

The main fundamentals of Jiu-Jitsu are on the ground, there’s no denying it. But since every match starts standing, to be a well-rounded practitioner one needs to polish up their takedown techniques.

At Gracie Barra Dana Point, Flávio “Cachorrinho” Almeida demonstrates a good option GRACIEMAG.com readers can use in their training.

Watch, learn, practice and, most importantly, enjoy your training!

Jiu-Jitsu começa em pe. Foto: Arquivos GRACIEMAG.com

Os principais fundamentos do Jiu-Jitsu são no chão, não há como negar. Mas vale lembrar que toda luta começa em pé e, para ser um lutador completo, também é necessário se aprimorar nas técnicas de derrubar.

Na Gracie Barra Dana Point, Flávio Almeida, o Cachorrinho, mostra uma boa opção para os leitores do GRACIEMAG.com treinarem.

Aprenda, pratique e execute. Bons treinos!

Black belt Flavio Almeida hosted a class by his brother Ricardo, also a GMA.

Here is a video of the event.

For more info, go to gbdanapoint.com, ricardoalmeida.com

GMA member school Gracie Barra Dana Point just lost one of its members.

Student Yousif Maslha passed away recently.

His team, under the leadership of Professor Flavio Almeida, is organizing a fundraiser for his funeral costs.

The event is scheduled December 11th, at the school.

The team and guest will have a barbecue, raffle, open mat and technique teaching.

For more info, go to gbdanapoint.com

On Saturday, in the adult super heavy brown belt division, James Puopolo, from Ribeiro Jiu Jitsu was the big winner of the day, winning gold in both his weight class and the absolute.

Puopolo, Saulo, and his father. Photos: Deb Blyth

In the adult brown belt absolute, Puopolo had three matches on Saturday. In his first match, he won by submission. “I was able to get a triangle right off the bat,” Puopolo says. In his second match, Puopolo fought Sean Roberts. “He gave me some problems,” he says, “He swept me and tried to submit me. It was 4-4 when I caught him with an armbar and submitted him.” In his third and final match, Puopolo was victorious with a 9-0 win.

On Sunday, he fought Brett Aldrich from Rodrigo Teixeira in his divisional final. Puopolo had two matches in his weight division and he did not mess around. In his first match, he went up against Ricardo Buffara from BJJ Revolution and got him in a triangle choke. In his final match with Aldrich, Puopolo pulled guard and got a deep collar grip in. “I opened my guard, and worked the pass,” he says, “He had a good pass defense. I got around, got into mount, and submitted him with a choke from mount.”

This gave him two gold medals for the weekend. “That was the goal,” he says, “I love these tournaments. They aren’t too big or too small, and I always get good matches.” Puopolo says he loves the American Nationals and won gold at both blue and purple belts as well.

Runez with his teacher Bruno Bastos

In the lightweight, adult brown belt division, Peter Runez of Nova Uniao and Noah Tillis of BJJ Revolution met in the final match, with Runez pulling off the big win. He had three matches and a bye on Sunday.

In his first match, Runez says he fought a “great kid.” Runez says he won the fight 10-0, but “I couldn’t get a submission on him. He was a really tough guy.” In his second match, he won by guillotine and in his third and final match, he faced off with Tillis. Showing true jiu-jitsu sportsmanship, Runez says, “He’s (Tillis) a wrestler. I was lucky to hang on.”

The final match was very aggressive and explosive. Both players tried to take each other down, sometimes ending up out of bounds or beyond the mat borders.

Peter Runez vs. Tillis

Runez says, “He (Tillis) was great. It was a good tournament.” Runez trains at three schools, Peak Performance, Team Lutter, and Octagon, and can next be found at the No-Gi Worlds in November.

In the adult medium weight brown belt finals, Sean Roberts from Ralph Gracie and Tim Peterson from Lotus Club BJJ promised to put on a good show. Roberts was in Peterson’s guard the majority of the match. Peterson swept and mounted Roberts, but Roberts eventually escaped. Peterson ended up taking gold, beating Roberts by points.

Peterson had three matches that day. In the first match he finished his opponent with an arm bar from guard. The second match he tried to take his competitor’s back from the closed guard. “I worked in half-guard then went to a 50/50,” Peterson says, “I swept him and he tried a foot lock, but he made an illegal move and was DQ’d.”

As for the final match with Roberts, Peterson says, “he likes to submit from closed guard. I pulled guard because I wanted to feel him out. I wanted to make the right decisions.” With time running out, Roberts tried a foot lock, but Peterson waited him out and won gold on points. “The experience was great,” Peterson says, “the IBJJF tournaments are so well run, and organized, and the refs are great. It was fun.”

Seraile and Yoshida

In the adult brown belt ultra heavy weight division, Raymond “Kong” Seraile of Undisputed prevailed over 42-year old, former NFL football player Jarrod Bunch of Werdum Combat Club. These, surprisingly agile, 250-pound giants shook the building as they each tried to win the gold medal in their division. They definitely did not spar by using judo grips and pushing each other back and forth. These two were standing up, going for takedowns, and fighting hard from the ground.

They had one match, which Seraile won by points. “I’ve had a match with Jarrod at purple in the 2008 No Gi Worlds,” Seraile says, “I know he’s tough. He’s an ex pro football player. He’s very active. There are not a lot of guys out there competing like that. I knew it would be intense and hard.”

Seraile was happy to fight Bunch at a lower weight. “He was much bigger at the No-Gi Worlds,” he says, “He’s smaller now and it’s gi fighting. I felt like had the advantage. I took what I was given.”

Seraile trains with Baret Yoshida, who’s 135 pounds. This helps him perfect his techniques and requires him to use less strength. “I have to be technical and have finesse,” he says, “That’s where my agility comes from.”

Seraile says it can be frustrating for someone in his weight class because he can train really hard for a tournament and then show up and have no one in his bracket, so he’s happy to have Bunch around to challenge him. “I would like to see how I match up against him this year in the No-Gi Worlds since he beat me last time,” he says. We have a big rematch on the horizon.

In the master’s brown belt division, Scott Carr of Gracie Barra Costa Mesa, was the big winner of the master’s absolute.  In the open, Carr had three matches. In his first fight, he won on points. In his second, he submitted his opponent from half-guard with a straight armbar.

His third and final match was against fellow Gracie Barra competitor, Felipe “the brown brick” Guedes of Gracie Barra Dana Point. Guedes took Carr down, but Carr then locked in the armbar from the guard, submitting him to take gold.

As for his divisional matches, Carr just shrugs his shoulders, “I won and then I lost. I got silver in the final.” So Carr went home with a gold in the absolute and a silver medal in his weight class.

“It’s been a great experience,” Carr says, “All my competitors were excellent. It was nice to have a Gracie Barra final open match. I felt really confident at this tournament. I trained really hard for it.”

As for Felipe Guedes, he had a big day himself. After winning silver on Saturday, he came back to his master’s medium brown belt division and took gold on Sunday.  Guedes had three fights that day. He won the first and second matches by points and the final by Ezekiel choke.

Felipe Guedes and his GB crew

“I was on top trying to pass guard,” Guedes says of his final match, “and I sunk in the Ezekiel from half-guard. Then he recovered full guard, but the choke got tighter and I finished him.”

This is Guedes’s second tournament and first gold medal as a brown belt. “I’m very happy right now,” Guedes says, “Professor Flavio (Almeida) came to coach me in my weight class. He said I was good, but I need to make some improvements to my game. I’m happy to go back to the gym to work on my mistakes now.”

GBSC vs. GBDP

GB San Clemente, GB Dana Point, and GB Huntington Beach were all in attendance as the day began. Each school played to see who was the best in soccer. In addition to the local Jiu-Jitsu students, there were many Brazilians Jiu-Jitsu players on the field, clearly reveling in the fact that they were taking part in a soccer match. They took their matches a little more seriously than the others and tried to show off their skills. Many said they really missed playing soccer the way they used to back in Brazil.

GBSC, GBDP, GBHB Group shot

There was a lot of talking on the field and off, with Felipe Guedes, of GB Dana Point refereeing at times and playing at others. He was either blowing his whistle, trying to keep control of the game, and giving yellow cards to those who jokingly tackled other players or he was teasing the other players about being behind and yelling, “You’re not losing; you’re learning!” The lessons of Jiu-Jitsu applying on the mats and off! As you can see, it was not only a competitive game of soccer, but a lot of fun, too, with laughter and camaraderie all around.

GB Dana Point beat both GB San Clemente and GB Huntington Beach to take the Soccer Cup, although to be fair, by the end of the day, it was more like a “pick up” game, with players from all schools playing on all the different teams, so it was a little difficult to tell who really won.

As the players walked off the field after the final match, they were slapping each other on the backs asking when the next tournament would be and committing that they would be back for a rematch.

End of the match kicks between GBDP and GBHB

In addition to the adult games, there were multiple kids’ games that were held. They had a great time trying to kick the ball into the goal, all the kids on the field advancing on the ball at the same time with no real organization or direction, just feet flying trying to kick the ball into the net. At one point, the kids tackled one of the coaches on the field and started a dog pile and that pretty much summed up the day. It was a free-for-all…

A dinner was held after the tournament for everyone to get together and talk and laugh about their experiences of the day. Because of the popularity of this event, Almeida says he’s going to put the word out to all Gracie Barra schools in the future and try to make it a bigger, more competitive tournament. If that’s the case, Felipe Guedes better get a bigger and louder whistle.

Group shot of Marines and GB Staff. Photos: Publicity/Camp Pendleton

Recently, GB standouts, Kayron Gracie, Otavio Sousa, Fabiana Borges, Marcelo Lacerda Brandao, Rodrigo Simoes, Lucas Rocha, Ronis Gracie, and the rest of the GBSC/GBDP staff went to the base to present a Jiu-Jitsu class to the Marines. It was the first time these GB professors and coaches had been on a military base and they were excited about the opportunity. The Marines were blown away by the level of skill and precision these Jiu-Jitsu greats brought to their community.

Kayron and Otavio Sousa demonstrating a Jiu-Jitsu move.

Kayron Gracie led the class and had a great time doing it. “We got there in the morning at around 10:00,” he says, “Coach Felipe (Guedes) and Coach Charles (Gomes) put them through an hour of physical drills and conditioning,” he says, “Then Professor Otavio, Professor Marcelo, and I taught them some Jiu-Jitsu techniques that were geared more towards the type of self-defense situations they would normally be presented with during combat.”

At the end of the class, the professors and coaches sparred with the Marines. Then as a special surprise, the Marines taught the GB participants a little bit about their combat training. Ronis Gracie was awed by the Marines’ dedication and commitment to training. “I think the most impressive thing I saw was their focus and seriousness during training,” he says, “I can see why these guys are so important to the country and why the U.S. is the strongest country in the world.”

Kayron and Otavio teaching a technique

Black belt Fabiana Borges said it was amazing to see how hard the Marines trained and how disciplined they were in class, realizing that they do it to get ready for war. “The experience changed my life,” she says, “It made me want to go back to the mats and demand more of myself as a professor and an athlete. They inspired me to train harder and teach better. We were teaching them Jiu-Jitsu techniques so they can protect themselves while they’re protecting our country. That gave more value to my art and made me expect more from myself.”

At the end of the training session, the Marines gave the professors and coaches certificates as a gesture of respect and gratitude. Fabiana said she felt a lot of pride at that moment. “I was proud to see how they respected and admired our martial art. It was a good feeling knowing that they might be able to use a little bit of the Jiu-Jitsu we taught them to protect themselves while they are so fearlessly defending the country.”