Romulo Barral of GMA Gracie Barra Northridge will be in Saddle Brook, New Jersey on August 15 for a seminar. The 2013 ADCC champion and four-time black belt world champion will be in town to teach his proven techniques.

The location of the seminar will be at Silver Fox BJJ located at 380 Market Street Saddle Brook, NJ 07663.

The event will run from 6 – 8:30 p.m. and the cost will be $75 per person.

Reserve your spot by calling 201-398-6032

GMA member Romulo Barral, the 2013 ADCC champion and multiple-time world champion, will be hosting a kids tournament at his Gracie Barra Northridge academy in California.

On Sept. 6, the GB Northridge mats will host their first tournament and give youngsters the chance to test their skills against those in similar age and weight brackets.

The best part about signing up is the perks involved. Every competitor will receive a Romulo Barral shirt, a tournament medal, and two training sessions/rules meeting on August 29 -30.

To reserve your spot, call 818-709-1808 or email info@gbnorthridge.com

GB Northridge is located at 9149 Reseda Blvd. Northridge, CA 91324.

Learn more about Romulo Barral’s academy at www.gbnorthridge.com

Rick celebrates his win. Photo: Erin Herle

The Mendes brothers, Guilherme and Rafael, promoted yet another student to brown belt at the 2014 World Championship. This time, it was their student and a coach at GMA Art of Jiu-Jitsu Academy, Rick Slomba.

He moved from Baltimore, MD and his real estate career to the academy in Costa Mesa, CA to train Jiu-Jitsu full-time in 2012. He was a purple belt until today, the second day of the Worlds where he fought six matches for the gold in the featherweight category and received his brown belt on the podium.

In 2010 Rick fought his first IBJJF tournament and third tournament ever in Chicago and he was a purple belt then as well. Since then he has competed in the purple belt divisions in the highest tournaments. In his fourth attempt at the worlds, he finally got his gold. In previous years he earned third place twice and even a third place at the Pans as well. So this title was well-deserved and came after a long time. He broke his third place spell.

The toughest match for Rick today was the final against Edwin Najmi of GMA Gracie Barra Northridge. “Edwin has beat me a bunch before and I finally beat him. The ankle locks hurt but I didn’t care today” says the 27-year-old. During his six matches, Rick had three submissions: one wrist lock, and two chokes from the back.

Rick during the final against Edwin Najmi. Photo: Erin Herle

The brothers surprised him with the promotion on the podium. Rick says, “Even more than the gold, it’s been my dream to be promoted on the podium.”

When asked about his past performances and why he was often stopped before the finals, he said it goes all the way back to his childhood: “I could never hit the ball when I was up to bat in little league baseball. I could never handle it. I was always scared to fail.”

But not anymore. “I finally hit the baseball.”

See photos of the second day of the event here. And partial results of the event here.

Promoted to brown belt. Photo: Erin Herle

The seminar will be on Saturday, May 24 at 12:15 p.m. at GB Northridge located at 9149 Reseda Blvd Northridge, CA 91324.

The cost is $75 per person.

For more information please contact GB Northridge at 818-709-1808 and learn more about the academy at www.gbnorthridge.com

Edwin trains at his academy, GB Northridge. Photo: Erin Herle

One of the many competitors entered into the 2014 World Championship is purple belt Edwin Najmi of GMA Gracie Barra Northridge. A student under multiple-time world champion Romulo Barral, the drive for success has clearly been passed down.

While he’s already won the Pan title four times and he’s accomplished the Abu Dhabi WPJJC gold medal as of last month, it’s the world title that he has yet to claim. He’s made it to the podium, but he’s hoping this year he’ll stand at the top spot.

I talked with Edwin about his tournament season so far and what differentiates him from the rest of the hungry competitors out there. See what he had to say:

GRACIEMAG: How have you done throughout your tournaments so far this year?

EDWIN NAJMI: So far in 2014 I’ve won gold at the FIVE Grappling California, Pans, Abu Dhabi WPJJC, IBJJF San Francisco Open and Las Vegas Spring Open. Also, I won triple gold at the IBJJF Chicago Spring Open. It feels great to accomplish all of that so far and win all those tournaments. But I want the Worlds gold medal really bad. None of the other accomplishments combined mean the same to me as a IBJJF World Championship gold medal.

Describe a typical busy day for you.

Typical training day: I train two times a day for about 2-3 hours each session. That includes drills, specific training and a lot of sparring. Between those sessions I balance my time between managing websites and social media accounts, taking online college classes, and writing articles when I have time. Also, I do strength training 2-3 times a week depending on how close the tournament is. I don’t like to do any conditioning, I just train more Jiu-Jitsu.

What is your approach to training when rolling with the lower belts or non-competitive training partners?

When I’m training with the higher belts and my toughest training partners, everyone is trying to kill each other every day. But when training with the lower belts or someone that’s not a competitor I always have a plan of what I’m going to do. There’s no point when training with them to submit them a bunch of times using your A-game. I choose a specific game and keep on doing it over and over again, and improve those positions I’m not good at. Essentially, you’re making the sparring session into a specific training without the sparring partner knowing. I honestly do this sometimes without even realizing I’m doing it.

What do you think is your strongest quality in Jiu-Jitsu and competition?

I truly believe that the reason I have had a lot of success in tournaments recently is because I’m stronger mentally. I believe in myself way more now and I’m doing everything with passion. If you don’t do something with your heart and passion, you can’t expect to be successful in it. Whether it’s training or competing, you have to have the will to be the best. I learned this from my professor, Romulo Barral.

Every Jiu-Jitsu competitor all around the world is training hard for the worlds, that’s no secret. You have to have the desire and attitude to win more than anyone else. You have to be different from the rest.

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Don’t forget to register for the 2014 World Championship before the deadline of May 19!

You can register at www.ibjjf.org

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

Nalty Junior headed over to the gym in Los Angeles, CA to capture this exclusive video:

Learn more about Romulo Barral and GMA Gracie Barra Northridge at www.gbnorthridge.com

Check out his new highlight showcasing his winning moves:

Learn more about Romulo Barral and his GMA Gracie Barra Northridge academy in Northridge, CA at www.gbnorthridge.com

GMA member Romulo Barral is available for seminars in January and February 2014

GMA member Romulo Barral has announced that he will be open to teach seminars in January and February of next year. He recently accomplished the -88kg ADCC championship title and has accumulated four world titles as a black belt.

Head instructor of GMA Gracie Barra Northridge and active competitor, he has much to offer and will be available to teach both gi and no-gi.

For more information and to reserve a date please email romulobarral@gmail.com

Purple belts Rolando Samson and Michael Ledesma. Photo: Erin Herle

The blue belt males opened up the first day of the 2013 No-Gi World Championship on Saturday, Nov. 2 as they do at most tournaments. With ten mats spread throughout the Long Beach Walter Pyramid, main stage the matches unfolded with new divisions added into the mix often. The brackets circulated giving athletes a break in between each match and time for many different shapes, ages and sizes to take on their opponents at the same time.

The blue belt males were as followed:

Rooster: Kitt Canaria – Gracie Barra Northridge
Light-feather: Richard Alarcon – Lotus Club Jiu-Jitsu
Feather: David Mosleh – Open Mat Mixed Martial Arts
Light: Benjamin Silva IV – Brasa Caio Terra
Middle: Anthony Martin – Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu
Medium-heavy: Todd Noel – CheckMat
Heavy: Ekjot Swagh – Open Mat Mixed Martial Arts
Super-heavy: Taylor Kettler – Renato Tavares Association
Ultra-heavy: Johnson Jordan – JCBJJ

Blue belt females:

Light-feather: Kyra Batara – Cobra Kai Jiu Jitsu
Feather: Leilani Esteban – Zenith BJJ
Light: Anicia Van Buren – CheckMat
Middle: Bethany Eash – Team Popovitch
Medium-heavy: Chelsah Lyons – Alliance
Heavy: Tara White – Atos Jiu-Jitsu

Purple belt males:

Rooster: Francis Tejano – Alliance
Light-feather: Louis Bernard-Desrosiers – Atos Jiu-Jitsu
Feather: German Salas – Alliance International
Light: Rolando Samson – Atos Jiu-Jitsu
Middle: Gabriel Arges de Sousa – Gracie Barra
Medium-heavy: Isaque Bahiense Braz – Nova Uniao
Heavy: Pedro Lucas Aguiar Araujo – Gracie Barra
Super-heavy: Max dos Santos Gimenis – GF Team
Ultra-heavy: Jared Lynn Dopp – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu

Purple belt females:

Light-feather: Livia Gluchowska – Maromba Academia International
Feather: Jaqueline de Moraes Amorim – CheckMat
Light: Danielle Renee Alvarez – Nova Uniao
Middle: Amanda Santana – Marcio Cruz Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Medium-heavy: Fiona Louise Muxlow – Brazilian Top Team
Heavy: Maria Malyjasiak – Zenith BJJ

The open class divisions were fought at the end of the day with the athletes giving everything they have left from the long hours of matches. For the blue belts, Caio Terra’s lightweight student Benjamin Silva won the open weight gold to match the gold he earned in his division. A total of nine matches for him, six of them ended in submissions. Since moving to Caio’s gym and being persuaded to move down to the lightweight division from middleweight, his tournament results have skyrocketed. His training partners have become family at GMA Institute of Martial Arts and the advice Caio has given him paid off: “Stick with plan A and don’t worry about plan B until it happens. Go out there and play your game, don’t worry about names and what they’re doing.” The blue belt female division was won by Tara White who trains under GMA member Andre Galvao. She fought Virginia Perez from Cyborg’s GMA Fight Sports.

The open class for the male purple belts lasted the longest with many names in the bracket who could have topped the podium. Narrowing down to the last matches, both small and large competitors were still working towards the goal. In the final, Isaque Bahiense faced Gerard Dany that was decided by points. From the start of the match, Gerard’s large frame was in control of Isaque, nearly taking his back. Isaque defended the second hook avoiding the hooks and was able to escape the dangerous position but was put in the same situation once more. After turning to put his back on the back and end up in bottom half-guard, a good bridge gave him the momentum to come on top, sweeping to earn two points in the last twenty seconds and winning the division. The purple belt females came down to their final with matches that ended in mostly submissions by the eventual winner. Amanda Santana from Marcio Cruz BJJ submitted her way to the gold with an armbar submission in the final to end her day with double gold.

To see the gallery of photos, click here.

To see the filled-in brackets with updated results, click here.

If you live in or near the San Fernando Valley, you can head over to GMA Gracie Barra Northridge on a Saturday for a free lesson in self-defense.

This women-only seminar is available for those 15 years and older. There is no excuse for slacking on your self-defense, especially if the opportunity comes at no cost to you.

The Saturday classes are at 9 a.m. on August 24, August 31 and September 7. The location is across the street from California State University Northridge at 9149 Reseda Blvd. Northridge, CA 91324

To reserve your spot, call 818-709-1808 and for more information you can visit www.GBNorthridge.com

Janaina Barral

The fourth day of Lloyd Irvin’s MMA Blueprint 5.0 – The Next Generation conference is underway.

After three days of intense activities, attendees talked to GRACIEMAG about the impact the techniques had on their businesses.

Rafael Lovato Jr, a Gi and No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu world champion and the owner of Oklahoma-based Lovato Jiu-Jitsu, has been a follower of Lloyd’s teachings since 2011. He couldn’t be more clear about how important what he’s learned has been to his academy: “It changed my life! More than the practical side of it and all the improvements you can add to your business, the most important side of it is the change in mindset it creates. You learn that there’s a lot more you can do for your business to become more successful.”

Paul Halme, owner of Peak Performance BJJ in Keller, Texas, has himself been following Lloyd’s recipe for two years: “My academy was in trouble, but the improvement has been amazing. The sales techniques and the instructor-training system are the aspects that helped me a lot. Before I go home, I will get myself more products.”

Rafael Lovato Jr. and Paul Halme

Garth Taylor of Santa Cruz, California-based Kaijin Martial Arts is in his first Lloyd Irvin event. A veteran with over 20 years of Jiu-Jitsu training, Garth wants to upgrade his school with what he learned in Orlando: “My academy was a hobby for me until a while ago, as I had another job in construction. Since I left that job and started to devote myself only to my academy, I got another 40 students. With Lloyd’s techniques, I hope I get a couple hundred more and have a good way of living”.

Janaina Barral and her husband Romulo Barral own California academy Gracie Barra Northridge. She’s in her third LI event and also testifies to how effective the techniques are: “We’re still implementing some of the techniques, ‘cause it’s a long proccess, but I can already say that it has improved our academy a lot. One thing I want to say is that the advice is all there, but you have to apply yourself for them to work. If you do it right, the investment in Lloyd’s event will be more than worthwhile”.

Zach Adamson

Zach Adamson co-owns Oregon academy Seaside BJJ with his brother Nathan. He has one of the most dramatic stories of how Lloyd’s teachings can be beneficial: “It’s my second event, and I got tell you it changed our lives. Before we started using his methods, we had only 20 students in our school. After paying for expenses, we would be left with only $200 a month to live on. Sometimes we wouldn’t have enough to eat–a true story. Now we’re over the 200-student mark and last year’s gross income was over $200,000. We were able to invest $100,000 in the gym. Our community is very small, with only 7,000 people, but we knew we could do better, and that’s what we did. The internet marketing and the internal management are the two fields that are very useful for us. It’s so important to let people know how great what you have to offer them is, and after they come in you have to make them feel at home.”

Adem Redzovic

Adem Redzovic is the owner of three Gracie Barra schools in Chicago, Illinois, (The Loop, Lincoln Park and Lincoln Square). His diagnoses of why people come to LI events is interesting: “We are people that learned Jiu-Jitsu and then started teaching it. Many of us are black belts in Jiu-Jitsu but white belts in management and marketing. At the first event I attended, I probably got some stripes on my white belt. I hope to get the blue belt soon.” Redzovic talks of how he benefits from Lloyd’s methods: “More than increasing the number of students, which we did, we learned how to delegate responsibilities.  Now I don’t waste time with tasks that can be easily done by others, and I can focus on more important things”.

MMA Blue Print 5.0 – The Next Generation event wraps up this Sunday at 6:00 PM Orlando time.