Check out his piece of advice:

GMA member Flavio Almeida is an active member of the community where his Gracie Barra San Clemente Academy resides. This month he will be offering a way for veterans to deal with their PTSD by using Jiu-Jitsu through the lessons of a Special Operations Force Recon Marine as he fights the battle within.

When most combat veterans return home from war, something within them is different.  It is as if they are battling another war within.  Maybe you are a Combat Veteran that is struggling with these trails and have lost hope.  Or maybe you are a family member of one that is deployed and wants to prepare for when your loved one returns home.  Can we even fathom what they are or have gone through at war?

Chad Robichaux, was a Special Operations Force Recon Marine that has experienced more than we can ever imagine at war as well as overcome the battle at home.  Chad has used Jiu-Jitsu  as a part of his healing in PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Chad is coming to San Clemente to give hope.

Author of “Redeployed” and founder of Mighty Oaks Foundation (www.MightyOaksFoundation.org) will be at GMA Gracie Barra San Clemente to give a donation based seminar on how Combat Veterans can overcome the obstacles and battles they have returning home. The seminar will include  Jiu-Jitsu as a method for personal development and a way for marines to cope with PTSD.

The Mighty Oaks Foundation focuses on dealing with combat trauma, men’s character and family support for combat trauma spouses and family members.

The donation based seminar will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday, September 21 at Gracie Barra San Clemente (1011 Avenida Pico, Suite A. San Clemente, CA).  Chad will also be doing a book signing on his book, “Redeployed”.  This seminar is a minimum suggestion of $35 donation but not required.  Hopefully, with Chad and his experience, he will not only provide resources but hope for our Combat Veterans in San Clemente.

To learn more about Chad Robichaux seminar or about Gracie Barra San Clemente, please call (949) 361-9411 email the program director at ryan.ritcey@graciebarra.com, or visit the academy’s website at www.gbsanclemente.com.

Opponent tries sweeping Paulo Miyao from half-guard at 2011 Pan. Photo by Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG.com.

Fernando Nassif is a Jiu-Jitsu professor at California-based academy Gracie Barra San Clemente, a school belonging to our association, the GMA.

Alongside Flavio “Cachorrinho” Almeida he teaches the basic Jiu-Jitsu that works. Or as he learned from Carlos Gracie Jr.: “The great technical virtue possessed by black belts isn’t the number of moves they know, but the experience that goes into their performing the moves they do know.”

So today Fernando shows us seven steps for getting a mounted opponent off you, putting him in half-guard and sweeping him.

1. Use your elbows to get the opponent off your chest.

2. Extend your leg and latch on to one of his legs with your legs.

3. Turn sideways, open up room and grab the opponent’s belt.

4. One of the key steps: rock your legs back and forth sideways to get hold of his ankle and then bring your knee up between his legs..

5. Kick his leg up and, holding his leg firm, push his leg with your foot.

6. Look outside and kick until you are positioned behind the opponent.

7. Posting firm on your foot, pull his knee and complete the sweep.

How did you like that?

Our newest member of the Gracie Magazine Association is an academy located in Columbus, Georgia.

Welcome, Gracie Barra Columbus.

Part of the Gracie Barra team, it is the only affiliation in a 120-mile radius.

They offer BJJ, kickboxing and fitness classes for kids, women and men!

You can visit their website: www.gbcolumbus.com to find out more.

GRACIE BARRA SAN CLEMENTE

PROFESSOR:

Black Belt Flavio Almeida

ADDRESS: 1011 Avenida Pico, ste A, San Clemente, CA, ZIP: 92673

PHONE: (949) 361 9411

WEBSITE: www.gbsanclemente.com

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/gbsanclementebjj

ABOUT:

The Gracie Barra School of San Clemente was founded in February 2008. Our school is the result of the efforts of Professor Flavio Almeida, a 3rd Degree Black Belt under Master Carlos Gracie Jr.

We offer world-class level Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instruction for individuals, families, and Law Enforcement officials of South Orange County and is a reference for fitness, character development, self-defense, martial art, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training for the communities of San Clemente, Dana Point and San Juan Capistrano.

The Gracie Barra San Clemente 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 is for anyone who values discipline, wellness, martial art, respect, and is looking for a well balanced life-style. 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 man 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 the further development of your fighting skills, come to the school.

We are sure you will find at our school an exciting and challenging place that will allow you to achieve your goals.

VIDEO:

Foto: Divulgação.

Recentemente, os Marines americanos celebraram 235 anos de serviços prestados. A data não passou em branco na academia Gracie Barra San Clemente, na Califórnia, que calcula ter mais de 30% de seus alunos vindos do Camp Pendleton, base local da marinha dos EUA.

“Eles têm muito a ver com o Jiu-Jitsu, a disciplina e a atitude, por exemplo”, avalia Flavio Cachorrinho.

O aulão na GBSC foi auxiliado ainda por Marcelo Brandão, irmão do faixa-preta e membro dos Rangers Pedrinho Brandão, falecido este ano na Geórgia, Atlanta.

“The Marines step up to be instructors; they help with our kids,” he said, “They have the training and discipline from being a Marine. We have to appreciate how they go to war to defend and fight for our views. It’s also important to do this through Jiu-Jitsu and they help us with that as well. The Marines and Jiu-Jitsu have a lot in common. We have the same attitude of respect and discipline.”

After Almeida thanked the Marines for their service to the country and his school, they exploded on the mats with their own hand-to-hand combat demonstration. It was a very exciting, multi-dimensional performance including weapons-based combat, a variety of martial arts and practices, including Jiu-Jitsu techniques, and their own combat style and type of fighting. Kids and adults alike were riveted to the scene they caused as their conflict situations continued to change and escalate on the mats in front of them.

Professor Marcelo Brandão, whose brother, Pedro, an Army Ranger and Gracie Barra black belt, recently passed away while on base in Georgia, assisted Almeida with the organizing and running of the event. Brandão had the children from the kid’s classes write letters to the Marines, thanking them for their service to our country. When the Marines finished their demonstration, Brandao called a few kids up from the line to read their letters to the Marines, who stood stoically in front of them listening to their heart-warming sentiments of thanks and gratitude.

GBSC Coach, Scott Pearson, an ex-Marine and current blue belt, addressed the children when they were done, “I was a Marine,” he said, “Now I’m a student here like you. Whenever something goes wrong in the world, we have these Marines. How they are used depends on the president in power. The U.S. owns the Marines. The Marines make everything better. That’s how we think and that’s how we’re trained.”

Each speech and demonstration was an attempt to teach the children in Southern California a little more about the Marines and how they affect their community and the world at large. Pearson said, “It’s part of the evolution for these kids. We live in San Clemente and the Marines are living and stationed right here with us.”

Almeida closed the ceremony by saying, “One of the reasons we have such a wonderful life is because of these Marines. They fight for our rights so we can live a free life. We all need to appreciate that.”

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.

Flávio ensinando. Foto: Mike Pesh.

Flávio Almeida, o Cachorrinho, vai ensinar em Cancun, México, no próximo dia 28 de agosto, um sábado. O seminário do professor da Gracie Barra San Clemente será realizado às 18h na bela Playa del Carmen, na filial Gracie Barra IMB.

Para garantir o seu lugar com desconto, confirme presença antes do dia 15, com a fera Gibran Alvarez, através do email: gibrandemon@hotmail.com .

Check out the demonstration of basic techniques taught by Flavio Cachorrinho in a class packed with ladies at Gracie Barra San Clemente.

As you look out across the school, you can see the green, rolling hills that serve as Camp Pendleton’s military training area. In fact, you can often hear bombs going off and gun fire around the area as the Marines prepare for war. San Clemente residents are used to the echoing sounds and reverberating rumblings of the war games, but actually feel quite comforted by their presence. You always know the Marines “have your back” should anything bad happen in this low-key, serene, seaside town of San Clemente.

One very good thing that’s happening here is that GB BJJ is changing lives. More specifically, it’s changing the lives of the gallant Marines who so selflessly serve our nation. Charles Gomes, Program Director at GBSC is helping deliver a BJJ program to these same courageous Marines, by bringing out the GB team to train them in the art of ground fighting and grappling. Gomes says, “We have a lot of marines training at our school. One day one of them asked if we would go to the base to train them in BJJ. Professor Flavio (Almeida) agreed that this would be a good thing for the community, so we set it up.”

Joe Saenz is a Warrant Officer for the Marine Corps. He is based at Camp Pendleton. He’s a 2nd degree black belt in the Marine Corps’ Martial Arts Program. He is also the Chief Trainer for the Maintenance Battalion. He trains other marines to be instructors, “I asked if GB would mind coming out to train my graduating class of Marines,” Saenz says, “Our martial arts program is weapons-based, but we do teach ground fighting as part of our curriculum. It’s the most popular amongst the guys.”

The first time the GBSC team went to train the Marines was in November 2009. The second time was in February 2010. About 20 marines were present. Gomes says when they got there, the Marines were in their uniforms, “One of the guys gave them directions and said they were going to be there for a few hours, so they took their boots off and lined up on the mats. They rolled in their camis.”

Gomes says they started with an hour of conditioning, “One of our coaches, Kanai Brown-Tagle, taught it. We tried to work on their cores with double leg pick-ups, sit up sweep set-ups and the medicine ball. They had to sit up and toss it about 5 feet to their partners. You could see the fatigue setting in after the 3rd round, but being marines, they just kept pushing forward without stopping. That’s what makes them so good at what they do. They never give up.”

After the hour of conditioning, Gomes taught the techniques part of the class, “We started with a double leg takedown, into a guillotine attack, and then its defense. Then we hit the ground and showed them a sweep and why the guard position is so important for us. We performed a counter to the kimura and worked on a traditional armbar. We finished with a triangle. One of the younger marines asked me to use Warrant Officer Joe as my instructional partner for the triangle so they could see him tap for once.” Once the class was completed, the coaches lead them through a guard rotation for 45 minutes.

Eric Fugate, a corporal in the Marine Corps is a 1st degree black belt in their martial arts program. He was present at both GB sessions on base. He says that, in his program, he is the one of the best, but in this case, he was definitely not, “When we sparred during the guard rotation, I had no chance against the coaches, but I tried. When GB first came out last November, we all wanted to go against Professor Flavio. We wanted to roll with the black belt, but we quickly realized that there was no way! So, then we moved to Coach Felipe’s (Guedes) line, the 4 stripe purple belt…no again. Then we moved to Coach Charles who’s a 4 stripe blue belt and none of us could beat him either. At the end of the day we were all down at Coach Kanai’s line trying to beat him!”

Even though these marines face life and death challenges more than most of us will ever experience in our lives, they still maintain their upbeat sense of humor and great attitude. Corporal Fugate was about to leave for Afghanistan in 3 weeks for 7 months, but he was already talking about training at GBSC upon his return, “It was so fun learning new techniques. It keeps me educated so I can continue to raise the bar for my students. I can’t wait to start training at GBSC when I get back.”

Warrant Officer Saenz says the marines loved the experience so much, he wants to have the GB team come out to the base once a month, “BJJ enhances our existing martial arts program. It builds morale and confidence for the younger marines. It offers great conditioning and switches it up from just running. After the class, all the guys talked about “almost” getting the coaches with some technique and “almost” getting each other. It was funny. Since then, six marines have come up to GBSC with me to try out a class.” Saenz says it was so popular, they might have upwards of 30 or 40 marines at the next session in March.

Gomes certainly enjoyed the experience, “Kanai and I are always the smaller guys at the school, so the marines were amazed at how they couldn’t submit us or open our guards. We choked them out with their own collars and they were all twice our size. One of them asked, ’what the hell did you just do to me?’ I had so much fun rolling with these guys.”

But it wasn’t just the fun and games that had Gomes feeling good. It was the opportunity to give back to the men and women who do so much for our country, “When we finished class we thanked them for their military service. It brought me back to my days in the Navy, when I was surrounded by people supporting each other and cheering each other on. These are awesome men and women of the community; they are the true heroes in life.”

Gomes says he wants to continue to show the marines why Jiu-Jitsu is so important in their lives, “It’s not about beating others up. It’s about sustaining a healthy lifestyle, eating healthy, exercising, making friends, along with an extended family. It’s dedication to the art and living the Jiu-Jitsu lifestyle. These guys are under so much stress in their daily lives. Every day, they’re either yelling at people or getting yelled at. Jiu-Jitsu is such a stress reliever. When they come here, they just train. They don’t have to think about anything else. My goal is to one day have 100 marines on the mats training with us. What a great way to give back to them for all they do for us.”

He is in charge of the GB Premiun School System and after a successful implementation in the USA, now the strategy to make the Jiu-Jitsu teaching in all GB schools to follow a pattern will hit Brazil.

Other than that, Cachorrinho runs Gracie Barra San Clemente and the school is celebrating its 2 years anniversary next Saturday.

The schedule of activities features classes, Soccer Cup, UFC viewing and dinner party.

For more info, go to graciebarrasanclemente.com.