Caio Terra has well-rounded knowledge of Jiu-Jitsu and its various applications. Photo: Gameness

Caio Terra, a multiple time world champion knows a thing or two about Jiu-Jitsu. The UFC card boasts some top-level athletes with great or outstanding knowledge of the gentle art as well whether it be Anderson Silva, Roger Gracie, Frankie Edgar or others. Not only is Caio aware of the ground game, he also has an idea of how it exists in the world of MMA due to his past training with the Gracie Fighter team and more recently his coaching of UFC top contender welterweight Carlos Condit.

Much like a game of Clue, Caio makes his picks for who, what and when for the night:

Anderson Silva by TKO over Chris Weidman – round 3
Frankie Edgar by unanimous decision over Charles Do Bronx
Roger Gracie by submission over Tim Keneddy – round 2
Cub Swanson by submission over Dennis Siver -round 2
Mark Muñoz by unanimous decision over Tim Boetsch

What are your picks?!

GMA Team Yemaso will be in attendance at the 2013 IBJJF San Francisco Open, how about you?

The IBJJF San Francisco Open on Feb. 24 is filling with large groups of athletes from academies all over. From white belt to black belt, the teams are sending their troops in for a chance to win a medal and the title of champion in the bay area.

Registration is ending soon, on Saturday Feb. 16 at 12 midnight PT. Don’t miss out on your chance to compete against an eclectic group of competitors. Sign up here!

Some notable academies sending over their athletes are:

• Brazilian Top Team
• Cleber Jiu-Jitsu
• Gracie Fighter
• Ralph Gracie
• Yemaso Jiu-Jitsu

As far as the names are concerned, some athletes who you’d be able to catch in action are:

• Kurt Osiander
• Augusto Osvaldo Queixinho
• Manuel Diaz
• Gustavo Pires
• Brian Morizi
• Itabora Ferreira

We hope to see you there and if you can’t make it all the way to the Bay Area, you can catch GRACIEMAG.com coverage through our various social media outlets:

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Sport Jiu-Jitsu made strides in 2012 as more tournaments were run, more talent was exposed and new techniques were proven. From Keenan Cornelius to Miyao brothers and berimbolos to cash prizes and submission-only, it was a big year.

As 2013 closes in, we know that in its future lies even more evolution. We know that top names will continue to push the pace but it’s the rising talent that will make sure it doesn’t stop.

Here are some top people whom GRACIEMAG.com believes will be solidifying their name in 2013:

Dante Leon

A juvenile blue belt, Dante has two world titles in his age division, three Pan American titles and numerous other accolades. Most notable are his wins in the adult division which first happened shortly after he turned 15. He has defeated many larger adult opponents in the open weight divisions, some with a 70 pound advantage over this juvenile middle weight. He turns 18 in 2013 so we can’t wait to see how the Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu representative does in the adult divisions at Pan Ams and Worlds.

Chad Shaule

A Canadian star at blue belt, he traveled to California three times in 2012 for 3rd at Worlds, 2nd at Pan Ams and double gold at the IBJJF Long Beach Spring Open. Just recently promoted to purple belt, this Gracie Barra team member already won double gold at his first major Canadian tournament as seen in the highlight below. We believe Chad will improve tremendously in the next year and prove his place in the purple belt medium heavy division.

Edwin Najmi

Edwin is known as Romulo Barral’s prodigy as well as a submission addict. Most of his wins from white to purple have been by triangles and ankle locks as seen in the highlight below. Since the beginning he has competed as much as possible, often 14 times a year with some being two in one weekend. In 2012 he won his division at Pan Ams as well as the Abu Dhabi Trials weight and absolute and a grip of others, as he has rarely missed the podium. Most recently he took first place at the American Nationals in September avenging losses to both Isaac Doederlein and Jacob Sandoval in the process.

Isaac Doederlein

Isaac began his journey in the juvenile divisions alongside the likes of Francisco “Sinistro” Iturraldo, Nicholas Schultz and Gianni Grippo winning two world titles back-to-back. In 2009 he won his blue belt juvenile division then in 2010 he won his blue belt adult division. Since then he has won major tournaments going up the ranks including the Abu Dhabi Trials weight division beating Ronaldo Candido, now a new black belt under the Atos banner. At the end of 2011 he moved from his home state of Arizona to Los Angeles to train under Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles Maciel where he has been slowly building his skill for the past year, anticipating what we believe will be his time in 2013.

Nicholas Schultz

Part of Team Lloyd Irvin, Nick has come up in the ranks from juvenile divisions much like others mentioned. Medaling at nearly every major tournament, he was stopped twice at the Worlds in 2011 and 2012 by the Miyao brothers as he placed third although he earned gold at the 2011 Pan Ams. While the Miyao brothers have since departed the realm of purple belt, we believe Nick will take over the throne in 2013.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58OhsEIkL0Y

Janni Larsson

Janni is a recently promoted brown belt from Sweden who made her mark this year winning Europeans weight and absolute and then Worlds weight and absolute. She lives, studies and trains in Denmark under the Checkmat team and spends half of her time studying medicine. She is currently training in Brazil and plans to attend the same major tournaments in 2013 where we believe she will have similar results.

Jordan Che Landry

Once considered Caio Terra’s prodigy, Jordan too went up in the ranks by starting on the podiums in juvenile divisions. He had major wins from the start as a 2010 juvenile blue blet World champion. He won Pan Ams at purple in 2011 however tore his LCL at Worlds a few months later and was forced to take the time to recover. He came back this year and won the Worlds, redeeming himself in the purple belt division. He was recently promoted to brown belt and we think the Gracie Fighter will be a force in the rooster weight division next year.

Stephen Martin

This past year Stephen Martin came back on the map since his 2007 blue belt juvenile gold at Worlds. He has placed in nearly every World Championship since then, however he was able to claim gold in 2012 where he beat Jordon Schultz and Ralph Go at the Europeans in January. He placed second at the Pan Ams and third at the Worlds and we believe this UK-based brown belt will serve his Gracie Barra team and the Estima brothers well in 2013.

Tanner Rice

Tanner Rice is a 19-year-old black belt who was recently promoted by Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles Maciel after beginning tutelage before Worlds in 2011. He trains and teaches at his family’s school, only finding a couple months total time throughout the year to train under Cobrinha in Los Angeles, hundreds of miles away from his Redding, CA home. After closing out the lightweight division at Worlds this year, he won the IBJJF Long Beach Fall Open this month earning himself a spot in the IBJJ Pro League where he defeated Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes by points as seen in the video below. Not to be considered beginner’s luck, we believe 2013 could hold some more upsets in Tanner’s favor.

Let us know who we missed in the comment section below!

Caio Terra vs. Bruno Antunes at the 2012 American Nationals

Caio Terra (Gracie Fighter) and Bruno Antunes (GB) had two duels at the 2012 American Nationals, last weekend in Carson, California.

In the adult open class black belt gi final on Saturday, Antunes came out on top by refs decision.

One day later, they met again, in the black belt open class no-gi final.

This time, Caio Terra managed to get two advantages to secure the gold medal.

Watch the IBJJF’s video of the fight.

For other results and some great pictures fo the 2012 American Nationals, go to GRACIEMAG’S Facebook page.

Nate Diaz walking in to face Takanori Gomi at UFC 135 / UFC publicity photo

The 2012 Gracie Open took place last Saturday, August 4, in Pleasant Hill, California. In the event’s super fight, UFC lightweight Nate Diaz took on the black belt Oswaldo Queixinho, and came up short. Early on in the match the American pulled half-guard and tried to attack the Brazilian’s leg. Keen to Diaz’s intent, Queixinho defended and went on to catch Nate in a match-ending figure-four footlock.

“Truth is, I didn’t expect to finish so quickly. I expected it to last till the very end, since I’ve trained with Nate before and he’s always been tough. He has plenty of gas and never gets tired. I was just coming back from vacation in Brazil and only accepted because it was him,” said Queixinho, who trains with Caio Terra, who represents the same César Gracie team as Nate Diaz.

“I’d learned that footlock technique from Caio Terra and Samir Chantre, since it’s really common at our weight; I just think I surprised him with my counter-attack,” said the Brazilian now living in San Jose, California.

“The secret is to do a good job of defending before attacking. I always look to hide my foot before attacking,” he elaborated. “If you pay attention, I trap his opposing leg with my legs, and after that I set up my hold on his foot, first grabbing the tip of his foot in a “monkey” [thumbless] hold, and after that I wrap my arm around the leg. I get the tapout by pushing his toe to the side opposite the trapped leg,” he said in closing.

Check out the move in the video below:

Nate Diaz entrando para encarar Takanori Gomi no UFC 135. Foto: UFC/Divulgação.

O Gracie Open 2012 rolou no último sábado, dia 4 de agosto, em Pleasant Hill, na Califórnia, Estado Unidos. Pela Super Fight do evento, o lutador do UFC Nate Diaz encarou o faixa-preta Oswaldo Queixinho, e se deu mal. Logo no início do duelo o americano chamou para meia-guarda e de lá tentou um ataque na perna do brasileiro. Ligado, Queixinho defendeu a investida e em seguida catou o pé de Nate para encaixar uma americana e encerrar a peleja.

“Na verdade não esperava finalizar rápido, esperava uma luta dura até o final, pois já treinei com o Nate algumas vezes e sempre foi treino duro. Ele tem muito gás e nunca cansa. Eu vinha de férias no Brasil e só aceitei porque era com ele”, disse Queixinho, que treina com Caio Terra, que por sua vez representa a equipe César Gracie, mesmo time de Nate Diaz.

“Eu venho aprendendo muito essas técnicas de chave de pé com o Caio Terra e com o Samir Chantre, pois no nosso peso é muito comum, apenas acho que o surpreendi com meu contra-ataque”, conta o brasileiro radicado em San José.

“O segredo é saber se defender bem antes de atacar, eu sempre procuro esconder o meu pé antes de atacar”, ensina. “Se você perceber, eu travo a perna oposta dele com as minhas pernas, logo em seguida começo a fazer as pegadas no pé, primeiro dominando a ponta do pé, com a pegada de macaco (sem dedão), e depois envolvo a perna encaixando a chave. Eu finalizo virando o dedão do pé para o lado oposto da perna travada”, encerrou.

Confira o movimento no vídeo abaixo:

Professor of Jiu-Jitsu Cesar Gracie with his black belt Nick Diaz during tenure at Strikeforce / Publicity photo

Coach to Nick Diaz and professor of Jiu-Jitsu Cesar Gracie took to the Gracie Fighter academy website last night to justify the collapse in communication that triggered his student’s failure to show for his superfight with Bráulio Estima at the the inaugural World Jiu-Jitsu Expo last Saturday.

(Read the full open letter here.)

According to Cesar Gracie, it all started during the negotiation phase for the fight, back in February, when he and Diaz made clear demands that the match-up be against a Jiu-Jitsu competitor, as Nick didn’t want to be used as a springboard for someone to break through in MMA. As Bráulio had not yet made his MMA debut, talks moved forward, despite subsequent irritation from Nick Diaz’s team when Bráulio openly stated his intention to make his premiere mixed martial arts appearance in the near future.

With a string of breakdowns in communication regarding the fight weight and when weigh-ins would take place, Nick—still according to Cesar—lost his cool and felt that he was being used. When on the eve of the match he found out that, while he had lost around three kilos (six lbs), Bráulio hadn’t yet weighed in, “it was the final straw,” in the coach’s words.

The big mistake there, apparently, was made by the organizer’s, for not having clearly stipulate how weigh-ins would be conducted. Bráulio, for example, claimed via Twitter that he never came to terms regarding whether he would weigh in one day prior to or on the day of bout—no terms had been prearranged. Regardless, no one could foresee that that would turn out to be a loophole through which Nick could back out at the last minute, without even informing his trainer of his actions beforehand.

“UNFORGIVABLE”

“Nick is not without fault by any means. His lack of communication with his team and coach [prior to leaving without saying anything] was inexcusable. This will be addressed privately,” Cesar continues in the letter, while also categorically rebutting statements issued by Bráulio.

“As for Braulio, I still respect him as a great BJJ artist. As far as calling Nick out for an MMA fight, he knows that is impossible because Nick is signed with the UFC and in MMA you have to make weight when they want you to. Not when you want to. If Braulio ever finds success in MMA then he can mention Nick’s name for a fight. Right now he should respect the man,” says the Gracie.

According to the Jiu-Jitsu professor, he and his cousin Renzo have spoken about the future of the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo and will work together to bolster the sophomore installment of the event, without the participation of the organizer’s who contributed to the meltdown taking place.

O professor de Jiu-Jitsu Cesar Gracie, ao lado de seu faixa-preta Nick Diaz nos tempos de Strikeforce. Foto: Divulgação.

Treinador de Nick Diaz, o professor Cesar Gracie procurou justificar ontem à noite, no site de sua academia Gracie Fighter, toda a falta de comunicação que desembocou no sumiço do pupilo da superluta contra Bráulio Estima, na 1ª World Jiu-Jitsu Expo.

(Leia a carta aberta na íntegra aqui, em inglês.)

De acordo com Cesar Gracie, tudo começou nas negociações para a luta, em fevereiro, quando Nick e ele claramente exigiram que a luta fosse contra um atleta de Jiu-Jitsu, já que Nick não queria ser usado de trampolim por nenhum novato de MMA. Como Bráulio ainda não fez nenhuma luta de MMA, a coisa avançou, apesar de uma eventual irritação do time de Nick Diaz, já que Bráulio fala abertamente em estrear em breve na modalidade.

Com as seguidas falhas de comunicação em relação ao peso da luta e a hora de medi-lo na balança, Nick, ainda de acordo com Cesar, foi perdendo a calma e se sentindo usado. Quando, na véspera, soube que tinha cortado cerca de três quilos e Bráulio ainda não batera o peso, “foi a gota d’água para Nick”, nas palavras do professor.

O erro maior aí, ao que nos parece, foi da organização, que não deixou bem claro para nenhum dos lados como seria a pesagem. Bráulio, por exemplo, reafirmou via Twitter que jamais acertou nada sobre pesar na véspera ou no dia – não havia pré-acordo. Seja como for, ninguém poderia prever que isso se tornaria uma brecha para Nick pular fora na última hora, sem nem mesmo informar seu treinador.

“Indesculpável”

“Nick não deixa de ter culpa. Sua falta de comunicação comigo e com a equipe (antes de ir embora sem falar nada) é indesculpável. Vamos tratar disso internamente”, continuou Cesar, que ainda deu uma rebatida categórica em Bráulio.

“Sobre Bráulio, eu continuo o respeitando como um grande artista do Jiu-Jitsu. Sobre ele chamar o Nick para uma luta de MMA, ele sabe que é impossível já que Nick tem contrato com o UFC, e no MMA você precisa pesar quando eles mandam, não quando você quer. Se Bráulio um dia for bem-sucedido no MMA ele pode mencionar o nome de Nick. Por agora, ele deve respeitar o homem”, disse Cesar.

Segundo o professor, ele e o primo Renzo já conversaram sobre o futuro da World Jiu-Jitsu Expo e vão trabalhar juntos para fortalecer a próxima edição do evento, sem os mesmo organizadores que contribuíram para a confusão toda.

Photo: John Cooper.

Day two from the 5th American Cup in San Jose, CA started out with the white belt competitors. And what they lacked in experience in Jiu-Jitsu they made up for with heart and determination. These fighters came to represent themselves and their academies and put on quite a show for the nearly packed house.

Next up was the main event – the black belts. Diego Herzog from Ralph Gracie took the gold in the adult black belt open class final against Marcus Atecante from Soul Fighters, informs our John Cooper.

Also of note, Samir Chantre from Gracie Fighter won gold in the adult black belt feather weight final while Osvaldo Augusto, also from Gracie Fighter, took gold in the adult black belt light weight final.

Manuel Diaz takes purple belt open gold medal

To close out the day were the purple belts. Manuel Diaz from Gracie Fighter won the adult purple belt open class final with a victory over Ryan Jensen from Gracie Barra.

Tom Tupper from Coalition 95 won gold in the Senior II purple belt division. Also of note, Jose Fernandez from Sandro Batata won gold in the adult purple belt light feather weight division with his victory over Jonathan Gaxiola from Coalition 95.

Here are the team trophy results. Stay tuned for the American Cup pictures by John Cooper, this Monday, in GRACIEMAG.com.

Adult Team

1st – Gracie Fighter, 66 pts.

2nd – Ralph Gracie, 55 pts.

3rd – Coaltion 95, 54 pts.

Juvenile Team

1st – Yemaso BJJ, 18 pts.

2nd – Coalition 95, 16 pts.

3rd – Merced MMA, 9 pts.

Female Team

1st – Gracie Humaita

2nd – Ribeiro JJ

3nd – Coalition 95

Caio in final at Worlds / Photo by Dan Rod

Caio Terra has been carving out a spot for himself among the best Jiu-Jitsu players around. Sharp tongued, like in the statements he’s made about doping in the gentle art, Caio’s grappling skills are even more honed. In the last four years, the black belt dominated the No-Gi World Champion. This season, his win over Laércio Fernandes in the final netted the Gracie Fighter rep his fourth title in the event, but even still, he’s less than satisfied.

Check out what he had to say to GRACIEMAG.com:

What was the hardest part about this Worlds?

I’d come off a string of serious injuries and on top of that I injured both my hands just a few days from the championship. Truth is, following the Gi Worlds in June, I competed more than I trained. I ended up winning a fourth No-Gi world title, which is quite gratifying. That was my greatest motivation, if not the only one, so even though I wasn’t in good shape I went in there to compete. Even so I was disappointed with my performance. I wanted to put on a good showing and attack, but unfortunately by body wouldn’t let me. You usually get better with each match, but this time I got frustrated, and that was the main reason I didn’t stick my neck out in the absolute.

Which do you like more, Gi or No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu?

I get the most pleasure out of training in the gi, but I’m becoming more and more convinced that you need to do both of them, to improve in the gi and out of it. I don’t lean one way or the other much when it comes to competing, but clearly it’s always best to compete doing what you practice most.

What went wrong for you at the Gi Worlds that you hope to fix?

Unfortunately, The Gi Worlds was the only championship I got to train for this year, and truth be told, I trained a lot. I got the tapout in every match until the final with Bruno Malfacine, where he beat me on advantage points. I don’t feel I fought poorly, I think Malfacine deserves credit for winning the match. I’ve watched the match a number of times and found something I can test him with the next time we meet. He’s really quick, agile, strong and a lot smaller than my other opponents. It’s not easy to train to face him, because there isn’t anyone else of his size with the technical and physical ability he has.

What’s the focus for next year?

Unfortunately, I probably won’t compete anywhere until the Gi Worlds in June. I really hope to make it back to defend my Pan-American title and try and get pack into competition rhythm, but I don’t think it’s likely, because I want to be near 100% again and put on a good show, so I’ll be training to compete well at everything starting in June. But I’ll only commit to the Worlds, which I wouldn’t miss for the world. I’m also going to launch my new DVD, which will surely be a great hit, since it’ll be much more technical than the last one. Between January and the end of the year I’ll have conducted practically 70 seminars in different academies.

I’d like to thank all my students and friends, especially Augusto Queixinho, Samir Chantre, Flavio Meier and Denny Prokopos, for having been there and helped me study and do positional repetitions, even when I was unable to train. To keep up with me better, maintain contact and find out all the news, my Facebook page is www.facebook.com/caioterrabjj.

Caio na final do Mundial. Foto: Dan Rod.

Caio Terra vem se consolidando nos últimos anos como um dos melhores lutadores de Jiu-Jitsu em ação. Com a língua afiada, como por exemplo em declarações sobre doping na arte suave, Caio tem o chão ainda mais arisco. Nos últimos quatro anos, o faixa-preta dominou o Mundial Sem Kimono. Nesta temporada, a vitória sobre Laércio Fernandes na final valeu o tetracampeonato ao representante da Gracie Fighter que, mesmo assim, não está satisfeito.

Confira o bate-papo com o GRACIEMAG.com:

O que foi mais difícil neste Mundial?

Eu venho de muitas lesões sérias e ainda por cima machuquei as minhas duas mãos poucos dias antes do Campeonato. Na verdade, depois do Mundial de kimono, em junho, eu lutei mais campeonatos do que treinei. Eu acabei me consagrando pela quarta vez campeão mundial no-gi, algo que foi muito gratificante. Esse objetivo foi a minha maior motivação, se não única, de mesmo bastante debilitado ir lá competir. Mesmo assim fiquei muito decepcionado com a minha performance. Queria ter lutado bonito e para a frente, mas infelizmente meu corpo não permitiu isso. Geralmente a cada vitória você cresce e luta melhor, mas eu fiquei bem desanimado e esse foi o maior motivo para eu nem ter me arriscado no absoluto.

Você prefere lutar com ou sem kimono?

Eu acho mais prazeroso treinar de kimono, mas tenho cada vez mais certeza de que é necessário treinar os dois, tanto para lutar de kimono quanto sem. Lutar não tenho muita preferência, mas é claro que é sempre melhor lutar o que você está treinando mais.

O que deu de errado no Mundial com kimono que você espera corrigir?

Infelizmente, o Mundial de kimono foi o único campeonato que eu pude treinar esse ano e, na verdade, treinei bastante. Eu finalizei todas as minhas lutas e na final o Bruno Malfacine me ganhou nas vantagens. Não acho que eu lutei mal, acho que o Malfacine teve seus méritos em ter vencido a luta. Já vi a luta várias vezes e encontrei algo para testar com ele na próxima vez que nos enfrentarmos. Ele é um cara muito rápido, ágil, forte e bem menor do que todos os meus outros adversários. É muito complicado treinar para lutar com ele, porque não existe ninguém do tamanho dele com o nível técnico e habilidades físicas que ele tem.

Qual o foco para o próximo ano?

Infelizmente, eu provavelmente não lutarei em nenhum campeonato até o Mundial de Kimono em junho. Realmente espero poder voltar antes para manter o título do Pan-Americano e também poder tentar pegar um ritmo nas competições, mas acho que vai ser difícil, porque eu quero estar perto dos 100% novamente e fazer um jogo bonito, para a frente e poder estar treinando para competir bem em tudo a partir de junho. Mas promessa mesmo só para o Mundial, que esse eu não falto por nada. Também lançarei o meu novo DVD, que com certeza deve ser um grande sucesso, pois ficará bem mais técnico do que o meu último. Desde janeiro até o fim desse ano, vou ter dado praticamente 70 seminários em academias diferentes.

Gostaria de agradecer a todos os meus alunos e meus amigos e principalmente ao Augusto Queixinho, Samir Chantre, Flavio Meier e Denny Prokopos por estarem sempre presentes e, mesmo sem eu poder treinar, estarem me ajudando a estudar e a fazer repetições de posições. Para me acompanhar melhor e manter contato e saber das novidades, minha página no Facebook é www.facebook.com/caioterrabjj

Abraço a todos!