The party took place at soccer club Botafogo headquarters, with over a hundred people in attendance.

In all, 17 Brazilian Fight members were promoted, with five earning their brown belts and no black belts—a clear sign of how demanding the master and champion is. Congratulations to all.

Ricardo Evangelista against Leandro Lo in the Rio Open semifinal / Photo: Gustavo Aragão

Thanks to Brazilian television’s “Sensei Sportv” show, you can check out all the best from the Rio Open and International Masters, the IBJJF events held concomitantly in Rio de Janeiro in late June. If you missed it or want to watch it again, click here.

Torregrosa sinks the triangle in Rio

Last week when GRACIEMAG.com posted about our GMA members that excelled at the Rio Open international and the International Master & Seniors, in Rio de Janeiro, we thought we had covered all our associates.

We were wrong.

The leader of Capital City BJJ, in Sacramento, CA, gave us the heads up on Facebook.

Marcos Torregrosa won the lightweight master black belt division at the Master & Senior.

He tells us how things went: “I had 5 matches to win the International Master & Seniors. I returned the next day for the Rio Open and stopped to an adversary in the quarter finals. Need more training and promise myself to work even harder to get that gold.”

For more info, go to capitalcitybjj.com

Zartônio, a Jiu-Jitsu medal collector and retired mechanic / Photo: personal archive

Imagine you’re a Jiu-Jitsu black belt who goes on to have a career in MMA, wins a fight by tapout, and calls your dad in Brazil. His response: “Well done, son. Me too.” You’ll start to get an idea of what the Novaes family’s life in Jiu-Jitsu is like.

A native of the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo, Jônatas Novaes got a taste of a similar feeling late last month. He’s living in the USA and has been winning MMA fights around those parts, and he’s already dreaming of a berth in the UFC.

Well while Jônatas was submitting his latest opponent with an excrutiating armbar, his father, Zartônio Aguirre (Brasa), a 65-year-old black belt, was winning two silver medals at the 2011 International Masters and Seniors Jiu-Jitsu tournament.

“The interesting part is that he took the opposite route of what most dads take: instead of introducing his kids to Jiu-Jitsu, Jônatas introduced him to Jiu-Jitsu, taking him with him to train at the academy. In this case, the sons don’t model themselves on their fathers, he modeled himself on us, and now he’s a champion and example to his late-aged friends,” remarked Zartônio Junior.

“My pops is retired now, and thank God he’s been doing well ever since he started Jiu-Jitsu. He started at 55, after I won a competition as a purple belt,” Jônatas added. “And I was introduced to Jiu-Jitsu by my brother, Zartônio Junior. Last year, my dad won his weight group and the absolute as a brown belt and got his black belt on the podium at the International Masters. It was touching. Now this year he didn’t train at all (laughs), went in there with determination and courage alone, but next year he’ll get the gold. He’s really strong, worked as a mechanic his whole life, and now all he wants to do is go fishing, play soccer and train Jiu-Jitsu!”

Tijuca Tennis Club / GM archive photo

Once again the International Masters and Seniors promises to be a major gentle art fest in Rio de Janeiro. The black belts competing in the world’s biggest veterans championships will take to the mats this weekend at the Tijuca Tennis Club.

Among those signed up, 2010’s weight and open weight champion Rodrigo Munduruca is in, as are other standouts from past events, like Gabriel Willcox, Felipe Costa, Adriano Silva, Cesar and Roberto Tozi, among others.

Some poster boys for the event are also on the list of those signed up, among them the tireless Admilson Brites, Paulo Peposo, Osiris Maia, Eduardo Telles and Roberto Godoi.

Also appearing on the roster is Marcelo Dourado, a big name in Brazil for having won the Big Brother Brazil reality show.

The party is set to go off! Check out some of the big names to sign up below and the complete list by clicking here.

Master

Felipe da Costa
Carlos Vieira Holanda
Gabriel Willcox
Ocimar da Costa
Theodoro Canal
Regis da Silveira Lebre
Marcos Alejandro Torregrosa
Adriano Sousa
Eduardo Telles
Eduardo Milioli
Fernando Jose Di Pierro
Fabio Leopoldo
Roberto Tozi
Travis Lutter
Cesar Tozi
Rodrigo Munduruca
Senior
Marcelo Pereira Dourado (middleweight)
Wander Braga
Jair Lourenco Medeiros
Paulo Roberto Streckert
Roberto Godoi
Stephen Vincent Hall
Rafael Carino
Adimilson Brites
Osires Maia Borges
Paulo Rodrigues Curi
Helvecio Augusto Penna Neto

Cachorrinho gets the finish at Las Vegas Open in 2010. Photo: John Cooper.

For anyone who thinks the Gi Jiu-Jitsu year ends after the Worlds, think again: there are five more events coming up to spice up the IBJJF calendar. The next in line are the International Masters and the Rio International Open, in Rio de Janeiro from July 21 to 24.

Then there’s the Las Vegas International Open (find out more here) , on August 13 in Nevada, after which, on the 21st, comes the Chicago Open, about which there was some doubt as to whether it would in fact take place, due to legislation changes in Illinois (find out more here).

Still in the month of August, the 27th marks the Boston Open (find out more here), in Boston, Massachussets.

Don’t miss out on the excitement. Get out your gi and participate; sign-ups are already underway! Check out the  IBJJF website for further information.

Rodrigo Munduruca and Saulo Ribeiro close out masters absolute. Photo: Gustavo Aragão.

The month of July is all set to heat up the Rio de Janeiro winter with two events already a mainstay on the IBJJF calendar. Coming up from the 21st to the 24th, the International Masters and Seniors and the Rio Open.

The big standouts in the Masters from 2010 were Saulo Ribeiro and Rodrigo Munduruca, both from Gracie Humaitá, having won their divisions and closed out the absolute.

Rodolfo at Rio Open 2010 / Photo: Gustavo Aragão

At the Rio Open, Rodolfo Vieira was the man, taking two gold medals, offering a teaser of what was to come later in the season.

Now among teams, Gracie Humaitá took top spot at the International Master, while Gracie Barra led the pack at the Rio Open.

Get in on yet another IBJJF event. Click here to sign up for the International Masters and Seniors and the Rio Open..

Léo Santos / Photo: publicity

Back in Brazil, Leonardo Santos is celebrating a victorious trip to England. At a time when the UFC dominates the MMA market, the black belt saw action at BAMMA, a promotion that has started to take off in the international scene. At the event held in Wembley, Léo used his Jiu-Jitsu to overcome Jason Ball and notch his ninth win (9w-3l).

“The plan was to get the takedown, but my timing was off and he kept me at bay. But the striking work I did paid off. I fought well standing until I got my timing for the takedown down. I controlled him on the ground and got back mount. The only thing missing was the finish,” he says.

“I didn’t feel well at the end of the second round, that threw me off a bit. I don’t know if it was my diet or the weight cup. That just made me appreciate the win even more,” he adds.

MMA is now in the grip of the UFC, especially since Strikeforce’s acquisition by Zuffa, the UFC’s parent company. Léo sees BAMMA’s growth in a positive light.

“We need more events; these days UFC is pretty much all there is and anyone who’s not there is unemployed. BAMMA was held at Wembley Arena, a traditional English venue, and it was really well done. The house was packed and they really took to the Brazilians. Murilo Ninja, who lost unfortunately, was treated like a hero,” says the black belt, who now may get a shot at the promotion’s belt.

“I have two offers to fight in Brazil, but they said that if I won this fight I’d get a shot at the title against Rob Sinclair on September 10.”

On a return to the gi, Léo doesn’t discard the possibility but, for now, his main focus is MMA.

“I don’t think it’s likely that I compete in Jiu-Jitsu now. To fight MMA I have to be 100% immersed in that, as I would to be successful in Jiu-Jitsu too. I’m taking the MMA patch, but I train in the gi all the time. I’ve already trained in the gi with the gang since this fight, and I never skip training in the gi. Later perhaps I’ll compete in the master division, maybe at the International. Now if I get an invite to the ADCC, like I have in the past, it would be a true honor. I train No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu all the time and I’m prepared,” he says in finishing.

Hannette at 2009 Worlds, in photo by Regis Chen

The masters at Brazil 021 and our GMAs, André Negão and Hannette Staack are putting together a super training camp in Brazil for the Rio International Open and International Masters and Seniors tournaments.

“It will be in July. Hannette Staack and I will hold the first Brazil 021 camp and practitioners from other schools are also welcome. Sign-ups end in May,” announces André “Negão” Terencio.

Check out their video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmoQqzsxxHU

Hannette on Penny Thomas's back at ADCC 2009 / Photo: Carlos Ozório

Winner of the last two ADCCs and Jiu-Jitsu world champion on six occasions Hannette Staack, our GMA on team Brazil 021, in Chicago stayed out of competition in 2010. However, the André Negão-trained black belt promises to be back at full blast this season.

Check out the conversation she had with GRACIEMAG.com:

Why didn’t you compete in 2010?

I focused on growing my team. There was no ADCC in 2010, which I consider a very important competitions, so I made the most of it to take care of business. It was an important thing to do, but this year I’ll return to competition.

In which events will we likely see you in action?

I’m already guaranteed at the ADCC, since I won the last two installments. But I’m also going to compete at the Worlds and will probably be at the Pan. We’ve got a project going in the team, so maybe I’ll compete at the Rio Open, too.

On podium at ADCC Barcelona alongside top fighters like Cris Cyborg / Photo: Carlos Ozório

What project is this?

The team is growing in Chicago, we’ve got another branch in Texas and we restructured the one in Brazil. I teach the girls-only class in Chicago and we already have some champions standing out. I intend to hold our first exchange. We’ll hold a big camp for the Rio open and International Masters in Brazil, that’s why I may compete. We’ll be taking a strong team to those events.

Will the time away from the mat be a hindrance or will be back to how you always were?

The truth is that all I did was stop competing, but I’m training just the same. OF course competition training is more intense, but I’m still going strong. There’s no way to forget it all and, even without competing, I’ve been at all the events, keeping up with my students.