Rafael Haubert, Ze Mario Sperry and David Ramos graduated the Sheikh.

The United Arab Emirates just created another black belt. On Saturday, August 2, one individual caught everyone’s attention at the International Masters, which took place at the Tijuca Tennis Club during the IBJJF Rio Open.

The Masters-3 heavyweight brown belt that everyone wanted to watch was Tariq Bin Faisal, Sheikh of Sharjah. The royal, who has achieved European champion success at the brown belt level and enjoys traveling the world to fight Jiu-Jitsu, stepped into the competition in Brazil.

“I’ve come to Brazil a few times, but this was the first time I competed at the Tijuca Tennis Club; it was very special to me,” said Faisal to GRACIEMAG.com.

Only two bouts separated him from the gold medal. In the first, Tariq pulled guard, swept and caught his opponent in the triangle from the mount.

“That’s my trump card in tournaments. I train hard and enjoy doing it. It flows naturally. ”

However, in the final battle for the gold medal, Tariq applied the same guard-pull but was contained by the opponent and eventually lost on advantage points. We tried to talk to the Sheikh right after the fight, but he was disappointed with the result.

On the podium, he initially received the silver medal with little celebration, until he was surprised by his teacher, Rafael Haubert, along with Ze Mario Sperry and David Ramos, promoting him to black belt. He commented on the achievement:

“I did not expect it. I saw them coming up with the belt, and my teacher tied it around my waist. They said it is a tradition here in Brazil. I was very happy. Now, I start another phase as a competitor: new challenges, new opponents. My reactions on the mat will have to be faster. I look forward to it,” said the valiant competitor.

Luiza Monteiro

The 2014 Rio International Open took place this weekend in Brazil.

In the end, Luiza Monteiro (Cicero Costha) beat Fernanda Mazzelli (Striker) in the adult female black belt open class division.

Mazzelli forfeited the final for not felling well during the match.

Before the final, Luiza had two matches and defeated both her opponents by submission.

In the male division, GF Team’s Victor Silvério and Vitor Bonfim closed out the absolute this Sunday.

Bonfim had four opponents in his way to the final.

In the semifinal, she defeated Pablo Aragão by advantages.

Silverio also had four opponents in his way to the final, beating Alan Regis in the semifinal also by advantages.

In the teams competition the resultes were:

1 – Nova União – 237
2 – GF Team – 186
3 – Gracie Barra – 117

Here are the full results for the black belt division:

BLACK / Adult / Male / Galo

First – João Pedro Oliveira Rodrigues – CheckMat

Second – Bruno Cesar Gomes da Silva Moreno – Nova União

Third – Jorge Luiz Nakamura – GF Team

Third – Luiz Fernando Ribeiro de Andrade – GF Team

BLACK / Adult / Male / Pluma

First – João Ricardo Bordignon Miyao – PSLPB Cicero Costha

Second – Ivanildo Rollemberg Lima – Nova União

Third – Luiz Alexandre Vieira Silveira – China Jiu-Jitsu

Third – Douglas Rufino da Silva – CheckMat

BLACK / Adult / Male / Pena

First – Paulo Henrique Bordignon Miyao – PSLPB Cicero Costha

Second – Leonardo Fernandes Saggioro – Brazilian Top Team

Third – Johnny Crispim – Gracie Barra

Third – Isaque Alberto de Oliveira Paiva – Saikoo Jiu-Jitsu

BLACK / Adult / Male / Leve

First – Ítalo Silva Lins de Albuquerque – GF Team

Second – Rafael Henrique Pereira – Gordo Jiu-Jitsu

Third – Ricardo Rocha Lima – Barbosa Equipe 2

Third – Sandro Gabriel Vieira – CheckMat

BLACK / Adult / Male / Médio

First – Victor Silverio Santos – GF Team

Second – Jaime Soares Canuto – GF Team

Third – Caio Almeida Silva – Ryan Gracie Team

Third – Diego Vivaldo Anjos Ferreira – Guigo JJ

BLACK / Adult / Male / MeioPesado

First – Diogo Sampaio Araujo – Soul Fighters BJJ

Second – Victor Hugo das Neves – Osvaldo Alves – AM

Third – Alberto Ramos de Araujo Oliveira – GF Team

Third – Andre Machado Bastos – Nova União

BLACK / Adult / Male / Pesado

First – Alan Regis de Assis – Academia Tatuapu Team

Second – Manoel Fernandes de Oliveira Neto – GF Team

Third – Nilson Ricardo Silva Braga – Nova União

Third – André dos Santos Figueiredo – Gracie Barra

BLACK / Adult / Male / Super Pesado

First – Cássio Francis da Silva – Gracie Barra

Second – Frederico Luiz Zaganelli – Gracie Barra

Third – Pablo Yuri Lemos Aragão – CheckMat

Third – Ricardo Henrique de Oliveira – Nova União

BLACK / Adult / Male / Pesadíssimo

First – Gabriel Lyrio Lucas – CheckMat

Second – Kitner Mendonça de Moura – Ryan Gracie Team

Third – Hugo Britto Fernandez – Gracie Barra

Third – Helton Nogueira Lima – Gracie Barra

BLACK / Adult / Male / Absoluto

First – Victor Del Corso Bomfim – GF Team

Second – Victor Silverio Santos – GF Team

Third – Pablo Yuri Lemos Aragão – CheckMat

Third – Alan Regis de Assis – Academia Tatuapu Team

BLACK / Adult / Female / Leve

First – Marília da Conceição F. A. Vieira – Gracie Barra

Second – Lia Dornelas Vasconcellos Marques Leal – Alliance

BLACK / Adult / Female / Médio

First – Luiza Monteiro Moura da Costa – PSLPB Cicero Costha

Second – Barbara Gomes dos Santos – Universidade Católica de Brasília

Third – Natalia Oliveira de Araujo – Gracie Humaita

BLACK / Adult / Female / MeioPesado

First – Vanessa Oliveira do Nascimento – GF Team

Second – Deise Sacramento Santos – GF Team

Third – Daniela Lirio Olimpio de Souza – Marcelo Ferreira JJ

Third – Gretchen Dawn Zoeller – Gracie Barra

BLACK / Adult / Female / Super Pesado

First – Fernanda Mazzelli Almeida Maio – Striker JJ

Second – Ludymila Ferrari Espindola – CheckMat

Third – Júlia Cristina Mayworn – Brasa/Muzio

Third – Marcelle Cantanhede de Almeida – Equipe Subúrbio de Jiu-Jitsu

BLACK / Adult / Female / Absoluto

First – Luiza Monteiro Moura da Costa – PSLPB Cicero Costha

Second – Fernanda Mazzelli Almeida Maio – Striker JJ

Third – Marcelle Cantanhede de Almeida – Equipe Subúrbio de Jiu-Jitsu

Third – Barbara Gomes dos Santos – Universidade Católica de Brasília

Tijuca Tenis Clube

You have two more days to register for the International Masters.

The final deadline for the IBJJF event is July 22.

It’s your chance to compete on Jiu-Jitsu sacred ground, the world famous Tijuca Tenis Clube, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The tournament takes place July 31 to August 3.

It’s the perfect reason to hop on a plane and go to Rio.

Click here to register for the International Masters.

Saulo Ribeiro against Eduardo Telles in master-absolute final / Photo by Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG.com

Saulo Ribeiro was the big name of the International Masters and Seniors tournament that went down at Tijuca Tennis Club last weekend in Rio de Janeiro. The black belt won the superheavyweight and absolute divisions of the masters age group. Watch the tight game our GMA put to work against Eduardo Telles in the open weight final.

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.

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!”

Duda, the winner of the match, spoke with GRACIEMAG.com about how he came to win the title:

“Man, I had three really tough matches. The first, against Fernando Soluço from Alliance, was one of the toughest I’ve ever had in the master division. Then, in the semifinal, I submitted my opponent and went through to the final against Adriano Silva, who I lost to recently. It was an evenly-matched contest that I won by referee decision,” he remarked, pleased with his gold medal. Check out the match below:

The leader of Gracie Morumbi, in California, fought four times at the master heavyweight black belt division.

The IBJJF’s International Master & Seniors is considered the World Championship for athletes over 30 years old.

For more info, go to graciejiujitsufabioleopoldonews.com

On October 31, 2009, Carlos Henrique decided to stop by a marble store in downtown Rio de Janeiro. “I needed to buy two marble door frames for the bedrooms at home,” recalls the teacher.

Out of the blue, an armed man entered the store and advanced on the owner of the store, Edinei César. Desperately, the victim who didn’t survive latched on to Carlos Henrique’s neck. But the “human shield” knew Jiu-Jitsu, freeing himself of the rear-naked choke and throwing him to the ground. Even so, he took three bullets.

“When the guy came into the store screaming, I turned around. That was when the victim grabbed me in a rear-naked choke. I don’t even know how I freed myself of the hold, I just know I got out and threw him to the ground. Upon being shot, the owner of the store landed on me; that was when I took three shots from the thug, who kept shooting,” he recounts. Carlos was shot in the spleen, diaphragm and spine, where the bullet is lodged to this day.

“When the bullet goes in it doesn’t hurt, at least it didn’t hurt. I ran out of the store and passed out far away, where a passing ambulance rescued me,” he says.

After forty days in the hospital, seven in intensive care and four minutes in nearly-fatal cardio-respiratory arrest, Carlos Henrique won his private fight to survive. And he promised friends and students he would return to competition.

At the last International Master and Senior tournament on July 24, there he was against Roberto Gordo in the black belt heavyweight/senior 1 divisional final.

“You go on to value a lot of things in life, like a simple training session, the air you breathe, and those hours your son calls on you to play a video game and you say you’re busy,” reflects the teacher and one of the leaders of Brazil 021, already with thirty-three years of Jiu-Jitsu and more than twenty students promoted to black belt.

Carlos won his first match at the Tijuca Tennis Club by 2 to 0. However exhausted, he returned for the final and lost to Gordo. The next day, he didn’t settle for a W.O. and showed up in the absolute.

“He’s a great example to us all. While still in the hospital, he would always say that he would give himself the present of competing again. There you have it, a side show: second place but feeling like first,” says friend and student André Negão, of Brazil 021.

“I taught a seminar in south Texas last weekend, as well as doing a Jiu-Jitsu demonstration at a US Army event at the Fort Lee base (Richmond, Virginia). We held gi and no-gi activities for the American soldiers stationed there. It was an honor to receive a certificate of services rendered to the American army, and it was also really cool to interact with the soldiers,” he says.

Bruno with American army soldiers

Beyond the recent excitement, the black belt is also motivated by his results as a coach. His student, blue belt Nicolas Nuila, won the Las Vegas Open and Asian Open, and his team took second place overall at last month’s Grapplers Quest in Texas. Bruno is excited and has only winning gold at his next outings on his mind.

“It’s hard to believe that, after all I’ve been through to get here, all this has happened in so little time (ten months). But I’m also sure this is just the beginning. Now I’m going to turn my attention to the competitions coming up and will try to win both my weight and the absolute weight groups. I’m thirty years old, but I’m still fighting in the adult division. I only compete in the master division at the International Master and Senior, which is a really important event. I’ll give people a hard time for a while yet! I’m training hard and will continue to represent Nova União well,” he says.

Bruno at seminar in Harlingen

And finally, so as not to say everything is pure joy, Bruno laments not being able to compete at the Brazilian Team Nationals to take place this coming weekend in Rio de Janeiro.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to wish the gang competing at the Brazilian Team Nationals good luck. I’d like to be with them, but now I have commitments here in the USA. Thiago Gaia will captain the team along with my cousin, André Bastos, and some others who are going to cause some havoc in the heavyweight brown and black belt division. I know the team will be well represented,” he says in closing.

Do as Bruno Bastos does and register for the No-Gi Pan. Sign-ups end on the coming 25^th. Find out more by clicking here.