Jackson Nagai defeated Natan Chueng in one of the IBJJF Absolute Grand Prix superfights. Photo by IBJJF

Jackson Nagai made an exciting return to competition in 2023. The Checkmat black belt won the American National Championship and the Houston and Santa Cruz Opens, all with the IBJJF label. He performed well at the World Championships and secured third place in the lightweight division.

In his most recent engagement, Jackson put on an impeccable performance against Natan Chueng in one of the IBJJF Absolute GP superfights, on September 1st in Las Vegas. The Brazilian applied his offensive game and defeated his opponent by 8-2. Jackson evaluates his performance and points out the quality of the event.

“The IBJJF Absolute GP was incredible, the venue was sensational, the event was very professional and you can see that the sport is evolving. It was an honor to be part of this great event. Natan and I did the first fight of the night and we put on a show, the crowd enjoyed the fight. The fight was tough, Natan and I fought forward. I have an aggressive Jiu-Jitsu style and I always try to pass the guard, finish and maintain constant movement. It was an incredible fight, ten minutes of no holds barred,” says Jackson Nagai.

Jackson is a hunter of submissions and often delivers electrifying fights. He defines his Jiu-Jitsu as aggressive and says that his goal is to keep up the intensity without giving his opponents any room.

“My style is aggressive, I always go up and look for the finish. When I can’t finish, I try to score a lot of points. Of course, that’s not always possible, sometimes you have to be more strategic. But the main thing in my game is to attack non-stop,” says the black belt.

The 29-year-old is trained by his teacher and multi-champion Lucas Leite. Jackson’s progress in the championships has been evident in his last few appearances and the lightweight has achieved significant results. The Checkmat representative assures that his growth in competitions is the result of Lucas’ excellent work.

“Lucas is a great teacher, he leads training sessions on a daily basis and gives support to all athletes, whether they’re beginners or professionals. He’s a true example of a champion and has had a huge influence on my game. After I started training with him, I learned more refined and offensive Jiu-Jitsu,” says Jackson.

Jackson Nagai fell in love with Jiu-Jitsu during the most complicated phase of his life. The manauara was based in Japan and overcame countless adversities during his time in the Asian country. The sport came about as a tool to defend himself against his own father and as a guide to keep away from bad influences.

“I started Jiu-Jitsu after my parents split up. My father left home when I was 15, he had an abusive relationship with my mother, so I started a martial art to use as self-defense. I was afraid of him. The other reason was to seek discipline. In Japan, there’s a lot of evil too and I was around bad influences at the time. Jiu-Jitsu was the escape valve for me to be a more respectful person, to develop confidence in myself and to have greater control over my emotions. I started training Jiu-Jitsu when I was 17. Before that, I had experience with karate and kickboxing, but I fell in love with Jiu-Jitsu,” recalls the Brazilian.

The period in Japan was arduous, but Jackson recognizes that he and his brother Samuel grew stronger in the face of obstacles. Today they are established athletes, recognized for their high-level Jiu-Jitsu.

He recalls moments in the Land of the Rising Sun and celebrates his return to the championships.

“I went to live in Japan when I was 12 and got to know Jiu-Jitsu when I was 17, as I said. I even took my brother to train when I was 10. Sometimes Samuel didn’t want to train, but I always encouraged him. At one point, I took a lot of furniture out of our living room and bought some mats for us to train on. Thanks to God, today we have the rewards of the hard work we put in. I graduated as a black belt in 2020, I was a finalist in the Pan, I won several Opens, but I was away from the championships for a year due to injuries. I came back that year and 2023 was excellent for me, I fought well, won several tournaments and was called to several events,” says Jackson Nagai.

Carlos Gracie. Photo: Marco Imperial

From the samurai to the UFC champions and IBJJF gold medalists

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or BJJ (also written as jujitsu or jujutsu) is a martial art of Japanese origin in which one essentially uses levers, torsions and pressure in order to take one’s opponent to the ground and dominate them. Literally, jū in Japanese means ‘gentleness,’ and jutsu means ‘art,’ ‘technique.’ Hence the literal translation by which it’s also known, the ‘gentle art.’

Its secular origin, as with almost all ancient martial arts, cannot be pinpointed precisely. Similar fighting styles have been verified in many peoples, from India to China, in the 3rd and 8th centuries. What is known is that its environment of development and refinement were the schools of the samurai, the warrior caste of feudal Japan.

Its creation derives from the fact that, in the battlefield or during any confrontation, a samurai could wind up bereft of his swords of spears, at which point he would need a weapon-less method of defense. Since traumatic strikes were not sufficient in this type of showdown, as the samurai wore armor, the takedowns and torsions began gaining ground due to their efficiency. Thus Jiu-Jitsu was born in contraposition to kenjitsu and other so-called rigid arts, wherein the combatants wielded swords and other weapons.

The martial art gained new dimensions when a celebrated instructor from the Kodokan Japanese school decided to travel the world and prove the efficiency of his choke and armlocks against opponents of all sizes and styles: Mitsuyo Maeda, a sumo fighter’s son born in Funazawa Village, located in Hirosaki City, in the Japanese prefecture of Aomori, on November 18, 1878, and deceased in Belém, capital of the Brazilian state of Pará, on November 28, 1941.

A lifelong champion of Jiu-Jitsu’s self-defense techniques, Maeda traveled to the U.S. in 1904 accompanied by other teachers from Jigoro Kano’s school. At the time, thanks to the political and economic bonds between Japan and the U.S., the Japanese techniques had many a noteworthy admirer on American soil. In 1904, for example, President Theodore Roosevelt had taken lessons from Yoshitsugu Yamashita. In the U.S., the agile Japanese man began racking up thousands of combats and fallen opponents along the way in England, Belgium and Spain, where his poise resulted in the nickname by which he became better-known, Count Koma. Back in America, the fighter did many presentations and challenges in El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Argentina. In July 1914, the valiant 5-foot-5, 68kg fighter landed in Brazil to settle down and change the sport’s history.

A lifelong champion of Jiu-Jitsu’s self-defense techniques, Maeda traveled to the U.S. in 1904 accompanied by other teachers from Jigoro Kano’s school. At the time, thanks to the political and economic bonds between Japan and the U.S., the Japanese techniques had many a noteworthy admirer on American soil. In 1903, for example, President Theodore Roosevelt had taken lessons from Yoshiaki Yamashita. In the U.S., the agile Japanese man began racking up thousands of combats and fallen opponents along the way in England, Belgium and Spain, where his poise resulted in the nickname by which he became better-known, Count Koma. Back in America, the fighter did many presentations and challenges in El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Argentina. In July 1914, the valiant 5-foot-5, 68kg fighter landed in Brazil to settle down and change the sport’s history.

Maeda would go on to collect delicious stories on Brazilian land. After going around the country, the Jiu-Jitsu black-belt settled in Belém. One day he took on the challenge of a capoeira artist known as Pé de Bola, towering over the master at 6-foot-3 and nearly 100kg. Maeda was not impressed and even let his rival bear a knife in the match. The Japanese disarmed, took down and finished off the Brazilian. Count Koma, as later became a tradition among Jiu-Jitsu professors, would also challenge famous boxers. American boxer Jack Johnson was called out, but never accepted the invite.

Koma and crew in Cuba, 1912. Fabio Quio collection

It was Koma, also, who promoted the first Jiu-Jitsu tournament in the country – more accurately a festival of bouts and challenges designed to give notoriety to the unknown sport.

Researchers Luiz Otávio Laydner and Fabio Quio Takao found in the newspaper Gazeta de Notícias of March 11, 1915 the rules of the event slated for the Carlos Gomes Theater in Rio de Janeiro, then the country’s capital. In it Koma published the first rules of our Jiu-Jitsu, consisting of ten items:

“1. Every fighter must present themselves decently, with fingernails and toenails perfectly trimmed;

“2. They must wear the gi, provided by Count Koma;

“3. It is forbidden to bite, scratch, head-butt or punch;

“4. When the athlete uses their foot, they must never use its tip, but instead the curve;

“5. The fighter whose back is on the ground is not defeated, even if they were the first one to fall;

“6. The fighter who is defeated must signal their forfeit by tapping either the mat or their opponent’s body thrice;

“7. The referee will deem defeated the fighter who, due to some contingency, cannot remember to tap to signal their forfeit;

“8. The matches will be divided into rounds of five minutes with two-minute resting periods interposed between them. The referee will count the minutes aloud for the benefit of the audience;

“9. If the fighters fall off the mat without either one having forewarned of it, the referee must force them to return to the center of the mat, standing and facing one another;

“10. The jurors may replace the referee in his duties. Neither the enterprise nor the winning fighter is responsible for whatever harm may befall the loser if, due to tenacity, that fighter refuses to signal forfeit.

“* Medical doctors, members of the local press, and professors of physical education and fencing are invited to take part in the jury.”

In 1917 a teenager named Carlos Gracie (1902–1994) saw for the first time, in Belém, a display by the Japanese man who was capable of dominating and submitting the area’s giants. A friend of his father, Gastão Gracie, Maeda agreed to teach the restless boy the art of defending oneself. In his lessons, he would teach Carlos and other Brazilians – like Luiz França, future master to Oswaldo Fadda – the concepts of his art: on the feet or the ground, the opponent’s strength was supposed to be a weapon for the win; to approach the adversary, low kicks and elbow strikes were to be the stratagems before taking them down. For evolution in training, he would use the randori, a full-on sparring session with a partner.

A faithful student, Carlos Gracie embraced Jiu-Jitsu and, to the heartbreak of the mom who dreamed of seeing more diplomats in the prestigious family, he started infusing his brothers with the love for the art. One of eight siblings (Oswaldo, Gastão Jr., George, Helena, Helio, Mary and Ilka), in 1925 Carlos opened the Gracie family’s first BJJ academy. The ad in the newspaper was a marketing masterpiece: “If you want to have your arm broken, look for the Gracie Academy.”

The grandmaster would go on to spawn 21 offspring, 13 of whom became black-belts. Each member of the family began, then, strengthening the art and adding one more link to the chain created by Grandmaster Carlos, founder and guide of the clan, as well as first in the family to launch himself in a rule-less fight, which he dubbed vale-tudo. It was in 1924 in Rio de Janeiro that Carlos Gracie confronted stevedore Samuel, a renowned athlete of capoeira.

Helio quickly became the standout among the brothers due to the technical innovations he made as an instructor and the indomitable spirit that was at odds with his skinny body. In consonance with the tactics of Count Koma, the Gracies continued challenging capoeira artists in Rio, as well as stevedores and other brave men of all origins and sizes. If these muscle men looked fearsome on their feet, on the ground they became easy prey to the pounces and chokes that defeated them as if by magic.

The family’s victories in no-rules matches started becoming legends and front-page stories, and mounting. The famous pupils, also – artists, architects, state ministers, mayors, governors, surgeons and doctors from every field.

Besides the challenges, the championships featuring practitioners, with rules exclusive to Jiu-Jitsu, were gaining momentum, fueled by rivalries of dozens of different academies. In the 1960s, when Carlson Gracie had already taken his uncle Helio’s baton as the clan’s front line in vale-tudo, an important step was taken towards the consolidation of sport Jiu-Jitsu. In 1967 the Guanabara Jiu-Jitsu Federation, in Rio, was created under the authorization of the country’s National Sports Confederation. Among the still-primitive rules, moves like takedowns, frontal mounts with both knees on the ground and the back-take yielded one point. Match duration for the adults category was set at five minutes, with three minutes’ overtime. Jiu-Jitsu had gained time controls and a scoring system.

The president of the Federation was Helio Gracie, and the president of the Consultative Council was Carlos. His first-born, Carlson, was director of the technical department. The first technical vice-director was Oswaldo Fadda, and the second was Orlando Barradas – both of them Jiu-Jitsu professors. João Alberto Barreto, a notable pupil of the Gracies’, was named director to the teaching department, whose vice-director was one of Carlson’s brothers, Robson Gracie – each of them a grandmaster of the art nowadays.

In the ’90s the art underwent a new boom. On two fronts: created by Rorion Gracie in 1993, the Ultimate Fighting Championship kick-started the sport known today as MMA. Starting with pioneer Royce Gracie and further consolidated through the sweat of a bevy of his cousins and brothers in Rickson, Renzo, Ralph, Royler, Ryan, Carley and company, Jiu-Jitsu as a method of self-defense had nothing more to prove.

On another front, Carlos Gracie Jr. picked up his father’s work organizing championships and strengthening the art as a regulated sport. Thus the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) was created in 1994, and these days it promotes tournaments overflowing with over 3,000 athletes from more than 50 countries, such as the World Championship, held annually since 1996.

One century after Count Koma disembarked in Brazil, our Jiu-Jitsu today can be practiced from Alaska to Mongolia, from Abu Dhabi to Japan.

The rest of this story continues to be written by each white-belt who steps into a Jiu-Jitsu gym for the first time.

To learn BJJ straight from Renzo Gracie, a fighter whose name is etched on the history of BJJ and MMA, visit Renzo Gracie Online Academy.

This weekend the IBJJF brings to you the 2017 Asian Championship. The black-belt divisions are set with Keenan Cornelius, Lucas Barbosa, Igor Silva and Abraham Marte all looking to take home the gold. Additionally, Kayron Gracie will be making his return to the tournament circuit.

Here are the links to watch each day’s livestream.

• Asian IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2017 day 1

• https://freshlive.tv/jbjjf/148941

• Asian IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2017 day 2

• https://freshlive.tv/jbjjf/148943

• Asian IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2017 day 3

• https://freshlive.tv/jbjjf/148944

Glover’s unpredictable game in action, again. Metamoris.

No-gi BJJ star Jeff Glover took a trip to show off his skills in a superfight in Japan last month.

Known for his donkey guard, where he sets a trap for his opponent by turning his back, Glover has had some success fighting at the highest level of worldwide grappling, in the ADCC.

His Battlefield 1 match against Japan’s own Chae Wangi can be seen in this video. Glover does somersaults, crazy transitions and more to confuse his foe and entertain the rest of us.

Anderson Takahashi (center of the picture)

The IBJJF held its first ever Japanese National Championship this weekend in Tokyo.

Hundreds of athletes gathered at the Otaku Sogo Taiikukan for two days of action on April 16-17.

In the end, Anderson Takahashi de Faria was the standout with double gold at the adult male black belt division, winning the open class and the middleweight.

Here are the full results for the adult black belt division.

BLACK / Adult / Male / Light Feather

First – Tomoyuki Hashimoto – Carpe Diem

Second – Shimon Kagiyama – De La Riva JJ

Third – Kazuhiro Miyachi – Shooto Gym Roots

Third – Hideyuki Yamada – Tri-Force Jiu-Jitsu Academy

BLACK / Adult / Male / Feather

First – Daisuke Shiraki – Carpe Diem Hope

Second – Takuto Kako – Grappling Shoot Boxers

Third – Hiroaki Otsuka – PSBJJ Ogikubo

Third – Ichitaro Tsukada – Damm Fight Japan

BLACK / Adult / Male / Light

First – Akira Hosokawa – Carpe Diem Hope

Second – Hirokazu Takamoto – PGN Higashiyamato

Third – Tatsuya Kaneko – Paraestra Tokyo

Third – Jason Alexander Gagnon – Alliance Los Angeles

BLACK / Adult / Male / Middle

First – Anderson Takahashi De Faria – Rocha Jiu Jitsu

Second – Shutaro Debana – MMA & BJJ Dojo Cobrakai

Third – Viking Wai Chun Wong – GF Team International

BLACK / Adult / Male / Medium Heavy

First – Sadayoshi Roberto Mota Kurimori – Fight Move BJJ

BLACK / Adult / Male / Open Class

First – Anderson Takahashi De Faria – Rocha Jiu Jitsu

Second – Hirokazu Takamoto – PGN Higashiyamato

Third – Tatsuya Kaneko – Paraestra Tokyo

Third – Kazuhiro Miyachi – Shooto Gym Roots

in the team’s competition, results were:

1 – Impacto Japan B.J.J. – 84

2 – Carpe Diem – 70

3 – Infight Japan Jiu-Jitsu – 67

Click here for the full results.

Japan is one of the most exciting countries in the world, a mix of old and new and a unique approach to life.

Don’t miss out on a great opportunity to dive into the Japanese culture as you sign up to compete at the 2016 Japanese National championship.

The first edition of this new IBJJF event is scheduled April 16-17, at the Otaku Sogo Taiikukan, in Tokyo.

It is open for kids and adults and it has gi and nogi divisions and you have until April 8 to register.

Hurry up and click here to sign up now.

After you register, watch Baby metal, one great example of the uniqueness of the Japanese culture.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZApf9c8Tes

The IBJJF is inviting you to be a part of the first ever Japanese National Championship.

The event is scheduled April 16-17, at the Otaku Sogo Taiikukan, in Tokyo.

It is open for kids and adults and it has gi and nogi divisions and you have until April 8 to register.

Hurry up and click here to sign up now.

(C)RIZIN FF

Pride and UFC veteran Wanderlei Silva has signed with Rizin FF for a tag team wrestling match on April 17, 2016.

Wand will be joined by a still undisclosed fighter to compete against Kazushi Sakuraba and Hideo Tokoro.

During a press conference this Saturday, it was also announced that Wanderlei will compete in MMA fights at Rizin FF in the near future.

The Brazilian is suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission from competing in the USA until 2017.

Gabi Garcia

Jiu-Jitsu black belt and now officially a MMA fighter, Gabi Garcia answered the critics after her first fight, this December 31, in Saitama, Japan.

Gabi posted on her social media channels her first impressions after the TKO win over Lei D’ Tapa, at Rizin FF New Year’s Eve card.

“Swollen face but a smile on my face after the fight. My life changed this past June, when I was invited to debut in MMA. I moved to California by myself and started to learn wrestling, muay thai and boxing all at the same time. I didn’t understand a lot of it and I cried and thought of giving up many times. I got kicked a lot and felling pain became a routine. Even so, I met wonderful people and made great new friends,” wrote Gabi.

She then addressed the most common critic found online after the fight, which said that her striking did not show the level expected in a professional MMA fight: “Those who thought I would have a perfect boxing technique, with everything in place, were wrong. I needed 16 years to win my first gold medal in Jiu-Jitsu competitions, so I couldn’t become an MMA champion like the ones you see on TV in only six months. Perfection only comes with time, and most of the time, it never comes.”

Gabi also wrote about the fight itself: “We had all planned out until I got punched in the face. Have you ever thought about being there where I was? Making your first professional MMA fight for a packed Saitama Super Arena? Well! It’s easy to judge my performance looking from the outside. You have never even been pinched, let alone punched. Talk is cheap.”

Despite the critics, Gabi saw the hole experience as mostly positive: “I got punched hard, went down, everything turned black, but I had the heart to come back and win the fight. Then, I was cheered by the same crowd that later on cheered Fedor with the same intensity. People travelled hundreds of miles and some people travelled half around the world to see me fight. You can’t put a price on that.”

After breaking the ice, Gabi is already making plans for the future. She announced the date of her next fight: “Now it’s back to the gym as the next battle already has a date. Japan, I see you again on April 17, in Nagoya.”

The name of the opponent is yet to be announced.

Watch Gabi’s MMA debut.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXguGeCcyV8

MMA is back to Japan in great fashion.

Rizin Fighting Federation held its New Year’s Eve event this Thursday in a evening of fights that featured almost everything you can think of in terms of entertainment.

It had great action and serious talent on the ring, but also had its fair share of freak shows and the well known weirdness so common to MMA shows in the country.

Fedor Emelianenko returned to MMA after three years of retirement to easily dispatch of Jaideep Singh with some fierce ground and pound from the mount early in the first round.

A video posted by GRACIEMAG | English Edition | (@graciemagazine) on Dec 31, 2015 at 3:44am PST

Kron Gracie also ended his fight in the first round. The son of Rickson Gracie used his world-class Jiu-Jitsu to beat Asen Yamamoto with a triangle choke after a action-filled round.

A video posted by GRACIEMAG | English Edition | (@graciemagazine) on Dec 31, 2015 at 3:24am PST

Gabi Garcia had to overcome a early knockdown after a well-landed left overhand by Lei D’Tapa to win via TKO.

Visibly nervous, Gabi hit Tapa with a spinning right punch and then finished the fight on the ground with a series of punches until the referee stepped in.

A video posted by GRACIEMAG | English Edition | (@graciemagazine) on Dec 31, 2015 at 1:20am PST

Other than that, King Mo beat Teodoras Aukstuolis and Jiri Prochazka to grab the innaugural heavyweight belt.

Click here for the full results.

Shinya Aoki and Kazushi Sakuraba fought in the main event of the first card of the new Japanese MMA promotion, Rizin FF, this Tuesday, in Saitama.

Watch how Aoki imposed his game on Sakuraba and won by TKO on the 1st round.

Rizin Fighting Federation kicked off this Tuesday, in Tokyo, Japan, with the Saraba card.

In the main event, Shinya Aoki needed not much time to defeat Kazushi Sakuraba in under 5 minutes.

Aoki, 32, took the match to the ground in the first seconds, passed the guard of 46-year-old Sakuraba and punished the veteran with punches from the mount until the referee stopped the fight.

Kazushi Sakuraba vs Shinya Aoki #RizinFF #Rizin pic.twitter.com/jdcdO4TkuD

— ZombieProphet (@ZProphet_MMA) December 29, 2015

In the heavyweight Grand Prix, the results of the quarterfinals were:

King Mo beat Brett McDermott; Teodoras Aukustuolis beat Bruno Capelloza; Vadim Nemkov beat Goran Reljic; Jiri Prochazka beat Satoshi Ishii.

Rizin FF returns this Thursday, with its New Years Eve event, also from the Saitama Super Arena, featuring the semifinals of the GP and super fights featuring Fedor Emelianenko, Kron Gracie, Gabi Garcia, Bob Sapp, Akebono and others.

Know more at www.rizinff.com.