Professor Marcos Barros gave the black belt to two of his students.

The happy ones were Bob Radmacher and Bill Hunt.

New belt for Bob

About Bob, the school website read: “Bob has been a great student from the start with many days of training and not giving up, he has pursued the sport of BJJ even when a not so good training day occurred. He encourages all his friends and students to keep trying and show up for class even if they feel they are not understanding something right away. His respect towards Professor Marcos and fellow students is obvious to anyone who knows him. He is a true professional and a worthy BJJ role model.”

Bill changes colors

Some nice words were there about Bill as well: “Bill Hunt has been nothing but excellent in his style and demeanor at Gracie Barra Springfield. He came to train with us after many years of hard work and dedication as a purple belt. I was excited to register him for classes and see what he could teach us ! He has taught us so much since that day and we are really Blessed to have him on the mats and in the Instructor’s Program.”

The graduation ceremony had also GMA member Beto Barros, from Gracie Barra The Loop, in attendance.

For more info, go to graciespringfield.com

Adem Redzovic celebrates Chicago Winter Open team title. Photo: publicity.

Gracie Barra’s leader in the midwest, Adem Redzovic, is celebrating the teams victory at last weekend’s IBJJF Chicago Open. Here’s what the the black belt professor had to say:

“The IBJJF always puts on the most organized and well-run tournaments in the region, by far. So it’s always exciting to attend the event. It’s kind of like a family reunion to see old friends, and it’s great to see our competitors compete against teams from around the United States. This weekend we had great performances all around, notably black belts Gustavo ‘Siri’ Pires winning his division as well as the absolute in amazing fashion, Professor Marcos Barros, who sustained a pretty serious injury a few days before the event but still managed to compete and win his division. In the brown belt we saw Idriz Redzovic win the superheavy division in style, using his infamous lapel choke from the side mount in the final, and so many more upcoming talents, too many to mention!”

“This victory was not only for Gracie Barra, but for Chicago, for Illinois. Last event Lloyd Irvin sent a strong team here taking the title home with them to Maryland. We had to do our best to not let someone come in our backyard and take the team title again,”  jokes the professor.

On February 5th, the Future Champions of Gracie Barra Springfield and their counterparts from Gracie Barra Bloomington gathered for a tournament
which provided an epic display of Jiu-Jitsu prowess.

Text: Paul Taylor / Photos: Keri Schneller

When staff at the school asked the kids if they were ready there was a resounding and confidant, “Yes!” Each match was just amazing to watch whether the competitor was wearing a brand new white belt or was a “veteran” yellow belt. The parents, friends and fellow students cheered on each match with helpful words and encouragement to keep going!

Twenty-eight first, second and third place medals were awarded to our champions. The most important lesson learned by the Future Champions was that for this tournament, it did not matter whether you won or lost but that you had fun. For more info, graciespringfield.com.

Professor Marcos Barros promoted one of his instructors to the black belt.

Here is how things went, by Jamie Barros.

On Thursday December 16th Gracie Barra Springfield hosted a second in a series of Winter Seminars in hopes a dedicated brown belt would attend and receive a big surprise.

You could feel the anticipation in the air as each student entered the doors of GBS and scanned the room. Everyone was in on it and even knew about it except of course the brown belt.

With the mat full of about 46 very wonderful students holding a very big secret, THE Brown belt Randy Peterson came in ready to train.  Professor Marcos opened the class in usual style without even cracking a smile.

Students bowed in with some smirking in wonder when our first ever Gracie Barra Springfield student would become the first ever Black Belt in America by Professor Marcos.

The seminar followed with various submission escapes and some competition stand up. Everyone including me became so involved in the seminar that we didnt even notice

Professor Marcos sneak away to get the surprise in order. We returned to the wall to wait for our next new technique when Professor Marcos called out Randy Peterson to assist.

A black belt appeared from his gi and applause rang out! Randy Peterson, had done it. After years of dedication on the mats and in the lives of the students that surrounded him, he had earned his Black Belt!

With a shocked look and continuous hand clapping he was asked to make his speech. Randy said he was almost without words and just in shock. He also encouraged the student to not give up and stay dedicated in the lifestyle and practice of BJJ.

He was honored to get his black belt especially under Professor Marcos. It was an incredible day and a moment all of us standing there will never forget. We closed the seminar with a bow to two incredible Black Belts .

On behalf of all of us at GBS, Congratulations Randy! We are so proud and blessed to have you at GBS and take on your example and knowledge as our first GBS Black Belt!

For more info, go to graciespringfield.com

Do you own a Jiu-Jitsu academy and want to have your school featured on GRACIEMAG.com? It’s easy, all you need to do is to become a GMA member. Click here and find out how.

Barros, Lemos, Bansfield

The IBJJF Chicago Open International was a success this weekend.

And our GMA members were a huge part of this success, conquering lots of medals.

Carlos Lemos, from Gracie Barra Countryside, and Marcos Barros, of GB Springfield, dominated the black belt master. They closed out the lightweight and the absolute.

Also in the black belt master division, Sean Bansfield, from Ann Arbor JJ, conquered a silver and a bronze medal and at the ultra-heavyweight and the absolute.

Team Brazil 021, headed by André Terêncio, also did great. Its members went home with 12 medals.

Click here for the complete results of the event.

Do you own a Jiu-Jitsu academy and want to have your school featured  on GRACIEMAG.com? It’s easy, all you need to do is to become a GMA member. Click here and find out how.

Marcos and Tim

GMA member Marcos Barros, leader of Gracie Barra Springfield, in Illinois, has asked his students if they had stories on how Jiu-Jitsu saved their lives.

Blue belt Tim Morenz had a story to tell.

“First off, my job is not as glamorous as police or military, as I work nights in the emergency room of a psych hospital, doing admissions.

All of my calls involve either: someone psychotic and trying to hurt themselves or someone else, someone under the influence of street or the abuse of prescription drugs, or a combination of all the above.  Jiu-Jitsu has enabled me to subdue a 5′2″ 260 lb. girl who was combative at time of admission and had hit me in the jaw (the hardest I have ever been hit in my life).

I was able to secure her in the safe clinch, take her down and secure her with knee on the belly for about 3 minutes while she was thrashing about violently until help could arrive and she could be sedated. My supervisor at the time stated that I did what it usually took 4 staff to accomplish.

It also allowed me to subdue a male who had been punching himself in the throat and was also banging his head to the point of bleeding. When I attempted to talk to him and verbally intervene, he lunged at me and attempted to bite me in the neck. I intercepted him in the safe clinch and took him down with O-uchi-gari (inside trip) and secured him in side mount until nursing staff could take care of him.

These are just a few of the instances that immediately come to mind.

Jiu-Jitsu at Gracie Barra Springfield has provided me with the physical conditioning to deal with violent encounters, the spiritual serenity to remain mentally and physically composed during these events, as well as the awareness to intervene and prevent situations from escalating violently. Gracie Barra Springfield teaches Jiu-Jitsu, the humane martial art, ideal for handling serious situations quickly and resolving them with the least amount of violence possible while teaching physical methods that are easy to learn and easier to implement. I have had several incredible moments in my life. One of them was when I walked in the doors of Gracie Barra Springfield and started my journey in Jiu-Jitsu.”

For more info, go to graciespringfield.com.

Do you own a Jiu-Jitsu academy and want to have your school featured  on GRACIEMAG.com? It’s easy, all you need to do is to become a GMA member. Click here and find out how.

The black belt is helping implant Jiu-Jitsu in the country.

GB Team Korea

Along with Professor Occloo, he helped open Gracie Barra Korea and Gracie Barra Cheon Moo.

Professor Occloo was awarded his black Belt by Professor Marcos Barros.

Healthy meal

In the midst of so much excitement you would have to agree finding GRACIEMAG at a shop just a short distance from the school topped off the trip quite nicely!

For more info, go to graciespringfield.com.

Do you own a Jiu-Jitsu academy and want to have your school featured  on GRACIEMAG.com? It’s easy, all you need to do is to become a GMA member. Click here and find out how.

The team did great in Irvine, California.

Barros' new degree

They also made a pilgrimage to the future training facility of one of their teamates and visited the vibrant headquarters of Gracie Barra America.

But the highlights of the trip came when professor Marcos Barros was awarded the second degree in his black belt.

Congrats to Barros and to all the GB family.

For more info, go to graciespringfield.com

Xande and Victoria

Happy birthday to Xande Ribeiro, our GMA member in San Diego, California. The two-time absolute Jiu-Jitsu world champion turned 29 this Wednesday. And 2010 begun just perfect to Xande. His first girl was just born and he does not hide how he feels about her: “Having a great day, my daughter is 3 months old(1 year with belly time ). I feel so happy and blessed . My birthday gift to myself was a lot of training today…sparring of course. And thank you all for so much care and love you show me. This inspires me and makes me go forward even stronger. Wish you all the best and all you wished for me in double. Thanks,” he wrote on Facebook. For more on Xande and UNIJJ, go to unijj.com.

Leopoldo and Henle

In Ventura, California, black belt Fabio Leopoldo, head of the GB branch there, promoted his student Joseph “Leonidas” Henle to purple belt last Friday! Any graduation is special, but this one is even more. Henle was the first student Leopoldo had when he moved to Ventura. “Even before I opened the academy I gave private lessons to Joe,” said Professor Fabio.

Baby Mason

And that was not the only good news at GB Ventura. Brown belt instructor Ryan Dahlgren’s second son was born last Friday. Mason Clark was born with 7.5 lbs and 18 inches. Huge congrats to Ryan. For more info on GB Ventura, go to graciebarraventura.com.

In Denver, Colorado, black belt Amal Easton has come up with another way to improve the teaching skills of his students at Easton BJJ. The EBJJ Adult instructor course that starts Febuary 22^nd. It is a 36 hour course and consists of 12 hours of classroom, 12 hours of assisting / monitoring and 12 hours of practical one on one or small group teaching. Those who complete the course will receive the EBJJ Level One Instructor Certification. Fopr more on Easton BJJ, go to eastonbjj.com

Nathan

Down in Florida, Professor Larry Shealy congratulates his purple belt instructor Nathan Lang for getting the Black belt rank in Haganah, an Israeli combat system. Lang was awarded his Black Belt after 3 days of training with Haganah founder and Main Instructor Mike Lee Kanarak. Nathan is one of 34 people in the world who have achieved this rank!! For more info on GB Jacksonville, go to jaxbjj.com.

Also in Florida, a encounter of GMAs took place at Renzo Gracie Weston. Stan Beck welcomed Renzo Gracie Mexico’s headcoach Mario Delgado for a seminar. Read what Beck had to say about the class: “Everyone loved it and were raving about the new moves.  I saw right away some students even using those moves they learned that night. I will be trying to get him here as soon as possible to teach another seminar.” For more info , go to renzogracieflorida.com, renzograciemexico.com.

RG Weston class after the seminar

In illinois, Marcos Barros, head of  GB Springfield, also have good news. This January 23^rd, Austin Jordan will step into the ring and fight MMA at The Courage Fighting Championships in Decatur.  The team is getting together to support Austin and half of the procceds with the tickets to the fight will go to GB Cares Orphan Rescue. For more info, go to graciespringfield.com.