Andrew with the second gold medal he won at the Mexico City Open.

The Mexico City Winter Open was held last Saturday, with participants looking to score early for this year’s IBJJF rankings.

Zenith Jiu-Jitsu’s Fellipe Andrew and De La Riva’s Cláudia do Val walked out as heavyweight and absolute champions.

Andrew, a student under Rodrigo Cavaca, bagged heavyweight gold by defeating Nick Schrock (Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu). In the open division final, he beat Sérgio Raimundo Silva (Brasa).

Cláudia was faced with Itzel Aguilar (Zenith BJJ Greece) in her two finals and did a good job beating her twice.

In the teams’ competition, Renzo Gracie Mexico came out on top with 137 points, followed by Lead BJJ (88) and Top Brother Mexico (54).

The complete results, as provided by the IBJJF, can be found below.

Black / Adult / Male / Rooster

Black / Adult / Male / Light-Feather

Black / Adult / Male / Feather

Black / Adult / Male / Light

Black / Adult / Male / Middle

Black / Adult / Male / Medium-Heavy

Black / Adult / Male / Heavy

Black / Adult / Male / Super-Heavy

Black / Adult / Male / Ultra-Heavy

Black / Adult / Male / Open Class

Andrew vibra com seu segundo ouro no pódio do Mexico City Open. Foto: Reprodução

A Cidade do México recebeu no último sábado, dia 24 de fevereiro, o Mexico City Winter Open, com nomes embalados do Jiu-Jitu mundial na busca de pontos no ranking da IBJJF, além do ouro e o topo do pódio em suas respectivas categorias de peso e também no absoluto.

Na faixa-preta, quem fez a festa foi Fellipe Andrew, da Zenith Jiu-Jitsu, e Cláudia do Val, da De La Riva. Ambos venceram tanto no peso pesado quanto no absoluto.

No masculino, Andrew, aluno do professor Rodrigo Cavaca, mordeu o ouro entre os pesados ao superar Nick Schrock (Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu). Em seguida, no absoluto, encarou e venceu Sérgio Raimundo Silva (Brasa) para concluir a missão com sucesso e voltar para casa com o ouro duplo.

Já no feminino, Cláudia teve que encarar Itzel Aguilar (Zentih BJJ Grécia) no pesado e no absoluto, vencendo ambas as disputas para garantir a dobradinha no topo do pódio.

Na disputa por equipes, a Renzo Gracie Mexico levu a melhor, com 137 pontos, seguida pela Lead BJJ, com 88 pontos, e com a Top Brother Mexico em terceiro, com 54 pontos.

Confira abaixo os resultados completos da faixa-preta!

Black / Adult / Male / Rooster

Black / Adult / Male / Light-Feather

Black / Adult / Male / Feather

Black / Adult / Male / Light

Black / Adult / Male / Middle

Black / Adult / Male / Medium-Heavy

Black / Adult / Male / Heavy

Black / Adult / Male / Super-Heavy

Black / Adult / Male / Ultra-Heavy

Black / Adult / Male / Open Class

Sophia and Robert Drysdale. Photo: Drysdale Jiu-Jitsu

Get the chance to train with both Robert and Sophia Drysdale of GMA Drysdale Jiu-Jitsu. Robert is an ADCC absolute champion and both are black belt world champions, Sophia having earned the title of first female black belt in Australia.

The duo will be travel to Prohamos BJJ in Mexico City, Mexico for a camp from Feb. 21-22.

Don’t miss the seminar with Robert on Saturday, Feb. 21 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will be gi and no-gi. On Feb. 22, Sophia will teach a gi and no-gi seminar as well from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The camp will have rates for each event and a dual rate as well. To reserve your spot, go to http://www.eventbrite.com/e/entradas-robert-y-sophia-drysdale-en-mexico-14657499977?aff=efbevent

For more information you can email seminarios@promahosbjj.com

Learn more about Robert and Sophia Drysdale at www.drysdalejiujitsu.com

Orlando wins at Mexico National Championship. Photo: Instagram @orlandogbdena

While helping Fabricio Werdum prepare for his next UFC fight in Mexico, GMA member Orlando Sanchez of Gracie Barra Pasadena traveled down to the city of Mexico City with the crew.

On Nov. 8 Orlando, a black belt and head instructor at GB Pasadena, entered the Mexican National Championship. This is the biggest Jiu-Jitsu tournament in Mexico.

He came out with the gold in the absolute division. Here’s how Orlanda described the day on his Facebook:

“It’s been well over a year since I have competed in the gi and have been focusing on MMA… This weekend I decided to enter the Mexican National Championship which is Mexico’s largest BJJ tournament. I entered the absolute division and had some really tough matches… Got to compete against a very tough Brazilian in the finals and was a great day to win gold… was so fun and I always love leading my team by example and representing my Gracie Barra family… CHAMPIONS IN LIFE®”

Catch him in action:

A video posted by ORLANDO SANCHEZ (@orlandogbdena) on Nov 11, 2014 at 5:52am PST

Training at the camp in Mexico City. Photo: Personal Archive

Jiu-Jitsu is growing so rapidly and more and more opportunities are coming up for athletes to compete, to attend seminars and workshops.

Recently, Sophia McDermott Drysdale of GMA Drysdale Jiu-Jitsu in Las Vegas, NV and Mackenzie Dern of GMA Megaton Jiu-Jitsu in Phoenix, AZ visited Mexico to train and share their knowledge amongst some lucky ladies. In attendance were students of Jiu-Jitsu who traveled far and wide from all across the United States and Latin America to attend the eight-day camp.

Purple belt Itzel Bazua, who is a pioneer in the sport for women in Mexico, organized the event to help build awareness of Jiu-Jitsu in Mexico and give others the opportunity to learn from two experienced black belts, World and Pan Am Champions.

In between the morning and night training there was time to do some sight seeing such as visiting the temples and Teotihuacan!

The previous month Sophia McDermott Drysdale, with brown belt Ronda Andrews, also taught a camp at the MA Supershow at the Venetian in Las Vegas. The event was organized by brown belt Shama Ko, who is the founder of the very successful support group, Girls In Gis which brought over 80  ladies from all across the United States who were all there to share and learn and make friendships regardless of affiliation or belt rank.

It is great to see more events being held for women and all Jiu-Jitsu practitioners as a whole. Stay tuned for more info for big camps and events that Mackenzie and Sophia are involved in.

Check out more of Sophia’s adventures at www.drysdalejiujitsu.com

The six-time world champion is currently recovering from her knee surgery but plans to return to competition in the following months for the Abu Dhabi WPJJC and World Championship. But after, she’s headed south to support the Mexican Jiu-Jitsu Federation and to promote women training.

The cost for the camp is $120 USD. More information will be posted soon regarding specific dates.

You can learn more about the camp by emailing itzelbazuabjj@gmail.com

Mackenzie personally invites you in this video message:

A new all-female opportunity in Mexico City is scheduled for November 6-13 as organized by a member of GMA Brasa Mexico Academy. Six-time world champion Mackenzie Dern will be leading a training camp that will support Jiu-Jitsu in Mexico and the females who are involved.

The community of females in Jiu-Jitsu is steadily growing in Mexico with the help of a purple belt named Itzel Bazua Aguilar. With the help of her boyfriend, they created a place to train at their house called Promahos BJJ where she teaches women-only Jiu-Jitsu classes. The government supports the already existing Mexican Federation of Jiu-Jitsu and in turn, the program and its athletes have been helped financially to promote Jiu-Jitsu and compete internationally.

Itzel’s goal with the 2nd Female BJJ Training Camp is to promote female BJJ by helping them to improve and believe in themselves. She says, “Because I had the hardest time as a white belt (I was the only girl, the smallest and the youngest, and they never took me seriously),  I didn’t believe that I could achieve something. Then my instructor Tomas Salgado came to the academy and psyched me up, demanded commitment from me and guided me to become the athlete I am now.” It is the influence of her coach that she hopes to extend to the females of Jiu-Jitsu in Mexico.

Her future events are more female camps with Mackenzie, seminars, tournaments (all female), free open mats and classes given by black belts, and maybe a money fund to sponsor girls that don’t have enough money to dedicate to the sport as they would like to.

The costs of the camp cover training and lodging. Before Oct. 4 the cost is $160 with advance payment of $80. For more information email: itzelbazuabjj@gmail.com

Tererê back atop the winners’ podium / Publicity photo

Last weekend was an exciting one for Jiu-Jitsu fans in Mexico City. It was there that embattled gentle-art star Fernando Tererê made his competition return after a long and tenebrous winter without competing. Invited to take part by his student Jonathan Amaral, otherwise known as “Pé de Bolo”, the black belt tested out his Jiu-Jitsu at an open championship in Mexico’s capital city.

Making the most of a six-month stint teaching Jiu-Jitsu in Mexico, Tererê decided to don his gi for the fans, and came up with three submissions in the three matches he was in, showing he’s still got it.

The event’s promoter, Pé de Bolo, also got in on the action but lost in the semifinals to Dan Schon.

Check out Tererê’s performance, and let us know what you think.

Here, the world champion produced by Alexandre “Gigi” Paiva oozes with technique and solid form, and teaches some of his style to students in Mexico City, the capital of the country of Frida Kahlo, Emeliano Zapata, Chaves and Chapolim, while on a seminar tour that started on the 17^th of this month and ended yesterday.