NY Pride XX. Photo: Erin Herle

The NY Pride XX held on Saturday, Dec. 6 at Baruch College in Manhattan, NY was a day full of good memories, moments and medals. Starting with the kids, Eloy Santos hyped up the future of the sport as they encircled the entire mat for a group warm-up.

And with that, they took over the mats in large numbers. Every mat featured kids as young as four facing off and enjoying their times in the limelight. There was few crying and laughs from both the competitors and the crowd ensued. It took a good few hours for the kids to complete their brackets in the gi before the adult belts entered the bullpen.

The brown belt masters and then the brown belt adults came onto the scene. A few of the matches from both brown belt adult male and purple belt adult male showed what true technique and heart together can accomplish. The matches were exciting and often went the distance. The blue and white belts also enthralled the audience as the barriers were constantly adjusted from the pressing crowd.

By the time the no-gi divisions began, the army of kids took over once again to bring the excitement and complete back and forth nature of their skills. Adult no-gi ended the day.

You can check out the full results when they’re up soon at www.lipridebjj.com

Here is a full photo album:

Members of GMA Soca BJJ show off their medals. Photo: Personal Archive

The NY Pride Championship XIX held on Long Island, NY over the weekend brought athletes from all different teams together.

There were divisions for the children, adults and masters in gi and no-gi. The tournament is the biggest in New York for children in the area. With a huge amount of kids teams in the area at local schools, this was the place to be for who’s who in the youth crew.

GMA academies in attendance were Kioto BJJ who earned the first place team trophy in the kids category as well as the female category, Gracie Barra Long Island, Renzo Gracie Academy, Soca BJJ, Renzo Gracie Newark, Alliance NYC and others.

Check out the full list of results here: http://www.t360reg.com/Results.aspx?TournamentID=1064

The team at LI Pride. Photo: Personal Archive

As the next LI Pride event approaches, we wanted to get to know the leaders of the LI Pride championship team, Eloy Santos and Milton Regis.

On March 8, the LI Pride XIX event will be held at St Josephs College. You can register at www.lipridebjj.com

Check out the behind-the-scenes look at New York’s own tournament:

GRACIEMAG: Are you excited for the event?

ELOY SANTOS & MILTON REGIS: We are thrilled to bring one more edition of the LI Pride. For us it is like a son getting bigger, stronger and better. Each edition gives us more experience and expertise. We have the support of the most important schools from NY, NJ, MA, DE, PA and NH. And we are not surprised to also get athletes from all over the country and international competitors, too.

Why did you decide to start a Jiu-Jitsu tournament in NY?

Well, the fact is the Jiu-Jitsu competitors and teachers were unhappy with the service offered at the other grappling events. There were no Jiu-Jitsu tournaments in the NY area, even having so many Jiu-Jitsu academies, and so many athletes.

How long have you been running the PRIDE NY?

We started in 2007 with only two rings inside a small gym behind the church, but with very good feedback from the competitors and Jiu-Jitsu schools. We still have so many challenges but also a big dream, with every edition breaking the records. Building a good reputation is not an easy job. Beyond the championship, there are a lot of expectations. It is our responsibility, to preserve the integrity of the competitors and to give our spectators a chance to watch a true show of Jiu-Jitsu.

Any big names confirmed?

We have had so many top athletes fighting at our events and they are always welcome. But it is very important to make this championship a platform for the next generation champions. Making everyone comfortable to fight and have a chance to win, if not the medal a chance to learn a lesson and have a great experience.

Do you have any message for who is looking for to compete at the PRIDE XIX?

Yes. Train hard to do your best, physically and technically, to represent your academy. Also invite everyone: family and friends. Help spread our lifestyle and the good news about the fastest growing sport in America. So, from all of us, the LI Pride Championship staff, dedicating our best to make another very good show.

Is there anything else we need to know?

Our work through the years has been accompanied by an evolution and a development of sport Jiu-Jitsu rules. Many thanks to the contribution of the greatest masters and professors in this martial arts. Particularly Grand Master Francisco Mansur, red belt who has worked over the years to study and improve the sport and the rules used in the official events around the world, making this sport uniform and respectful.

For more info and registration for the PRIDE XIX go to http://www.lipridebjj.com/

Check out this video about the tournament:

The NY Pride XIX tournament on March 8 is already taking names. Members from over sixteen academies have signed up for the event, which will be hosted at a new location. Academies such as GMA Alliance NYC, Gracie Barra Long Island, Kioto BJJ, BTT Boston, Soca BJJ and more will all be in attendance.

The tournament will be located in the John A. Danzi Athletic Center at St. Joseph’s College: 155 West Roe Blvd. Patchogue, NY 11772.

GMA members Eloy Santos and Milton Regis have put together tournament after tournament, always improving with the goal of giving the New York Jiu-Jitsu scene a high-quality event. Registration is still available at the discounted rate for early registration until Monday, Feb. 17. For one division, the cost is $69 and for two divisions the cost is $79. Don’t wait or you’ll pay a higher price!

To register, click here.

For more information go to www.lipridebjj.com

The Long Island Pride is back for another edition of their Jiu-Jitsu championship. This time, the event will be held at a new location.

LI Pride XIX will be on March 8 in the John A. Danzi Athletic Center at St. Josephs College located at 155 West Roe Boulevard
Patchogue, NY 11772. Divisions are available for both kids and adults in both gi and no-gi.

If you register before Feb. 17 the early registration fees are $69 for one division and $79 for two divisions. Regular registration until Feb. 24 will be $79 for one division and $99 for two divisions. Late registration will run until March 3 and the fees are $89 for one division and $109 for two divisions. After that, it will be $99 for one division and $119 for two divisions.

To register, go to http://t360reg.com/nypride/nypride.aspx

For more information head to www.lipridebjj.com

GMA member Kioto BJJ turned 46 recently.

The school founded by Grandmaster Francisco Mansor held the 2011 annual belt ceremony.

Black belt Milton Regis tells us how things went: “The ceremony took all day withy the whole team there. As usual, kids did steal the show. One day before, a Kioto BJJ group of students competed at an event called Goodfight and scored 161 points with only 10 athletes. The team that came second scored 144”.

On Facebook, GM Mansor had some words about the event: “It was something special for sure! Thanks to all the families that showed up to support their fighters, they deserve some applause. Congrats to all students who got promoted, you all are one step closer to that black belt!”

Congrats to Kioto BJJ.

For more info, go to kiotobjj.com

Tanquinho, vice-campeão mundial dos penas, é o principal nome confirmado no US Open, entre mais de uma dezena de faixas-pretas e marrons. Foto: Alicia Anthony/2009.

Que praticar Jiu-Jitsu leva você a voos mais altos na vida todos já sabiam, mas os organizadores do US Open e do Pride NY exageraram, com uma promoção bem bolada.

Dois dos torneios mais clássicos e bem organizados dos EUA, o US Open, em San José, Califa, e o Long Island Pride, no estado de Nova York, decidiram dar a seguinte moleza aos participantes. Neste ano, quem competir num dos dois torneios concorre a uma viagem costa a costa nos EUA.

A promoção funciona da seguinte maneira: quem se inscrever no Long Island Pride, que ocorre no próximo dia 11 em NY, concorre a uma viagem com tudo pago, passagem ida e volta, hotel e inscrição para o US Open, que é em outubro. Com isso, o atleta viaja com tudo pago e ainda mantém o ritmo do seu Jiu-Jitsu. De quebra, ainda pode tirar onda de “unificar” o título das costas leste e oeste.

Da mesma maneira, quem se inscrever no próximo US Open, dia 15 e 16 de outubro, pode ganhar uma viagem Califa-NY-Califa com tudo pago para competir na edição do Pride seguinte, marcado para março de 2012.

Para saber mais sobre o US Open, e saber quem já está dentro da festa, clique aqui.

Para se inscrever já no Long Island Pride, clique aqui.

Tanquinho, the featherweight world runner-up, is the big name confirmed for the US Open, along with another dozen of brown and black belts. Photo: Alicia Anthony/2009.

That practicing Jiu-Jitsu lets you soar to new heights everybody knows, but the organizers of the US Open and Long Island Pride went overboard, with a well designed promotion.

Two of the most classic and best-organized tournaments in the USA, the US Open, in San Jose, California, and Long Island Pride in New York state, decided to make things easier on their participants. This year, anyone who competes in both tournaments enters the running for a coast-to-coast trip in the USA.

The promotion works like this: anyone who signs up for Long Island Pride, to take place on the coming 11th in NY, will enter the running for an all-expenses-paid round trip including hotel and sign-up fees for the October US Open. Thus, the competitor gets to travel without shelling out a cent and even gets to keep up their Jiu-Jitsu rhythm. To boot, they could even to to town and “unify” the East and West Coast titles.

By the same token, anyone who signs up for the upcoming October 15 and 16 US Open could win an all-expenses-paid Cali-NY-Cali trip to the next installment of Long Island Pride, set for March of 2012.

For more on the US Open and to find out who has already joined the fray, click here.

To sign up for Long Island Pride, click here.

Red belt Francisco Mansor in middle, with champions and promoters. Photo: Luca Atalla.

Sunday was elite-level Jiu-Jitsu day in Long Island, New York.

The tenth installment of Milton Regis and Eloy Santos’s Long Island Pride tournament crowned beasts of the caliber of Ricardo “Demente” Abreu and Lucas Lepri, who each took a belt home with them.

Lucas, an old acquaintance of the Long Island crowd, returned to the event and won yet again. In the final of the lightweight absolute division, the Alliance athlete overcame excellent featherweight Renan Borges, a black belt with fantastic defenses.

But Lepri, besides being much heavier, is extremely technical. With constant pressure and pace, the Jiu-Jitsu teacher living in New York kept the match favoring him throughout and won without any scares.

Lepri puts pressure on Renan. Photo: Luca Atalla.

Ricardo made his debut in the tournament winning the heavy absolute division. Nova União’s “Demente” took the belt after getting the tapout in all three of his matches, even the final against Guybson Sá. He did have a slight scare in the first match, though, when one of our GMA Vitor Shaolin’s brown belts caught him in a double attack (triangle/armbar). After the near shocker, he went on to have a good match and submit feisty brown belt Zander Heinen.

Now Hermes França did well to win his supermatch in the “teacher” category, in a lively bout with Leonardo da Silva that ended in points.

Another with cause for celebration was Shaolin, with his understudies winning the overall team contest in New York.

The next Long Island Pride is set for March 6 at York College.

For more information, http://lipridebjj.com.

Complete results:

SUPER BELT DIVISION

– 170 lbs
1) Lucas Lepri (Alliance)
2) Renan Borges (Braz Top Team)

+ 170 lbs
1) Ricardo Demente (Nova União)
2) Guybson Sá (SAS)

“Teachers” division
1st place – Hermes França (Elite MMA)
2nd place – Leonardo da Silva (American Top Team – Best Way)

Equipes
1) Vitor Shaolin JJ – 137 pts
2) Lotus Club – 96 pts
3) Kioto BJJ – 76 pts

Renzo Gracie – 72
Alliance – 64
Soca BJJ – 58
Cutting Edge – 52
SAS Team – 52
Gracie Barra LI – 34
Vamos BJJ – 24
Serra BJJ – 23
Black Belt – 22
Maxum – 21
American Jiu Jitsu – 21
Budokan – 20
Emerson Souza BJJ – 16
CMMA – 10
Conquest – 9
Gracie Buenos Aires – 6
Queens MMA – 3
Joe Darc – 3
Martial Arts Studio – 3
Aldo Batista – 1
Progressive MA – 1

O faixa-vermelha Francisco Mansor ao centro, com os campeões e organizadores. Foto: Luca Atalla.

O domingo foi de Jiu-Jitsu de altíssimo gabarito em Long Island, ilha do estado de Nova York, EUA.

A décima edição do Long Island Pride, evento organizado pelos professores Milton Regis e Eloy Santos, coroou feras do calibre de Ricardo “Demente” Abreu e Lucas Lepri, que levaram cada um um cinturão para casa.

Lucas, velho conhecido do público de Long Island, retornou ao evento e venceu novamente. Na final da divisão dos leves, o mineiro da Alliance venceu o excelente peso-pena Renan Borges, um faixa-preta dono de uma defesa fantástica.

Mas Lepri, além de mais pesado, é muito técnico. Com um ritmo e uma pressão constante, o professor radicado em Nova York foi levando a luta para o seu lado e venceu sem sustos.

Lepri bota pressão em Renan. Foto: Luca Atalla.

Ricardo estreou no torneio com a vitória na divisão de cima, dos pesados. O “Demente” da Nova União conquistou o cinturão finalizando todas as três lutas, inclusive a final com Guybson Sá. Na primeira, contudo, tomou um susto ao tomar um ataque duplo (triângulo/chave de braço) de um faixa-marrom de nosso GMA Vítor Shaolin. No final, saiu-se bem e finalizou o abusado faixa-marrom Zander Heinen.

Já Hermes França venceu bem a superluta na categoria “professor”, um combate bem movimentado contra Leonardo da Silva que acabou por pontos.

Quem também vibrou foi Shaolin, campeão por equipes com sua academia em Nova York.

O próximo Long Island Pride será no dia 6 de março, no York College.
Para mais, http://lipridebjj.com/ .

Resultados completos:

SUPER BELT DIVISION

Tarsis (nas costas) está dentro do evento. Foto: Carlos Ozório

Acontece no dia 12 de setembro o Long Island Pride, no York College, em Nova York. E o evento de Jiu-Jitsu já conta com uma equipe de faixas-pretas de primeira para agitar as disputas.

Organizadores, nossos GMAs Eloy Santos e Milton Regis confirmam algumas das feras que estarão em ação. Campeão mundial, Tarsis Humphreys (Alliance) está dentro, assim como o vice mundial Ricardo Demente (Nova União). Nosso GMA Guybson Sá também promete embolar a categoria livre.

Na categoria abaixo de 77kg, nossos GMAs Lucas Lepri (Alliance NYC), Renan Borges (BTT Boston) e Renan Flores (Kioto BJJ) lutam pelo ouro.

E as emoções não param por aí. Ex-lutador do UFC e também nosso GMA, Hermes França está confirmado na superluta.

Para mais informações, clique aqui.

GMA menbers Eloy Santos and Milton Regis are proud to announce another big star that will take part in the upcoming X Long Island Pride BJJ.

Ricardo “Demente” Abreu, from Nova União, the super-heavyweight world championship runner-up, will compete in the over 170lb division.

The X LIPride BJJ will also have other great competitors in attendance.

Light-heavyweight world champion Tarsis Humprheys and GMA member Guybson Sá will face Demente in the over 170lb division.

The under 170lb division will feature World champion and GMA member Lucas Lepri (Alliance NYC), GMA member Renan Borges (BTT Boston) and GMA member Renan Flores (Kioto BJJ).

GMA member Hermes França will also be present for a superfight.

The X LIPrideBJJ is scheduled for September 12, in York College, NY.

For more info and to register, go to LIPRIDEBJJ.COM