Master Ricardo Cavalcanti in New Zealand. Photo: Personal archive

Master Ricardo Cavalcanti of GMA Carlson Gracie Team – Cavalcanti Jiu-Jitsu in Las Vegas, NV traveled to his affiliate in New Zealand over the weekend.

There, he taught a seminar at Cavalcanti BJJ New Zealand where he also conducted a belt test for his students. Also there, he attended a local tournament held by New Zealand Grapplers where he coached his students to victory earning medals for the team and placing eighth overall as a team out of forty.

To learn more about Master Ricardo Cavalcanti and his adventures to his affiliate academies all over the world, go to www.rcjiujitsu.com

The Cavalcanti BJJ team at the tournament in New Zealand. Photo: Personal archive

Home training at Team Marangoni

GRACIEMAG.com readers the planet over are still participating in the “Home-Jitsu” article. All the stories, as well as the photos, are published in the main story (see here).

Another black belt who likes training at home is Rodrigo Antunes, of BTT, and the submission whiz managed to put together a first-rate team. “I saw the article and I’d like to share our ‘hideout’ with you. Taking advantage of how the academy where I worked was getting rid of its mats, I bought them. After some time, I invited friends over to roll, the group grew and grew, and now nearly every Saturday we have between ten and fifteen friends from different academies over to train – all burly black belts!”

Nathan Fitzmaurice's dojo in Canada

A gentle art practitioner in Canada, Nathan Fitzmaurice practices “Home-Jitsu” constantly. “When I’m not training at Gracie Barra Fort McMurray, I’m sweating it up I my brother’s in-laws’ garage.”

Felipe Cavalcante is another of the home-training adept in Australia, and it has bore fruit for him. “I’m a Splinter BJJ black belt. I lived in Perth, Australia, for two and a half years, I got a job outside the city and the solution was to buy a mat and train with the local folks. With the dojo, I managed to make some pretty good money teaching private lessons. I received an offer to teach class at the other side of Australia, in Brisbane. I moved, but I took my mat with me. It’s a great way to keep in shape and practice positions.”

Faced with a lack of space, “Home-Jitsu” was the solution to Ricardo Puléo’s problems. “I’m from Curitiba and moved to Ponta Porã, Mato Grosso do Sul, in 2006. I taught at an academy where we were always getting complaints about how there wasn’t enough ventilation. One of my students has a big room at his house and his father let us make it our headquarters. We bought tire shreds, managed to get a canvas donated to us, and we set up our dojo. That’s how our “Home-Jitsu” got started. Now we train at that student of mine’s house and have a great mat. There still aren’t too many of us, but the few that there are make up a family!”

Kylson is getting his daughter used to the mat.

Kylson Mota can’t do without some home training and, in so doing, takes the chance to get his daughter involved in Jiu-Jitsu. “I have a mat at my house. I’m already getting my daughter Kyara into it with me and it’s like therapy, beyond being just a martial art,” he says.

Johnny Gui innovated in New Zealand with “Farm-Jitsu.” “I represent and train at Nine Nine. In early 2003, I went to New Zealand for the first time, specifically to the city of Dunedin, in Sawyers Bay. I went thinking I was going to teach a group of ten students. Initially, I was going to stay for a month, but I ended up staying for seven months. These days, even with the team in a big academy, I never stop training where it all started, in the garage at home, in a small farm. We call it the “Farm-Jitsu” group! In this group we have the winner of the Abu Dhabi tryouts in the blue belt/lightweight division who will soon compete over in the land of the Sheikhs, Adam Johnson, besides the kids group comprised of the sons of friends who learned the gentle art early.”

Now Rafael Marangoni presented a legion of “Home-Jitsu” adept. “I’m from Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo, and I teach a group of 120 athletes, and we all practice ‘Home-Jitsu.’”

CheckMat black belt Anderson DJ Kron made the area by his pool into the most special place in his house, a mat with a full-service functional-training studio, where he often receives friends like Leon Amâncio, Caio Callado, Bernardo Tovolaro, and Thomas Malocka, among a lot of other friends and students. After training it’s all a bout a dip in the pool to cool off.

What about, reader, do you practice “Home-Jitsu”?

Photos: Personal archives

Robert Drysdale recently did a tour of Oceania, where he shared some of his Jiu-Jitsu technique.

The fighter stayed eight days on the Australian West Coast at The Arena Mixed Martial Arts. Besides teaching seminars, our GMA took the opportunity to train with the players on the Westcoast Eagles, one of the country’s most traditional Australian football teams, and helped out with the grappling program.

The black belt then moved on to Melbourne, where he stayed for seven days at Dominance Mixed Martial Arts, and even tried kangaroo meat.

The next stop was New Zealand, a five-hour flight away. There he taught two more seminars, at GSW Martial Arts Wellington, and took a panoramic helicopter tour. Back in Australia, Frank Mir’s grappling coach went on to Brisbane, at Sassom Fitness, and Sydney, at Sinosic Perosh Martial Arts.

“Everyone in Australia and New Zealand was a great host. It was really cool and I’m already thinking about coming back next year. Jiu-Jitsu is progressing quickly in both countries and it was a pleasant surprise to see the level they’re at there. I recommend all the academies I stopped through and, of course, to make the most of all the unforgettable things the countries have to offer,” remarks Drysdale.

Thiago (in blue) shows off his conquest. The Brazilian black belt won the absolute and will go to Abu Dhabi. Photos: Sid Jacintho.

New Zealand’s qualifiers for the World Pro were held on the 13th. The big standout in the absolute brown and black belt division was Thiago Stefanutti (Streckert/Maromba), a Brazilian black belt who recently arrived in Australia, according to our collaborator Sid Jacintho, a teacher on Emirates Team.

Thiago flew to New Zealand and won four thousand dollars in prize money, but he didn’t have it easy.

In his first match he went past local athlete (and MMA fighter) Oliver, a Gracie Barra representative, by a score of 2 to 0. In the second, he overcame Bruno Corvello (Douglas Santos) by an advantage point. In the final, he got knee-on-belly and passed the guard of Brazilian brown belt Fernando Junior (Tu Kaha).

Another to stand out on the day was Andrew Craven, a Will Machado purple belt who made his name by beating an opponent weighing 160 kg (350 lbs) in Folau Kula. Andrew dazzled the crown by outpointing the local giant in the purple belt absolute semifinal.

In the blue belt absolute, Bobby Mules (Douglas Santos) brought the crowd to its feet securing his spot at the next World Pro main event in the very last minute of the bout.

The best from the Emirates was purple belt Jabar Al Darai, who won bronze in the lightweight absolute class.

The next tryouts are on the 26th and 27th in Jordan, so stay tuned to GRACIEMAG.com.

Abu Dhabi World Cup Pro New Zealand Trials

Winners:

Brown/black absolute

Thiago Stefanutti (Extreme)

Purple belt lightweight absolute (under-74kg)

Paul McVeigh

Purple belt heavyweight absolute (over-74kg)

Andrew Craven (Will Machado)

Blue belt lightweight absolute (under-74kg)

Adam Johnson (Douglas Santos)

Blue belt heavyweight absolute (over-74kg)

Bobby Mules (Douglas Santos)

Blue/White under-68kg

Adam Johnson (Douglas Santos JJ)

Blue/White under-74kg

Remo Guerri (Tu Kaha)

Blue/White under-80kg

Aaron Dempsey (Sorriso JJ)

Blue/White under-84kg

Joshua Sergeant (Gracie Barra)

Blue/White under-92kg

Simon Scott (Douglas Santos)

White-Blue over-92.0 kg

Simeona Peni (Tu Kaha)

Female under-65kg

Jessica Tolhurst (Fight Club)

Female under-65kg

Leyla Okyay (Will Machado Whangarei)

Hunt's heavy hands in action at Pride FC. Photo: Susumo Nagao

Former Pride FC star Mark Hunt, 36, is set to make his UFC debut against Sean McCorkle this September 25 at UFC 119, in Indiana, USA.

As the kickboxer from New Zealand is coming of five-straight losses, though, a lot of folks have their doubts about whether he’ll find success in the Octagon.

GRACIEMAG.com reminds readers how Hunt (11w, 6l) had some of the most exciting matches in Pride FC, and bets on the big guy making it. What about you, reader, do you feel the UFC got it right in hiring Hunt?

Check out Hunt versus Fedor on December 31 of 2006 and let us know your opinion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIMqysRPgOQ