Peak Performance BJJ | Graciemag

Teams prep for IBJJF Dallas Open May 5; Register by April 27!

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 02:10:54 +0000

Danny Alvarez coaching his students at the IBJJF Houston Open in February. Photo: Erin Herle

The registration for the IBJJF Dallas Open is coming to a close. The annual tournament hosted its first event in 2011 and has grown since then, catering to academies throughout Texas and further.

Some of our GMA academies will be present bringing anywhere from 5 to 40 competitors. Getting ready for both the upcoming Dallas Open and the fast approaching World Championships, we asked them about their preparation:

Danny Alvarez of Alvarez BJJ – Arlington, Texas

“We should have 30-40 competitors by the end of the deadline for registration [which is Saturday April 27!]. I have been pumping this thing up every day since IBJJF announced they were coming to Dallas.

Last year Alvarez BJJ, representing Nova Uniao, had so many competitors compared to the other NU affiliates and scored so many points that Bruno Bastos let us take home both the first place kids trophy and the adult team trophies to display in our academy. It was a great day for us and I expect this year to be even better!

I am excited for the simple fact that I know that all our competitors are so much better than last year. We work so hard all year round but we have really kicked it into high gear since the new year. I think we have done at least 10 competitions already this year. We have goals to make 2013 the best year yet and we are off to a great start. We have so many new students that have now joined our competition team and they are doing great and getting better every day as well. We have been doing a lot of positional drilling and live positional training to help us prepare. We play a lot of pass and defend from the closed and open guard. Some days its seven, eight or nine minute rounds with at least four to five rounds per class. One thing is for sure, our competitors will be in shape and will be ready to push the pace come May 5.

I go over Strategies and Scenarios a lot on how to score points advantages and of course finishes. We spend a lot of time on these things because I don’t want my competitors going out there trying to “wing it.” They all know to bring their “A” game and the tournament is not the time to bust out something new they saw on YouTube. I really just expect great things come May 5 and feel like a kid waiting for Christmas morning! Be on the look out for the Alvarez BJJ patch because they will be all over.”

Vinicius “Draculino” Magalhaes of Gracie Barra Houston – Webster, Texas

“The preparation for the Dallas open is following the same protocol as the other big tournaments here in the state of Texas: Hard training morning and night! Also, to complement that, we have special drilling classes and stand up training.

As the Director of Gracie Barra in the state of Texas, the Dallas Open represents a very tough and exciting challenge for us. However, the city of Houston is our home base, where the state headquarters is located.

In the Houston Open, GB Texas won the tournament in all its four editions. This year, besides the Houston Open, GB Texas won the State Championships in March. There is a branch of GB in Dallas (Southlake area) and some of our other schools of Houston who will be there to compete as well.”

Justin Rader of Lovato Jiu-Jitsu – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

“The IBJJF Dallas Open Jiu-Jitsu tournament is sure not to disappoint. With many top competitors competing in past years, this one looks to be no different.

This is looking to be one of the biggest teams the Lovato Jiu-Jitsu Team has ever taken to one of the IBJJF Open tournaments. All the guys have been training very hard, and I’m very excited to see our team in action and coach them on May 5! We’re coming in strong and we’re gunning for that first place spot on the podium as a team, that is our goal!

I think one of the divisions I’m most excited to watch is the black belt middleweight division, with names like Leonardo I. Iturralde Aguirre, Albert Hughes, Nic Nikolaisen, Jacob Mackenzie, Marcus Vinícius Costa Antelante, and Carlos Diego Ferreira Neves. This division could be anybody’s! Other names to watch for are Mackenzie Dern, Gabriel Vella de Freitas, Rafael Lovato Jr., and I’m sure others will be signing up!”

Jason Ebarb of Texas Punishment Crew – Beaumont, Texas

“We’ve got about six guys making the 4.5 hour drive to Dallas. I will be there to coach. Some of our guys are using this tournament to tune up for worlds and to test their game plans which is always beneficial to make any time sensitive adjustments and to make any weaknesses stronger during preparations for worlds. Thats not to say we don’t have good local tournaments to do the same thing but we are always excited to see the IBJJF make it to Texas and be able to compete in such a prestigious organization in our own backyard and not have to buy a plane ticket. The IBJJF reputation always brings in a different scene of back patches and competitors to the mat from all over and that is very valuable when trying to progress and prepare. It’s a unique opportunity that we encourage our students to take advantage of.”

Paul Halme of Peak Performance BJJ – Keller, Texas

“We are getting very excited for the Dallas Open. With a team of over 20 hard working competitors, we are looking to make a push to get on the team trophy podium!”

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The tournament will be held on May 5 at the Texas Women’s University Kitty Magee Arena 1600 N. Bell Ave, Denton, TX 76209

Registration ends Saturday April 27 so hurry and go here to reserve your spot: http://www.ibjjf.org/dallas2013home.htm

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MMA Blueprint: How Lloyd Irvin is Changing Business and Lives

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 23:23:28 +0000

Janaina Barral

The fourth day of Lloyd Irvin’s MMA Blueprint 5.0 – The Next Generation conference is underway.

After three days of intense activities, attendees talked to GRACIEMAG about the impact the techniques had on their businesses.

Rafael Lovato Jr, a Gi and No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu world champion and the owner of Oklahoma-based Lovato Jiu-Jitsu, has been a follower of Lloyd’s teachings since 2011. He couldn’t be more clear about how important what he’s learned has been to his academy: “It changed my life! More than the practical side of it and all the improvements you can add to your business, the most important side of it is the change in mindset it creates. You learn that there’s a lot more you can do for your business to become more successful.”

Paul Halme, owner of Peak Performance BJJ in Keller, Texas, has himself been following Lloyd’s recipe for two years: “My academy was in trouble, but the improvement has been amazing. The sales techniques and the instructor-training system are the aspects that helped me a lot. Before I go home, I will get myself more products.”

Rafael Lovato Jr. and Paul Halme

Garth Taylor of Santa Cruz, California-based Kaijin Martial Arts is in his first Lloyd Irvin event. A veteran with over 20 years of Jiu-Jitsu training, Garth wants to upgrade his school with what he learned in Orlando: “My academy was a hobby for me until a while ago, as I had another job in construction. Since I left that job and started to devote myself only to my academy, I got another 40 students. With Lloyd’s techniques, I hope I get a couple hundred more and have a good way of living”.

Janaina Barral and her husband Romulo Barral own California academy Gracie Barra Northridge. She’s in her third LI event and also testifies to how effective the techniques are: “We’re still implementing some of the techniques, ‘cause it’s a long proccess, but I can already say that it has improved our academy a lot. One thing I want to say is that the advice is all there, but you have to apply yourself for them to work. If you do it right, the investment in Lloyd’s event will be more than worthwhile”.

Zach Adamson

Zach Adamson co-owns Oregon academy Seaside BJJ with his brother Nathan. He has one of the most dramatic stories of how Lloyd’s teachings can be beneficial: “It’s my second event, and I got tell you it changed our lives. Before we started using his methods, we had only 20 students in our school. After paying for expenses, we would be left with only $200 a month to live on. Sometimes we wouldn’t have enough to eat–a true story. Now we’re over the 200-student mark and last year’s gross income was over $200,000. We were able to invest $100,000 in the gym. Our community is very small, with only 7,000 people, but we knew we could do better, and that’s what we did. The internet marketing and the internal management are the two fields that are very useful for us. It’s so important to let people know how great what you have to offer them is, and after they come in you have to make them feel at home.”

Adem Redzovic

Adem Redzovic is the owner of three Gracie Barra schools in Chicago, Illinois, (The Loop, Lincoln Park and Lincoln Square). His diagnoses of why people come to LI events is interesting: “We are people that learned Jiu-Jitsu and then started teaching it. Many of us are black belts in Jiu-Jitsu but white belts in management and marketing. At the first event I attended, I probably got some stripes on my white belt. I hope to get the blue belt soon.” Redzovic talks of how he benefits from Lloyd’s methods: “More than increasing the number of students, which we did, we learned how to delegate responsibilities. Now I don’t waste time with tasks that can be easily done by others, and I can focus on more important things”.

MMA Blue Print 5.0 – The Next Generation event wraps up this Sunday at 6:00 PM Orlando time.

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