Independence High School, stage for US Open 17 / Photo by Daniel Carettoni/publicity

The traditional US Open Jiu-Jitsu Championship will see its 17th installment, this coming October 6-7 in San Jose, California.

The event, which thrust into the gentle-art limelight the likes of BJ Penn, Kron Gracie, Jake Shields, Nick Diaz, Jeff Glover and Rafael Lovato, continues to attract aces of the highest caliber, as well as up-and-comers from California to Alaska. If you haven’t signed up yet, you have until October 3 to do so.

So far for this year such first-rate fighters as Augusto Tanquinho, Carlos Mello, Augusto Queixinho, Nathan Mendelsohn and Tamer Rice have all joined the fray to light up the mats at Independence High School.

Promoter of the event Claudio França has also set up a pre-tourney refereeing clinic for the 5th. The official IBJJF rules will be taught by Alvaro Mansur, a fifth degree black belt and director of the refereeing for the sport’s governing body.

Check out a complete list of who is signed up so far, by clicking here.

For further information and to join the mix, check out the official website by clicking here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc3eGMLW6DM

The black belt failed to restrain his opposition to a penalty incurred by his student Denilson in the purple belt featherweight contest at the Worlds, and in an act of thoughtlessness jumped the divider to express his grievances directly to the referee in the match area. His actions earned him automatic penalization from the IBJJF, preventing Galvão from competing at the most important Jiu-Jitsu championship of the year, which ended last Sunday. Still regretting it, and after a couple of sleepless nights and even shed tears, André spoke with GRACIEMAG.com.

André Galvão watches the 2012 Jiu-Jitsu Worlds on Saturday. Photo: GRACIEMAG.

WHAT HAPPENED ON FRIDAY, AND WHAT LESSONS DID YOU DERIVE FROM IT?

Man, I got punished. Everyone knows that. I couldn’t control my emotions when I saw a student of mine treated unfairly during a purple belt final at the Worlds. I know a lot of folks are criticizing me for it, for sure. I’m aware of having made a mistake. I shouldn’t have gone past the security barricade to argue with the ref. And in the end, I paid a high price for it.

I was in perfect condition to take top spot on the podium this year. Not to discredit the winners at weight and absolute, but I was training with a “capital T.” Everyone who saw the work I put in knows full well what I’m talking about. But unfortunately it wouldn’t be this time around. It hurt a lot to be left out.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE WATCHING EVERYTHING THAT WENT ON AT THE 2012 WORLDS FROM THE STANDS?

I even cried about it, if you want to know. It was worse than defeat. Human beings sometimes learn from their mistakes. And that’s how I’m learning. I haven’t slept right since. May it serve as a lesson not just to me, but to everyone.

I’ve received a lot of messages from fans and people who like me. That’s been helping me a lot at this time. I’d like to thank everyone: Thank you for the messages, guys. I don’t want to come off badly, but from the outside I felt my division [medium heavyweight] didn’t have that special shine the other divisions did. Between us, it was extremely boring. But I’d like to extend my congratulations to all the champions. Especially to Bochecha, who did awesome!

ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT COMING BACK STRONGER IN 2013 THEN?

Yes, for sure. I already apologized to the IBJJF more than five times, and I’m asking forgiveness again here. I know I made a mistake, and that’s what I regret. When you know you did something wrong you don’t, by any means, want to do it again. I’ve grown as an athlete with what happened, but much more as a teacher.

I’m more than regretful, to tell you the truth, since I fight for a living—that says it all. I’d like to also say sorry to my sponsors, Storm Kimonos, Twinlab Fuel and Zebra Mats, for what happened. Now of course it’s over, but I think the only way to really get over it is by winning the 2013 Worlds, at weight and open weight.

FROM THE SIDELINES, DID YOU NOTICE ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR?

I feel that in terms of the rules everything is fine. It’s clear how much our art is growing with every year. The Worlds is really well run, but there’s just one thing missing, in my opinion: If the IBJJF can pull it off next year, there should always be three referees for each match area. The thing is that Jiu-Jitsu is really complex. There are lots of positions, lots of tangling up, grips here and there. It’s a lot for one referee to oversee alone, especially with the Jiu-Jitsu of today. A lot of refs can’t always accompany the pace of the matches, and they get lost with this tangle game.

I also feel there should be a refereeing school, and the referees should earn a wage for the work they do. A preparatory course for them, having a trade school, would be interesting and a good thing. I feel that would make a big difference, help them make decisions when they need to.

DID YOU OR DIDN’T YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SAW AT THE LONG BEACH PYRAMID?

Look, like I said, I feel the rules are almost perfect. But some changes could be made when the athletes land in 50/50 guard. There, the athletes should have 30 seconds with which to work. If they can’t do anything, get anything to develop out of it, the refs should stop the match and stand them up. If you look closely, almost every black belt final ended up in this situation. It’s horrible to watch, to corner or even to referee matches like that. The 50/50 guard should only be allowed for 30 seconds, going back to the feet when nothing happens. If folks agree with that, the rule could be extended even further, awarding penalties and even disqualification to the fighter who persists with the position, who resorts to it without developing anything. The same as they do for stalling.

It’s that there’s no point to it, the 50/50 most of the time is used to defend and to stall, not to attack. Watching matches like that is ridiculous. Why would a TV station want to broadcast two guys locked up like dogs for ten minutes? It doesn’t go over well.

Caio against Barata at Las Vegas Open; photo by John Cooper.

Caio Terra is always competing. Furthermore, Cesar Gracie’s roosterweight trains the ground game with MMA beasts like Gilberto Melendez, Jake Shields, Nick and Nate Diaz. The repercussions from his winning the absolute division at the Las Vegas Open on the 14^th are still rippling. But now Caio only wants to hear about his upcoming challenges, like the American National championship and World No-Gi Championship. Check out what he has to say:

You became the lightest absolute champion in IBJJF history. How might that affect your career?
I’d won the absolute division at Naga this year, and I did my first absolute at the American No-Gi Nationals last year and took third place. But winning it at a tough IBJJF tournament like that one was truly a surprise for me. It made me really happy. But I think the thing I was happiest about was not getting hurt…

You even stripped off the gi that very Saturday and entered the American Nationals, participating in one of the most controversial matches of the championship, when you were eliminated in the semifinal. Did you expect to go further?
I certainly wanted to win, but I think it would have been tough; I’d had a lot of matches that day and hadn’t eaten anything. It was a true marathon for me. In spite of everything, when I make it to a final I always come up with some extra gas in the tank.

If we want the sport to be professional we have to be professional in every way, not just in our physical ability” Caio Terra

You lost to Diego Herzog via an illegal move, when he crossed his leg over your knee. What do you think of that rule?
At the last four major tournaments I competed in there were four major errors: this one in Las Vegas, in the No-Gi Worlds 2009 absolute, in the final of the 2010 Pan and the final of the Worlds 2010, when my opponent clearly ran off the mat carrying me piggy back…
They were major errors that kept me out of competition. I feel mistakes happen, but they are bothersome for all the time and money spent in preparing, training and traveling. We need professionals who pay more attention; looking in for the outside, everyone sees the errors without needing a replay.
As for crossing the knee from the outside in, truth is I feel it could count, as could the heelhook. But if it counts for one it should count for the other. I was playing within the rules and if it counted I would have tried not to expose myself in that way.

You’ve been a ref before. What can be done to make refereeing evolve?
Referees should be professionals, like they are in other major sports. Until that happens, other viable things can be done, like obliging refs to redo the refereeing course, before the event. It’s normal that one makes mistakes, but a lot of people make too many mistakes because they don’t know the rules.

And why haven’t you been refereeing lately? Did you decide to dedicate yourself solely to your career as an athlete?
No, there’d be no problem in carrying on refereeing. Truth is that the public and practically the entire Jiu-Jitsu community also don’t know the rules, so spectators complain and argue things that don’t make any sense. Anyone who studies the rules properly will see that everything is interconnected and everything makes perfect sense. I feel all the black belts who compete and take their students to compete should know the rules and thus need to study them and take the refereeing course. If we want to make the sport professional we need to start being professional in every way, not just in our physical abilities.

Terra in No-Gi Worlds 2009 final against Carlos Holanda. Photo: Alicia Anthony.

What are your objectives to come? Any absolute coming up?
My main objective is the No-Gi Worlds 2010; I want to become three-time champion at black belt. I also have a superfight in New Hampshire two weeks from now, and I want to also compete at the Gi American Nationals in September, and perhaps I’ll compete in São Paulo at the end of the year. Whether I enter the absolute or not I decide on the day, if I’m feeling well I compete, otherwise I’d rather spare myself to not risk getting injured.

Who do you have to thank for this good phase you’re seeing?
I want to thank my sponsors Budovideos, Shoyoroll, Dethrone and Versatile Fighter for their support, and all my students for helping me train and everyone who reads this interview and wants to carry Jiu-Jitsu forward. If you have any comment or opinion don’t keep from expressing them.

Check out Caio at the 2010 Pan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrU5Dek_nOM