GMA member Renato Tavares, leader of RTBJJ, in Vero Beach, Florida, sent this video with an explanation of workings of the choke Bernardo Faria used at the 2015 Pan black belt open class division.

Check it out and add it to your game.

On Saturday, Dec. 6 Renato Tavares traveled to his affiliate academy Triton Fight Center in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma for his yearly seminar.

The event gathered a whopping 130 students together. Seventeen of them were black belts including Triton Fight Center head instructor Piet Wilhelm, Renato Tavares himself, James Foster of GMA Foster BJJ in Seattle, WA, Mike Budnik, Gina Franssen and others. During the seminar Renato taught various back-takes.

Along with the seminar came the belt ceremony. In all, there were over twenty promotions for those who were deserving of new belt ranks.

As part of the twenty, three special promotions came in the form of black belts to Reed Haji, Tim Holman and Omar French.

Omar was amazed and although super cool he says it was also super scary. “It was amazing! Not so much for getting the rank but because your instructors trust you to represent them. It was insane amazing.”

Learn more about GMA Triton Fight Center at www.tritonfightcenter.com

Weave your arm through you opponent’s leg so the knee shield is no longer an issue. Use your shoulder to drive the top leg to the mat. The pressure is important. It will allow you complete control.

See the full move below:

The teams after day two of the Moscow Open

The Saturday of the 2014 IBJJF Moscow International Open was far more busy than the previous day, with every division busier and the venue filled with enthusiastic competitors and supporters of all belts.

The black belt divisions, in turn, were also significantly more busy and competitive and the results of these are detailed below:

The lightweight division consisted of the same two competitors from the no-gi event the day before, Robson Maia of Alliance and Samuel Herzog of UAE Jiu-Jitsu, with the addition of Oliver Geddes of Roger Gracie, moving down from middleweight on the second day. In the opening match, Oliver and Robson clashed for 10 minutes, with the action being decided almost entirely from the half guards of both players. At the end of the time, the score was 12-8, putting Oliver through to the final. Robson and Samuel’s third encounter went the same way as the previous two, with Samuel victorious with a guard pass after another 10 minutes of his pressuring top game. This left the final between Oliver and Samuel, and it was a drawn-out and tactical affair. Samuel picked up an early advantage for coming on top off a double guard pull, and then maintained pressure from the top whilst looking for his opportunity to pass. Flattening Oliver out towards the end earned him a second advantage, and that was enough to give him the victory and his third gold medal of the competition.

Middleweight was the busiest division of the day, with five entrants slated to be competing for the gold. Sadly, it was not going to be as simple as that. To begin the division, Thomas Oyarzun of Alliance in Switzerland defeated Rogerio Maciel of UAE Jiu-Jitsu by 3 advantages to 0 after the match closed with a score of 2-2. On the other side of the bracket, Ryan Durbin of Gracie Barra Texas did not return to the venue after the previous day’s competition which allowed Jose Luis Huber, also of UAE Jiu-Jitsu to advance to the final unopposed. This left a semi-final match between Thomas Oyarzun and Russia’s own Leonid Gatovskiy. Unfortunately, an early slam from an overenthusiastic guard pass attempt led to Leonid being disqualified and whilst Thomas was being treated following the incident he briefly passed out. For safety reasons he was not allowed to contest the final (or the absolute, later in the day) and thus Jose Luis Huber also took the final match without contest. A disappointing set of circumstances from a division that had the potential to be extremely exciting.

The middle-heavyweight division consisted of a straight final between Lorenzo Fraquelli, recent black belt under Roger Gracie, and Lucas Fiqueredo Duarte Rego of Alliance. A dangerous spider guard with an opportunistic top game allowed Lucas to rack up a lead of 19 points to 0 before he was able to take advantage of Lorenzo’s desperation to finish the fight to lock on an armbar of his own and take the submission victory shortly before time, and with it the championship.

At heavyweight, the lone fight was a rematch from the previous day of competition. Jorge Elias, who had submitted Renato Tavares with a toehold in the absolute, would face him again in the gi. This time the match went the distance, with Renato getting his revenge and taking the victory by 3 advantages to 0 to become heavyweight champion.

Ultra-heavyweight was a complicated three man division, with friends and teammates being drawn against each other. Igor Silva of GFTeam and UAE Jiu-Jitsu submitted Marlon Queiroz of Gracie Barra in less than 30 seconds, taking the win with a quick guard pull to armbar. With Marlon and the third member of the bracket, Thiago ‘Monstro’ Borges of GFTeam being friends, Marlon allowed ‘Monstro’ into the final where he then elected to close out with his teammate, giving Igor the ultra-heavyweight gold medal.

The final and most prestigious black belt division of the day, the absolute, was another division characterized by close-outs. Robson Maia was victorious over Jose Luis Huber by 6 points to 4 in a battle of sweeps, whilst Thiago ‘Monstro’ defeated Jorge Elias with a takedown, pass, and collar choke from side mount. Samuel Herzog advanced to one side of the final with Renato Tavares and Thiago ‘Monstro’ making way for him, and Igor Silva finished his second fight of the competition in under a minute, defeating Robson Maia by way of a sweep to mount followed by an armbar. Samuel then stepped aside for his UAE Jiu-Jitsu teammate in the final, giving Igor Silva the absolute title to add to his divisional title and drawing the black belt divisions to a close.

See the full results here: http://static.ibjjfdb.com/Campeonato/000324/en-US/Results.pdf

Curtiu? Comente com a gente.

Primeiro, você não deve se afobar e atacar de qualquer jeito. A pressa é inimiga da perfeição e não combina com o Jiu-Jitsu. Repare como o faixa-preta mantém a calma para ajeitar uma mão na lapela de Renato Tavares. Depois, o irmão de Xande gira com o quadril baixo, para sufocar o adversário.

Lembre-se: calma e precisão caminham juntos! Confira:

The location of the 2014 IBJJF Boca Raton Open

Floridians, your backyard will soon host an IBJJF tournament. On April 26 the 2014 IBJJF Boca Raton Open will hold its first edition at the Florida Atlantic University Athletics venue.

Athletes from white to black, juvenile to master 5 will have a chance to win gold in the sunshine state. The cost per person is $113 and deadline for registration ends on April 18 at 11:59 p.m. PST.

Already on the athlete list are residents traveling as far as Venezuela, Costa Rica, California, Oregon, Nevada, Illinois, Texas, Puerto Rico, New York, Maryland, Georgia and more. From within Florida there are multiple teams that have RSVP’ed such as American Top Team, Gracie Barra Orlando and more Gracie Barra affiliates, Fight Sports, Renato Tavares Association, Alliance Tallahassee/Zicro BJJ, Team Popovitch, Nova Uniao and more.

The location of the event is 777 Glades Road Boca Raton, FL 33431.

Don’t miss the April 18 deadline and the chance to win gold in Florida as well as prepare for the World Championship in late May!

Register at www.ibjjf,org

And check who has already signed up in your division here.

GMA member Renato Tavares will make his way to Harrison Arkansas to teach a seminar on Feb. 1 of next year.

Mixed Martial Arts Academy will host the fifth degree black belt at 1315 North Main Street, Harrison, Arkansas from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The cost is $60 and private lessons prior to the seminar will be $100 for one person, $120 for two.

Reserve your spot by calling 870-577-3679

Rafael Formiga vai lutar neste sábado. Foto: GRACIEMAG

Hoje e amanhã, 5 e 6 de outubro, a pirâmide de Long Beach, na Califórnia, recebe a segunda edição do Mundial Master & Sênior da IBJJF.

O evento estelar traz o retorno de diversos astros da velha guarda, como Saulo Ribeiro, Gabriel Vella, Flavio Cachorrinho, Roberto Tussa, Renato Tavares, Gabriel “Pensador” Leite, Denilson Pimenta, Renato Babalu, Fabio Leopoldo, Godói, Bruno e Ricardo Bastos, Bernardo Pitel, Bruno Fernandes, Rodrigo Pinheiro e outros.

Uma das grandes feras é Rafael “Formiga” Barbosa, faixa-preta da Soul Fighters, que vai buscar a medalha de ouro no peso médio master.

Em conversa com Formiga, separamos cinco lições úteis para seus treinos de Jiu-Jitsu.

1. Divida o tempo para evoluir no Jiu-Jitsu

“Faço meus treinos para competição em quatro partes. Primeiro trabalho meu condicionamento físico, com corridas e musculação em média de uma hora por dia. Nos treinos de Jiu-Jitsu, trabalho as técnicas e a explosão para puxar o gás. Reservo um tempo para criar estratégias para cada oponente, vendo lutas na internet. Bolo sempre um plano B”.

2. Alimentação

“Dieta é a parte chata pré-competição. Porém, é uma ferramenta importantíssima para o seu corpo ter um bom desempenho. Alimente-se de frutas e comidas saudáveis e você verá a evolução no seu Jiu-Jitsu”.

3. Faça intercâmbios

“No primeiro semestre fiz camps para o Pan e o Mundial da IBJJF junto com o pessoal da Soul Fighters na academia do Caio Terra. Sem dúvida isso ajudou a refinar minha técnica. Estou com minhas posições mais afiadas e o jogo bem evoluído”.

4. Teste-se

“Aqui em Connecticut, onde eu moro, não tem muitos faixas-pretas para eu treinar. Mas, como há diversos campeonatos da IBJJF rolando, tento lutar quase duas vezes por mês para me manter com o Jiu-Jitsu em alto nível. A competição é uma forma de aprender novas técnicas também”.

5. Jamais desista

“Nunca desista até que o tempo acabe. Já vi muitos atletas ganhando por muitos pontos serem finalizados no minuto final. O contrário também, estarem perdendo e conseguirem virar a luta no final. No treino ou na luta, você pode ditar as regras”.

Para assistir ao evento ao vivo, visite IBJJFTV.com.

Registration is open for juveniles, adults, masters and seniors. The cost is $75 and free for black belts. The deadline is September 16.

The venue is Forest Hill Community High School 6901 Parker Ave West Palm Beach, FL 33405

To register and for more information, click here.

American National Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2012. Photo: Ivan Trindade

The IBJJF American National Jiu-Jitsu Championship is a two-day event for both gi and no-gi divisions on September 7-8. Located at the California State University Dominguez Hills campus, it is a historical Jiu-Jitsu venue as the Pan American Championship ran in the gymnasium until the number of participants forced IBJJF to move the event to UC Irvine.

American Nationals has been an annual championship since 2002 with the no-gi portion added in 2008. In fact, at the first edition the brown belt adult absolute division was closed out by Rener and Ryron Gracie.

Competing in this event gives you the chance to add one more title on your resume as a national champion and the no-gi division will prepare you for the No-Gi Pan Ams and No-Gi Worlds coming up in the next two months.

CSU Dominguez Hills is located at 1000 E. Victoria Street Carson, CA 90747. Divisions are open from white to black, juvenile to senior 2. Already signed up are some black belts Oliver Geddes, Rodrigo Freitas, JT Torres, James Puopolo, Marcos Torregrosa, Brandon Mullins and more.

The lower belts have already confirmed some of the best in their ranks with athletes who have medaled at both the Worlds and the Pan Ams so the level of competition is fierce.

Registration is open until Friday, August 30 at the cost of $99 for just the gi division or $170 for both gi and no-gi.

Don’t miss the deadline by registering at www.ibjjf.org

Check out this match from 2009 between Saulo Ribeiro and Renato Tavares:

Omar French of Triton Fight Center teaches berimbolo technique / Photo: Youtube

In Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, GMA Triton Fight Center is brushing up on their berimbolo techniques. This Renato Tavares affiliate academy houses black belt Piet Wilhelm and one of the best Jiu-Jitsu programs in the midwest.

A student of Piet, brown belt Omar French has released a technique video showing how to get to the dominating mount position from the berimbolo. See how he transitions below and let us know how you like it!