Roberto “Tussa” Alencar, head instructor of GMA Gracie Barra New Mexico, will be in Texas over the weekend.

He has scheduled a seminar at Gracie Barra El Paso in El Paso, TX on Saturday, Sept. 27 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Tussa is a multiple time Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship medalist and a No-Gi World Champion.

The cost is $50 for Gracie Barra El Paso members and $60 for non members but the seminar is open to students of all affiliations and teams.

To gather more information call 915-861-0150

Learn more about Tussa at www.gbnewmexico.com

Professor Roberto of GMA Gracie Barra New Mexico is a multiple-time no-gi world champion and a two-time pan champion and Professor Marco of GMA GB USA HQ is a world champion, pan champion and multiple-time Brazilian national champion.

The location of the camp is at Gracie Barra Oceania: 6/128 Old Pittwater Road Brookvale, New South Wales, Australia 2100.

Price per person is available for non-Gracie Barra members kids and adults as well as Gracie Barra members kids and adults.

For more information and to reserve your space, please visit www.gbshopoceania.com

 

When he was fourteen years old, Tussa found Jiu-Jitsu and devoted his life to the art. He learned from various instructors while in Brazil but always remained under the Gracie Barra banner.

After years competing at the top level and even teaching once he was a purple belt, Tussa earned his black belt in 2006 from Master Carlos Gracie Jr. That same year he made the move to the United States initially to Atlanta, GA then settling down in Albuquerque, NM where he still resides as head instructor of Gracie Barra New Mexico.

Always an avid competitor at black belt, Tussa earned medals in the major tournaments such as the World Championship in which he has placed four times since 2007. He earned his first black belt No-Gi World Championship title in 2007 and repeated the result three more times in 2008, 2009 and 2012.

He earned his first black belt Pan American Championship title in 2009 and then a second gold in 2013. It was in 2012 that Tussa competed in ten major tournaments with four golds in a row at the Pan No-Gi, Master & Seniors Worlds, No-Gi Worlds and ended the year with the first BJJ Pro League title.

Tussa is set to compete in the second edition of the BJJ Pro League this weekend on the Dec. 8 against three other competitors in his bracket.

Check out this highlight video of Roberto Tussa Alencar:

Learn more about the 2013 BJJ Pro League on Dec. 8 at the Long Beach Walter Pyramid at www.bjjproleague.com

GMA member Roberto “Tussa” Alencar will be headed to Brazil for a seminar at Gracie Barra Campinas in Campinas, Sao Paulo. The seminar is on September 11 from 7:30 p.m. to 10:00.

Tussa is the professor at Gracie Barra New Mexico in Albuquerque and will be returning to his home country to spread the knowledge he has learned in the gentle art.

If you are in the area, send an email to reserve your spot: andrecyrino76@gmail.com

Roberto Tussa Alencar at the 2012 No-Gi Worlds against Rafael Lovato Jr. Photo: Ivan Trindade

A new highlight with GMA member Roberto ‘Tussa’ Alencar of Gracie Barra New Mexico shows this GB superstar’s skills as shown on the competition mats. Champion of the 2013 Pan American black belt heavyweight division, his four No-Gi Worlds titles tells us that his best is yet to come.

Check out his moves on the mat and his school where he spends all of his time when not competing: www.gbnewmexico.com

The tournament on August 24 in Tucson, Arizona is one to not miss. Registration begins July 15 and the division range from kids to adults to masters and seniors.

The black belts should pay special attention as there will be two absoute divisions, 180 lb and up and 180 lb and below. Each winner will receive $1500 in cash. For the lower belts, Koral Kimonos will be awarding gis to the absolute winners of each division.

Located at Rincon High School in Tucson, AZ, many names are already planning to make the trip including: Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes, Clark Gracie, Ryan Beauregard, Magid Hage, Brandon Magana, Steve Rosenberg and Roberto Tussa Alencar.

When you register starting July 15 pay the discounted rate of $60 for kids and $70 for juveniles and up.

For more information head to www.AZBJJL.com

One of the many exciting final matches of the IBJJ Pro League that left both sides chanting / Photo by Erin Herle

On Saturday, December 8, the Long Beach Walter Pyramid held the last big Jiu-Jitsu event of the year, ending the season with matches full of wars, close calls and intense engagement. The crowd boomed despite the lesser number of bodies present in comparison to other well-known events held in the same venue. It didn’t matter that the large majority of spectators were viewing through the live stream or that some of the top names were not present. The event was the first of its kind and it delivered far more than we had anticipated!

The free live stream allowed viewers from around the world to be present as the matches unfolded leaving no pause or break in entertainment. Allowing you to choose whether you wanted to hear the commentary from members of the Budovideos team, the stream was easily accessible with no sign-on necessary.

If you weren’t able to log on, here are five things you missed at the 2012 IBJJ Pro League:

1. The rise of the 19-year-old new black belt.

In what was a previously anticipated match that ceased to happen two months prior at the 4th Southwest Classic in Arizona, Tanner Rice got his chance to try out his new black belt against world champion Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes. The 19-year-old was promoted to black belt under his father and Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles Maciel after 12 years of training, and came on the rise after closing out the 2012 World Championship brown belt lightweight division with an Alliance teammate of his. The match remained equal after Tanner pulled guard leaving the action for the last three minutes as Tanner moved for Tanquinho’s back. He was able to enter one hook but could not maintain the back mount. Before he lost the position he received two points as Tanquinho’s knees met the mat. Securing the win with another sweep before the match ended, it was a great match between a legend and a newcomer.

2. The footlock war between Laercio Fernandes and Caio Terra.

In the lightest category of the IBJJ Pro League, Laercio and Caio met in the finals. At the beginning of the match, both began a war that didn’t lose momentum until it ended in a last minute scramble that included an attack on Caio’s foot as well as a sweep attempt against Laercio. Caio came out on top, with one more advantage. Both of their feet went under siege at the climax of their match in an intense footlock war that left both attackers rolling out of bounds starting at 5:00 about halfway into the match. You can watch the match here.

Caio Terra and Laercio Fernandes in a footlock war during the finals of their IBJJ Pro League division final match / Photo by Erin Herle

3. The 4th war between Lucas Lepri and Leandro Lo.

Lucas and Leandro are no strangers as they have met four times in their lightweight division from the mats in Long Beach to the mats in Abu Dhabi; they seem to always find their way back to each other. This was the third win by Leandro in another close match that was once again decided upon by advantages. Both were able to exemplify their flexible guards and dynamic passing styles with Lucas pulling first until a sweep attempt causes both to stand and Leandro pulling shortly thereafter. The mere passes and sweeps of Lo were seen as more close to completion than Lucas, however both gave a match worth studying for years to come. You can watch the match here.

Lucas Lepri keeps track of time as he pushes the pace against Leandro Lo’s guard / Photo by Erin Herle

4. The referee decision that finalized the battle of Romulo Barral and Andre Galvao.

The -88 kg division final allowed two greats to meet once again. Their matches are always entertaining as Galvao’s pressure passing against Romulo’s spider-guard never ceases to raise eyebrows. In a back-and-forth match of sweeps, scrambles and takedowns it was left to the referees to decide upon who was more aggressive. The win went to Romulo after a great showing of technique from two legends with both still able to set their differences aside after the match. You can watch the match here.

Andre Galvao attempts the takedown on Romulo Barral at IBJJ Pro League final / Photo by Erin Herle

5. The clash of two Gracie Barra teammates… twice.

Gracie Barra was the only team who showed that they would rather fight for their wins than let one pass through gentleman’s agreement. On their way to the final, all four teammates fought out their battles on the mats at the Pro League: Romulo Barral submitted Otavio Sousa and Roberto “Tussa” Alencar defeated Gustavo Pires by points. Both semifinal wins gave way to their eventual victories in the final matches of their respective divisions. Even though Tussa was defaulted champion due to Bruno Bastos’ injured arm, he was grateful for his path, giving Gustavo credit for being his toughest opponent that day. He says, “It’s important to get rid of these [close-outs] to help the sport evolve.”

Faixa-marrom há seis meses, Keenan venceu bonito a Seletiva para Abu Dhabi em NY. Foto: Arquivo Pessoal

Após fazer barulho na Seletiva do WPJJC em Nova York, onde venceu Roberto “Tussa” Alencar no peso e ficou com o bronze no absoluto, o jovem faixa-marrom Keenan Cornelius (Lloyd Irvin) conversou com o GRACIEMAG.com sobre sua evolução e as vitórias recentes.

O craque promete brilhar este fim de semana no Mundial Sem Kimono, portanto, olho nele!

Foi sua primeira competição contra faixas-pretas, certo? Qual foi a sensação?

Foi, essa foi minha primeira vez lutando com o pessoal faixa-preta. Foi muito divertido, mas eu já costumo treinar com alguns dos melhores  faixas-pretas do mundo, como JT Torres, DJ Jackson, mestre Lloyd Irvin e Jimmy Harbison, e ninguém dá tanto calor quanto eles. Então me senti mais do que preparado.

O que achou da sua atuação na luta com Roberto “Tussa”?

A luta com Tussa foi a mais dura do dia. Ele tem uma passagem de guarda muito boa e puxou o ritmo da luta o tempo todo, mas eu tinha um plano para enfrentá-lo e me mantive o tempo todo nele, não mudei a estratégia. Tratei de atacar com um monte de tentativas de raspagens e confiei na minha guarda e nas minhas pegadas de kimono nos momentos de recuperação da posição. Com isso consegui segurar mesmo quando ele começou a pontuar com as vantagens, no fim.

O pessoal vibrou muito com a luta do Cyborg. Você se sente vencedor após essa batalha?

Não, eu perdi para o Cyborg. Não prestei atenção suficiente no placar e não fui agressivo o suficiente para tentar correr atrás dos 2 pontos que ele abriu. Não vai acontecer de novo!

Qual a receita do sucesso dos novos talentos que o Lloyd Irvin vem formando?

Eu penso que é apenas uma soma de um bom técnico, uma mentalidade forte de equipe e muito trabalho duro!

Middleweight Keenan Cornelius at the 2012 IBJJF Worlds. Photo: GRACIEMAG

Keenan Cornelius was a brown belt for less than six months. Even so, he went head on at the recent World Pro NYC trials and got himself a gold medal, a bronze medal and an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2013 WPJJC, in Abu Dhabi, UAE. To do that, he had to face and beat well-rounded black belts. In the final in his weight division, he defeated the 2009 no-gi absolute black belt world champion, Roberto “Tussa” Alencar. In the absolute, he ended in third palce, after losing to Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu in a close match. In this quick interview, Cornelius talks about his performance in NY and reveals the (not so) secret recipe for the talent coming out of Lloyd Irvin’s school.

Was it the first time you competed against black belts? How was the feeling?
Yeah this was my first time fighting black belts! It was a lot of fun but I train with some of the best black belts in the world, JT Torres, DJ Jackson, Jimmy Harbison and master Lloyd and nobody brings the heat like they do. So I felt more than prepared.

What can you tell us about the battle against Roberto Tussa Alencar?
Tussa was the hardest fight I had that day!! He has really good passing and pushed the pace the whole fight but I had a game plan for him and stuck to it and attacked a lot of sweeps and made sure I had good guard, recovery grips and I was able to pull it off even when he started raking in advantages at the end.

There is a lot of talk about your fight against Cyborg. Do you feel you won that one?
I lost the Cyborg match, I didn’t pay close enough attention to the score and wasn’t aggressive enough in trying to get the two points back. It won’t happen again.

A lot of good new talents are coming from Lloyd Irvin’s school. What is the secret recipe?
I think it’s just great coaching, great team mentality and hardwork!

Check out Cornelius’ battles against Cyborg and Tussa at the WPJJC NYC Trials.

NYC hosts WPJJ five stars trials

The World Pro has another set of trials this Sunday, March 11th, in New York.

Directed by GMA member Luiz Sergio Correa, the trials will award 13 full travel packages for the main event, next April, in Abu Dhabi.

The prizes have attracted some important Jiu-Jitsu names, such as Roberto Tussa Alencar, Roberto Cyborg Abreu, Renan Borges,Lucas Lepri, Lucas Leite, Abmar Barbosa,DeAlonzio Jackson, Rafael Rosendo, Francisco Iturralde, Bruno Malfacine, Samir Chantre.

For more info, go to  abudhabijiujitsuprotrial.homestead.com.

"Tussa" Alencar playing guard in 6th AZ Open final against Bruno Bastos / photo by John Cooper illustrating article by Deb Blyth

Last year the event sold out and over 700 competitors turned up to participate in the competition, which included a 16-man black belt open class paying out $3,000 in prizes. Roberto “Tussa” Alencar (Gracie Barra NM) defeated four opponents, including Nova União standout Bruno Bastos in the final (check out the article about it here) .

In 2012 the pro division with cash prizes is back, and it’s a great warmup for the April 1 Jiu-Jitsu Pan. To get in on the action and pay the lower, pre-registration rate, sign up by February 27 by clicking here.

Full info at www.gdjjevents.com.

Check out the final between Tussa and Bastos: