On Sunday, September 16, martial artist Thiago Gaia returned to the stage. He was one of the stars of the Submission Pro Tour 18 event in Sacramento, California, and won his fight in great style, submitting Ignacio Lamoglia via reverse triangle.

“Closing space plus total pressure results in submission”, summarized the professor at Checkmat Brentwood, in California, after the triumph at Benvenuti Performing Arts.

Click here to review Gaia’s double attack in no-gi Jiu-Jitsu. Oss!

No domingo 16 de setembro, o artista marcial Thiago Gaia voltou a subir no palco. Ele foi uma das estrelas do evento Submission Pro Tour 18, em Sacramento, Califórnia, e venceu sua luta em grande estilo, ao finalizar Ignacio Lamoglia no triângulo invertido.

“Evitar espaço somado a pressão total resulta em finalização”, resumiu o professor da Checkmat Brentwood, na Califórnia, após o triunfo no Benvenuti Performing Arts

Clique no link para rever o ataque duplo de Gaia no Jiu-Jitsu sem kimono. Oss!

Marco Torregrosa and the Yemaso BJJ black belts. Photo: Personal archive

The 2014 year started very strong for Team Yemaso. Led by 2014 Pan Jiu-Jitsu, American National, No-Gi World champion Marcos Torregrosa, the team took a humble number of competitors to the San Francisco Open and brought home to Sacramento an IBJJF team title.

Throughout the year there were more and more challenges met and obstacles overcome. In June, Team Yemaso commenced the first of 3 different moves that now sees them in their final location. The times were very difficult but the team persevered together, a shining example of the beautiful and powerful bonds formed through our art.

The turnout at the promotion night. Photo: Personal archive

Team Yemaso just held their final promotion for the year and this was the biggest of them all. Marcus Boness and William Joseph Click celebrated one of the highest honors our sport can bestow: the black belt! After many years of consistent dedication and having met the goals they placed for themselves, Professor Torregrosa felt their time had come! Steven Tafoya, black belt with Team Yemaso since 2011 was also promoted. In a ceremony that included his brother Bruce Tafoya from Cleber Lucianos, Tafoya was promoted to 1st degree black belt.

Three brown belts were also awarded at promotions, Richard Selmar Bothun who, after having competed vigorously over the last two years alongside Torregrosa in many IBJJF competitions and having achieved the number one ranking in his belt and age, was promoted along with Shawn Cox and Rudolfo Vidarri.

Team Yemaso also saw the ascension of a number of purples and blues, further solidifying their presence in the Sacramento region as one of the most decorated and prestigious academies around.

Whenever in the Sacramento, California region don’t hesitate to stop in to the academy. Marcos Torregrosa teaches all classes and with the new year initiates a dedicated kids program to be run 5 days a week!

Go to www.Yemasobjj.com for more details.

Carlos Diego, faixa-preta de Jiu-Jitsu, comemora vitória no UFC. Foto: Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC

Neste sábado, o octógono aporta em Sacramento, na Califórnia, e o ginásio Sleep Train será o palco do UFC 177, que terá como luta principal TJ Dillashaw defendo o cinturão dos galos pela primeira vez contra Joe Soto, substituto de Renan Barão, que passou mal antes da pesagem.

Faixa-preta de Jiu-Jitsu do time da Atos, Carlos Diego vai fazer sua segunda participação no evento de Dana White, após estreia de gala contra Colton Smith em junho. Carlos vai encarar o wrestler Ramsey Nijem (9v, 4d), que vem de duas vitórias seguidas no Ultimate.

Em conversa com GRACIEMAG, o manauara analisou os perigos que Ramsey oferece, falou dos treinos de muay thai e analisou a divisão dos leves, dominada hoje por Anthony Pettis. Confira!

GRACIEMAG: Carlos, o que você mudou para fazer sua segunda luta no maior palco do MMA?

CARLOS DIEGO: O Carlos do Jiu-Jitsu é diferente do Carlos do MMA. No MMA são só cinco minutos de luta e tem muito mais ação, a minha atenção fica redobrada. Eu sempre absorvo lições das lutas que faço. Na minha primeira luta no Ultimate contra Colton Smith, eu tive de agir antes de pensar. Colton me deu as costas, lacei o pescoço e finalizei. O Jiu-Jitsu estava no modo automático. Graças a Deus bati o peso ontem e estou aguardando a hora da luta aqui em Sacramento.

Seu oponente será o Ramsey Nijem, que vem de duas vitórias seguidas. Que perigos ele pode oferecer?

Nossa, vi o jogo dele! Ramsey é muito forte e tem um boxe bom, além da parte de chão que faz muito bem. É um forte wrestler, tenho de ficar de olho nessa técnica dele na hora da luta. Sou faixa-preta de Jiu-Jitsu mas gosto de treinar minha parte em pé aliando o muay thai. Estou ficando melhor a cada dia que treino com meu time. Ele vem de boas vitórias no UFC contra Justin Edwards e Beneil Dariush, mas eu trabalhei em cima disso tudo para ficar bem melhor do que em minha última apresentação.

Que análise você faz da divisão dos leves, que tem Anthony Pettis como atual campeão?

Não sei o que posso dizer sobre esta categoria, só sei que vim para ficar aqui e vou ficar. Todos os lutadores têm o mesmo sonho de colocar o cinturão na cintura, mas agora eu só quero caminhar, fazer mais lutas, e um dia chegar a uma disputa de cinturão. Vou alcançar meus sonhos!

At GMA Yemaso BJJ in Sacramento, CA you’ll find Samir Chantre teaching on August 16.

Samir is an active competitor who recently won the featherweight division at the 2014 IBJJF Vegas Summer Open and is also an instructor for Caio Terra Association.

The seminar will start at 10 a.m. and the cost is $50 per person.

Yemaso BJJ is located at 6831 Savings Place, Unit 209, Sacramento, CA.

For more information and to reserve your spot, contact Marcos Torregrosa at www.yemasobjj.com

The event will start at 10 a.m. and include food trucks, open mat rolling, prize raffles and giveaways and even a dunk tank.

The new Yemaso BJJ is located at 6831 Savings Pl Suite 209-210, Sacramento, CA 95828.

Learn more at www.yemasobjj.com

GMA Cassio Werneck fills its mats for a charity event for a teammate’s son. Photo: Personal Archive

Check out how both black belts use their distance and space to sweep, pass, defend and submit. And some other stuff:

Art of Jiu-Jitsu

The Art of Jiu-Jitsu academy took home the first place team trophy for the no-gi day and took home over 30 gold medals between the gi and no-gi. Champs like the Ruotolo twins, Tye and Kade received double gold as well as Alyssa Wilson and Alex Cadena. The two professors, Rafael and Guilherme Mendes focus much of there attention to their growing, large kids team. To see more from the AOJ kids, visit www.ArtofJiuJitsu.com

Art of Jiu-Jitsu kids. Photo: AOJ Facebook

Alvarez BJJ

Team Alvarez BJJ traveled all the way from Arlington, Texas to claim gold for their kids. The team of nine competitors took home a total of ten golds and nine silvers. The team of competitors included: John Gloria, Parker Richardson, Jessica Crane, Ethan Helton, Austin Herle, Cooper Henry, Shorty Herle, Emily Helton, Joel Helton. Professor Danny Alvarez with his daughter Danielle Alvarez coached the kids to victory, making their mark on the west coast. For more information about Alvarez BJJ visit www.AlvarezBJJ.com

Team Alvarez BJJ kids. Photo: Alvarez BJJ Facebook

Gracie Barra Northridge

Gracie Barra Northridge headed by world champion Romulo Barral made the drive with their kids team and took home medals of their own. The team had thirteen competitors with eighteen medals earned by kids ranging from four years old to fifteen years old. The team consisted of: Faith Chavez, Nick Lee, Anthony Menchaca, Natalia Menjavar, Jazelle Castaneda, Isabella Menchaca, Nikita Inger, Salameh Dugum, Chris Menchaca, Eve Chavez, Maxx Lee, Sophie Lee, Kelly Agsaulio. Coach Jaeson Bianchi led the kids to their best performances. For more information about the kids program at GB Northridge visit www.GBNorthridge.com

Siblings Sophie Lee and Maxx Lee were also promoted to orange/white belts after the tournament. Photo: GB Northridge Facebook

Yemaso BJJ

Team Yemaso Jiu-Jitsu team traveled down south from Sacramento, CA to participate in the tournament with a total of three medals to bring home. Professor Marcos Torregrosa looks forward to making big waves in the future. The results they had were: Angelo gold, JT silver, Nico bronze. For more information about the kids program at Team Yemaso, visit www.YemasoBJJ.com

To see what other GMA academies we have, visit our GMA directory here.

This Sunday, June 30, GMA member Marcos Torregrosa will host Paragon black belt Milton Bastos at his Sacramento, CA academy, Yemaso Jiu-Jitsu, starting at 10 a.m. Milton is most known for his constant competition schedule and his dedication to teaching at all of Paragon BJJ’s affiliate academies along the California Coast. Since 2009 he has acted as a substitute teacher when needed and teaches whenever and wherever necessary. Check out an article on GRACIEMAG about his teaching tips.

The cost will be $40 for pre-register and $50 at the door. The location is 5591 Sky Park Way Unit 401, Sacramento, CA 95823.

For more information and to reserve your spot visit www.YemasoBJJ.com or call (916) 768-1366.

GMA members Caio Terra and Marcos Torregrosa will be hosting seminars next week with world champions Leandro Lo and Luiza Monteiro. If you are in the area, head over as everyone is welcome!

Seminars will be on Friday, November 30 at Caio Terra BJJ located at 855 Park Avenue San Jose, CA 95126 starting 6:00pm and Sunday, December 2 at Yemaso Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy located at 5591 Sky Park Way Unit 401 Sacramento, CA 95823 starting at 10:00am.

The pair have been competing together for well over a year, supporting one another on and off the mats. After the Copa Kamikaze 8 competition in Brazil a year ago, Luiza said, “I get more pointers from him than he does from me. Just having Leandro Lo by my side makes me calm when I compete. I won a lot of matches thanks to him.” That day they both came out on top with wins in their respective absolute divisions, you can read about it here.

Make sure you register now for the events as prices are lower if you pre-register. This past tournament season they both gained places on the podium at every major competition they entered. Leandro won his lightweight division at the 2012 World Championships in June and Luiza claimed her black belt world title in the middleweight division at the recent 2012 No-Gi World Championships earlier this month. Both train under Cícero Costha and are attached to the hip at competitions so you can expect a great dual effort at both of these seminars.

Check out Leandro and Luiza in action below in some of their notable winning matches:

The seminar, promoted by black belt Brandon Heltzler’s Groundwords Jiu-Jitsu House, will be of two-hour duration.

For further information, visit www.brandonhetzlerjj.com.
To make contact, send an email to info@brandonhetzlerjj.com.