Check out this quick video showing how to capitalize on the takedown and earn an armbar or a triangle:

Learn more about Soca BJJ at www.socabjj.com

Teams support their students/teammates during a final match. Photo: Erin Herle

The 2014 IBJJF New York Summer Open on Saturday, July 19 brought in the locals and some visitors. The teams present represented the NYC area of schools including some GMA academies: Alliance Marcelo Garcia, Renzo Gracie Academy, Gracie Barra Long Island, Vitor Shaolin Academy, Soca BJJ, Savarese Jiu-Jitsu and more.

The overall team points amounted to these totals:

1 – Alliance Marcelo Garcia – 296
2 – Renzo Gracie – 157
3 – Soca Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – 100

The Alliance Marcelo Garcia Academy has won the tournament multiple times over the years since its first edition but this was their most tremendous performance thus far.

Multiple photographers captured the day so check out these links to see the galleries:

John “Ric” Ricard and Doug Kline produced photos for the IBJJF here.

Jeff Chu at FighterPlus has his album of photos here.

See the full results of the tournament here.

Members of GMA Soca BJJ show off their medals. Photo: Personal Archive

The NY Pride Championship XIX held on Long Island, NY over the weekend brought athletes from all different teams together.

There were divisions for the children, adults and masters in gi and no-gi. The tournament is the biggest in New York for children in the area. With a huge amount of kids teams in the area at local schools, this was the place to be for who’s who in the youth crew.

GMA academies in attendance were Kioto BJJ who earned the first place team trophy in the kids category as well as the female category, Gracie Barra Long Island, Renzo Gracie Academy, Soca BJJ, Renzo Gracie Newark, Alliance NYC and others.

Check out the full list of results here: http://www.t360reg.com/Results.aspx?TournamentID=1064

The NY Pride XIX tournament on March 8 is already taking names. Members from over sixteen academies have signed up for the event, which will be hosted at a new location. Academies such as GMA Alliance NYC, Gracie Barra Long Island, Kioto BJJ, BTT Boston, Soca BJJ and more will all be in attendance.

The tournament will be located in the John A. Danzi Athletic Center at St. Joseph’s College: 155 West Roe Blvd. Patchogue, NY 11772.

GMA members Eloy Santos and Milton Regis have put together tournament after tournament, always improving with the goal of giving the New York Jiu-Jitsu scene a high-quality event. Registration is still available at the discounted rate for early registration until Monday, Feb. 17. For one division, the cost is $69 and for two divisions the cost is $79. Don’t wait or you’ll pay a higher price!

To register, click here.

For more information go to www.lipridebjj.com

The IBJJF London Open has both gi and no-gi divisions on Oct. 19-20

On the weekend of Oct. 19 and 20 there will be be two IBJJF championships around the globe. On Saturday, Oct. 19 Miami Open will have its one-day event. In the UK, the London Open will be held on both Saturday and Sunday for gi and no-gi divisions.

Both tournaments offer chances to earn an IBJJF title, compete against international athletes and test your skills no matter you experience level.

The deadline is fast approaching. You must register by Friday, Oct. 4 at 11:59 PST.

To register, go to www.ibjjf.org

The location for Miami Open is: Miami Dade College – Kendall Campus 11011 SW 104th Street Miami, FL 33176

The location for London Open is: Crystal Palace National Sports Centre Ledrington Road, London SE19 2BB

Athletes already registered for Miami Open include members from GMA academies such as Fight Sports Miami, Gracie Del Mar, Alliance Ecuador, Renzo Gracie Academy, Renato Tavares Association, Soca BJJ, Roberto Traven BJJ and more!

In London we have GMA academies: Choke Academy, Drysdale BJJ, Gracie Barra Birmingham, Roger Gracie Academy, Gracie Barra Santa Barbara and more!

Full house at the 2012 Pan Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship. Photo By Dan Rod

Don’t be late in registering for the 2013 IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship this year and let the east coasters win all the titles. The roster is filling up quickly and is likely to reach capacity before the deadline on September 16!

The event will be on Saturday, September 28 at the City College of New York Nat Holman Gymnasium: 138th Street, Convent Avenue New York, NY 10031

Make sure you register for the event before making your travel arrangements so you’re not stuck going to New York just to watch because the athlete list filled up. Although it wouldn’t be a bad vacation, the competition is one you do not want to miss.

In past years the mats of the Pan No-Gi have seen a high level of black belts such as Lucas Lepri, JT Torres, Renan Borges, Samir Chantre, Osvaldo Queixinho, Laercio Fernandes, Henrique Rezende, Pablo Popovitch, Roberto Tussa Alencar, Davi Ramos, Kayron Gracie, Daniel Tavares and many more. That list is comprised of 2012 and 2011 alone.

This year the black belts confirmed so far: Bernardo Faria, AJ Agazarm, Bruno Fernandes, Joseph Capizzi as well as athletes from GMA academies such as Renzo Gracie, Alliance NYC, Alliance Ecuador, Marcelo Garcia, Gracie Barra Long Island, Toronto BJJ, Soca BJJ, Gracie Barra Montral, Gracie Barra New Mexico.

Let’s make the Pan No-Gi an earned title with a well-rounded amount of entries from all over to represent the spread of the gentle art.

To register go to www.ibjjf.org

Cristian Buitron with Professor Alexandre Soca / Photo: Personal Facebook

One of our GMA academies, Soca BJJ, and Alexandre Soca have opened a new academy in Syosset, NY under purple belt Cristian Buitron.

From the Soca team:

“We are happy to announce the continuing expansion of our Soca BJJ family. Instructor and Soca BJJ purple belt Cristian Buitron is heading the Syosset Soca BJJ affiliate inside the Syosset Martial Arts Center. Cristian will be following 4th degree BJJ Black Belt Master Alexandre Soca’s teaching curriculum to ensure the high quality of the Jiu-Jitsu instruction. Cristian’s extensive competitive, athletic and scientific background will help clearly convey the timeless, beautiful and effective techniques of Jiu-Jitsu from Master Soca to his students. The Syosset school has BJJ classes Mondays and Wednesdays at 7:00 PM and Fridays at 6:00 PM. Wantagh Soca BJJ current students are welcome to stop by and visit our new affiliate. Soca BJJ Syosset is located at 34 Cold Spring Road, Syosset, NY. ”

For more information you can visit www.socabjj.com.

Derek Mangi has been collecting BJJ and Wrestling titles in the USA.

Here is a great video of some of Derek great moments.

For more info, go to socabjj.com.

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

GMA member Alexandre Soca took his team to compete at a local event last July 30th.

Soca BJJ athletes cleaned up the medal board at the Good Fight Tournament.

They brought no less than 29 medals in almost all categories from kids to adults, male and female.

Here is a list of the medalists. Congrats to all.

For more info, go to socabjj.com

Kids

Liam  Gorelin – 2nd Place

Peter Mayo – 2nd Place

Manny Zaransy – 2nd Place

Max Zaransky – 3rd Place

White Belt

Stephen Rabanai – 1st Place /  2nd Place Open weight division

Eric Cardoso   – 2nd Place

Lonnie Brown – 3rd Place / 1st Place Open weight division

Giuseppe Abbatiello – 3rd Place

Blue Belt

Ray Rosado – 3rd Place / 1st Place Open weight division

Andrew Sanders – 2nd Place

Jonathan Deverna – 2nd Place

John Vargas- 1st Place / 3rd Place No Gi

Timoty Almeida – 2nd Place / 2nd Place No Gi

Cristian Buitron – 2nd Place

Jarryd Ruff – 2nd Place

Roy Forehand – 1st Place

Chris Lamond – 3rd Place

Emmet Stewart – 3rd Place

Purple Belt

Arlan Della – 1st Place

Nick Castellano – 1st Place  / 1st Place No Gi

Joe Thompson – 2nd Place/ 3rd Place Adult / 3rd Place No Gi

http://www.vimeo.com/10127541

http://www.vimeo.com/10127541