Erberth Santos at the 2015 Rio Winter Open. Photo by Gustavo Aragão

Back in Brazil, this weekend the IBJJF held the 2015 South American championship.

Competing under the flag of the Ryan Gracie Team, black belt Erberth Santos was the standout with double gold at the superheavy division after a victory over Pablo Aragão in the final and in the open class he beat Jaime Canuto for the title.

In the female black belt division, Samela Leite beat Joaquina Bonfim for the open clacss gold medal.

In the teams competition, results were:

Adult Male

1 – Alliance – 109

2 – PSLPB Cicero Costha – 86

3 – Nova União – 51

Adult Female

1 – CheckMat – 52

2 – PSLPB Cicero Costha – 38

3 – GF Team – 22

For the complete results, go to cbjj.com.br.

Dimitrius Souza and Renato Cardoso. Photo by Personal Archives

The IBJJF held this Saturday the first day of the South American Jiu-Jitsu championship, in Barueri, Brazil.

Alliance teammates Renato Cardoso and Dimitrius Souza made all the way to the adult male open class black belt final.

Each one had three fights today.

In the semifinals, Renato Cardoso beat Vinicius Marinho (GF Team) with his efficient foot lock.

On the other side, Souza outscored Rodrigo Cavaca 4-2 for his place in the final.

In the female open class division, Andressa Correa (Alliance) and Fernanda Mazzelli (Striker) are the finalists.

The tournament resumes this Sunday with the black belt finals.

Fabiano Boi working on balance on a tightrope at the beach / Personal archive photo

At the South American Jiu-Jitsu Championship, held last November 25 in the Southern Brazilian city of Florianópolis, Alliance black belt Fabiano Boi stood out for the performance that overcame a game Alexandre Ceconi in the heavyweight final.

“To me winning this gold medal was redemption. The highlight for me was in the second match—I pulled guard and went for the omoplata, flipping my opponent right away. It was just what I wanted, and I went for the armbar and finished—all in 30 seconds,” recalled Fabiano, who sent GRACIEMAG.com the breakdown on how to do the position.

Besides intense Jiu-Jitsu training (at Bragança Paulista with Fabio Gurgel in São Paulo City), Boi innovated with a different sort of, outdoor, workout, as he explains:

“For the South American Championship, I did a sort of workout you call slackline. I gained a lot of strength in my legs and extraordinary balance, not to mention the concentration we gain with each training session. And this exercise helps prevent injury, since it strengthens the deep-lying and stabilizing muscles,” he explained.

What do you say, gentle reader? What outdoor exercise have you done to turbo charge your Jiu-Jitsu? Share your experience with the other practitioners.

Isaque Paiva and his triangle / Photo by Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG

A slender and hard-working featherweight, Isaque Paiva is currently a bearer of one of the most sterling triangles in the competitive Jiu-Jitsu scene.

And it was with that in mind that GRACIEMAG.com asked the black belt, who won the South American Championship last weekend, to demonstrate one of his favorite positions.

He scoured his arsenal and sent in the following one, for when the opponent attempts to relieve the pressure of the triangle by wrapping his arm around the leg, thus leaving himself exposed to the omoplata.

That’s when Isaque, also known as Boia, inflicts his venom.

First he pretends to give up on the triangle, moving one hand to the belt and the other to the collar – as you can see at the 59-second mark.

Isaque then sticks a hand in at the collar to cause bother with the choke (1:05 min), and returns to the triangle, now without hindrance.

Dig that one, guard players?

Rayfan Barbosa atop the podium at the 2012 South American Championship / Personal archive photo

Diminutive, black belts, Jiu-Jitsu champions–what else do Igor Rordigues and Rayfan Barbosa have in common?

Both won gold at the South American Jiu-Jitsu Championship. After coming up with their hard-fought medals, they interviewed each other at GRACIEMAG.com’s request.

Igor, a CheckMat representative hailing from the town of Buzios, won the roosterweight division. Rayfan, an Associação Monteiro Jiu-Jitsu black belt, judo expert and las student from Manaus, took the light featherweight title at last weekend’s tournament.

IGOR RODRIGUES: What’s up, Rayfan? How did your campaign at the 2012 South American Championship, and what did you learn?

RAYFAN BARBOSA: I learned that the CBJJ South American Championship is a high-level competition, just like the Brazilian Nationals. This year there were a bunch of renowned athletes, and each year it gets tougher. To paint you a picture, of my three matches, in the semifinal I faced a world champion; in final a South American champion! It was an excellent experience.

IGOR: That’s right, it was rough. I wasn’t in my best shape. I had a motorcycle accident that kept me from training properly, nearly broke my foot… And which was your toughest match?

RAYFAN: The final, against Leandro Martins, I think. But all my opponents were exceptional too. But as I’m also a judoka–I was champion of Brazil in 2009 and runner-up in 2012–, I realized Leandro’s game mas similar to mine: get the takedown and pass. So I used judo to get the throw, and I did a more compact ground game, without leaving much wriggle room. He’s a really strong athlete, so I had to be careful with his shots. What about you? How did your final with Marcos Franco of Gracie Barra go?

IGOR: I went all out early on and got the sense that he got a bit lost. That’s when I found an opening to get him with the keylock.

RAYFAN: Well done. So that’s it, GRACIEMAG.com readers. Remember that sports mean health, discipline, and that you need to be a true athlete 100% of the time to evolve in Jiu-Jitsu and try to be the best in the world. As my father and instructor says, you have to follow the four commandments: pray, study, work and train.

To find out who won the South American Jiu-Jitsu Championship, click here.

Leo Nogueira winning at the South American Championship. Photo by Gustavo Aragao

The current superheavyweight world championship and absolute world runner-up, Léo Nogueira’s trip to Florianópolis, Brazil, for the 2012 South American Championship turned out to be worthwhile.

After helping Mauricio Shogun train in Curitiba, the Alliance black belt pushed on a bit further down south and fulfilled his mission in the CBJJ championship’s absolute division with a faultless performance.

But the two Leanardos’ task in the open-weight division was no easy one.

At one end of the bracket, Léo Leite defeated CheckMat’s medium-heavyweight revelation Renato Cardoso on points. In the semifinal, the Gigi Paiva student had to outdo local star Alexandro Ceconi, a heavyweight to be taken seriously. Leite again imposed his game, with a safe performance, and secured victory on points.

At the other end, Léo Nogueira was rampant, and got the submission in every one of his matches, the most notable of which was the electrifying semifinal against Guto Campos of Guetho Academy, whom he finished with a forearm choke.

Promise kept (refresh your memory here), and the Léos merrily shared the spoils of their conquest.

Marina and Talita faced off in the absolute

The level in the female division was at a peak this Saturday. And Sunday marks the absolute final, where black belt stars Marina Ribeiro of CheckMat and Talita Nogueira of Ryan Gracie Team will lock horns for the gold.

Who do you have taking it? Share your prediction below.

To check out the official results in real time, stay tuned to the CBJJ website by clicking here.

Check out the black belt brackets here.

Herbert Burns attacks in the featherweight final of the 2012 Brazilian No-Gi Nationals. Photo by Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG.com.

In winning the featherweight division at the Brazilian No-Gi Nationals last weekend in Rio, Herbert Burns had the perfect campaign.

The brother of world champion “Durinho”, Herbert tapped out both his opponents to win the title for the second year in a row. “I feel I’m managing to let my game flow, to show that Jiu-Jitsu the people who train with me know. This time I managed to put it to practice at the Brazilian Nationals,” Herbert told GRACIEMAG.com, showing he is maturing and gaining refinement as a competitor.

Burns stated that his success hinged on managing to impose his game in the two matches he was in.

“In the first one, my opponent attacked with a takedown right at the moment I pulled guard. He then landed in my omoplata. I switched to the triangle and finished with a Kimura from within the triangle,” he explained. “Now in the final, Richard Flood pulled guard on me, and I passed. I tried mounting; he defended. I stayed in half-mount, and that’s where I came up with the keylock. I switched to armbar and then to the triangle, but he held out. So I swept with a triangle in place and finally got the tapout,” he recalled.

According to Herbert, versatility is his path to finishing more efficiently.

“My Jiu-Jitsu is quite versatile, forward-moving. I get takedowns; play top position, bottom position; and I’m always gunning for the tapout, which is Jiu-Jitsu’s essence. The key is to keep in continuous motion, since that’s when you open up holes for the finish and scoring, too. To me, the main thing in a match is movement,” he asserted, before turning his thoughts to his other commitments.

“I had an MMA fight in Asia early this year. I finished with a triangle in just 27 seconds. I’ve been training MMA every day with Durinho, with Professor Casquinha overseeing us. If I don’t get another fight signed I’ll do the CBJJ Brasília Open and then the South American Championship in Florianopolis,” said the black belt, who only isn’t heading to the Worlds No-Gi because he’s waiting on his US visa. Next year he’ll be there, though.

Team Alliance Floripa, with Rodrigo in the middle wearing a black gi / Photo: Publicity/GRACIEMAG

Rodrigo Lima is a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu under Alexandre “Gigi” Paiva and has a coherent argument argument to prove that the gentle art is only growing in Southern Brazil, and in Santa Catarina State in particular.

“Last weekend we gathered over 40 fighters at Alliance Floripa. Side note, it was a sunny Saturday in a region with 42 beaches!” said Rodrigo, whose biggest goal for 2012 is to win the CBJJ South American Jiu-Jitsu Championship next November. “Last year we came in second. This year, with reinforcements from Master Fabio Gurgel and Alexandre Paiva’s students, we’ll surely figure at the top,” he wagered.

The interesting part is that the team training session that weekend was at the Florianopolis air base. “We are extremely grateful to the commander of Florianópolis air base Coronel Claus Killian Hardt for letting us practice Jiu-Jitsu there.”

Rodrigo took the opportunity of the conversation to send in especially for GRACIEMAG.com readers this leglock finish starting from the famed berimbolo. Keep your eyes peeled and ears open for the details, and enjoy your training.

Reis sought to incorporate the most talked about submission of the year into his arsenal, the choke from the mount, as he reveals to GRACIEMAG.com.

“I was inspired by Roger Gracie for this South American Jiu-Jitsu Championship, because while in training I would sink the choke from the mount, in some championships I would end up losing the position. I noticed some details that Roger uses to get the finish in his fights, as I got a chance to be near him at Gracie Barra Irvine, this last World Championship. I could see well while he rolled how he sinks it, how he puts his hand in deep, details of elbow positioning… the finer details. I think this was a fundamental part of the move working for me in my game. His Jiu-Jitsu is basic and really well done,” said Mario Reis, who used the choke from the mount to finish CheckMat’s Leon Amancio.

Roger Gracie catches Romulo Barral with a choke from the mount at the 2009 Worlds. Photo by Regis Chen

“I was inspired by Roger Gracie for this South American Jiu-Jitsu Championship, because while in training I would sink the choke from the mount, in some championships I would end up losing the position. I noticed some details that Roger uses to get the finish in his fights, as I got a chance to be near him at Gracie Barra Irvine, this last World Championship. I could see well while he rolled how he sinks it, how he puts his hand in deep, details of elbow positioning… the finer details. I think this was a fundamental part of the move working for me in my game. His Jiu-Jitsu is basic and really well done,” said Mario Reis, who used the choke from the mount to finish CheckMat’s Leon Amancio.

In the final, Reis beat Maxmiliano Campos (CheckMat) with a choke from the back at 1:30min of the match.

“I found the South American to be of a really good level, not just the black belts but the other belts, too. A student of mine had five matches to become blue belt champion, the whites fought a lot as well. All I needed was this title for my career, and I’m stoked for it and for the level of the championship,” said Mário Reis, a sure name on the rosters of the European Championship in January and the World Pro Jiu-Jitsu League, this coming weekend in São Paulo, with cash prizes and Michael Langhi, Tarsis Humphreys, Sérgio Morais, Luiz Felipe Big Mac, Bruno Malfacine among others in the mix.

Big attacks, in photo by Hugo Valente

After snatching gold in both his weight group and the absolute division at the Miami Open, Luiz Felipe “Big Mac” Theodoro went on to win again, this time in Santa Catarina, Brazil, at the South American Jiu-Jitsu Championship. The black belt tapped three opponents to guarantee gold in the ultra heavyweight division.

“In the final I faced a local athlete (Roberto Piazza), who was really strong. But your heart goes into the final, right? It was really cool and I managed to apply two takedowns and pass guard. I just didn’t agree with the result in the absolute, but I can’t go questioning it, because we should never leave it in the hands of the judges. But it was worth it, I was satisfied with the ultra heavyweight title.

“It was my first time at a South American Championship and found it to be really well organized. It’s another important event from the CBJJ,” says the fighter.

Back full steam in the competition scene, Big is looking ahead to more international titles in 2010.

“I’m going in to one in Sao Paulo, at the WLPJJ. I was out of some events because I’d hurt my knee. But next year I’m going for all the main championships overseas, the European, the Pan and the Worlds. I want to conquer the world title at black belt, which is an old dream I haven’t yet fulfilled,” said the Godoi Jiu-Jitsu representative in closing.