“I only faced bigger guys in the four matches I had in the absolute. The semifinal was tough, against Nivaldo Lima (CheckMat), who won the heavyweight division. I had two sweeps to one from him,” recalls the absolute champion, who earned the ticket to Lisbon for the Euro Open 2011 that was up for grabs.

There was an extra ingredient to the final. Anyone used to covering featherweight Mário Reis’s Jiu-Jitsu matches up close knows how he is always getting testy with referees, as he has with Tanquinho as a referee several times.

Tanquinho against Reis, in photo by Hugo Valente (hugovalente.com.br).

When the two finally met, in Santa Catarina, all that was left in the past. “Mário is a great fighter, a two-time world champion, and I didn’t go into the match thinking about any of that. There was nothing in any way personal involved. That’s how Mário is, and the truth is that we understand how fighters get unhappy when they lose,” remarked Tanquinho.

“When you compete against someone like him, who attacks the whole time, it’s great for the spectators, but a lot trickier for me. I had to stay alert, since he attacks the whole time, making the finals more dynamic. I came up with the better positions and won. The lightweight final I won by advantage points,” said the champion after three matches, in summary. Now in the absolute, Reis was disqualified by the referee. Even só, Mário’s points still helped Gracie Barra win the overall team contest.

“It was the first absolute gold medal of my career, but I think I’ve entered four, five at max: once at blue belt, once recently at the US Open in Santa Cruz, and now,” remembers Tanquinho. “It was a pleasant surprise, a sign of maturation as well. In the final, I went advancing through positions and notching advantages because he was holding the inside of the lip of my pants leg, then the penalties turned into points until he was disqualified. I think he accepted that, he really was gripping that way.”

With the absolute title, the Soul Fighters black belt won a ticket to compete at the IBJJF European Open that the organizers and sponsors of the South American Open gave as a prize. “I’m guaranteed to be there in Portugal. Whether I’ll compete in the absolute or not, I can’t guarantee,” he jokes.

A second plane ticket to Lisbon was raffled out among the other champions. The lucky winner was Elizângela Meireles (Gavião), winner of the light featherweight division and bronze in the absolute.

“There was a high level of technique on display in the championship, with two light athletes imposing themselves on the heavyweights and going through to the absolute final. There were more than 750 signed up, with athletes from the USA, Europe, and elsewhere, and there was even a special about the event on TV Globo channel; everyone saw it. São José, in Santa Catarina, has established itself as home to the South American Jiu-Jitsu Championship,” said event organizer Claudio Arrais in praise of the town.

Tanquinho in photo by Carlos Ozório.

Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes was the big standout at the South American Jiu-Jitsu Championship that took place last weekend in Santa Catarina, Brazil. The Soul Fighters representative won his weight division and the absolute, facing Mario Reis in both the finals.

In the absolute final, Tanquinho was already winning when his opponent was disqualified for gripping inside the lip of Mendes’s pant leg on four occasions. Check out how the match went.

Frazatto in photo by Ivan Trindade.

Bruno Frazatto had been competing the lightweight fray, however, ever since he moved back to the division he always stood out in, the featherweight one, he hasn’t lost. His last win came at the South American Open, in Florianópolis, Brazil, where he was head and neck ahead of his opponents.

“I participated in three events since returning to featherweight, and I won them all. There was the Paulista (São Paulo championship), where I earned my ticket to the Pan in California. This time it was the South American, where I got the submission in two fights with a choke from the back,” he tells GRACIEMAG.com.

Frazatto will also dispute this year’s World Cup, in São Paulo. Training for 2011 is already going full blast, though.

“Besides the Pan, I’m surely going to compete at the European. We’re already training with those events in mind, at Atos in Rio Claro,” he forewarns.

Still in Santa Catarina state following the South American Open, the black belt will hold a seminar at Brasa Itajaí academy, and on the 11th and 12th of December, at Guarda do Embaú.

“Another who’ll be there is Ricardo De La Riva. I’m going to make the most of it to learn from that source of knowledge,” says the stalwart competitor in closing.

Want to learn all there’s to know about Jiu-Jitsu? Then stay tuned to GRACIEMAG.com.

Frazatto in photo by Ivan Trindade.

At roosterweight, Leandro da Silva (CheckMat) took top spot. Now the light featherweight winner was Leandro Martins (CheckMat). At featherweight, Bruno Frazatto (Atos) took the gold, after beating Maximiliano Farias (CheckMat) in the decider.

Gracie Barra took first at middleweight, with Bruno Almeida. Another Atos ace, Vitor Toledo took top spot at medium heavyweight, having overcome Eduardo Milioli (Rilion Gracie) in the final. Ivaldo de Oliveira added another gold to CheckMat’s count, at heavyweight. João Severina and Mauro Oliveira shut out the super heavyweight class, which captured gold and silver for Rilion Gracie, while Gustavo Dias (CM System) brought joy to his master Cristiano Marcello’s heart by winning the ultra heavyweight.

Among the girls, Priscila Prandini (CheckMat) came out on top, winning both the medium heavyweight and the open weight classes at brown/black belt.

In the adult division, Gracie Barra won the team contest, followed by Atos and CheckMat.

For complete results, click here.

Tanquinho in photo by Gustavo Aragão

This Tuesday marks the last day of sign-ups for the South American Jiu-Jitsu Open, to take place November 20 and 21 at the São José’s Multiuso Arena, in the South Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, and two tickets to the 2011 European Open are up for grabs.

Not one to dilly-dally, Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes arrived from his trip to California where he took second at the No-Gi Worlds and is already confirmed in the lightweight mix at the South American Open.

“I’m signed up and have my ticket. I’m going in as a lightweight and, depending on how I feel, I might take a stab at the trip to the Euro by entering the absolute as well,” Tanquinho tells GRACIEMAG.com, also addressing his loss to Lucas Lepri in the No-Gi Worlds final.

“I was having a good run in the tourney and was winning the match by a takedown up until the final minutes. I messed up in defending a sweep and Lepri’s not the kind of guy you can make a mistake against. My jaw was injured from the semifinal and I couldn’t bear it when he started to choke me. He deserves credit and it serves as a lesson to me to train more so as to not mess up the next time around,” he reflects.

After a good year, with titles like the Rio Open and Brazilian Team Nationals, Tanquinho hopes to wrap things up in style in Santa Catarina.

“I’m going to the South American Open and then I should rest up some for next season. Next year I intend to be in the main events, including some I didn’t make it to in 2010,” he says.

To sign up for the South American Open, click here .

For the fifth year in a row, the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina prepares to receive athletes from the world over for the South American Jiu-Jitsu Championship. The event will take place November 20 and 21 at the São José Multiuso Arena, and sign-ups have been extended till the 16th, so don’t miss this opportunity.

Set for early summer in Brazil – a time when Santa Catarina becomes one of the most sought out travel destinations in the country – the South American Open is carving out a place for itself as one of the more attractive events on the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) calendar.

The competition, as usual, will be held in a basic elimination system, and divided into age (juvenile, adult, master and senior), weight (ten divisions, from rooster to open weight), belt rank (blue, purple, brown, and black) and gender (male and female). Running alongside the main event, as a way of encouraging beginners, the IBJJF will hold the South American Beginners Championship, for white belt males and females.

As rewards – besides the traditional gold, silver, and bronze medals – clothing company Bad Boy, which has been supporting the South Brazilian and South American championships for years, will reward the black belt standouts with two air tickets to the European Jiu-Jitsu Championship, to be held in Lisbon in January. One ticket will go to the winner of the adult black belt absolute division and the other will be raffled off among the winners of the other categories.

Among the favorites, likely to be there are Luiz Felipe “Big Mac” and Alexandre Souza, a Florianopolis native.

The municipal government of São José, through the Municipal Sports and Leisure Foundation, is also supporting the event. For those who won’t be able to make it, the event will be broadcast live from start to finish on www.sultatame.net.

For further information on the South American Jiu-Jitsu Championship, check the www.cbjj.com.br website.