Miyao vs. Morgan / Photo by Erin Herle

At the 2013 IBJJF San Francisco International Open, the international portion of the name was well represented as the Miyao brothers entered the tournament. Despite having competed internationally and winning world titles at the Long Beach Pyramid, the two are still becoming accustomed to the states and its language as they train with GMA academy Art of Jiu-Jitsu under the Mendes Bros.

The duo made their first appearance outside of the all-white, art gallery academy in Costa Mesa, Calif. to compete in the San Francisco Open with their current duo professors. They were able to close out their brown belt featherweight division as well as the brown belt open division but not before enduring some tough fights.

Here is a semi-final match in the featherweight division between Joao Miyao and Damon Morgan from Utah. In about five minutes in, Joao comes up to stand and pass, something we don’t see very often. Paulo Miyao tells GRACIEMAG.com that while in training and in their competition matches they attempt to take the back as many times as it takes to solidify the position.

How do you think he does with the knee-slice attempts? Will we see a new strategy from them moving forward?

In regards to the Mendes Bros patch, don’t worry; they haven’t strayed from their professor Cicero Costha. Guilherme Mendes notes, “he needed a different gi so he borrowed one of ours.”

If you think badminton’s weird, take a gander at this sport that has gained appeal in England in recent years.

It’s known as Chess Boxing, where two brutes go toe to toe for a round of fisticuffs, shed their gloves, and then go for a round of chess – until check mate or the knockout, whatever comes first. The secret, say experts, is to not provoke the opponent when at the board, so the rage won’t spill over into the ring. The bout ends if the adversaries make it to six rounds in chess and five in boxing.

Which urges the question: If they’re so big on both strategy and fighting, wouldn’t it be easier to just do Jiu-Jitsu?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7ZwMVLMezI

Igor Rodrigues against Felipe Costa in 2012 Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship final / Photo: Carlos Ozório/GRACIEMAG.com

The roosterweight Igor Rodrigues had already assumed the post of Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu champion as a purple and brown belt. Two weekends ago in the Grajaú neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro City the CheckMat rep managed to achieve the distinction at the highest rank, as a black belt.

“I won three matches on grit, caution and attention. The first I won on points. The second came by points too but I had a kneebar in place when it ended. Now in the final I swept and finished Felipinho [Costa] via kneebar,” he told GRACIEMAG>com.

Watch Igor Rodrigues catching Felipe Costa by the leg in the 2012 Brazilian Nationals roosterweight final:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhWUAx20JLU

The Ricardo Vieira athlete looked back on the course of his career in Jiu-Jitsu. He lives in Búzios, in the lakes region of Rio de Janeiro State, and trains with Ricardo in Rio de Janeiro City. “I come from a capoeira background. I made it to the top of the sport in 1998, when I won the Brazilian National Championship. In 2002 I became acquainted with the gentle art and fell in love. On that same year I started training under Jiu-Jitsu professor Marco Chuck in Búzios. I won a number of important titles under him. I got my black belt after winning gold in the brown belt division at the Brazilian Nationals. Still, I could tell that training in Búzios wasn’t competitive enough for me to go up against the best in the country,” he remembered, explaining why in 2009 he made the move to team CheckMat.

“Ricardo invited me to join the team, and I started to see Jiu-Jitsu from different angles. I carried on winning other competitions, and now I’ve conquered the Brazilian national title at black belt,” said Igor, who summed up how he achieved the quality he did at the CBJJ championship.

“My strategy, laid out by my trainer, was to attack the opponents’ feet and knees. I was opportunistic and got the holds when the time was right,” he said jubilantly.