Raphael Barbosa is a Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt. Photo: Personal archive

Raphael Barbosa is among the most renowned teachers in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. This 39-year-old has over 25 years of experience across classes, seminars and competition. A black-belt since 2007, when he was promoted by his teacher Luís Cláudio, Raphael teaches Jiu-Jitsu at the gym from Ultimate Fight Champion, known as UFC Gym, which has over 400 students just in the gi classes.

The owner of a unique methodology, full of steps for preparing a good student on their journey to the black belt, Raphael in a recent interview explained that his teaching belongs to a Gracie lineage, due to his teacher’s education under the legendary Rickson. Additionally, his students have been achieving better and better results on and even off the mat, given that he also uses the sport as a tool for personal growth.

“Jiu-Jitsu is a unique sport; it provides many things beyond maneuvers and moves,” Raphael said. “On the mat, you learn to be a better person, a more patient person. You become more confident, believe in yourself more, and that is reflected in your life. It’s perceptible to notice that in the white-belts, because they come in with no confidence and with fear, but as time passes, they become confident, they believe more in their own effort. I really like Jiu-Jitsu because of that. No matter how much knowledge you have, the sport is always going to teach you something more. It’s one of the strongest tools for personal growth in the world.”

Below we organized a list of five concepts shared by Raphael. He views these as important for a student’s evolution, regardless of their belt color.

1 Not skipping the process: “The practitioner needs to respect the process! We know that Jiu-Jitsu is a very complex sport and demands lots of motor coordination, and explores all of the student’s physical functions. Because of this complexity of movements, especially when it’s time to put it into practice, many students get frustrated, and there’s always that question: ‘Professor, when will I be able to do all these moves automatically?’ I see that this is a constant occurrence in beginners’ classes. Within this concept, here at UFC Gym, I place beginners’ classes separate from the others, where I teach them the entirety of the ABCs. They perform drills thousands of times, and, until they reach the second degree, I don’t even let them spar on their own. First they will learn how the whole process of a well-done technique works.”

2 Studying Jiu-Jitsu: “It’s necessary to study how Jiu-Jitsu was created, to know the story of the Gracie family. Understand how the promotion system works, the scoring — how everything surrounding the sport works. In order to know what you are doing, to know the basics to get a better understanding. A white-belt needs to know these things so as not to get lost.”

3 Practicing self-defense: “Jiu-Jitsu was created for this, for the smaller person to be able to defend themselves against the bigger one. So never ditch self-defense — we never know when we’ll need to use it. The white-belt usually ends up trying to learn advanced Jiu-Jitsu online, instead of learning what they really need, and ends up hindering the evolution process.”

4 Practicing takedowns: “Jiu-Jitsu starts standing, and lots of gyms neglect this! I see lots of sparring done only on the ground, and sometimes on the knees. The takedown side of things is essential for the student to learn. Practice Jiu-Jitsu as a progression!”

5 Listening to the body: “Respecting your body’s limit is essential! Sometimes, a white-belt, in that endeavor to evolve or prove something to themselves, to the teacher and to training partners, ends up not tapping to and armbar, not tapping to a choke… Then they end up blacking out or getting arms popped, causing an injury. This can’t happen — it’s foolish! If the student really loves Jiu-Jitsu, they will want to practice it for the rest of their life, but by acting that way they will only be shortening the journey. Think about it!”

Four times world champion and two times ADCC champion, Rubens Cobrinha has one of the most respected records in Jiu-Jitsu’s history.

Known for his stall-free game that always pursues the submission, Cobrinha teaches here a good way to take the opponent down and get to side control.

Pay attention to the key points and add it to your game.

Por isso, GRACIEMAG traz hoje um compilados das melhores quedas do Jiu-Jitsu e de outros esportes que funcionaram no MMA. Clique na imagem abaixo, assista, inspire-se e, como é de costume, vá treinar!

With the teaching process shown in the beginning, he adds footage at the end to show how it was applied in a sparring situation, a serious one like in a competition.

For his first video he teaches a foot sweep takedown that he successfully used at the 2014 IBJJF Vegas Open.

Check out the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU5KDwfTQuY

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

Almeida demonstrates how to defend against various strikes such as roundhouse kick, overhand punch, thai clinch, push kick and some takedowns to use that put you in charge of the fight.

Check it out:

Gracie Barra’s Marcio Feitosa teaches a great way to annul the takedown attempt of a good wrestlker in Jiu-Jitsu.

Watch it closely and do not give away the two points the next time you compete.

One of the best and most exciting matches of the day was the back-and-forth exhibition between Alliance’s Lucas Lepri and GFTeam’s Vitor Oliveira.

The win was determined by two points each, advantages for each and a penalty. It was a close match with both athletes leading at one point but Vitor took home the gold in the division via advantages.

Check out the exhibition of fast-paced black belt talent as two top class competitors show how to sweep, takedown, maintain a solid base, transition from one position to another, avoid takedowns, pull guard effectively and not effectively, use X-guard, use toreando guard passes and more.

Take notes!

Joao Johnny Faria wins his MMA fight. Photo: Personal Archive

Joao Johnny Faria had his MMA fight on Saturday, August 24 in Oceanside, CA. The Beatdown at the Beach event brought many Jiu-Jitsu supporters and practitioners into the crowd as the card held local BJJ stars. The 170 title fight, however, was between Johnny Faria and Manny Garcia, which ended before it could really start.

The black belt from GMA Gracie Del Mar immediately took down his opponent with a double-leg takedown, got into mount and a ground and pound ensued. In order to shy from the strikes, his opponent turned but gave Johnny a clear path to his back and a rear-naked choke ended the fight in the first round.

The fight ended well before the two-minute mark. Many of the Gracie Humatia supporters were present to give Johnny the loudest crowd.

See the fight here: