“We’re going in strong. We know it will be rough, the other teams area always really tough, but we’re going for gold not just at lightweight, but heavyweight as well,” remarks Coach Julio Cesar.

In the lightweight team, reinforcements from Soul Fighters Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes and Rafael “Formiga” Barbosa will sit out this time. But when it comes to heavyweights, the team has another card up its sleeve.

“This time, Soul Fighters will go in with its own team, so we won’t rely on Formiga and Tanquinho at lightweight. But even so, we’ve got a really good team. At heavyweight, we have Igor Silva, a Muzio De Angelis student, going in with us,” says Julio.

GFTeam (formerly UGF) boasts as its main representatives Theodoro Canal and Denilson Pimenta among the lightweights and Rodolfo Vieira, Igor Silva, Ricardo Evangelista and Vinícius Marinho on the heavyweight team, among a number of other hard-nosed competitors.

Check out some images from the team training at the Méier branch in Rio de Janeiro:

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Demian beats Leandro Borgo and takes the heavyweight title for Brasa in 2003. Photo: Gustavo Aragão

This September 25 the 15^th Brazilian Team National Championship will take place in the Tijuca Tennis Club. Sign-ups are open (sign up here) and should you need to renew your IBJJF ID cards, they will be valid for the 2011 season, too.

It’s a tradition that the Brazilian Team Nationals includes some of the country’s most prominent teams, going for gold in stages defined by the best of five confrontations. The team to notch three wins first stays in the running. Another of the event’s peculiarities is that the brown belts are thrown into the black belt mix. This peculiarity has brought about emotion-filled victories, like Vitor Dórea’s (brown belt) over the seasoned Roberto “Roleta”, with a traditional foot-on-bicep sweep in the very last minute.

Alexandre Café was a shoo-in for GB in the competition. He dispatched Marcelo Garcia at the tournament in 2002.

At the first installment, in 1996, dominion at the highest rank went to Gracie Barra and Alliance. Beasts like Marcio Feitosa, Alexandre Soca, Rafael Gordinho and Bruno Severiano overcame Nova União, which boasted the likes of Vitor Shaolin, João Roque and André Marola. Among the heavyweights, Fabio Gurgel, Alexandre Paiva and Eduardo Jamelão led the way to their triumph over GB’s Roberto Gordo and Roleta. Another curiosity, GRACIEMAG made it onto the blue belt winners’ stand with editor of photography Gustavo Aragão.

Babalu against Arthur Gogó in 2005

The biggest champions at lightweight brown/black belt of all times are Gracie Barra and Nova União, with four wins apiece. Tied with the same score, the biggest heavyweight brown/black belt winners are Gracie Barra and Alliance.

UFC fighter Rafael dos Anjos faced two-time champion of the event Alexandre Pulga in 2005

Is there a tie-breaker in store for 2010?