In this video from 2011, Xande Ribeiro teaches a good way to set up an omoplata attack.

Click on the video and pay attention to the key points of the technique.

“They say the voice of the crowd is the voice of God. If that is the case, then today I am humbled.” Saulo Ribeiro on double gold win at the American Nationals

No, that was not a 7.0 earthquake shaking the gymnasium at CSU Dominguez Hills on Saturday during the American Nationals Gi Jiu-Jitsu portion of the tournament. It was the crowd erupting when legendary Jiu-Jitsu great Saulo Ribeiro took to the mats for his first match in the Seniors 1 heavyweight division.

Saulo has not competed since 2010, when he won both his division and the absolute at the Masters and Seniors tournament in Brazil. Last December Saulo had three surgeries at once on his shoulder to repair his rotator cuff, his labrum, and to reattach his biceps. But that didn’t stop the fighter, who seemed more machine than man on Saturday.

Saulo concentrating / Photos by Deb Blyth

As Saulo stood stoically in the match area, his body straight, his head looking down at the mats in full concentration, a small voice in the crowd called out, “That’s my coach!” As the crowd pushed against the barricades trying to get a better view of the man who has inspired so many, the referee called a start to the contest.

In his first match, against Rhodisley Rosa Junior of Nova Uniao, Saulo came at Rhodisley like a bull and submitted him in 25 seconds flat. The crowd went crazy cheering, shaking the gym all the way to the rafters.

Saulo took his assigned time to rest and then came back out for the final against Leandro Valdes. Once again, Saulo was focused on his mission. He threw Valdes and then got him in a tight classic choke from the mount that Valdes could not defend, just one-and-a-half minutes into the match. Valdes walked off the mats looking a little dazed. “I fought Saulo six years ago as a purple belt,” he says, “He’s still so tough… he is strong!”

Saulo makes quick work of Leandro Valdes from the mount.

“I feel great,” Saulo says, referring to coming back from such an extensive injury, “It’s a mix of happiness for coming back to the mat. I felt like I was in jail for a year not doing what I love the most. I wasn’t free.”

Saulo has been working a lot, so he didn’t have a lot of time to train for the event. He takes care of his Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu organization, his University of JJ, and his students, for whom he has a clear passion. When he comes to compete, for him it’s just plain fun. “Competing is the true expression of myself and who I am,” he says, “I want to lead by example. Today, I’m here as a soldier to earn points for my team.” Saulo certainly did his part.

Saulo came back out to compete in the absolute, and once again the crowd was on its feet. He had two matches in the open weight class, winning both by submission and making him a double gold medal winner for the day. When asked if he expected to win so seemingly effortlessly and easily at the American Nationals he said, “I expect to push the pace of the fight and bring the best of me. When you expect to win, you open yourself up to frustrations. When you’re happy, you give your best. I’m a hard worker. Today I pushed myself beyond my expectations. I’m happy.”

Although people tell Saulo that he is a warrior, he considers himself more of a slave to the sport. “I love Jiu-Jitsu,” he says, “It’s my passion. My payback is the smile on kids’ faces and how it makes my students better people.”

Saulo, who is now 37 years old, believes you should always just do your best. Winning or losing does not matter, and for him he only fights for his love and passion for the sport. Being off the mats the last year was a real challenge for him. “I always tell people, ‘Jiu-Jitsu cannot be your lover; it has to be your wife.’ You have to take the good and bad moments. If you bring your best to Jiu-Jitsu, it will bring the best back to you.”

While Saulo was competing at the American Nationals, his equally famous brother, Xande, was competing across the pond at the ADCC  in England. “Xande fought today and subbed twice,” Saulo says, “We fight to continue our legacy. We’ve been here for 20 years and we plan on staying.”

Saulo Ribeiro with adoring crowd

Clearly a fan favorite at the American Nationals, Saulo says he doesn’t need motivation to do Jiu-Jitsu. “Everyone is looking at me,” he says, “I need to do my job. I’m always ready to fight and I really respect the competition. If you haven’t trained as hard as I have, it’s going to be a long day for you.”

After being hugged and kissed by the multitude of fans, friends, and students in the crowd, Saulo smiles, “They say the voice of the crowd is the voice of God. If that is the case, then today I am humbled.”

James Selby / Photo: Jerry Roberts

At the Las Vegas Open, Craig had one match in the middleweight division, against Rickson Gracie rep Fernando Flores, and won. He got the sweep after pulling guard, then went to side-control. From an arm attack on Fernando he moved to mount. “He rolled over and I ended up in side-control again as time ran out, finishing with a 12-0 victory,” Craig says.

There was a “round robin” for Craig’s open class division. He won his first match on points with 14-0. In the final he faced Frank Miranda of University of Jiu-Jitsu under Saulo Ribeiro. “I was ahead 4-2 and got a triangle choke from the back and won the final by submission,” a jubilant Craig says. That made him a double gold winner for the day.

The closest Craig had come to winning double gold before was getting double bronze at the Pan as a blue belt in 2010.  “Before this double gold win, the best thing I’ve done in Jiu-Jitsu was as a blue belt,” Craig says, “I won silver at the 2007 No-Gi Master and Senior Championship, silver at the 2009 Gi and No-Gi American Nationals, and silver at the Gracie So Cal Classic in 2008.”

Craig says one of the hurdles he faces, as an older Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, is making sure he doesn’t over train and injure himself. He has some great advice for those who are getting up there in years. “There are three things that we old guys have to do to keep in good condition,” he says, “We need to work on our balance, keep our muscles flexible, and use our minds to keep them working.  Jui-Jitsu has all these things and many more benefits that I could go on all day about.”

Craig says he believes that he made a great decision when he started training at 41 years of age. “I don’t see myself stopping until I am six feet under,” he jokes, “Even then, I will be able to roll with the best guys who are no longer with us.”

Craig would like to thank his professor Mike Buckles from Gracie Barra Costa Mesa and all his training partners, who have become his family in Jiu-Jitsu.

Frank Miranda / Photo: Jerry Roberts

Craig’s opponent in the finals, Frank Miranda, who’s only been a purple belt for about 9 months, has his own reasons to be happy. “I’m 53 years old, and I started training six years ago,” he says, “I won the lightweight division by default and took second in the open. In every tournament I’m always the smallest in the open class.”

Frank was thrilled with his performance at the Las Vegas Open. “One of the main reasons I compete is to prove to myself that I still can,” he says, “At my age I’ll never be as strong, fast or flexible as the younger guys, and that’s OK, but I want to be as strong, fast and flexible as I can possibly be. That’s why I love Jiu Jitsu and its life style, which is nutrition for the body, mind and soul.”

As the saying goes, “Old guys rule!”

Xande clued in to GRACIEMAG / Photo: Carlos Ozório

While stopping through San Diego, we visited GMA University of Jiu-Jitsu, the team captained by Saulo and Xande Ribeiro, among the toughest brothers the gentle art has ever known.

Over there, the two-time absolute world champion is always tuned in to GRACIEMAG.com. Hence his willingness to open up and teach the site’s readers the tricks to the omoplata lock, one of the positions he most likes using.

If you too have a liking for the omoplata, check out the video. Who knows? You might learn some valuable tricks.

João Assis. Photo: publicity

Last Saturday, October 30, two big-name black belts went at it at Grapplers Quest, in Ontario, Canada. João Assis faced Saulo Ribeiro in a featured match at the event.

The CheckMat representative had beaten Xande Ribeiro at a previous Grapplers Quest event in July. This time, Assis managed to beat Xande’s older brother in a no-gi dispute.

The result caps off an excellent season for the black belt who this year has racked up a number of big wins, like his submission of Jeff Monson at the UFC Fan Expo.

Check out the video with some snippets from the match between Assis and Saulo:

http://www.vimeo.com/16401407

Saulo gets the submission in the heavyweight division. Photo: Gustavo Aragão

The presence of Saulo Ribeiro at the International Master and Senior tournament bolstered the team of accomplished veterans in the competition. Saulo lived up to the expectations of the crowd in the Tijuca Tennis Club and satisfied the curiosity of the younger practitioners, who hadn’t had the opportunity to see him before. The black belt managed tapouts in all four matches he partook in in his weight group, which he won, and the absolute, which was dominated by him and his Gracie Humaitá teammate Rodrigo Munduruca, and where he only didn’t get the tapout on one occasion. After receiving his absolute gold medal, Saulo had a chat with GRACIEMAG.com.

International Masters

“I feel this championship needs to be given its due importance because this is where everyone reaches maturity as a fighter, teacher and good person. We came here without concern for winning, but for competing. I feel that that is where one begins to demonstrate excellent Jiu-Jitsu, without worrying about self-affirmation, which is the case with a lot of folks in the adult division. We compete carefree and don’t pull the handbrake.”

The arena

“The Tijuca Tennis Club is a place that should be preserved. It’s where it all started. It’s a place without classes, it’s the Brazilian people’s. This is where Jiu-Jitsu was born to the world and to me it is a great pleasure and feeling to be back here and see a crowd that has never seen me compete. I’m happy about being a good role model to this group that’s coming up and that loves this sport.”

Alongside Rodrigo, complete domination. Photo: Gustavo Aragão

Ideology

“I’m a Jiu-Jitsu employee and my greater mission now is to spread it throughout the world. The Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu Association is conquering Europe. We’ve produced several champions in Germany, we’re heading to France, Australia, New Zealand… These days I serve a more ideological function. I want to pass on to the world a bit of what I’ve learnt and give back to Jiu-Jitsu for what Jiu-Jitsu has given me. University of Jiu-Jitsu is there as a place of the people, an institution of martial arts teaching that is open to teams from around the world. Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu is doing fine, with 20 affiliates across the planet. The team I brought with me from the United States, for example, had an excellent performance. Wherever Jiu-Jitsu needs me, I’ll be there. But these days I would rather focus on my students and the projects I have going with my academy than to compete.”

Worlds

“All I can do is thank the Confederations, my friends from training and Gracie Humaitá, which made it to the top of the podium again this year. I thank God for the efforts of the press, like GRACIEMAG. It was one big Jiu-Jitsu party.”

Xande beats Braga Neto in the absolute. Photo: Ivan Trindade

Besides Roger Gracie, another who could have reached a third absolute world title in Jiu-Jitsu was Alexandre Ribeiro. The Gracie Humaitá black belt and teacher at University of Jiu-Jitsu is a favorite in whatever competition he may enter. This time, though, Xande didn’t make it to the gold medal. He came in second in the heavyweight division and third in the absolute. In the semifinal of the most significant of divisions he saw his shot at a third title shattered by dropping a close match to Rômulo Barral by 3 to 2 in advantage points. The fighter comments on his participation in the competition to GRACIEMAG.com.

What’s your assessment of your participation in the World Championship? Did your time spent dedicated to MMA and away from competition Jiu-Jitsu hinder you?

It was a really cool competition. For sure having been a few years out of the circuit set me back a lot, but I trained for it and did my best. Sometimes the lack of rhythm, positional timing, gets in the way. But I feel it was a good championship. I hadn’t competed in Jiu-Jitsu in two years and I went out there and had eight matches, with three submissions and another three solid victories. I only lost on due to minor details and feel I had a good appearance. Of course, I wanted to be the champ, but things don’t always work out the way we want them to. I think I showed that I can still fight on even terms with the kids.

Now will you focus only on MMA or will we see you in the Worlds and ADCC tournaments again?

Truth is I don’t think about it. What I want to do is train. Now I have a no-gi competition coming up, World Best Grappler, which will take place end of June. It will be cool: there will be six matches against a really tough bunch. It will serve as preparation for my upcoming challenges. I’m going to focus on that and I’m trying to ink an MMA fight. Now I’m going to focus on my boxing, but what I want is to evolve and always train in the gi. I’ll leave deciding about the Jiu-Jitsu Worlds till next year. Whether I compete or not will depend on the situation then.

Takedowns are always one of Xande's strong points. Photo: Ivan Trindade

Roger’s results speak for him” Xande Ribeiro

Roger Gracie managed a third absolute title. What do you think of him?

There’s nothing to say about Roger. His Jiu-Jitsu is simple and progressive; he fights well for ten minutes and has overcome a bunch of people. I’m unhappy about not having faced him because I open the game up and he does too, and we always have great matches. He’s to be congratulated. I had eight matches and unfortunately there was no final with Rômulo Barral (Barral was injured). He showed he’s among the best, has been in all the finals since 2001, as a purple, brown and black belt. He’s won his weight group many times… There’s nothing to say. His results speak for him.

I enjoyed Rodrigo Cavaca and Tarsis Humphreys’s matches a lot” Xande Ribeiro

Xande lost to Barral in an evenly-matched bout. Photo: Ivan Trindade

Is there any other fighter who impressed you at the event?

I fell everyone is to be congratulated for having tried to evolve and invent new things. I only have a few complaints as to the rules. There are a lot of guys out there these days that fight to just get one point or advantage. It’s a criticism to promote. I feel folks should go for the finish more. But there were a lot of exciting matches at the event, it was well organized and all I have is that one positive criticism. I feel the rules need to evolve and the fighters need to show more. I enjoyed the matches of Rodrigo Cavaca and Tarsis Humphreys, who managed his first world title. Tarsis told me he has been trying ever since blue belt and the gold never came. He did away with that taboo. I feel this new gang Cavaca and Tarsis are to be congratulated.

Kid Peligro was there to get it all on the record. The place was packed with more than 20 black belts and 60 participants. Besides the seminar, which included beasts like Demian Maia, Royler promoted some of the participants, among them Alexandre RIbeiro, Rafael Lovato, Fredson Alves, Cleber Luciano and Paulo Guilhobel.

Check out the photos of the occasion taken by Kid.

[flickr set=72157624065047601]

São Paulo’s Demian Maia, 32, arrived in the U.S. this week and made sure not to let the pace in training for his Feb. 6 fight against the now also-black belt (as you read the other day on GRACIEMAG. com) Dan Miller lag.

He had barely touched down in California and the clever Demian headed straight for Jiu-Jitsu University, a GMA affiliate academy, for some no-gi training with Saulo and Xande Ribeiro.

” Xande’s Jiu-Jitsu is sharper than ever,” said the UFC middleweight in praise. “We train a lot, he, Cadu (Francis) and I.  Saulo was teaching at the time, but then he came over and gave me some important pointers for my game. As he always does, in fact. ”

From there, Demian headed for appointments with some sponsors, but didn’t let the dust settle.

“The time is coming (UFC 109), and I feel ready, in the best shape of my life. Now I’m in the car, arriving at Minotauro’s house in San Diego to do some training with him, Cigano and Dorea,” he said, excited and in a rush, trying to find his way. “A few more days and I’ll head to Las Vegas.”

Sure enough, Demian found the address. He set about working his firsts with the boxing coach, and kindly sent in some photos (taken by photographer Flavio Scorsato) to GRACIEMAG.com.

Check out the marathon of Demian’s training via twitter: @ demianmaia.