Professor:

Black Belt Vince Vanderlipe

Address: 315 N. Main St., Salinas, CA 93901

Phone: 831 757 4000

Website: www.teamkugtar.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/KUGTAR-MIXED-MARTIAL-ARTS-LLC/108202607541

About:

Kugtar Mixed Martial Arts Academy is the premier martial arts academy in Monterey County. Founded in 1995, training is conducted five days a week with on-site instructors specializing in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Tang Soo Do, Kickboxing, Mixed Martial Arts, Judo, Muay Thai, Eskrima, and Boxing.

New students are welcome to join at any time. Both youth and adult classes are available. It is recommended that new or prospective students observe and participate in a trial class, talk with the instructors and then decide if the classes are right for them. Several types of classes are offered to cater and fit into everyone’s lifestyle.

Family member discounts or class combination discounts available when enrolled in in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Tang Soo Do, Kickboxing, Mixed Martial Arts, Eskrima, Judo and Boxing!

Kugtar Mixed Martial Arts Academy provides a safe, clean, enjoyable environment where students can learn as well as learning respect for one another. We view all of our members as part of the Team Kugtar Family and we encourage our members to support each other both in class and outside the academy. We constantly strive to provide the means of improvement for ourselves and our students. No where else can you get this expert level of instruction.

Our new 4800 sq. ft. facility is located at 315 N. Main St, in Salinas CA. We are able to conduct training in a state of the art environment, which also includes cardio and weight training equipment, as well as a state of the art audio and visual system.

Kugtar Mixed Martial Arts Academy is extremely proud to be the only Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Monterey County to have seven professionally sanctioned fighters who specialized in MMA, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Boxing and Wrestling. Kugtar Mixed Martial Arts Academy is also a proud member of the Salinas City Chamber of Commerce.

Our belts aren’t given, they are earned! Train with Champions & be a Champion in life!

Video:

Go compete at the 2nd Rising Sun Nationals, BJJ and No-Gi tournament in Daly City, California,  at Jefferson High School.

Kugtar MMA hosts BJJ C'Ship

GMA member Kgtar MMA is hosting a BJJ event next weekend.

The 2nd Annual Quake City BJJ Tournament is open for athletes of all ages from all academies.

It is scheduled next Saturday, July 7th, in Vallejo, California.

For more info, go to teamkugtar.com

The leader of Kugtar BJJ is promoting the 1st Annual Salinas Open BJJ Championship.

It is schedulled December 17th, at the Harden Middle School, in Salinas.

The cost to compete is $30 for kids and $40 for adults and juveniles.

For more info and to register, go to strongvon.com/salinasbjjopen.

GMA members Vince Vanderlipe and Claudio França invite to Bushido Open Championship.

The tournament takes place this October 29th, at the Crown Plaza resort, in Garden Grove, California.

It has divisions for women and men from kids to seniors.

The registration cost is $45.

For more info, click here.

Prova de que o Clube Barra é um time voltado para o futuro. Mas será uma equipe tão recente assim? Sim e não.

Clube Barra é o novo time do nosso GMA Claudio França com seus faixas-pretas, mas a história da equipe já tem 20 anos.

A molecada do Clube Barra. Foto: Divulgação.

Ele conta: “A Barra da Tijuca era a grande capital do Jiu-Jisu nos anos 1990, e em 1991 criei com o Marcus Vinícius, professor hoje em Beverly Hills, a equipe Clube Barra, já que dávamos aula por ali, no condomínio Riviera, no Atlântico Sul e na academia Fisilabor, todas na vizinhança”, relembra o faixa-preta, que também organizava com Marcus Vinícius (e Joe Moreira no início) a Copa Atlântico Sul. “Até 1995 a equipe era uma das mais competitivas no cenário carioca”.

Ao chegar na Califa para tocar a vida em 1996, Claudio deixou o nome de lado, por não fazer sentido em Santa Cruz e para fortalecer seu nome como professor de Jiu-Jitsu. Hoje, com diversos faixas-pretas formados, Claudio quis um nome mais impessoal, que incluísse os demais professores.

Clube Barra, então, tornou-se o time de Claudio, Vince Vanderlipe e Daniel Thomas, representado ainda por faixas-pretas como Carlos Melo, Mike Weaver, Gary Casey e Tyson Kamp, além do marrom Nathan Mandelsohn, que começou na academia de França aos 7 anos de idade.

“Sentamos e pensamos, mas botar nome em equipe é mais difícil que botar nome em filho”, diz França, meio brincando, meio a sério. E assim o nome Clube Barra voltou com força. Força mesmo, como se vê pelos resultados e perspectivas.

Para o Pan 2011, a equipe vai levar cerca de 60 atletas a Irvine, e sonha repetir algo parecido com o Pan Kids, quando ficou em segundo lugar geral e faturou o troféu de primeiro lugar na divisão de 7 a 9 anos.

“Aconteceu mais rápido que eu esperava, pois levamos no máximo 10% das nossas crianças. A equipe na realidade já era forte, mas estava dividida. É mais uma prova de que no Jiu-Jitsu não tem milagre, o sucesso vem com o tempo”, reflete, para analisar onde o time tem mais chance. “Nosso juvenil é bem forte, vamos para subir no pódio nessa divisão. O adulto vai com 30 atletas, mas ainda está se fortalecendo para os próximos anos. No Master e Sêniors vamos mais forte, com chance de ir ao pódio também.”

Bem no papel de treinador e de organizador de eventos (sua American Cup, evento tradicional na Califa, é agora no dia 30 de abril), Claudio França não compete desde 2000. E explica isso numa frase simples e direta, como um bom golpe:

“Hoje é mais importante eu trabalhar como coach e organizador do que ficar no quarto descansando para lutar no dia seguinte”.

E sua equipe, está forte para o Pan 2011? Comente abaixo. E para saber mais sobre o Clube Barra, acesse www.claudifrancabjj.com .

Solid proof Clube Barra is a team with its sights set on the future. But is it really all that new a team? Well. . . Yes and no.

Clube Barra is the new team of our GMA Professor Claudio França and his black belts, but the story behind the team goes back a good twenty years.

The kids at Clube Barra / Photo: publcity

“Barra da Tijuca was Jiu-Jitsu’s capital in the 1990s, and in 1991 Marcus Vinicius, who now teaches in Beverly Hills, and I created Clube Barra, since we taught around there, at Riviera condominium, Atlântico Sul and at Fisilabor gym – all around the same area,” recounts the black belt, who also promoted Copa Atlântico Sul championship with Marcus Vinícius (and Joe Moreira at the start). “Up until 1995 the team was one of the most competitive in the Rio scene,” he adds.

Upon his 1996 arrival in California, Claudio stashed the name, as it made no sense in Santa Cruz and as he wanted to push his own name as a Jiu-Jitsu teacher. Now, having produced numerous black belts, Claudio wants a less personal name, one that can include other teachers.

Hence team Clube Barra, now comprised of Claudio, Vince Vanderlipe, Daniel Tomas and further bolstered by black belts like Carlos Melo, Mike Weaver, Gary Casey and Tyson Kamp, as well as brown belt Nathan Mandelsohn, who started out at França’s academy at seven years of age.

“We sat down and thought about it, but giving a team a name is harder than giving one to your son,” says França, half joking half serious. And thus the name Clube Barra came back strong. Really strong, as one can tell from the team’s results.

For the 2011 Pan, the team will be taking a sixty-man troop to Irvine and it dreams of a repeat of what it accomplished at the Pan Kids, when it took second overall and won the first-place trophy in the 7-to-9-year old division.

“It happened quicker than I’d thought, as we took at most 10% of our kids. The team was already really strong, but it was scattered. It’s further proof of how there are no miracles in Jiu-Jitsu, success comes with time,” he reflects, to then analyze where the team’s greatest chances lie. “Our juvenile team is really strong — we’re going to make it onto the podium in that division. We’ll take thirty athletes in the adult division, but we’re still strengthening it for the years to come. We’ll be stronger in the Master and Senior, with a shot at placing, too.”

Now stuck in the role of trainer and event promoter (his American Cup, a traditional California event, is coming up on April 30), Claudio França hasn’t competed since 2000. And he explains it with a phrase both simple and direct, like a swift punch:

“These days it’s more important for me to work as coach and promoter than to lie around in a room resting to compete the next day.”

What about your team, is it in good stead for Pan 2011? Comment below. And to find out more about Clube Barra, visit www.claudiofrancabjj.com.