Becoming a Jiu-Jitsu black belt takes time and a lot of work. Everyone has their own path whether recreationally or through competition or both. There are people from all ages starting Jiu-Jitsu and getting to the real start, the black belt, at various times in their lives.

For two students at GMA Yemaso BJJ in Sacramento, CA they found that their promotion was met last month and given by Marcos Torregrosa.

In their speeches, Bill Click and Marcus Boness explain the journey and how it feels to reach the ultimate rank:

Marco Torregrosa and the Yemaso BJJ black belts. Photo: Personal archive

The 2014 year started very strong for Team Yemaso. Led by 2014 Pan Jiu-Jitsu, American National, No-Gi World champion Marcos Torregrosa, the team took a humble number of competitors to the San Francisco Open and brought home to Sacramento an IBJJF team title.

Throughout the year there were more and more challenges met and obstacles overcome. In June, Team Yemaso commenced the first of 3 different moves that now sees them in their final location. The times were very difficult but the team persevered together, a shining example of the beautiful and powerful bonds formed through our art.

The turnout at the promotion night. Photo: Personal archive

Team Yemaso just held their final promotion for the year and this was the biggest of them all. Marcus Boness and William Joseph Click celebrated one of the highest honors our sport can bestow: the black belt! After many years of consistent dedication and having met the goals they placed for themselves, Professor Torregrosa felt their time had come! Steven Tafoya, black belt with Team Yemaso since 2011 was also promoted. In a ceremony that included his brother Bruce Tafoya from Cleber Lucianos, Tafoya was promoted to 1st degree black belt.

Three brown belts were also awarded at promotions, Richard Selmar Bothun who, after having competed vigorously over the last two years alongside Torregrosa in many IBJJF competitions and having achieved the number one ranking in his belt and age, was promoted along with Shawn Cox and Rudolfo Vidarri.

Team Yemaso also saw the ascension of a number of purples and blues, further solidifying their presence in the Sacramento region as one of the most decorated and prestigious academies around.

Whenever in the Sacramento, California region don’t hesitate to stop in to the academy. Marcos Torregrosa teaches all classes and with the new year initiates a dedicated kids program to be run 5 days a week!

Go to www.Yemasobjj.com for more details.

At GMA Yemaso BJJ in Sacramento, CA you’ll find Samir Chantre teaching on August 16.

Samir is an active competitor who recently won the featherweight division at the 2014 IBJJF Vegas Summer Open and is also an instructor for Caio Terra Association.

The seminar will start at 10 a.m. and the cost is $50 per person.

Yemaso BJJ is located at 6831 Savings Place, Unit 209, Sacramento, CA.

For more information and to reserve your spot, contact Marcos Torregrosa at www.yemasobjj.com

The event will start at 10 a.m. and include food trucks, open mat rolling, prize raffles and giveaways and even a dunk tank.

The new Yemaso BJJ is located at 6831 Savings Pl Suite 209-210, Sacramento, CA 95828.

Learn more at www.yemasobjj.com

The Yemaso BJJ team at the 2013 IBJJF American Nationals. Photo: Randy Lacy

GMA member Marcos Torregrosa took his team down to Los Angeles for the 2013 American Nationals on Sept. 7-8 traveling from their Sacramento academy, Yemaso BJJ.

With seven competitors in the gi and no-gi brackets, every one of them came home with at least one medal. The total count from the weekend was twelve gold, three silver, one bronze.

Athlete list:

• Billy English – White/Master/Light
• Randy Lacy – Blue/Senior 1/Light
• Richard Wing Fu Wong – Purple/Juvenile/Middle
• Kyle Roberts – Purple/Adult/Heavy
• Richard Selmar Bothun – Purple/Senior 1/Middle
• Eliot Kelly – Black/Adult/Super-Heavy
• Marcos Torregrosa – Black/Master/Light

Check out how both black belts use their distance and space to sweep, pass, defend and submit. And some other stuff:

This Sunday, June 30, GMA member Marcos Torregrosa will host Paragon black belt Milton Bastos at his Sacramento, CA academy, Yemaso Jiu-Jitsu, starting at 10 a.m. Milton is most known for his constant competition schedule and his dedication to teaching at all of Paragon BJJ’s affiliate academies along the California Coast. Since 2009 he has acted as a substitute teacher when needed and teaches whenever and wherever necessary. Check out an article on GRACIEMAG about his teaching tips.

The cost will be $40 for pre-register and $50 at the door. The location is 5591 Sky Park Way Unit 401, Sacramento, CA 95823.

For more information and to reserve your spot visit www.YemasoBJJ.com or call (916) 768-1366.

Marcos Torregrosa em ação no Pan 2013. Foto: Alicia Anthony/IBJJF/Divulgação

O Pan 2013 começou na quarta-feira e já foi a plataforma de lançamento para novos valores, como o faixa-azul absoluto Dominic Pica (Gracie Elite) e o roxa absoluto Michael Liera Jr. Na faixa-preta, o absoluto também foi definido ontem. Marcus Buchecha enfrenta André Galvão e Gabi Garcia enfrenta a valente Bia Mesquita, peso leve.

O sábado, no entanto, também foi dia dos mestres e veteranos, que provaram que tem muito a ensinar, em Irvine, na Califórnia.No master, Rodrigo “Comprido” Medeiros (Brasa) venceu o absoluto depois de passar por Bruno Bastos (Nova União) na final. Rodrigo fisgou o bronze na categoria pesadíssimo, que foi vencida pelo sempre perigoso Rodrigo Munduruca (Gracie Humaitá).

O master estava de fato recheado de estrelas. No peso-pena, Denilson Pimenta (GFTeam) foi o campeão, em categoria que teve Baret Yoshida em terceiro lugar. No peso médio, Adriano Silva (Barbosa) foi o melhor. No meio-pesado, Rodrigo Pinheiro levou o título para a Gracie Humaitá.

Outros que brilharam entre os atletas com mais de 30 anos foram Gustavo “Sirizinho” Pires (Gracie Barra), melhor do superpesado, Marcos Torregrosa (Yemaso BJJ), ouro no leve após vencer Theodoro Canal, e Daniel Beleza (SAS), campeão no pluma. No pesado, Gustavo Camargo (Gracie Barra) venceu Fernando Soluço na final e ficou com o ouro.

No sênior, destaque para Roberto Godói, campeão superpesado e do aberto. Outro campeão com estilo foi Fabio Leopoldo, que comandou a divisão dos pesados, que contou com feras do naipe de Eduardo Telles (prata) e Marcelo Vilhena (bronze).

No sênior 1, Cassio Werneck venceu o médio e Cleber Luciano foi o mais eficiente do pena.

Já no sênior 2, Givanildo Santana (Lotus Club) foi implacável no pesado e no absoluto.

Siga a cobertura completa do Pan, nas redes sociais de GracieMag, no Google Plus, Twitter e Facebook.

Para ver os resultados completos, clique aqui!

GMA members Caio Terra and Marcos Torregrosa will be hosting seminars next week with world champions Leandro Lo and Luiza Monteiro. If you are in the area, head over as everyone is welcome!

Seminars will be on Friday, November 30 at Caio Terra BJJ located at 855 Park Avenue San Jose, CA 95126 starting 6:00pm and Sunday, December 2 at Yemaso Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy located at 5591 Sky Park Way Unit 401 Sacramento, CA 95823 starting at 10:00am.

The pair have been competing together for well over a year, supporting one another on and off the mats. After the Copa Kamikaze 8 competition in Brazil a year ago, Luiza said, “I get more pointers from him than he does from me. Just having Leandro Lo by my side makes me calm when I compete. I won a lot of matches thanks to him.” That day they both came out on top with wins in their respective absolute divisions, you can read about it here.

Make sure you register now for the events as prices are lower if you pre-register. This past tournament season they both gained places on the podium at every major competition they entered. Leandro won his lightweight division at the 2012 World Championships in June and Luiza claimed her black belt world title in the middleweight division at the recent 2012 No-Gi World Championships earlier this month. Both train under Cícero Costha and are attached to the hip at competitions so you can expect a great dual effort at both of these seminars.

Check out Leandro and Luiza in action below in some of their notable winning matches:

Augusto Tanquinho por baixo contra Herzog na final do absoluto. Foto: Dan Rod/GRACIEMAG.com.

Augusto Tanquinho foi o grande nome da 17ª edição do US Open, que rolou em San Jose, na Califórnia, nesse fim de semana. O representante da Soul Fighters venceu o peso leve e no aberto superou o peso pesado Diego Herzog (Ralph Gracie) por pontos.

Entre as equipes, a campeã no adulto foi a Ralph Gracie, seguida pela Coalition 95 e Yemaso BJJ.

Para conferir os resultados completos, clique aqui.

Veja os principais lances do torneio nas fotos do famigerado Dan Rod.

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Torregrosa in Rio

GMA member school Yemaso BJJ closed out an incredible year in competitions with a momentous promotion.

Instructor and current International Masters & Seniors champion Marcos “Yemaso” Torregrosa promoted his first black belt, Steven Tafoya along with Al Ramirez who ascended to the rank of brown belt. Mark Longshore, Director of Cache Creek security, also recieved his purple belt.

This along with many other blues helps solidify an already powerful house of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the Sacramento area, in California.

This comes after impressive performances at the US Open that not only saw our instructor take top honors in the black belt division but also a brown belt champion in Eliot Kelly who has also taken the No-Gi Pan and the No-Gi Worlds!

It has been a productive year for Team Yemaso and 2012 promises to be even better!

For more info, go to yemasobjj.com