#171 Returning to BJJ After an Injury with Danny Dring
June 28, 2009
Danny Dring
We’ve all heard those commercials on television from local lawyers asking, “Have you ever been injured in a car accident?” Now imagine that same voice in your head asking, “Have you ever been injured and had to take a break from Brazilian jiu-jitsu?” As in any sport, at some point or another we would all probably answer “yes” to that question.
This week on our BJJ internet radio show, we speak with someone very familiar with the physical and emotional issues jiu-jitsu practitioners face when they are prevented from training because of an injury. LivingDefense.com’s Danny Dring is a Nova Uniao black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Andre Pederneiras. Dring was sidelined from his very active lifestyle with a major hip surgery and went through the doldrums of jiu-jitsu withdrawal and even faced the possibility of never training again.
Dring will share tips on overcoming medical and psychological roadblocks to training jiu-jitsu when injured and getting back on the mats, where every member of the Mighty 600,000 wants to be!
Many thanks to John Graybeal for connecting us with Danny!
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#170 Rickson Gracie, Carlos Santos, and Niko Han
June 21, 2009
Rickson Gracie stares intently while watching his son Kron compete at the 2009 BJJ World Championship.
Last month when the cohost of The FightWorks Podcast Dan was invited by the Art of War to cover their mixed martial arts event, we knew he would come home with great interviews from the jiu-jitsu world but we did not know how good! This week’s show will feature a sampling of some of the conversations he was able to capture while in Beijing, China. All three interviewees this week are pioneers in spreading Brazilian jiu-jitsu to different parts of the world.
First off is the legendary Rickson Gracie. Rickson needs no introduction and in the conversation you will hear in this episode, Rickson talks about his role in the jiu-jitsu world at this point in his career, as well as his Invisible Jiu-Jitsu seminar series.
From there Dan’s interviews take us to Indonesia, with Niko Han. Niko has been the pioneer in bringing Brazilian jiu-jitsu to his corner of the world and is now a black belt. We will hear all about the interesting passage of BJJ to Indonesia from Niko himself.
Carlos “Carlao” Santos has a similar story of being a jiu-jitsu disciple in a foreign land. Santos accepted a temporary offer to teach Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the United Arab Emirates and has been there ever since, fostering the adoption of BJJ in public schools and the military, as well as organizing the star-studded World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship which took place recently.
Finally we bring on 2009 black belt gold medalist Penny Thomas to answer an email we received from one of the Mighty 600,000 . (Email us or leave a message at 877-247-4662 if you have a question for our guests!)
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#169 2009 BJJ World Championships
June 14, 2009
Roger Gracie (Gracie Barra), gold medalist in the black belt absolute and super heavyweight divisions, submits Bruno Bastos (Nova Uniao) at the 2009 BJJ World Championship.
As inevitable as Roger Gracie’s choke from the mount, we bring you our special edition, wrap-up show of the historic 2009 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship that took place last weekend! With the jiu-jitsu Mundial champions we bring you in this episode, there is more gold, silver, and bronze in this show than in a jewelry store. In addition to the conversations we recorded at California State Long Beaches’ Pyramid on Sunday with the champions we list below, you will hear the chanting of Alliance, Gracie Barra, and Gracie Humaita teams that is a major part of the Mundial experience, as well as analysis of the event from Caleb and Dan, the hosts of the show.
We will include interviews with:
- 2009 Black Belt Male Absolute Champion Roger Gracie
- 2009 Black Belt Female Absolute Champion Lana Stefanac
- Roger Gracie’s father Mauricio Motta Gomes
- 2009 Black Belt Male Middle Heavyweight silver medalist Tarsis Humphreys
- 2009 Black Belt Male Middle Heavyweight gold medalist and Absolute division silver medalist Romulo Barral
- 2009 Black Belt Male Middle Heavyweight bronze medalist Victor Estima
- 2009 Black Belt Male Heavyweight gold medalist Braulio Estima
- Fabio “The General” Gurgel, a leader of Alliance, the 2009 Adult Team Champion
And since we cannot neglect The Mighty 600,000, we will also include listener email!
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#168 2009 BJJ World Championship Coverage
June 7, 2009
Lightweight brown belt 2009 BJJ world champions from left to right: JT Torres (Lloyd Irvin) 2nd place, Bruno “Robinho” Amorim (Gracie Barra) 1rst place, Chris Westfall (Lutter BJJ) 3rd place, Steve Rosenberg (Nova Uniao) 3rd place.
Saturday’s action at the 2009 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championships is behind us! Saturday is when the majority of black belt males and black & brown belt ladies compete, scraping their way from their crowded divisions and into the semifinals and finals, which are held on Sunday. We lived blogged all the action yesterday (and continue to do so today).
In today’s episode of The FightWorks Podcast we speak with Luca Atalla, the editor in chief of GracieMag. Luca will discuss some of the day’s biggest surprises (Antonio Braga Neto’s disappointing performance for example), as well as some of the fighters in what must be the toughest division around right now: the middleweight division, which is home to names like Kron Gracie, Lucas Leite, Sergio Moraes, and Marcelo Garcia.
The show will also review our most recent BJJ Polls and we’ll hear from a FightWorks Podcast listener who emailed us about a time when Brazilian jiu-jitsu saved him in a violent mugging.
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#167 Art of War and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in China
May 31, 2009
The great wall of China.
Last week the cohost of The FightWorks Podcast cohost Dan made the looong trip from Northern Virginia to Beijing, China. The FightWorks Podcast was invited by China’s mixed martial arts promotion Art of War, which held a major MMA event on May 23, attended by such Brazilian jiu-jitsu stars as Rickson Gracie, Renzo Gracie, and many others.
In this episode Dan will relay his experience at the Art of War show and will bring back interviews from representatives of the Brazilian jiu-jitsu scene in China. Pedro Schmall, a black belt under Royler Gracie and Thomas Fan, a brown belt under Ze
Marcello (head coach of BTT Europe) have planted the seeds of Brazilian jiu-jitsu in China and have been working hard to cultivate the jiu-jitsu students in a culture which has a long tradition of and appreciation for martial arts.
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#166 UNIJJ Prepares for the Mundials: Saulo & Xande Ribeiro, Leo Santos
May 24, 2009
2008 BJJ Mundials Black Belt Absolute Division Champion Xande Ribeiro trains against Big Leo Santos in preparation for the 2009 Mundials.
June 4-7 brings us another Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship and few places anywhere take the competition as seriously as the University of Jiu-Jitsu. The UNIJJ, started by Saulo Ribeiro and his brother Xande Ribeiro, attract some of jiu-jitsu’s toughest athletes across all weight, rank, and gender divisions. The UNIJJ’s record of successes brings an obligation to continue producing some of the best competitors in jiu-jitsu.
In today’s episode of The FightWorks Podcast, we speak with both Saulo Ribeiro and his brother Xande, as well as newly minted black belt Leo Santos. Saulo discusses the responsibility UNIJJ has to represent the highest levels of jiu-jitsu, how they go about preparing, as well as some of the individuals who choose UNIJJ as their training camp like Kron Gracie.
Xande will talk about his preparation to defend his title as the 2008 BJJ Mundials mens absolute division champion, an achievement viewed by many as the pinnacle of Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition. Only a few weeks prior to the upcoming Mundials, Xande successfully fought in his second mixed martial arts fight and has had to change gears to prepare for jiu-jitsu again, much the same way Roger Gracie did, who was his opponent in the finals of the absolute division last year.
For his part, Leo Santos won the brown belt ultra-heavyweight division in the 2008 BJJ Mundials. Santos was recently promoted to black, so we will hear his thoughts on his going from the world of elite brown belt competition into the shark tank with the black belts.
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#165 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Northern California
May 17, 2009
Ralph Gracie black belt Kurt Osiander teaching jiu-jitsu class in Northern California.
The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Pan-Ams. The BJJ World Championships. For years these heavyweight jiu-jitsu tournaments have taken place in Southern California. As the seeds of Brazilian jiu-jitsu were already planted in Los Angeles by Helio Gracie’s sons, Carley Gracie, Cesar Gracie, and Ralph Gracie decided to cultivate their family’s martial art in Northern California.
With such a vibrant and active jiu-jitsu community in Southern California, sometimes Northern California’s contribution to BJJ in the United States is overlooked. Today on our humble BJJ Radio show, we explore the early days in Northern California and the contributions made by NorCal BJJ folks. Not only do early students of “the gentle art” in the California’s Bay Area include names like BJ Penn and Dave Camarillo, but we cannot forget that influential platforms for BJJ online like onthemat.com and BJJ.org (no longer in operation) began in NorCal.
The Mighty 600,000 receive their education on the Northern California jiu-jitsu scene from two Ralph Gracie black belts, Kurt Osiander and Alan “Gumby” Marques, co-owner of onthemat.com.
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#164 World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup with Braulio Estima
May 10, 2009
Braulio Estima celebrates at the WPJJC after submitting Marcelo Garcia by triangle.
The first ever World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup took place last weekend in Abu Dhabi. Top jiu-jitsu competitors from all over the world made the trek to the United Arab Emirates for chances at prizes that reached $7,000 for black belts. With patronage from Sheik Zayed Al Nahyan, the tourney was organized by Carlos Santos and drew hundreds of athletes.
Unlike almost all Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournaments, the event was held outside in an open-air coliseum and was televised on local United Arab Emirates media. But like most BJJ events, it was full of exciting finishes:
- Rafael Mendes defeated Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles
- Rodolfo Vieira defeated Rafael Lovato Jr.
- Marcelo Garcia lost by triangle to Braulio Estima
This week on The FightWorks Podcast, we will speak with Braulio Estima, who came in second place in the black belt absolute division behind Tarsis Humphreys. Estima, who resides in the United Kingdom now, won the 2009 European Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships and was no doubt considered a contender for winning the absolute division at the World Pro Jiu-Jitsu Cup. If you wish you could have traveled to the event, do not worry! Estima gives us all the details on the event and more.
Finally, we include an installment of the popular Black Belt Corner. Our guest this time around: the man who introduced Brazilian jiu-jitsu to the United Arab Emirates: Nelson Monteiro!
Many thanks to GracieMag for the photo!
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#163 Preparation for BJJ Tournaments with Martin Rooney
May 3, 2009
Jiu-jitsu greats Roger Gracie, Romulo Barral, and Braulio Estima working out at Martin Rooney’s facility in New Jersey.
Martin Rooney, a returning guest on The FightWorks Podcast, is an elite trainer for combat sports athletes and the author of the popular book Training for Warriors: The Ultimate Mixed Martial Arts Workout
Although there is no formal time of the year where jiu-jitsu competitions are officially held (as iCompete.org shows, they are held all the time these days) some might say this time of year can be considered “BJJ competition season”, as the BJJ Pan-Ams took place about a month ago, the World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup was held this very weekend, and the World Championships are around the corner. With that in mind, in this episode of our BJJ radio show, Rooney shares tips with the Mighty 600,000 on physical and mental preparation for Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition. Who knows, maybe listening to this week’s show will bring you one step closer to performing like Roger Gracie on the mats!
We will also discuss the 2009 World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup, listener mail, review of our latest BJJ Poll, and tons more!
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#162 Protection from Dangerous Behavior in Jiu-Jitsu Tournaments
April 26, 2009
A submission grappling competitor lifts his opponent over his head at the Copa Nova earlier this year.
On April 18 James Clingerman was competing in the Ohio Grappling Challenge when his opponent picked him up and instead of bringing Clingerman down to the mat on his back, he spiked him on his head - a move that had the potential to paralyze Clingerman. (Video of the incident is found here on YouTube and takes place at about the 3 minute and 40 second mark). Although Clingerman was unconscious for 20 seconds and was taken to the emergency room, thankfully it is believed that he avoided neck and spinal damage according to x-ray and CT scans since the event. Today on the FightWorks Podcast we speak with Clingerman and Dustin Ware, the promoter of the OGC who was matside when the illegal move took place.
Why spend time on our show discussing a single incident like this? As a safe competition environment is critical to all of the Brazilian jiu-jitsu and submission grappling community, we will actually go beyond the details of this unfortunate event and take things a step further this week on The FightWorks Podcast. We discuss the implications of reckless behavior in competition for the sport of grappling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. To do so we brought on the biggest names in jiu-jitsu tournaments in the United States:
- Mike Buckels, the technical director for the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation’s events in the United States
- Joe Cuff, of the North American Grappling Association (NAGA)
- Andrew Smith, of US Grappling
- Brian Cimins, of Grapplers Quest, who had his own grappling career cut short by spinal injury that took place during a match that you can see at the 4 minute 28 second mark in this video.
In each conversation, the tournament promoters agree that such behavior is absolutely unacceptable and obviously disqualifies a competitor from that day’s event. Most agree that reckless endangerment of one’s opponent could also result in long term prohibitions from participation in future BJJ tourneys. Perhaps most importantly, all of these jiu-jitsu tournament promotions agree that they would be in favor of sharing information about such competitors to reduce the likelihood that a dangerous competitor enters their events or others’ events and puts anyone at risk.
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