IBJJF 2014 Worlds Results

Worlds happened this past weekend, and a lot of the big players were either in the finals, or walked away with a gold medal.

According to IBJJF’s Instagram (because that’s where I get all my news, obviously) Buchecha won the Black Belt Adult Open class for the third time in a row, Beatriz Mesquita won the Women’s Adult Black Belt Open, so hooray for them!

Also, Keenan Cornelius was disqualified for a knee reap, which may or may not have happened. There’s a video floating around of the move in question, but it’s from the wrong angle so it’s hard to tell.

I should have been watching the finals, but to be honest I was walking around Philadelphia instead, enjoying the sunshine and taking photos.

How was everyone else’s weekend? Did you watch the finals? See the footage of the supposed knee reap? Or were you enjoying the sunshine/weather wherever you are?

Let me know- otherwise, have a great day everyone!

Happy Friday: Labor Day Weekend Edition

Happy Friday everyone!

Hope everyone had a great summer; good training sessions, maybe a vacation or two and so on.

I don’t have much time to talk today, so instead here are some awesome photos from a family reunion trip I went on over the summer:

Hopefully you all also had a moment this summer to appreciate nature-

A chance to relax-

And a couple of super fun times-

Have a great weekend and happy Labor Day everyone!

 

 

Metamoris II: Coming June 9th

So rumor has it that Metamoris will have their next tournament on June 9th. There’s a highlight video of the last Metamoris running around. It’s posted below if you would like to watch it.

It would be interesting if they added women to the next card. Ah well, we’ll see if that happens.

 

 

IBJJF Pans: Personal Highlights

So we’re back, and here are some of the things I remember from the trip:

The trip was long, partially due to a layover in Minneapolis. But, they have iPads in their restaurants!

I was told this isn’t too uncommon, especially in more metropolitan areas- but I have actually never been to Minnesota, so to me the state is comprised of farms and the Mall of  America, so I was surprised when I saw their totally modern airport….And if anyone is from Minneapolis, I apologize for underestimating you and I’m sure your city is lovely.  And your coffee is pretty good as well: although I was a little weirded out by all the fish options on the menu… anyway, moving on.

Jiu jitsu! And more jiu jitsu!

we had people fighting every day, which was great, but we also have a really close team that wants to root each other on and spend hours upon hours upon hours  sitting in the Bren Event Center, which can be a little tiring after a while.

Our team did all right: we had a lot of first timers out at an IBJJF tournament, some won some medals, some didn’t. Some of the matches were pretty interesting, if you are crazy…er, committed enough to looking through all the footage of the tournament. The most notable one that comes to mind are the fact that MMA fighter Ben Henderson competed (at brown belt) and the black belt final between Buchecha* and Andre Galvao. 

And I competed as well!

 

As I reported earlier, I lost my first match in my division, but due to a by (bye?) I was able to compete in the absolute. Which I also lost. Welp, just more stuff to work on for the next tournament. Speaking of which, any brown belt girls registered for the New York Open?…Anyone? 

*Cricket* 

 

And then….Go Karting! 

 

 

And the Beach!

 

The Panorama turned out a little weird, but I didn’t want to spend all my time taking and re-taking photos while I was standing in warm, gorgeous weather just a few hours before I had to head back to the East Coast. 

It was all fun and good times were had, but now it’s time to get back to work and get ready for the next tournament. 

 

*for anyone who reads this and doesn’t do jiu jitsu: Buchecha is a nickname for black belt Marcus Almeida. On an adorable note, it’s a Portuguese nickname meaning cheek, because when he started jiu jitsu he was overweight and had chubby cheeks.  

Metamoris: a Good Start

So Sunday night I watched Metamoris, and I have to say it was a good start to what will hopefully be a number of these tournaments, even with the rough patches and broadcasting issues. The biggest problem I feel were the draws- which, I mean happen and are certainly understandable, it’s just I feel there should have been some other safeguard in place, or some measure that could be taken to discourage a draw.

Some options would include either some small reward for the fighter who made obvious attempts to drive the fight, but that leads to a whole new set of problems.  One teammate suggested have the prize shrink in size as the match goes on, to encourage fighters to hustle, even in the face of the 20 minute time limit.

I feel this a good event and I would like to see more of them, but with just this one issue slightly tweaked while still maintaining the essence of  “no points, just submissions”.

That, the inclusion of women’s matches, and 2 commentators who know how to fill the gaps between matches, rather than just one: I’m looking at you, guy-who’s-not-Rener.

PS: making this a quarterly or semi-annual event to offer an opportunity to include more top level BJJ practitioners from around the country would also be pretty sweet. Just saying.

And So Cold Season Begins

Posting this week may be a little more off than usual, or I may take forever approving/responding to comments. Or both. You would all understand why if you saw me at the very moment- Sunday night (I’m scheduling this post to hit Monday morning) typing on my laptop, with a wadded up tissue protruding from my left nostril.

Our coach went and competed in The Master/Senior Worlds in Long Beach. I don’t know the results just yet, but I imagine he did well. Saulo and Xande are also competing, and I imagine they also did well. I will let you know when I hear results.

In the meantime I’m going to take out this tissue, drug myself up some more on this chest congestion relief/cough suppressant, and hit the sack.

See ya later kids!

Oh Yay!…Oh No….

Someone took a great deal of time and effort to create a ranking spreadsheet for those who have competed in IBJJF tournaments, and I am on the list, yay!

However, if Fitocracy has taught me anything, it’s that I am a ridiculously goal oriented person, and I will start setting up goal for myself to get higher in the rankings. Which shouldn’t be impossible, considering I haven’t been completing in that many tournaments period this year. But still, it means possibly pushing myself a lot harder.

Oh my.

If you are a competitor and want to see if you are on the list, check out the site: http://www.worldofjiujitsu.com/home

 

What it Takes to be a Part of the Ribeiro Jiu Jitsu Association

While the team was in California, our coach John talks about what the Ribeiro Jiu Jitsu Association means to him, and what kind of academies he would recommend join the Ribeiro Jiu Jitsu Association.

Check it out!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday, 4.11.12

It’s everywhere, even on the awards podium.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you…. The “Katie Face”:

I’m Just Gonna Leave This Here….

I know it’s not Wednesday, but I am simply going to leave you with a picture, a description, and an invitation for discussion.

This is the “Gracie Dress Belt”. Offered through the Gracie Academy store, part of the description on the website reads:

“Gracie Jiu-Jitsu isn’t a martial art, it’s a lifestyle. With our new Gracie Dress Belts, you can continue to keep it real long after you leave the gym since these belts are designed to be worn with casual street attire (jeans, shorts, etc.). The belt is available in all colors and one size fits all (sizes 28 to 40).”

Discuss.