5 Things I Learned From the 2014 IBJJF Pan-Ams

5. Michael Liera Jr. has a dangerous, traditional, fundamental, basic, solid closed guard
  b. he will submit you once he gets to your back



4. Victor Estima put Leandro Lo in more danger than virtually anyone I've seen (Rodolfo at the Copa Podio doesn't count, he's a heavyweight) since Kron Gracie

3.

3. Handshakes in the finals, 5 out of 10 to be exact are *&^^&^$%.
Don't expect to be paid as professionals if you handshake it out.
Guys who don't even directly train together were handshaking it up.
This HAS to be addressed. No one wants to tune in Sunday to see HALF of the finals decided with two dudes grinning ear to ear both acting like they're the champion.
No, bro....you are not. Neither of you are actually.

2. Keenan at Black Belt lost to Alexander Trans in an exceedingly close match. He is one to watch at black belt and had looked very good at the Pro Trials and NoGi against Jackson Sousa in the UFC style NoGi Grappling submission stuff.



1. Lapel-o-plata for 5 plus minutes is slightly more exciting than Braulio's "Galaxy guard" he used to stall the living death out of Rodolfo for nearly 20 minutes at the Metamoris
 

Honorable Mention: Lovato vs Yuri Simoes

 

My Metamoris Apologies

I have not hesitated in the past to lambast the Metamoris when I felt it fell short of expectations. That being said, I feel I owe it credit where credit is due when it put on a streamlined, enjoyable, and legitimate attempt at a professional level grappling event for PPV. Jokes aside from the guy they chose to announce, Raka Mat something or other, the fights started right after 7, went quickly, there was a strange vignette piece with Ken-Flo talking about why Jiu-Jitsu is awesome, but overall I truly enjoyed the event.

Zak Maxwell vs Sean Roberts
I thought Zak would take it with a tighter game and overall control as he surpassed Roberts' flexibility. That was pretty much how it went with Zak achieving mount and looking for some good submissions along the way including what looked like a tight armbar.

Gui Mendes vs Samir Chantre
Winner by baseball/brabo variation. Myself and a good friend and training partner were betting which baseball choke/brabo choke variation would be Samir's undoing and Gui made relatively short work of Samir despite some cuff/inside the pant leg grabbing and the like. Gui passed the guard pretty damn quickly and from there the end was nigh.

Dean Lister vs Babalu
Babalu went for it and wasn't overly cautious in his engaging of the leg lock master with Dean looking more listless as the match waned. Having seen

Keenan Cornelius vs Kevin Casey
Made the best of what they could with a last minute replacement. Got to see Keenan grapple, not against Magalhaes, but not Metamoris' fault.

Rafa Mendes vs Clark Gracie
....it was very....."modern". It's disheartening to see two competitors unwilling to try and stand up or kneel and actually pass the guard. I get the strategy at least in part, I get that passing to the back is easier and more direct perhaps than a traditional guard pass, but in a submission only match with no points lost for potentially getting swept, it would have been nice to see someone attack the other's guard. Good perhaps in that it wasn't the Miyao/Keenan level of refusal to really attack and engage with the ankle grab battle...but still, hard to stomach for someone who wants to still believe even sport jiu-jitsu can be rooted in a martial art.

Royler vs Eddie Bravo
I knew based on seeing Eddie roll with Marcelo that he has legit grappling chops. He looked the worse for wear early on hanging onto that bottom half-guard like his young child's life depended on it and Royler sticking to that head/arm/gable grip to pass knee through. Interesting to see Royler forgo attacking/underhooking the inside/inversion arm. The underhook was lost, Eddie went for it like his or his kid's life depended on it, and inverted which eventually led to the sweep.
Something I'll be rewatching with interest in the future. Eventually, Eddie got where he wanted underneath and things began to crumble but Royler was never so much dominated as online pundits might claim or purport. As much as Bravo swept, Royler would get back to top position and ultimately it was an interesting battle of old school jiu-jitsu versus a more modern style. For a guy that purports to teach NoGi/UFC/MMA style submission grappling, Eddie's pants, ankle wraps, and leggings I would assume kinda make that claim a bit disingenuous. I give him all the credit he deserves for showing he has legit grappling skills, but don't call it NoGi if you're pretty layered up from the waist down.

That Other Promotion: WSOF Multimedia Mailbag Edition: Palhares Heel Hook edition

Hendo was on TRT for Shogun Rematch - where is all the comparable hate?

So.....in the interest of keeping it egalitarian, Vitor was the poster boy for TRT exemption. He was by no means the only guy on it, but just the most devastating on it based on his highlight reel KO's of late.
He was the Lance Armstrong of TRT.
That being said...why does Hendo get a pass for being on TRT? He's had some violent KO's while on the TRT sauce.....

The Other Side of the Story: Gracie Barra Irvine Talks Otavio Sousa

READ it in full HERE.
IN the interest of full disclosure, here is the response to Otavio's claims regarding his firing from GB Irvine.

"

There is actually much less drama involved than everyone thinks.

Unfortunately emotions have taken over, his ‘supporters' and ‘friends' rushing to unfounded and unconfirmed conclusions, and the entire situation has (as is par-for-the-course in BJJ) been blown out of proportion.

Here's the truth no one wants to hear...

Last fall, Otavio demanded an exorbitant and inappropriate salary to stay on as head instructor.

The management team and I conceded to his demands dependent upon his ability to follow a strict schedule that was of his own creation.

In less than a month Otavio began to break his own contractual obligations by traveling to Brazil for an entire month, continued multiple unscheduled out of state seminars, and continued to shirk academy responsibilities for his own training schedule.

His frequent and often spur-of-the-moment absences had a trackable and direct effect on the retention rate of new students.

Secondly, Otavio adamantly refused to teach to the established (or any) curriculum.

Using classes as his own personal practice sessions, the jiu-jitsu of Gracie Barra headquarter's students and instructors began to degrade to the point of frequent injury simply because they were only learning a handful of movements as opposed to an entire method.

This was brought to Otavio's attention multiple times internally and by GB executive director Marcio Feitosa.

Finally, the ‘disrespectful' dismissal email.

English is not Otavio's first language. He has a phenomenal command of it, but important issues like this have always needed to written so he has a clear understanding.

While yes, he was sent a termination of employment letter, options and a plan of action were proposed to discuss further upon his return in person.

He was given an almost embarrassingly generous severance package which will allow him to focus on his training all the way up to the World Championships without any working responsibilities or financial hardships.

And it was also made clear that myself and Professor Marcio would be working with him directly to find an alternate position within the extensive Gracie Barra network that would better fit his hectic schedule.

Our lack of explanation or commentary up until this point was simply an attempt to protect Otavio's career and future employment opportunities.

World Champion or not, what responsible business owner can have a head instructor who demands 4x as much salary as everyone else but is only there 40% of the workweek?

Otavio is a great guy, he will be missed, and I wish only the best for him in the future. However, life goes on.

Instructors need to start managing their careers (and their emotions) more responsibly if they want to enjoy the lifestyle they expect to have. It's as simple as that.

Classes are still in session, we have the full support of the Gracie Barra organization, and we are actively in talks with some exciting alternatives to fill the head-instructor position."

Gracie Barra Fires Otavio Sousa

2x world champion along with a hooooost of other accolades (incidentally, I visited/trained at GB Pernambuco where he began)

Full Article HERE

"Hi Guys, Last night I just received an email from professor Chris saying that I was fired from Gracie Barra Headquarters, without any warning from before. When I was in Irvine teaching, the responsible guys from GB Headquarters Chris and Derek didn't say anything that they were planing to do that. No communication at all. I got really shocked when I got to know about that, it wasn't even from them that I get to know, I was the last to know about it. I was even telling the students here in Costa Rica to Come visit Gracie Barra Irvine in CA to train with, without knowing what was going on. like I always did, representing the Flag and doing the marketing of our academy (GB IRVINE). They are saying that I am never there in Irvine which is not true because I am always traveling to teach seminars and they complaint that my reluctance to adhere to GB curriculum and standards have no choice for them to make that decision. But nobody came to me and said nothing before. I just want to let everyone know because they didn't even leave me the chance for me to say good buy to you guys. I am sure everyone understands about the times the I have to leave to make seminars, thats my way of making money and be able to live out of my country and make a living of jiu jitsu because what they promises me they never did it, always passing the responsibility to the other one because they never took responsibility with what they promise, or say. I didn't liked at all they way things happened, this is not a very good atitude. It was going to be more nice if they have come to me, to my face and say: we don't want you here because of this or that, instead of letting everyone know and let me know while I am traveling and by email.

But thats fine, everything happens for a reason in life. I will keep fighting and overcome like I am used to do. I just want to say that I love you all (students) and its a chame to leave like that. I will stop by to say hi to you guys when I get back from Costa Rica.

Regarding the training competition, that we were doing in the mornings, the 9 am class, since I don't have a place to train anymore and they cancelled those classes that was my only time to prepare my self for tournaments I will talk to you guys when I get there. hope everyone have a great weekend and I will see you all soon. I didn't want to say all that over the internet but the way I got this news wasn't good at all. But that's what my heart is making me do it, even thought I am exposing my self that way but I couldn't even sleep last night. See you all soon."

Royce Talks Online Belt-ing/Testing

Click HERE for the full Article

















This comes as no surprise to me as I'm actually under 2 Royce Gracie black belts.
Our gym in general is not quick to promote and everyone who is promoted has a lot of mat time to their belt. Period. There's just no other way around it.

"“I wonder if Gracie Academy Students paying $200 know that all they need to get good at jiu-jitsu is to join online Gracie University. I find it ironic that worlds like Gracie and Online learning are somehow tied into worlds like Helio Gracie. It’s a shame when your own family changes the concepts of everything you stood for then uses your name and then is actually tying to convince the world that it’s better to learn from a screen then a person specially the art as complex and technical as jiujitsu. And on keepingitplayful. Helio Gracie has a saying “two men playing I smell blood” #ikeepithonest. @realroyce”"