Happy Holidays from Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu!

Happy Holidays from everyone here at Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu!

Please enjoy the time with your families and friends.  Eat, drink, and be merry because come January we are going right back into the swing of things with a local tournament on the 9th as well as the IBJJF European Open in Lisbon, Portugal.

Remember, the schedule can be found at our main website by clicking Crazy 88 JiuJitsu Class Schedule.

The uninterrupted Adult Training schedule will resume SUNDAY, January 3rd.

Children’s Martial Arts classes restart the following day, MONDAY, January 4th.

Please note that the school is not closed.  In fact, we have been having some good Open Mat training sessions with Roberto Torralbas and Fred Ramie back in town.   Check the schedule above for the times.

Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Closes-Out 2009 (and the Ruth’s Chris Banquet Hall) in Style

“Steaks, Suits, & Champagne” was the theme last night as Crazy 88’s annual Holiday Regalia at Ruth’s Chris Baltimore. Who knew that fighters could be such ladies and gentleman? All joking aside, the night was a complete success from beginning to end, and each and every one of you deserves many thanks.

A Respectable Gathering of Ladies and Gentlemen!

Congratulations are in order to all of our annual award recipients. Keith “Trainspotting” Cebula, for the second time in three years takes the award for Most Improved. In 2009 Keith took his game from “good to great” and won a staggering three International Medals for the school. Rookie of The Year was awarded to none other than Al “Big Al” Washington. Big Al is a true inspiration to all. Despite a severe break to his leg in late 2009, Big Al still happily fought in almost every BJJ tournament available, had multiple Muy Thai matches, and even prevailed in his first MMA smoker fight. The award for Competitor Of The Year went to a humble and much deserving Jon “Devastator” Delbrugge. Jon went from blue-belt to purple-belt in 2009, and has since traveled the globe sweeping his competition. Jon spends day and night at the academy acting as a coach and role model to all. Lastly, Jason Smith was given the coveted Student Of The Year award. Jason is a proud father of six and credited most of his success and impeccable work ethic to his wonderful children and his supporting wife, of over twenty-years, Sarah.

Crazy 88 had a lot to be thankful for this year, which was evident as toasts, hugs, and laughs filled the Ruth’s Chris ballroom. Adult membership doubled in size in 2009, and the academy itself has gone from “warehouse to penthouse,” with the addition of three thousand extra square feet, a cage, and a completely revamped reception and waiting area. The children’s program grew from six students to a whopping seventy-five students. The white-belts won thirty-five gold medals and the upper-belts took home thirty-seven gold medals, seven of which were coveted international titles.

The strides that Crazy 88 has made since its inception in 2005 are simply astounding. Crazy 88 is much more than a Jiu Jitsu & Muay Thai team – Crazy 88 is a family. As the night was coming to an end and the last stragglers were leaving the ballroom, I was approached by the Manager of Ruth’s Chris. He said, “I had no idea that a sport could affect and touch the lives of so many people in such an emotional way.” I simply could not have said it better myself. Each and every student has a different story relating to why they started and how their training has affected their lives. One thing remains constant, however – Jiu Jitsu & Muay Thai improve upon daily life.

Sincere thanks go out to each and every student and supporter of Crazy 88 for helping to create an environment for all of us to thrive. Special thanks go out to Julius Park for being the mastermind behind all that goes on at Crazy 88, to Rodeo Brian Neal for putting together a spectacular slide-show, and to Ms. Cathy Tran-Zwanez for her hard work to make the holiday banquet and Crazy 88 truly special.

Things Begin to Deteriorate...

*The more incriminating pictures should be available on the Crazy 88 BJJ Facebook Page.

The blizzard was very fortuitously timed for all Crazy 88 staff!

New Brown Belt @ Team Lloyd Irvin Baltimore – Mike Atkin!

This is a SERIOUS Training Room - Mike Easton, Mike Fowler, Nyjah Easton, Lloyd Irvin, Mike Atkin, Jon Delbrugge, Danny Ives, JC Cuffee, Don Achnick, Robbie Sanyal

Master Lloyd Irvin promoted Crazy 88 instructor, Mike Atkin to Brown Belt this morning!  Mike was Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’s first ever student and has more International competition medals for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu than anyone else at the school.  Mike is an inspiration to all the students here – He is on the mats training almost everyday although he is in his mid-50′s.

Of course, Mike had to go through the brutal promotion gauntlet where he had to face everyone in the room in back-to-back matches with no break (and this time, it was after a full-blown training session with the killer squad).  It was a near-death experience but all worth it in the end.

Ambivalence - a state of having simultaneous, conflicting feelings toward a person or thing

Mike Atkin tries to survive against Mike Fowler's famous 1/2-guard!

Too tired to defend the back...

Mike Atkin vs. Lloyd Irvin - The Final Battle

Danny Ives Whips Mike Atkin! Is this what Ivey League MMA is all about?!?

Mike Fowler Winds Up!

But Its All Good in the End!

In other news, Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will be starting its After-School Martial Arts Program with Pickup in Early 2010! See everyone there!

2009 Holiday In-House Tournament Completed

We were able to close out the year by giving some good Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competition experience to the White Belts on Team Lloyd Irvin.

Danny Ives sent his Severna Park squad from Ivey League MMA. Ron Stallings’ Top Flight team with Ron himself came to the event as well as the big boss, Lloyd Irvin, with a big squad from Camp Springs. The mats of Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu were packed with competitors, spectators, and coaches.

We divided the White Belt squads into an Advanced division, Standard division, and Baby division as well as by weight so all the participants could get good tough matches in that they could learn from.  The Advanced division was won by Timothy Woods and JC Cuffee from Camp Springs, both who brought some serious takedown skills to the mat.

Overall, the event served its purpose of bringing the team together to meet each other and give the next generation of Team Lloyd Irvin competitors valuable experience.  We at Crazy 88 BJJ plan to hold 2-3 In-House Tournaments in 2010 at our Elkridge martial arts facility so if you missed this one, we have more coming up soon!

PS – If you have some good pictures from the event, please e-mail them to us so we can post them!

World League Pro Jiu Jitsu Tournament Results – Day Two

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Jon “Devastator” Delbrugge brings home his first medal from Brazil.

First guy didn’t make weight beat second guy 4-0 and lost 0-0 ref dec in the semi finals I was on top trying to pass the whole time…I ended up taking the bronze medal…fowler got submitted first round and jt lost first round TERRIBLE reffing in all of the matches….lot of crazy -expletive- happend today braga Neto took his clothes off and waved his -expletive- at the ref….crazy but Internet access is limited and I do not have a computer only phone.

the funny thing is they say it is prolly one of the biggest tournaments in brazil because of the cash prizes…fowler said it’s way bigger than rio open …but such bad calls…. I can’t wait to get back to the school …see you soon

Great job by Jon who has been putting in work at our Team Lloyd Irvin Baltimore Martial Arts training center to prepare for the 2010 IBJJF tournaments.

Submission Only 6 Results

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Great job by our 4 competitors who drove to Virginia in the falling snow for the Submission Only competition. 

It was another a solid day of competition for Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with seasoned veterans Zak “SWAT” Perret, “Big” Al Washington, and Travis Outten all winning at least one of their divisions.  The rookie of the group was Damien Morris who made his tournament debut but held his own with the group as he won Gold as well.

World League Pro Jiu Jitsu Tournament Day One Results

It was the first day of the World League Pro Jiu Jitsu Tournament in Brazil.  Our contact in Brazil, “Guigo”, is not a native English speaker so its hard to get detailed results.

First up was Jon “Devastator” Delbrugge.  Today was the Purple Belt Open division and it was HUGE.  Jon won three matches before losing to a “really huge guy.”  In his own words,

Went 3-1 in the open division lost to the Brazilian purple belt version of white shaq….I got a nice knee to my face in the second match….I won 1st match 3-0, 2nd 4-0, 3rd 2-0, and I was winning 2-0 in the 4th off of a firemans carry take down. in the last two min the guy turtled and rolled me forced a scramble and choke me from behind almost broke my damn neck but all in all very fun day the brazillians loved me lol

The Black Belt Open was also today.  JT Torres won his first match via RNC vs. an Alliance fighter and his second with a Bow-and-arrow choke.  JT Torres’ Back Attack Secrets are working!  In his third match, JT lost a 0-0 (2-1) match that knocked him out of the bracket.

Mike Fowler won his first by armbar and his second by submission.  In the third round of the Black Belt Open, Mike lost a close 3-2 match.

Weight classes are tomorrow!

Thanks to Jay Hayes for A Great Seminar by David Zwanetz

On a snowy December 5, 2009, Crazy 88 hosted the third installment of insane technique instruction from Philadelphia affiliate BJJ United’s Jay Hayes. Wilson Reis showed masterful command of the X-Guard in 2007, Jared Weiner gave tools to master the top-game in 2008, and this year, 2009, Jay Hayes dissected the back-take and finish, specifically for the No-Gi practitioner. The instruction was stellar, his techniques were mind blowing, and a good time was had by all.

For those of you who do not already know Jay Hayes, he trains alongside Jared Weiner and Wilson Reis at BJJ United.  Jay is also the head BJJ instructor at LA Boxing in Hoboken, New Jersey.  Jay has only been involved in Jiu Jitsu for a staggeringly short six (6) years. In said time, Jay earned his black belt from Jared and Master Lloyd. Jay has fought almost everyone who is anyone in the BJJ world.

In 2007 Jay took the prestigious Gold at the Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championships in Carson, California (winning all five matches with no points scored against him). This year Jay won the Bronze medal at the 2009 Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championships. He is also a 2006 and 2008 Grapplers Quest USA Trials Professional No-Gi division semi-finalist, a 7 time Grapplers Quest champion, 6 time North American Grapplers Association (NAGA) champion, and a NJ State Open (under 190 lb) champion. Again, all this is six short years.

Surprisingly, despite training together at BJJ United, Jared, Wilson, and Jay have vastly differing jiu jitsu styles. One thing, however, remains vividly constant – their techniques are simple, straightforward, and extremely effective. Jay began the seminar with smooth transitions from the mount to the back and finished the seminar with his own version of the B.J. Penn-style trapped arm rear naked choke. Statistics show that in the upper-level divisions submissions from the back are of the most common and efficient.

Jay was able to show the students in attendance how and why the position is so important. For Jay, and in theory, the back-position is purely offensive giving his opponent no real way to attack (only to defend). With Jay’s guidance it became clear that with a simple lift of the knee 45°, or an effortless turn of the wrist a “little to the right,” the back position can change from dangerous to virtually unstoppable. A position familiar to all in attendance was taken apart by Jay, and when he put it back together during the seminar we revealed that many of us were missing essential elements. But not any more thanks to Jay Hayes.

The students and staff of Crazy 88 offer our sincere thanks to Jay for making the trek from New Jersey to spend the day with us at Team Lloyd Irvin Baltimore, teaching, rolling, and sharing our respect for the sport of jiu jitsu. Aside from his impeccable instruction and techniques, Jay spend time rolling with each person in attendance offering constructive and valuable criticism. It has been said that one competition can be as valuable to a jiu jitsu practitioner as six months of training. After seminars with Jared Weiner, Wilson Reis, and now Jay Hayes I am convinced that similar strides can be made with attendance at well-crafted seminars.

Again, on behalf of the students and instructors at Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu,  a sincere “thank you” goes out to Jay Hayes, BJJ United, and LA Boxing. With tacticians like Jay Hayes on Team Lloyd Irvin, it is clear why we are dominating worldwide.

Devastator In Brazil – Ready to Rumble after some Craziness!

Jon “Devastator” Delbrugge got the call on Wednesday that Team Lloyd Irvin needed him to fly to Brazil to cover Mike Fowler and JT Torres as they compete in the World League Pro Jiu Jitsu Tournament in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  This would be a great opportunity for Jon as he would be able to make his debut in Brazil as well.  Because it is so expensive to fly to the USA, non-Black Belt Brazilian competitors often are unable to come the United States for tournament.  However, Brazil remains the dominant country in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition so it is valuable to begin competing against their talent early.

Jon had to make back to back trips to Washington DC to secure a visa, pack his stuff, drive to Camp Springs to pick up the film equipment, and then hop on a plane in under 24 hours.  Quite a feat but he is ready to go!

It looks like its going to a be a hell of a tournament…

FAIXA ROXA MASCULINO ADULTO MEIO PESADO

-FELIPE COSTA (ATOS JJ)
-GUSTAVO KARAN ( CHECK MAT)
-JOÃO PAULO MEDEIROS ( PEIXOTINHO)
-ARNALDO DE OLIVEIRA ( BARBOSA JJ)
-ANTONIO FERREIRA ( GUIGO JJ )
-GUILHERME MOTTA ( GRACIE BARRA )
-MAURICIO CRISTO ( BARBOSA)
-PAULO CUNHA ( CIA PAULISTA )
-LUCIO FILHO (PEDRA 90)
-JONATHAN DELBRUNGE ( LOYDIRVIN)
-GLAUBER DE SOUZA ( ORLANDO SARAIVA)
-FABIO CAVERNA ( GABRIEL WILOX )
-WESLEY SCARFACE (ALLIANCE)

and Jon’s open division

FAIXA ROXA ADULTO ABSOLUTO

-JOSE CARLOS (GF TEAM)
-VITOR SILVERIO (GF TEAM)
-GABRIEL DEZOTTI (ATOS JJ)
-CARLOS ROBERTO DA SILVA (BUSHIDO )
-EDUARDO CARNEIRO (ASS. TRINDADE )
-MIGUEL ANKA (SUL JJ )
-BRUNO CUPARI (BRASA JJ)
-RAFAEL DOMINGUES (BRASA JJ)
-MARCO ANTONIO MONTEIRO (NOVA UNIAO )
-GABRIEL LUCAS (CHECK MAT )
-RAFAEL DE SOUZA (GORDO JJ )
-LUCAS THEODORO (ALLIANCE )
- FELIPE COSTA (ATOS JJ )
-FRANCISCO FILHO (HEDER ARAUJO JJ )
-JADER CABRAL (ATOS JJ )
-OTAVIO SERAFIM (BARBOSA JJ )
-WALTER CARDOSO (ALLIANCE )
-JULIOCESAR MORAES ( CLEITO SOARES JJ )
- RAFAEL SILVEIRA (CLEITO SOARES JJ )
-MURILO ALVES (GRACIE BARRA )
*FABIO DE  ANDRADE (GUIGO JJ )
-GABRIEL MARTINS (INTEGRAÇAO jj)
-MARCO A. CASTRO (CHECK MAT )
-THIAGO MASCARENHAS ( GRACIE BARRA )
-ADRIANO DOS SANTOS (KIHON)
-WELLINGTON SANTOS (GRACIE HUMAITA )
-BRENNO NOVAES (NOVA UNIAO )
- THIAGO FERREIRA (CHECK MAT )
-JEAN FERNADES (CHECK MAT )
-FABIO AHAMUD (CHECK MAT )
-PEDRO  FERNANDES (CHECK MAT )
-DIOGO REIS (CHEK MAT )
-THIAGO GAIA (CHECK MAT)
-ANDERSON COELHO (CHECK MAT )
-JOAO PAULO MEDEIROS (PEIXOTINHO JJ )
-RENATO SILVA (CHECK MAT )
-LUIS CARLOS DAMASCENO(KIHON)
-RODRIGO BARBOSA (ALLIANCE )
-LEONARDO MOURA (ALLIANCE)
-THIAGO XIMENEZ (ALLIANCE)
-EKKE LEINONEN (ALLIANCE )
-RICARDO CALOI (ALLIANCE)
-JOSE DOS SANTOS JR. (ALLIANCE)
-BRUNO DIAS (LOTUS CLUBE )
-MARCIO ANTUNES (NUCLEO JJ )
-ARNALDO DE OLIVEIRA (BARBOSA JJ )
- EDUARDO TOSCANO (GRACIE BARRA VIX)
-LEANDRO BATIS TA (GRACIE BARRA BH )
-FABIO DA MATTA (LIGA JJ )
-FABIO JR. (CHECK MATT )
-IGOR ARCANJO (CHECK MAT)
-FABIO LAGO (GO FIGHT )
-RAFAEL NAVES (NUCLEO JJ )
-PEDRO BORGES (GORDO JJ )
-GUILHERME MOTA (GRACIE BARRA )
-JEFERSON MILANO (FIGHT/FITNESS)
-MAURICIO CRISTO (BARBOSA JJ )
-EDGAR SILVA  (BRONX GT )
-CHARLES OLIVEIRA (BRONX GT )
-ADILSON CHIERI (CIA PAULISTA )
-THIAGO SALIM (CIA PAULISTA )
-DAVI  RAAB  (CIA PAULISTA )
- RAFAEL QUEIROZ (SAIKOO)
-ANDERSON CARLOS (RYAN GRACIE)
- RICARDO SEIXA (RYAN GRACIE )
-MARIO JUNIOR (RYAN GRACIE )
-JONATHON DELBRUGE (LLOYD IRVIN )
-GLAUBER DE SOUZA (ORLANDO SARAIVA)
-FABIO CALOI (ALLIANCE)