Stressed out from dealing with children all day, the Crazy 88 staff decided to take the kids to Lazer Tag to relieve their pent-up aggression. Aiden bore the brunt of the laser assault as he stood dead center against the Red Team. Years of video game playing did not come in handy as Coach Jon and Coach Chris decimated Team Stunna. Next week, its to the Smithsonian!

The Crazy 88 Summer Program Kids took a break from 3-a-day Mixed Martial Arts practices to visit the National Air and Space Museum in Virginia. It was all planes and rocketships and helicopters.  Although most of the adults fell asleep during the IMAX movie about engines and all sorts of other gadgetry, the subject matter was apparently quite intriguing to those 12 years old and under.   The infamous beltway traffic which mentally decimated the staff was seemingly also quite enjoyable for the van-riding children.  Overall a very dichotomous experience.

Today was the No-Gi Submission Grappling Seminar with Rafael and Guilherme Mendes. Rafael is the 2009 Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling Champion in the under-65 kg category. At that event, Rafael defeated two legends – Leozinho Viera and Rubens Charles aka Cobrinha. The seminar was packed again, with both Team Lloyd Irvin students and visitors who were interested in learning from the BEST (there were grapplers who drove all the way from Florida for this seminar). Everyone learned a lot – especially an important point about passing on the knees and on the toes in gi Brazilian Jiu Jitsu vs. no-gi! Can you figure out which passing style goes with which type of grappling?

It was a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu overload this Saturday in Camp Springs, Maryland where Team Lloyd Irvin hosted Rafael and Guilherme Mendes for the first day of a two-day Jiu-Jitsu extravaganza. The brothers have actually been here since Monday, training with the team 3x a day, but today would be the start of the “official” seminar.

Rafael and Guilherme are two “prodigies” of BJJ and grappling (I use quotes because they have strong beliefs regarding talent and training).  Both are World Champions at the Black Belt level.  Guilherme is the 2nd person in history to win the Worlds at every belt in consecutive years and Rafael also holds a Gold medal from the 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships.

The mats were filled with enthusiastic students – some from Texas, some from New York, and even some from Florida!   As a coach, I am excited to begin implementing some of the new drills, positions, and philosophies that we picked up over the course of the week.

“Lawyer” Dave Zwanetz set a goal for himself of placing at an International level Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament last year after he missed the World Championships.  He has been competing regularly since then and recently took Gold at the NY Open.  Having defeated multiple past medalists in local tournaments, Dave has a strong chance to get onto the medal stand this year in Long Beach.

Blue Belt Rooster (1 of 2)

Blue Belt Light Feather

Clarence Melton came off a long Jiu Jitsu layoff with a vengeance, going to the BJJ Brazilian Nationals to compete.  He is looking to gain more experience at the World Championships with the intention of getting onto the medal stand next year.

Blue Belt Pluma (1 of 4)

Blue Belt Light

Keith “Trainspotting” Cebula is coming into the Worlds hoping to utilize his strong Umaplata game.  Keith suffered a few setbacks during the Worlds training camp but has a strong gameplan and technical skills that will hopefully get him into the later rounds.

Blue Belt Light (5 of 8)

Blue Belt Medium Heavy

A strong division for Team Lloyd Irvin with Evan “Oz” Gideon, Fred “Brad” Thomsen, and Timmy “#1 Stunna” Spriggs all separated throughout the bracket. Oz is a big medal threat, with 2010 wins at the Houston and NY Opens and also a Bronze at the Pan Ams. Also in the division are Jason Boivie (Marin MMA), Carsell Swain (BTT), and Marcus Sosa (Claudio Franca) who all placed at the PanAms as well. Jason Boivie was a medalist at last year’s Worlds as well.

Blue Belt Medium Heavy (4 of 8)

Blue Belt Medium Heavy (5 of 8)

Blue Belt Medium Heavy (7 of 8)

Blue Belt Super Heavy

Aung la Sang makes his IBJJF debut in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Super Heavyweight division.  Aung la was almost denied entry to the tournament when he forgot to register but pulled off a miracle when the IBJJF accepted a late email registration.  Fortune seems to be smiling on “Ong Bak” and that coupled with his hard training should lead to good results in the division!

Blue Belt Super Heavy (2 of 2)

Blue Belt Ultra Heavy

“Big Sal” Washington came all the way to Long Beach for his 2nd tournament as a Blue Belt.  Big Sal has been working a lot on his judo throws as well as his guard and has been developing a game more akin to a lightweight than a 250 lb behemoth.  He is going for the close out with teammate and PanAm bronze medalist, Kenneth Brown.

Blue Belt Ultra Heavy (2 of 2)

Blue Belt Female Light Feather

Cathy Tran-Zwanetz and Kim Rivers going for the division close-out.

Female Blue Belt Light Feather (1 of 1)

Jon Delbrugge ends up on the “Page of Death”.  All the international Purple Belt medalists of the past year ended up on a single page, allowing only 1 to advance to the medal round.  Janne Autio (Alliance), 2X European Open Gold medalist, will face Pan-American Silver medalist, BJ Nelson in the first round.  Brazilian Nationals Champion and 2009 World Silver Medalist, Joao Gabriel Rocha will face the winner of that match in the Sweet 16.  The winner of this page should go on to win the whole thing.

Purple Belt Medium Heavy (3 of 4)

Purple Belt Heavy

Brad Pearson bumps up  a weight class to compete at the World Championships of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  Brad is going to be utilizing his Go Go Go pace and strong top game to get onto the medal stand after a disappointing NY Open performance.

Purple Belt Heavy (3 of 4)

Brown Belt Heavy

Mike Atkin comes out to California for another shot at the Adult division of the World Championships.  Old enough to be the grandfather of most of the World Competitiors, Mike still has the heart of a young gun and will leave it out there!  Ous!

Brown Belt Heavy (2 of 2)

The Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu JItsu Team is in Rio this weekend for the Brazilian Nationals. The Brazilian Nationals or Brasileiro takes place over two weekends with Blue belts and Purple belts competing the first weekend and Brown and Black belts competing the following weekend.

Willie Leonard and Tracey Goodell from the main school will be competing this weekend along with Tye Ryan Murphy, Jon Delbrugge, and CJ Melton from our Baltimore BJJ academy.  Roberto Torralbas, who runs Third Law in Naples, Florida, is the sole representative from his school.  I have posted the athlete lists for each of the competitors from Crazy 88 and will post the brackets if the CBJJ releases them online.  Good luck to all the competitors!

Azul Adulto Masculino Pluma

Agnaldo Goes Lucas R. Cabral

Alliance Eduard Lisboa

Alliance Wagner Mauro Oliveira

Alliance SP William Mello de Oliveira

Asle Saymon Adam Mattos

Atos JJ Denilson Rogerio Silva Bischil

Brazilian Top Team Ighor Luis Alvim Horta

Brazilian Top Team Joel Rodrigues da Silva

Check Mat Brasil BJJ Wagner Lacerda

Checkmat BJJ Gustavo Motta Sedório

Checkmat BJJ Thiago Coriolano Ribeiro

DDR Jiu-Jitsu Igor Palagar Petrutes

De La Riva Raimundo Nonato

Deo Igor Fonseca de Oliveira

Dojo/James Adler Bruno Rafael Moreira Araujo

Equipe PH MArcos Paulo Evangelista

Game Fight BJJ Vanderlan Costa de Lima

GF Team Filipe Rodrigues

GF Team Vinicius Moreira

GF Team Academia Jonathan Carvalho de Jesus

GF Team Academia Pierre Benac

GF Team Jiu-Jitsu Anderson Duarte de Oliveira

GF Team Jiu-Jitsu Joale Jefferson

GF Team RJ Henrique Freire Lima

Gracie Barra Henrique Eiji Prates

Gracie Barra Miguel Eusebio

Gracie Humaita Cleyton Martins

Gracie Humaita Yuri Mesquita

Gracie Tijuca Miguel Angelo

Heleno Maia JJ Fabio Junior

Instituto Reação Wallace de Abreu

Lloyd Irvin M.A. Academy Clarence Melton

Monteiro Moises Nascimento de Souza

Nova Uniao Daniel Vieira Santana

Nova Uniao Ruan Gomes Marques

Osvaldo Alves Alexsandro Pimentel

Osvaldo Alves Walter Wendell Benes

Ryan Gracie Paulo Henrique Bezerra

Top Brother Jonathan correa

Total: 39

Jon Delbrugge & CJ Melton

Azul Adulto Masculino Medio

Alliance Edson Antonio Filho

Alliance Flavio Junqueira

Alliance SP Raphael de Castro Vieira

Brasa/Muzio Ruan Marques de Oliveira

Brazilian Top Team Douglas Fernandes da Silva

Carlson Gracie Team Fernando Magdenier Daixum

Castro JJ Warley Mendes

Check Mat Brasil BJJ Guilherme George da Silva

Check Mat Brasil BJJ Piter frank Almeida

Checkmat BJJ Alvaro Silvestre Ribeiro

Checkmat BJJ Revilis Barcelos Apolinario

Cidade Viva JJ Wagner Wilker dos Santos

De La Riva Geremias Marcos Dias

De La Riva Lauro Anfiano Pinto

De La Riva Jiu-Jitsu Hugo Leonardo Cabral

De La Riva Jiu-Jitsu Jorge Furtado Correa

Jr Dojo/James Adler Dowver Azevedo Cruz

Jr Dojo/James Adler Gustavo Monteiro Fontoura

GF Team Wellington Ferreira

Gracie Barra Luciano Teixeira Filho

Gracie Barra Vinicius Magalhaes

Gracie Barra PB Ismael da Costa Lima

Gracie Barra PE Luiz Fernando Lima

Gracie Barra PE Rodolphe Nery

Gracie Barra PI Bruno de Sousa

Gracie Barra Recife Adriano Amaro

Gracie Barra Recife JJ Aldir Jose Barbosa

Gracie Barra Recife JJ Valdeir da Rocha

Gracie Barra Sul Rafael Romani

Gracie Humaita Daniel Felipe

Gracie Humaita Emerson Sarmanho

Gracie Humaitá Argentina Daniel Chung

Gracie Meier Cristian Pereira Rocha

GracieTijuca Rafael Neves Palermo

Heleno Maia JJ Bruno da Silva Felinto

Instituto Reação Vinicius Batista

Lloyd Irvin M.A. Academy Tye Ryan Murphy

Marcio Pinheiro BJJ Bruno de Ugalde Mello

Nova Uniao Joaquim Campos Maia

Nova Uniao Philipp Francisco

Nova União – N.U. Eduardo Henrique Amaral

Nucleo Diego Mendonça Perseguin

Osvaldo Alves Geovany Fernandes

Osvaldo Alves Rafael Evaristo

Soul Fighters Roberto Barboza filho

Striker JJ/ Góes Adolpho Luiz Campos

Striker JJ/ Góes Gleidson Henrique Germano

Total: 47

Tye Ryan Murphy & Jon Delbrugge

Roxa Adulto Masculino Meio-Pesado

Barbosa JJ Mauricio Henrique Cristo Lima

Brasa Bruno Ferreira

Brazilian Top Team Odair Jose MArtins

Broca Team Cesar Willyan Vieira

Carlson Gracie Team Marcello Vieira Daflon

Carmen Cascagrossa Henrique Silva Vieira

De La Riva Manoel Fernandes Neto

Evolve Gordo Jiu-Jitsu Marcello Areas de Mello

GF Team Nalmir Oliveira

GF Team Rafael de Oliveira

Giovanni Reis Silas Robson de Oliveira

Godoi JJ Club Yuri Gregório Schneider

Gracie Barra Felipe Carsalade

Gracie Barra Pedro Henrique Dutra

Gracie Barra Alagoas Danillo Jose Vieira

Gracie Ipanema Adriano dos Santos

Instituto Reação Paulo Cesar Cunha

Lloyd Irvin M.A. Academy Jonathon Delbrugge

Manimal Marcos Aurelio Goulart Jr

Nova Uniao Bruno de Souza Lima

Osvaldo Alves Vinicius Ladeira

Queiroz Saude Thiago Felipe de Lima

Soul Fighters João Gabriel Rocha

Striker JJ/ Góes Raphael Inacio

Sul Jiu-Jitsu Gustavo Rosa da Silva

Top Brother Vitor Oliveira Vieira

Total: 26

Its phenomenal that we are able to send such a strong group to NYC despite having the Brazilian Nationals the following week (had to split the team). Should be an exciting weekend and Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is happy to play its part. Ouss!

David Zwanetz faces 2009 Jiu Jitsu World Silver Medalist Son Duong for the fifth or sixth time.  Dave has managed to win each of their encounters but they have always been tough and this time promises to be no different.

Blue Belt Rooster

Kwami Mensah on page 2 of the bracket.  The ageless Kwami Mensah will be building off momentum from a strong performance at the Copa America BJJ tournament.  The plan is to meet the other 2 Lloyd Irvin competitors who are on page 1 of the bracket.

Blue Belt Feather (2 of 2)

Keith “Trainspotting” Cebula in a BIG division.

Blue Belt Light (2 of 2)

Eric Palmer will be making his IBJJF tournament debut.  Eric has made some big improvements in his game since he decided to “get serious” and the NY Open is a good chance to test the waters!  2009 No-Gi World Champion and 2010 Pan Am Bronze Medalist, DJ Jackson is Team Lloyd Irvin’s mainstay in this weight and he hopes to win the NY Open for the 2nd time.

Blue Belt Middle (1 of 2)

Evan “Oz” Gideon is continuing his run to a World Medal in June and will be facing a familiar DC area competitor in his first bout.  Team Lloyd Irvin has two very strong competitors in this bracket; Frank Camacho will be leading the charge from the other side!

Blue Belt Medium Heavy

Fred “Brad” Thomsen‘s first time competing for Crazy 88.  Looking forward to seeing how he does in a higher weight class than he usually competes in.

Blue Belt Heavyweight

Phil Thorn rematerialized a few weeks onto the Crazy 88 mats and even went to North Carolina to win a bunch of Gold medals at a US Grappling tournament.  Hopefully, he will rematerialize again – this time to the top of the medal stand.  The other Team Lloyd Irvin member is the very talented and hard-working Kenny Brown from Evolve Academy; Kenny just took Silver at the PanAms last month and is probably the odds-on favorite for this division.

Blue Ultra Heavy

Cathy Tran-Zwanetz won this tournament as a White Belt last year and hopes to repeat this year at a new belt.  Helping her out will be Third Law BJJ’s own Pan Am Champion Kimberly Rivers!

Female Blue Light Feather

Brad “Fred” Pearson also competes for the first time since joining Crazy 88 and will be in the Purple Belt Medium Heavy division.  A 2nd-round match vs. Thomas Beach poses an interesting challenge but he will have to win the first before we worry about that!

Purple Belt Medium Heavy

Coaches Rodeo, Devastator, Oz, Cathy, and Danny

Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was asked by St Augustine School in Elkridge, MD to come in and run a Kids Self Defense Workshop for the day.  Each gym class was divided into three groups and the children were taught some basic Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing, and Wrestling in the context of defending themselves.  Due to the effectiveness of the techniques taught, the instructors emphasized the importance of using these moves only when absolutely necessary. It was amazing to see how quickly the children were able to learn and perform the techniques shown.