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.

Richard Nancoo Demonstrates Moves on AungLa

Crazy 88 BJJ hosted a surprise visitor this weekend in Canadian BJJ Black Belt and Mixed Martial Arts Fighter, Richard Nancoo. Richard was in town for the weekend and stopped by our school for our Saturday Mixed level BJJ class and Sunday Basics class. We were happy to have him on the mats for some good training. He was very generous with his time and stayed after class on Sunday to share his techniques with others. If you are ever in the Ontario, make sure to check out his school – East York Martial Arts!

JT Torres Submitted World Champion Lucas Lepri in Upset Quarterfinal Victory!

Congratulations to JT “Spiderman” Torres on his 2nd place finish at the 2010 Brazilian Nationals.  The Brazilian Nationals is one of the toughest BJJ competitions in the World and the list of non-Brazilians to have medaled at the Black Belt level can be counted on one hand.  JT tore through his side of the bracket, submitting 3 opponents with chokes from the back and 1 with a toe-hold.  In the finals, he lost 2-2 (3-1) to Atos’ Gilbert Burns AKA “Durinho”.

With this strong performance and the victory over Augusto Mendes, previous World Silver Medalist, at the NY Open a few weeks ago, JT puts himself in solid contention for a Black Belt World Championship.

JT was accompanied in Brazil with two other teammates – Mike Fowler and Brown Belt, Jim Harbison.  Mike submitted his first opponent and won 6-0 in the Sweet 16 rd, before losing 3-0 in the quarterfinals.  Jim Harbison also did well, winning 3 before losing on points.  These guys are all on the mats training hard everyday and its great to see that dedication pay off.

Lloyd Irvin Black Belt, Mike Fowler gave a seminar at Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu today.  Mike is one of America’s best competing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belts and has been one of mainstays for the team since he started training.  Mike covered his favorite guard positions including 3 variations of the bump sweep and lots of counters to counters to his “unstoppable sweep”.

The seminar was very well-organized with basic movements and concepts blending into more complex movements and concepts.   For example, Fowler would teach a simple mount escape at the start of the seminar and then by the end of the seminar, the simple mount escape motion would be used to finish a Brabo choke from the bottom of the half-guard.  Another great seminar at Crazy 88!

PS – We will be adding some techniques from the seminar to our facebook fanpage, so if you are not already a fan, please register!

Mike Fowler watches and corrects Evan's mount techniques

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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.

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!

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.

I am happy to announce the following Black Belt promotions:

Danny Ives (LIMAA)
Don “SuperStall” Achnick (LIMAA)

Sharon “Meow” Bonewicz (BJJ United)
Brad Daddis (BJJ United)

Ed Clay (Nashville MMA)
Sean “Spyder” Pulizzano (Nashville MMA)

Congratulations to All!