How I Won the Chicago NAGA by Roberto

I won the no-gi advance, and the purple belt 175 and under divisions. In the process, I submitted one brown belt in my first match of the no-gi advance with that Monson Choke I showed in class The match went as follows: arm drag to take down, passed guard twice, then the choke. Then I won my 2nd match in overtime by take down since it was 4-4 in regular time – I took him down, got swept, swept him right back, and then he put me in a triangle which I managed to get out but they gave him 2 points (NAGA rules!). In OT, I took him down and almost passed his guard to win.

On the Way to the Finals

My final match was against a Brazilian black belt (that’s what I heard). He pulled guard and was searching for submission, while I was trying to open his guard. I risk a little bit by exposing my arm and he fails at the submission but now his guard is open (he gets no points because he wasn’t close). I proceed to pass but he gives me a hard time. I put him in half guard and get very close to passing but he pushes away for his life. We both go for ankle locks no one taps, overtime! We start over time and I switch strategy on him and sit into an open guard and quickly transition into half guard. I do the Marcelo 1/2-guard to X-guard (Danny helped me with this and I have already thanked him for it) and almost get the sweep.

Fighting from the 1/2-Guard

Working to Pass

As I stand up to sweep him, he pulls guard. I pass to 1/2- guard and work to pass. Time runs out. Referee gives me the decision which I thought was fair since I did come very close to sweeping him in overtime and was more aggressive in the bottom and top games. Of course the Brazilian dude and his friends were not happy (you know how that goes). He screams, waves his hands, etc.

In the gi division, my first opponent pulls guard but I step back leaving him in open guard and I proceed to pass his guard with collar-sleeve pass. He defends, but I pass, by going into half guard. He pulls me again in half guard and I pass again (I’m up 6-0) . Then I do the “I’ll choke you or I’ll choke myself choke ” I showed in your school (which I learned from Jacare) and the match is over fairly quick. My second match was against the same guy in I fought in my second match of the no-gi division. I find out fairly quickly he is very good Judo guy with a sensational foot sweep! He takes me down but as I fall I turn around quickly and take him down (Score is 2 to advantage). Then I proceed to pass and am now up 5 to advantage. Finally, I bread-cutter choked him.

Dominating the Purple Belts

My last match was against a guy who had beaten two PanAm semi-finalists (one weight class below the one I competed). He armbarred the first one, then beat the other by a good amount of points. He was one of the friends of the black belt I had beaten earlier who was complaining. We started on the feet, trying to take each other down. He goes for foot sweep, I defend and go for Ippon Seionagi, and he defends. He pulls guard. I begin to pass by lifting him and as I lift he stands up. He tries a sacrifice throw which I defend, and then he goes for a series of sweeps, which I also defend but in the process knees me in the lip, drawing blood. I get a bit angry. I pulled into Margarida. He comes close to passing after I fail a scissor sweep, but I manage to get into half guard (I’m down an advantage). then I do . I sweep with the Garcia 1/2-guard to X-guard sweep and almost pass so he turns to his back (2 to advantage) and then I take his back (6 to advantage). He manages to escape into 1/2- guard but I pass again. Final score was 9 to advantage.

Congrats to Roberto on two more medals swords for the collection!

Josh Defeats 2 Blue Belts at Battle at the Beach

Mike destroyed his opposition. The Battle at the Beach was Mike’s warmup tournament for the International Masters & Seniors at the end of the month. Everything that Mike is planning on doing in Rio was to be tested here and IT WORKED! Mike introduced his opponents to his “Mike-seio” and even jumped guard, showcasing his 1/2-guard to the competition (he’s used it enough in class for it to be moved into his Competition Gameplan). Mike had five fights divided among three divisions and ended the day with a 45-0 combined score and with dominant victories over two purple belts. Mike will be in class on Tuesday training even harder for his first World medal.

Wayne made his long-awaited return to competition and built upon his strong performance in April when he won two divisions with less than a month of training. In the no-gi division, Wayne controlled his first opponent, passing, and mounting for the win. He then defeated his 2nd opponent with a takedown. In the quarterfinals, Wayne would get reversed and armlocked out-of-bounds. This was his first loss and it fired him up for the gi division!

Wayne took down his first opponent with the gi and then passed for a 5-0 victory in the round of 16. Continuing on the road to the finals, he finished the next two grapplers with an ezekielle and then a breadcutter choke. Unfortunately for Wayne, he received a fluke injury in the semi-finals, tearing all the skin off the side of his toe (no idea how this happened). He taped the flap of skin to the side and went into the finals even as the referee asked him if he wanted to continue. Wayne jumped passed his opponent’s guard rather quickly but was unable to secure side-mount because of his foot. Wayne would lose in the finals but who knows what would have happened if he was able to use his foot.

Joe Killo made his tournament debut, competing in three divisions. He started the day off in the Intermediate no-gi division, racking up 8 points before armbarring his first opponent. He then faced Cornell D1 Wrestler, John Cholish. This was a standup battle with both guys hitting high-amplitude throws and takedowns. Cholish came out on top 6-2 and went on to win the division. Joe was the only person to score on him that day. In the beginner no-gi, Killo choked his adversary out and then scored six points to win his next bout. He would lose a points match in the quarterfinals to the eventual division winner.

Despite coming from a predominantly no-gi background, Joe strapped the white belt on and hopped into the gi division. He lost a 0-0 match on an advantage. This was an excellent first tournament for Joe. He won dominantly in his victories and lost close point matches in his defeats. Now that he knows what to expect and with a bit of experience, Joe Killo will produce great results for 88 BJJ in future competitions.

Josh finally got that 1st place that he has been hunting for. He won FIVE matches to win the beginner no-gi, taking out two blue belts along the way (Josh is a 6-month white belt with no wrestling experience). He exhibited new-and-improved takedowns and great submission defense. With the gi, Josh was upset in the semi-finals, losing on an advantage; his opponent locked a triangle on but Josh is damn near impossible to submit and managed to escape. Unfortunately, Josh could not get the advantage back. He stormed back for a 5-0 in the consolation round to medal. Josh is one of the hardest workers in the room and it is starting to pay off. We wish him luck as he heads back to College Park for the Fall Semester!

Malcolm jumped up to the Intermediate division, recommended for grapplers with 2-5 years of training, despite having only a year’s training. He submitted his first opponent with a Kimura from top of 1/2-guard after racking up a string of points. His second opponent was a very composed individual. Malcolm was able to get underneath him for his sweeps but his adversary had excellent balance. The match went on with Malcolm attempting to unbalance the top man, and the top man remaining composed and countering his motions. Finally, in a slight scramble, the top man took advantage of a slight misplacement and managed to lock on a tight brabo choke. Malcolm fought hard but had to tap.

As we expected, Malcolm brought home another GOLD in the gi division. This guy is a submission machine and finished off his first three opponents (Breadcutter, Armbar, Triangle) before meeting his rival, Bobby Rassuli in the finals. Rassuli had racked up quite a resume since their last meeting including an Intermediate Open division victory. These two have had quite a series and every match has been a war so we didn’t expect anything different this time around. Rassuli jumped closed guard and began working his dangerous attacks. On an armbar attempt, the 88 BJJ fighter managed to pass. The match would end 5-0 in Malcolm’s favor. Malcolm has missed only two classes since the school opened over a year ago and you can see the dedication in his competitive results.

Brennan Walter aka “Billy Lee” entered the no-gi beginner division, winning his first match via points, and then quickly triangling his second. The next match in the quarterfinals would be very controversial – Brennan swept his opponent in regulation but fell prey to the notorious NAGA refereeing. Despite the protest from the corner, the referee would not award points claiming that a sweep required use of the legs. The match entered OT where in a random scramble, Brennan received a rib injury and lost via injury default. After the match, the referee consulted with the other officials and then admitted that he had made an error in scoring. Unfortunately the damage had already been done and Brennan was out of the competition.

Don Walter aka “Jimmy Lee” looked good as he placed in the white belt division. He faced a grappler from Matt Serra’s gym in the first round. Don fell back on points early but battled back to finish his opponent with a triangle choke. He then used his trademark UmaPlata sweep to win his 2nd match 2-0. In the quarterfinals, he submitted another opponent with another triangle. However, he came up just a bit short in the semis and consolations and had to settle for 4th.

Overall, 88 BJJ had a tremendous performance, ending the day with a 32-11 record (6.1 matches per competitor average) and a 100% medal rate. Most of our students are competing ABOVE their experience level, in both gi and no-gi, not to mention that we were missing quite a few of our big guns. To get those kind of results while missing Amie, Roberto, Rob Prall, and Julius, is a testament to the growing strength of the team. Whether you are just training hard in class, coming to support the team, or out on the mat competing, you are all responsible in part for the team’s success and we thank you.

Amie Prepares for the Mundial

Amie headed down to Miami for the Florida State NAGA tournament and won three divisions. In the lightweight division, Amie dismantled her only opponent 9-2 to win the division. She then jumped up to the higher weight class to get more matches and defeated her opponents 11-0 and via armbar to win her 2nd Gold Medal.

In the gi division, Amie faced a purple belt from Armory and submitted her via armbar from the mount.

Congratulations to Amie for her undefeated performance. Now time to prepare for the Mundials!

NAGA Worlds: Roberto Defeats Pan-Am Medalist Lee Synkowski

“Iron” Mike Atkin returned from a 6-month layoff and proved that he is still the man in his age division to beat. Since he had undergone a complete rotator cuff reattachment, people wondered if Mike could return to his old form… well, he did!!!

At the end of the day, Mike had defeated four opponents and scored 27 points to his opponents’ combined 2. Look for Mike to bring home some hardware from the PanAms next month!

Julius Park defeated four opponents on his way to the welterweight finals. He outpointed his first two opponents (10-0, 4-0) and submitted the next two after gaining huge point margins (20+ points ahead). In the finals, he faced Rafael Chaves, a very tough brown belt from Hermes Franca’s academy. It was a very technical bout with Julius trying to sweep and Chaves trying to pass. In the middle of the match, Chaves countered a sitting guard sweep with an acrobatic pass and managed to get side-mount briefly before Julius was able to regain his guard. Congratulations to Chaves on the victory!

Rob Prall decided to challenge himself and jumped up to the Intermediate division where he outpointed his first opponent before losing in OT to Brandon Grodintzky from Ground Control. Rob stuffed most of Brandon’s takedowns and had a few good choke attempts but it was even at the end of regulation. In the OT, Brandon managed to pass Rob’s guard for the win. Brandon is a former collegiate wrestler and NAGA champion so this was a confidence-boosting match for Rob.

Big Phil fought up a skill division and competed with the Beginners despite having less-than six months experience. He showed a lot of heart, defeating his first two opponents before losing hard- fought battles in the semi-finals and consolations. Look for Phil to make a huge impact on the super-heavyweight division as he gains experience (this was his first tournament)!

Roberto Torralbas competed in the Purple belt division, crushing his 1st opponent 11×0 before meeting up with Lee Synkowski (Maguilla BJJ). Lee had placed twice at the Pan-American Games and was a returning NAGA Purple belt division champion so we knew that this would be a good challenge for Roberto.

We formulated a strategy that would allow Roberto to shut down a person who plays the type of game that Lee played and it worked perfectly. Roberto kept constant pressure on Lee, controlled the pace, and passed him to win the match 3-0. A stategically-perfect match! Roberto ended the division undefeated, bowing out to senior teammates.

Amie Turton defeated 2 opponents in the no-gi before losing via rear choke to Abu Dhabi veteran and purple belt, Tara LaRosa. Amie had to settle for a rare bronze but the gi division was a different story.

With the PanAms coming up, Amie has been focusing primarily on the gi and it showed. She defeated her first opponent 13×2 before meeting up with Stephanie Mariscal (Combat-Do). Stephanie had beaten Amie earlier in the year in a controversial match when Amie tapped due to an accidental knee. This time, Amie was able to beat Stephanie in a very close points battle. In the finals, Amie faced Tara again. Amie jumped guard and was working her dangerous closed guard but Tara kept great base and was defending all of Amie’s sweep and submission attempts. Near the end of the match, as Tara opened Amie’s guard. Amie swept her off a transition from the Eiffel Tower sweep for the 2-0 victory. A great match by both competitors.

Don Walter dominated his first opponent in the white belt welterweight division, sweeping, passing, and mounting him. In his 2nd match, Don had his opponent defensive with multiple sweep and umaplata attempts. In a scramble, his opponent managed to get around Don’s legs and pinned him down until the time limit.

Brennan Walter showed why with a little training he could be a champion. Having not trained since the beginning of the school year, he drove back home for the tournament. He managed to submit two opponents via Rubber-guard triangles before getting knocked out of the competition. Brennan swears that he will start preparing more than one week in advance for the next tournament so keep an eye out for him!

Amie Faces Abu Dhabi Champion in Florida

Amie started the new year off with a bang, heading to Florida for the NAGA US Nationals and bringing back three medals!

Amie started the day off winning her no-gi division dominantly. She would face the same opponents in the lightweight blue belt division. Unfortunately, in the finals, her previously-beaten opponent accidently kneed Amie in the face during a takedown attempt. Amie was unable to continue and her opponent was declared the winner. Amie wasn’t finished though….

The best woman grappler in the world, Juliana Borges was at the tournament and could not find any opponents. Juliana is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is the current Abu Dhabi submission wrestling champion in both her weight class and the Absolute. Amie jumped at the opportunity to compete against world-level competition and jumped into Juliana’s division. Despite being outweighed and facing a black belt, Amie took Juliana the distance, losing on points. Much respect to Amie for a gutsy performance!

Amie Does It Again at NAGC

Amie does it again! Congrats on another two medals for the trophy case. Now Amie faces another big challenge… college applications! We’re sure she’ll have the same success with them as she did with her opponents.

NAGA Battle at the Beach Results

Another successful weekend for the team! Amie Turton won two divisions (no surprise there!), only having 1 point scored on her in four matches. Roberto Torralbas, an old friend from the Cornell University BJJ club, brought home two medals himself in his second-ever jiu-jitsu tournament! We appreciate him repping our team while he’s in the area. Much respect to Montanha (Gracie Miami) and Trevor Rivers (Cornell BJJ), his primary trainers for doing such an excellent job. Congratulations to Amie, Roberto, and Don and Brennan Walter for putting it on the line this weekend. Win or lose, you make us proud!

Domination at NAGA Cape Cod

BIG THANKS to Phil Proctor for coming in on Saturday and working with the team members who were not competing! The results speak for themselves:

When no one showed up for her weight class, Amie Turton entered the heavier weight category and submitted all three of her opponents. Everyone who has been in class knows that Mike was unable to train the whole week due to an injury he sustained at the Grapplers Quest. Mike, fighting with one arm, managed to bring home a gold and lost only by advantage in the finals of the gi. We are very proud of their competitive spirit and never-say-die attitude. Congratulations!