PullingTheLine.com

The Pan Ams Are Here!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  Southern California is buzzing with excitement as competitors from around the world make their way to Irvine to participate in the Pan Jiu Jitsu Championship (aka "The Panz").  It's difficult to walk around West Los Angeles without tripping over a current or former Brazilian Jiu Jitsu legand.  Just last night, our academy hosted Pe De Pano, who further honored KingOfCrazy by repeatedly and effortlessly tapping him, and popping a blue belts arm a couple of times.  (It takes some of us longer than others to learn to tap loudly and unambigously, particularly when sparring with a very large Brazilian.)

Brown Belts

Before we go onto the black belts, I wanted to bring up an intriguing brown belt fight.  In the first round, Jordon Schultz from Lloyd Irvin will face off against Francisco “Sinistro” Itturalde of Alliance.  There has been a lot of attention on Jordon this year due to his departure from Alliance.  I am not sure how extensively they trained together as, up until recently, Sinsitro was based in Ecuador – he (and his incredibly badass nickname) now teaches in Miami. 

Though exciting to see a fight with such a back story, I for one wish this was saved for the finals.  Schultz and Itturalde are clear favorites in their division, but since the IBJJF uses a random name generator to do the match ups in the lower belts, they are facing each other in the first round.   Recall the 2010 first round brown belt match up between Ary Farias and Michel Langhi, also two heavy favorites.  A less obvious example is this year's first round match up in the Ultra Heavy Division between Orlando Sanchez of Gracie Barra and Willie Leonard of Lloyd Irvin.  This could easiliy be a division final as well as the final of the Brown Belt absolute – which now can’t happen as only medalists from the divisions can enter the absolute.  This would be like Van Damme facing Bolo Yeung in the first round of the Kumite, which is so rediculous I doubt the screenwriter of Bloodsport even considered it.

It takes a lot of time and effort to seed brackets manually (I have great respect for the IBJJF officials and head coaches of the various teams) but the brown belts are the stars of next year.  I think it would good for the sport, the fans and the teams to have the head coaches get together and take a shot at manually seeding the brown belts so that matches up like this don’t happen till the later rounds. 

Black Belts

Galo/Naniko

Will Caio Terra compete, or will he not?  Some say he has an injury, but a recent picture posted by Budo Jake shows them training in So Cal together.  There have been other rumors that he is preparing for a late run as the Republican presidential candidate, which would seem unlikely as the United States requires presidents to be born here (ha, ha).  But if Caio is in, he has to be the favorite, especially with his perennial adversary Bruno Malfacine moving up a weight class due to his newfound love for Haagen Daz peanut butter and chocolate ice cream.   On the other side of the bracket, the semifinals will likely see a rematch from last year’s finals between Felipe Costa and Rafael “Barata” Freitas. 

If Caio is out, look for a final combination of Fabio “Monstrinho” Passos from Alliance vs. the winner of the Costa/Freitas fight.

Pluma

Gui Mendes is the current World Champion of this category and, based on his performance at the recent Abu Dhabi Trials, appears to be in top form.  I would be hard pressed to predict an upset before the finals.  The possibility comes in the form of Samir Chantre; if they were to meet it would occur in the semifinals. 

The second half of the bracket appears to be the heaviest.  We have possible finalists in Bruno Malfacine, Laercio Fernandes, and Pablo Silva.  Bruno is fighting up a weight class; he is the current world champion at galo.  A couple weeks ago he competed at the New York Abu Dhabi trials.  The weight classes there are a little different but Bruno was clearly undersized but still won the tournament.  Bruno could pose a threat to Gui but before doing so would have to get past some very tough opponents.

Laercio Fernandes is an absolute talent that seems to go a little under the radar.  He has medaled at previous mundials and won some very large domestic tournaments.  Though representing Lotus Club, he has been training pretty extensively with Cobrinha.  He recently lost to Gui at the San Diego Abu Dhabi trials and I am sure he is looking to get a rematch

Pena

Justin Rader just can’t catch a break!  In his second fight he’ll have to square off against the king of the division in Rafa Mendes.  These two have been competing against each other since the lower belts and it appears Justin hasn’t had much luck figuring out Rafa’s game.  Here at pullingtheline.com, we suggest that Justin doses Rafa's water bottle, or at least do something a little more proactive this time around.

Rafa’s side of the bracket sets up a great semi final when he squares off against Mario Reis.  I think this is Mario’s first major tournament since leaving Gracie Barra for Alliance.  He has been preparing for this tournament with Rafa’s nemesis Cobrinha.

Speaking of Cobrinha, I have to say I was a little surprised to hear he was competing.  He has been extremely busy with growing his new school and I am not sure how much he has been training for a tournament of this magnitude.  That being said, he is still one of the best, as his seeding shows.  On his way to a rematch with Rafa he’ll have to beat a svelte Michael Fowler (newly minted Atos member), Wellington “Megaton” Dias, or Renan Borges (keep an out for this guy; he has been extremely impressive as of late).

Leve

No Michael Langhi this year but Lucas Lepri, the 2^nd half of Alliance’s dynamic duo will be there.  Looking at Lucas’s side of the bracket it doesn’t appear he would have too much trouble making it to the semifinals where he would meet Claudio Mattos from Gracie Barra.

The 2^nd half of this weight bracket looks to be the tougher side with names such as Zak Maxwell, Bruno Amorim, Leandro Lo, and Phillipe “Furao” Dela Monica. 

Zak Maxwell is coming off a victory over teammate and jiu jitsu royalty, Kron Gracie.  If Zak can continue this momentum he has a strong shot at making the finals and giving Lucas Lepri a run for his money.

Leandro Lo is probably the favorite of this side of the bracket.  Leandro beat Michael Langhi at last year’s Abu Dhabi World Pro; this was Michael’s first defeat in many years.

Medio

This is a very compelling bracket as there are several names that have equal shots at wining this tournament.

Side 1 of the bracket has Victor Estima, Marcos De Souza, Kron Gracie and Murilo Santana.

Victor finally got away from his brothers shadow last year by winning the No Gi Mundials.  He took the tournament by storm with what people have dubbed as the “Estima Foot lock.” 

Marcos Souza is may appear as an unknown to the casual observer.  But trust me when I say that he has a very good chance of winning this division.  Marcos usually fights up a weight class and should be bigger and stronger than most of his opponents.  He has also been getting ready with Atos down in San Diego for this tournament.  Be sure that the Bull Terrier Kimonos owner will be in top form to make a run for the gold.

Fighting up a weight class, Kron Gracie looks to forget about his disappointing loss at the San Diego Abu Dhabi trials.  Kron has had a lot of success that last few years fighting in the light division, not sure why he has decided to move up.

I feel strange calling Murilo Santana a dark horse but he just doesn’t seem to get the recognition he deserves.  This Barbosa Jiu Jitsu team member is a tough draw for anybody.  I would not be surprised if he made it to the finals from this bracket.

Side 2 of the bracket has who I believe is the favorite in the division in Claudio Calasans.  If there is someone who has a great all around game it is him.  He has a judo black belt and an amazing guard to go along with it.  Standing in his way in this bracket will be Clark Gracie, Abmar Barbosa, and Otavio Sousa.  Luckily for Claudio, Clark faces Abmar in round 1 and the winner gets Otavio in their 2^nd fight. 

Medio Pesado

The big news here is that Andre Galvao pulled out of the tournament.  He is suffering from an injury and wants to be ready for the Abu Dhabi Pro’s in April.  Aside from Galvao, it looks like that Rafael Lovato  is out as well, he had originally signed up for this division but has moved back up to Pesado.  This narrows the favorites down a little more for us.

A big question everyone is asking, is can Romulo Barral regain his pre knee surgery form?  From 2007 to 2010, it can be said that Romulo was only second to Roger Gracie.  But ever since the knee injury he suffered to Tarsis Humphries in 2010, Romulo appears to be out of sync.  At times he has showed flashes of his old self, but in others he seems to fall short – for instance his first round loss at the 2011’s ADCC.  I for one am a huge Barral fan.  He has been a huge influence in my game and I really hope he can come back strong and get back the glory.

Barral’s teammate Kayron Gracie looks to close out the division with Romulo.  Kayron won the Pan Am in 2010 but since then has saddled by injuries.

Looking to stand in the way of the  Gracie Barra duo are Oliver Geddes (this Roger Gracie student has a big submission win over Marcos Souza at this year’s Euros), newly minted GF team black belt Alberto Ramos, and Erik “AnderSLAM” Anderson. 

We also want to give a shout out to Lucas Pires of Werdum Combat team.  He is a friend of Pullingtheline and this is his first competition back after a couple year hiatus.

Pesado

Is it a coincidence that when Rodolfo decided not to sign up for the Pans that this bracket filled up?

Yuri Simoes makes his debut at black belt.  Yuri has had great success at the lower belts and I think he can continue with his winning ways.  But to get to the finals he’ll have to get past Gustavo Pires, Leo Itturalde, and Rafael Lovato – not an easy task!

Lovato had been signed up for the Medio Pesado division but has now moved back to his usual weight class.  He has to be the immediate favorite in this group.

The surprise in this division is that Lucas Leite is in it.  Usually Lucas fights at Medio but has decided to move up to pesado.  This isn’t the first he has done such a move, Lucas won the No Gi Mundials in this division.

A match up I look forward to would be between Renan Vital (assuming he wins his first match) and Roberto “Tussa” Alencar.  Both have similar aggressive styles of Judo influenced Jiu Jitsu.  Should this match happen it will be a very entertaining one.  I think that the winner of this fight will meet Lovato in the finals of the division.

Super Pesado

I don’t know if this is a hoax or not but it looks like JT Torres will be competing here.  Is JT is summoning his inner Terere?  JT has been sick all week and had even had a brief spell in the hospital.  Last I heard he is competing, and since the brackets are final, I guess JT is competing with the heavies! 

Antonio “Cara De Sepato” Carlos has been someone I’ve been watching since the lower belts.  I remember in watching him 2010 when the hoopla was all about his teammate Buchecha , and I was  very impressed.  I still believe what I thought then, Antonio has the tools to be a big star in this sport just like Buchecha. 

Bernardo Farias seems to have bulked up this year moving up a weight class.  Should he make the finals he is going to have killer of a semi against Joao Assis.  Look for a Farias, Assis, and Carlos combination in the finals of this category.

Pesadissimo

Ahhhhh.  I love Pesadissimo because the competitor's bellies are as big as their hearts (and in some cases, much much bigger).  Sometimes, I daydream about letting myself go and competing at Pesadissimo, but I realize that would be a slippary slope to morbid obesity and eventually a talk show host cutting a hole in my wall and driving me to the hospital on the back of a truck to rescue me from myself.  

But this division is a great example of how much Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has evolved.  For the most part, gone are the days where two giants stomp around in a ten-minute grip fight.  The favorites in this division are just as good on top as they are on their backs with several of them possessing dynamic guards that would be at home in the Galo division!  One such, and probably the division’s favorite, is Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida.  He has a guard that would give any one fits and foot locks that would make Palhares proud.  If all goes to plan, Buchecha should meet his Danish teammate, Alexander Trans, in the finals.  Alexander is brand new black belt but was probably one of the most successful competitors in 2011.  He doubled up (gold in weight and absolute) at essentially every tournament last year except for the Brasilieors where he decided to sit out the open.  The only person to beat him in 2011 was Fabricio Werdum at the London ADCC’s.  Though these two are teammates I am not sure to what extent they have trained together.  I am hoping they don’t close out the category and fight the final.

2012 European Open Jiu-Jitsu Championship

This week we have the first major IBJJF tournament of 2012.  It is also the first tournament featuring the new IBJJF rules.  Sorry guys, can’t wear thongs anymore, its boxers or briefs only!

Before we get started with our analysis, we’d like to wish our friend Guillame Huni the best of luck at the tournament.  Guillame has the infamy of introducing me to Brazilian jiu jitsu, though I did not know it at the time.  It was during high school  basketball practice when I was a lowly sophomore and he was a bad a$$ senior.  Guillame had gotten a hold of “Grappling” Magazine and decided to try a move on me.   Needless to say I had no idea what he was doing and all I could think was “This is the closest I have ever been to another man!”  Fast forward 12 years and today I realize he was applying a mounted arm triangle on me, and can now appreciate the warmth of another man.

Time to drink some more and repress my first homo erotic memory….

Onto the Jiu jitsu:

(Disclaimer, it’s January 22^nd and I think this is the final list)

Galo:

I have no idea who any of these guys are!  None of the top guys are competing at this tournament so this is a tossup!

Pluma:

Much like Galo, this is another very small division with only 7 competitors.  Again not many of the division’s stars are in Europe for the competition.  Look to see Carlos “Esquisito” Hollanda take this division.  He’s had very good success in the No Gi division placing at major tournament, but falls short during the Gi events.  He wins and hopefully can bring that momentum to Pans in March.

Pena:

Hands down favorite here is Bruno Frazzatto.  If it weren’t for Cobrinha, this man would have had several world titles to his name.  Wellington “Megaton” Dias, the perennial competitor, is also in this division.  Should he be on the other side of the bracket, look for a Frazzato vs. Megaton final.  Denilson Pimenta who spent most of last year competing in the Masters divisions is back in the adult group.  If he is on Megaton’s side of the bracket, it could make for a very good semifinal.

Leve:

Due to his move from NYC to Atlanta, Lucas Lepri was not able to make this tournament.  Even without him, Alliance’s other ace in this division, Michael Langhi, should take gold.  Ed Ramos of Atos and Rodrigo Simoes of Gracie Barra should do well.  Roberto Satoshi makes his debut as a black belt at IBJJF tournament.  He is a very exciting competitor to watch.

The main adversary for Langhi will be JT Torres.  JT is at the cusp of taking the world by storm.  He has fallen in the semifinals of major events several times.  Talent wise he is right there with Langhi and Lepri, it all just depends on the day.  I for one would love to see JT win everything this year.  Regardless he is a young kid with a very bright future.

Medio:

Clark Gracie has really come into his own since becoming a black belt.  He did very well at last year’s worlds in coming third in this division.  Victor Estima is another name to watch.  Since some big wins at ADCC and winning the No Gi Mundials, the younger Estima appears to be emerging from his brother’s shadow.  Hopefully he continues his winning ways. 

Otavio Sousa drops down a weight division for this tournament.  I for one cannot even imagine Otavio being this light.  Those who have seen him in person can attest to his size.  But prior to becoming a black belt this was his main division.

The sleeper here is James Harbison of Lloyd Irvin.  James won the Grand Slam (Gold at Euro, Pan, Brazilian Nationals, and Mundials) last year at brown belt.  During his first major black belt tournament at last year’s No Gi Worlds he secured a win over Cobrinha en-route to a bronze in the Absolute Division.

Meio Pesado:

What I like about the list of this division is that it contains amazing grapplers that mainstream jiu jitsu fans never have really heard of.  Gustavo Junqueira, Vitor “Gigante” Toledo, Marcos de Souza, and Nivaldo de Oliveira Lima all could easily take this division.

Gustavo, though young, has been around for awhile and people may recognize him as one of the Koral models.  He has been languishing on Alliance B team due to skilled teammates such as Sergio Moraes, and Tarsis Humphreys.  But Gustavo had a good win over Otavio Sousa in last year’s worlds and should be looking to continue that momentum.

Marcos de Souza is a pretty big name in the Asian BJJ season.  Aside from being a great competitor he is also co-owner of gi brand “Bull Terrier.”  Regardless of who he faces, Marcos is always a tough fight.  He has a very balanced game with incredibly tight passing.

Nivaldo de Oliveira Lima is my favorite here.  He doesn’t compete too often in the USA but has many wins in Brazil.  If he had more opportunities to fight outside of Brazil, I think this would be a name to include up there with the likes of Galvao, Estima, and Moraes.

Pesado:

Rodolfo, Rodolfo, Rodolfo!  That is all you need to know about this division!  This many practically won everything last year.  I think the only interesting matchup left for him would be against another one name enigma in Roger.  Rodolfo is already on form this year winning every fight by submission at last week’s Abu Dhabi Trials in Rio.

I’ve been a big fan of Roberto “Tussa” Alencar but he just seems to fall short year after year.  Aside from Tussa another contender for “silver” is Rafael Lovato. 

Super Pesado:

Small bracket but full of quality and size as 3 of the 4 competitors are considered among the best in the world.

Perennial Silver medalist to Rodolfo Vieira’s gold’s is Bernardo Faria.  Interesting that he decided to move up a division – is Rodolfo the new boogey man?  We use to see a whole boat load of competitors switching divisions in order to avoid Roger Gracie.

Bernardo should meet either his teammate Leo Nogueira or Lucio Lagarto in the final.  Leo is coming off a gold medal at the 2011 mundials.  Personally I would like to see Leo lose to Lagarto as this would ensure that a final would take place.  Lagarto is an old Gracie Barra champion and is one of the toughest people out there, not many can say they submitted cancer.

Pesadissimo:

It’s the big boys!  I am not too familiar with the names here except for one – Alexander Trans.  Alex was arguably the best competitor last year as his lone loss was to Fabricio Werdum at the ADCC Championships in London.  Aside from that he won everything he competed in and almost pulled a Grand slam at weight and absolute.  The lone blemish was that he did not win the Brazilian Nationals Absolute as he did not enter that bracket.  But these accomplishments were all done at Brown Belt.  This will be his first tournament at Black.  Though inexperienced at this belt he does have the game to win.

It has been a while!

I have been inconsolable ever since Rickson refused to take a picture with the King and me at his seminar.  I refused to think or do anything jiu jitsu, it was just cookies, cookies, and more cookies!  But this weekend is the No Gi worlds and I knew that the pullingtheline following needed our analysis.

Rooster

Only 2 competitors in this division and both were the only 2 last year. We have a rematch of Brandon Mullins and Joseph Capizzi.  Like last year I see Brandon taking this one.  Aside from sporting a cool nickname, Wolverine, Brandon seems to be the more active competitor.  A couple weeks ago Brandon competed at the US Nationals; though he did not win he had a really tough division that included Caio Terra and Milton Bastos.  Regardless, both Joseph and Brandon will get some hardware this weekend.

Light Feather

The overall favorite has to be Caio Terra.  In the last few years, the bane to Caio’s existence has been Bruno Malfacine– luckily for him, Bruno will not be competing.  Caio has a pretty easy side of the bracket with somewhat of a challenge in Fabio Passos of Alliance, if they meet it will be the categories semifinal.  The other side of the bracket is one of the toughest I’ve seen.   All 4 (Rafael “Barata” Freitas, Henrique Rezende, Milton Bastos, and Laercio Fernandes) have a chance of medaling.  The 2 favorites in my opinion are Laercio from Robot/Lotus BJJ and Milton Bastos from Paragon.  Unfortunately these 2 drew each other in the first round.  Laercio has been coming on the scene the last 2 years.  He has medaled at a lot of the IBJJF events and does hold a win over Caio at last year’s US Nationals.  We should get treated to a rematch of this.

Feather

Cobrinha is back!  Didn’t he say he was going to retire this year?  After a controversial loss to Rafa Mendes at the finals of the 2011 ADCC, Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles appears to continue to hold off his retirement.  In a pretty small division, Cobrinha has one fight to make it to the finals.  The 2 favorites in the other end of the bracket are Samir Chantre from Gracie Fighter and Justin Rader – Rafael Lovato’s first black belt.  Justin is the reigning champion in this division.  It is just so hard to bet against Cobrinha when Rafa Mendes isn’t around.  Cobrinha takes this division with 2 submission victories.

Light

3 names stick out here – Lucas Lepri from Alliance, Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes and Philippe “Furao” Della Monica.  Usually closing out this weight class with his teammate Michael Langhi, Lucas will have to win 3 fights to get that gold around his neck.  Furao vs. Tanquinho will make for a very good semifinal, but in the end Tanquinho will be too much to handle.  It should a Lepri vs. Tanquinho final.  As much as Tanquinho has been on a tear this year, this division still belongs to Lucas.

Middle

Now this going to be a great division!  A lot of the division’s big names are in town – Murilo Santana, Clark Gracie, James Harbison, Davi Ramos, and Victor Estima.  James Harbison is a newly promoted black belt but this Lloyd Irvin prodigy accomplished the “Grand Slam” of jiu jitsu this year by winning his weight at the Europeans, Brazilian Nationals, Pans, and Gi Worlds.  This will be his first tournament at black belt and I am excited to see what he can accomplish.

Murilo Santana is a lesser known competitor but those of us who are self proclaimed bjj nerds know all about him!  I see a Murilo vs. Clark Gracie semifinal with the winner of that facing eventual champion Davi Ramos.  Davi has been absolutely amazing as of late.  He is coming off 3 submission wins this year vs. Kayron Gracie, Jeff Monson and Joao Assis.  Known as the “Mike Tyson” of the Atos gym, this should be Davi’s breakout tournament where the rest of the bjj community will finally know his name!

Medium Heavy

How in GOD’s name is Pablo Popovitch a Medium Heavyweight?  Weapon X, as he is fondly called, is huge!  The final here will be Pablo vs. Rafael Lovato.   But before getting to the finals, Rafael should have a war against Otavio “The Hulk” Souza.  I remember watching these 2 compete against each other at the Pan Americans a couple years back.  It was Otavio’s first tournament as a black belt beating Rafael by points.  It was a thrilling fast paced match and I would expect nothing less.

Local Southern California Bjj legend Erik Anderson competes in his first major black belt division.  Those of us who live here know of this man’s accomplishments.  I think he really broke onto the bjj scene last year by medaling at weight and absolute in the Brown Belt Worlds (beating Ian Mcpherson along the way).  To medal at this tournament Erik would need to get through Otavio Sousa.

Heavy

I have no idea if it’s a typo or not but 2 guys that normally compete at lower weight classes are here – Lucas Leite (Middle) and Marcel Louzado (Medium Heavy).  Lucas is especially surprising as it appears he has jumped up 2 weight classes!  If this is true I would have to put Lucas down as one of the favorites.  He has a game that can and is successful against anyone no matter the size and whether or not it is in the gi.

Robert “Tussa” Alencar is one of the most intense competitors around.   He should face Marcel Louzado in the semifinals.  This would be a rematch from last year’s tournament where Tussa slapped on a last minute triangle for the win – this definitely was the match of the tournament.

Kevin Casey could make some noise as well.  Kevin is always a game competitor and a tough fight for anybody.

Super Heavy

There are 3 favorites here and neither would be a surprise if we see the gold dangling around their neck.  Joao Assis was last year’s best No Gi grappler.  He won the “World's Greatest Grappler” tournament hosted by Grapplers Quest.  Joao is also coming from a silver medal at this year’s edition of ADCC – arguably the most prestigious tournament in the world!  Standing in Joao’s way will be Antonio Peinado and Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida.  Peinado and Assis are on the same side of the bracket.  I for one would like Peinado to win so that Buchecha and Joao do not close out the final – both are teammates at Chekmat.

Ultra Heavy

Usually one of the smallest divisions and this is no exception with 5 competitors in the brackets.  Cyborg has to be the odds on winner here.  Aside from winning his division, look for him to cause waves in the absolute division as well.

A couple of nights ago, Monstro and I attended Rickson Gracie's seminar at the Gracie Academy ™ in Torrance.  The seminar, a bargain at $100, was announced over email and sold out in two hours.  The academy was big, with a one-room “Gracie Jiu Jitsu Museum ™”, huge locker rooms, and a large mat.  There were Gracies everywhere.  The sons of Rorion that I could identify (Rener & Ralek) looked gigantic in person.  There were 22 black belts in attendance, one red belt instructor (Rickson), and one red belt host (Rorion).

Monstro and I did not arrive with expectations that Rickson would be teaching anything mind blowing, but we were hoping, at the very least, to learn something we could apply to our games, and to get a snap shot of us and Rickson.

I was particularly excited as I trained for six months at Rickson's academy when I first moved to Los Angeles.  During those six months, Rickson made an apperance once, criticized the way someone was doing their forward roll during warm ups, and then left five minutes later.

The Gracies who attended the seminar (please forgive poor photo quality)

The seminar focused on the theoretical concept of “connections”, that is, the points of connection between you and your opponent, and between you and the mat.  At times, Rickson referred to this as the “invisible” jiu jitsu, which is to say that two people could be seemingly applying the same technique with one focusing his energy and weight more efficiently than the other, while looking identical to an observer.

He then applied this theory of connections to a handful of techniques.  After every technique, he asked if there were questions.  There were always questions.  He demonstrated for the person asking the question, and made the student perform the technique until it was performed perfectly.

After working on a bottom side control technique, a black belt (training close to Monstro and I) asked Rickson for clarification.  In short, the black belt was asking if the technique could be performed when his opponent was positioning himself deliberately to thwart the technique.  Rickson said “You’re being naïve.  You’re a black belt, you should know this,” and then explained that, of course, if the person was over committing to defend the technique, he should take advantage of the over commitment.

Black (and red) belts who attended seminar (please forgive poor photo quality)

By the end of the seminar, we understood the theoretical concept, we understood how it was applied in practice, and we were equipped to look for places in our game to apply it.

Rickson gave a talk after class*, and got choked up as he described how happy he was to reconnect with his family.  He explained how he always kept in touch, but it had been a long time since they had taught or trained or exchanged techniques.  He also announced that he was, in effect, semi-retired and had no interest running an academy anymore.  He planned on teaching seminars one week out of the month, and spending the rest of the time “eating good food”, “surfing”, and spending time with his fiancé.  When asked by one of the Rorion progeny when he would be back, he replied:

“After I’ve spent some time in Prianha..surfing.”  (Monstro and I exchanged glances as we had been to Prianha a couple of times when visiting Rio.  It is, perhaps, the most beautiful beach in the world.)

The biggest disappointment was that after pictures were taken, they did not allow any personal pictures with Rickson.  Monstro was inconsolable, so I cheered him up with a bag of Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies, and promised him I would photoshop us and Rickson together as proof that we attended the seminar.

*A spectator, I don’t know what he thought he was doing, started filming Rickson behind and a little beside him until Rickson angrily said “Hey…Get out of here!  Please!”

10 - Injuries:  If you are looking for a low impact sport that you can participate with limited injuries for the rest of your life, I would highly recommend swimming.  BJJ, on the other hand, will beat the hell out of your body.  If you take this sport seriously, you will have a long list of nagging injuries that will most likely get progressively worse until you die an excruciatingly slow and painful death.  Your ears will make small children cry and run away.  You will wince with pain upon standing, sitting, and shaking hands.  Sure, we’ve all seen videos of Helio wearing a gi well into his 90s, however, he knew how to submit his own injuries (one of the key differentiators between Gracie Jiu Jitsu™ and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu), and even managed to wrist lock the icy hand of Death a few times which bought him a few more years.  As for the rest of us, we can assume that our fingers, knees, backs, and shoulders will be mangled beyond repair before we ever join the AARP.

9 - Cleaning Gis:  They are big, bulky, take a long time to air dry, are prone to smelling bad, and because of our archaic notion of gender roles, it is frowned upon for men to wear pink ones with Hello Kitty patches.

8 - Hang Nails:  I have a pair of nail clippers at home, work, and in the car because the rough gi material rubs my cuticles in the opposite direction, frequently creating bloody hangnails that open up in the middle of sparing sessions and polka dot my opponent’s gi with red spots which leads to juvenile jokes and tittering.

7 - Poorly Groomed Teammates:  Every academy has a couple of dirty motherfuckers who do not wash their gis, clip their nails, stay home when they are sick, seek out medical treatment for their infectious diseases, bath regularly, wash their hands after toileting, and are generally nasty and disgusting human beings that walk around in a cloud of filth and stink.  Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid very close, intimate contact with these nauseating individuals who will catch you on a bad day, mount you, and rain down greasy sweat into your mouth just as you are gasping for a breath of foul air.  Afterwards, your gi is forever tainted with a stench that will permeate everything in your house until you go on a journey with a bunch of Ninikos and toss it into the pit of Mount Doom.

6 - Argentina:  Brazilian Jiu Jitsu originated in Brazil, and Brazil is a South American country next to Argentina, and Argentina is full of whores, Nazis, thieves and paranoid schizophrenics.  It is a seriously awful place where people have no souls.  They are backwards, un-evolved, raving lunatics.   I have to assume that some Argentineans successfully fled to Brazil over the years, and that alone is enough of an ugly stain on our sport that we can never fully wash away until we have hunted them down and evicted them from our ranks.

5 - BJJ Causes Body Image Issues:  Prior to training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, I was in pretty good shape with a naturally muscular build.  Seven years later, I am in pretty good shape with a naturally muscular build, and I wake up every morning and spend ten minutes calling myself “Fatty fatty fat fat” in the mirror before taking a shower because I know that if the Shiek called with a last minute spot at Abu Dahbi, I wouldn’t be able to cut enough weight to make it to the Medio weight class without risking kidney failure.  Also, when I see the slightest bulge in the sides of my abdomen, I feel morbidly obese.

4 - BJJ is Full of Brazilians:  Sometimes, prior to grappling with a Brazilian, he will blow his nose inside his gi to clear his nostrils.  This is the South American alternative to the breath right (TM).  In addition to using their gis as hankies, Brazilians are known for cheating as refs, and for being inexplicably bad at running their academies, tournaments, and organizations.  The Brazilians that came to the United States to teach and train are generally the cream of the crop when it comes to the sport of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, however, God endowed them with powers of grappling, not powers of business.

3 - BJJ Has Limited Stand Up:  We’ve all heard that a high majority of street fights end up on the ground, and additionally, if one of the street fighters wants to take the fight to the ground, it will probably go to the ground (because Joe Citizen does not come home after a 12-hour shift at the plant and start working on his takedown defense).  Great.  We can all pat ourselves on the back for making a rational decision to participate in this martial art.  We can also agree that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, in general, does a terrible job of instructing stand up self defense/fighting.  If I was in a hand to hand combat situation, and my options were knowing BJJ, Wrestling, or Thai Kickboxing, my first option would not be BJJ.  This is tragic because in an ideal world, BJJ would be incorporating the best of Judo and Wrestling rather than teaching people to flop on their backs.

2- Scoring System:  From what I understand, the original scoring system in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was created based on street fighting.  The number of points awarded to competitors relate to the dominance of the position.  In a street fight, if you are mounted or back mounted, you are in deep trouble, so maximum points (4) are awarded.  If your guard is passed, you are in somewhat less trouble, so three points are awarded.  Etc.

These days, most competitions begin with someone pulling guard.  If I didn’t know Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and I was fighting someone in a parking lot who jumped on me with their legs wrapped around my waste like a deranged monkey, my first thoughts would be “Am I being sexually assaulted?  Was this person raised by baboons?  Why did I get into a bar fight over Justin Bieber’s sexual orientation in the first place?”  And then my natural reaction would be to slam the motherfucker on his back and head, which would most likely open his guard and/or knock him out, and then I would then do to him what the U.S. Congress is doing to the American people, and give him a little going away present.

The only way to fix scoring in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is to penalize a person a couple of points for pulling guard.  The only argument I see against this is that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu developed the guard and should, therefore, promote its use.  To follow this argument to its logical conclusion, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu should not strive to be the “best” or “most effective” martial art, but to carve out it’s on unique space.  Judo recently changed their rules to stimy wrestlers and jiu jitsu players from scoring takedowns in their competitions.  It was an attempt to preserve the "Judoness" of Judo matches.  I am sure it will accomplish this goal.  I am sure it will also be a disservice to all people that learn Judo as it will not prepare them for other disciplines.

1 - BJJ is Addictive:  Brazilian Jiu Jitsu sucks, quod erat demonstrandum, yet I am powerless to quit. 

What follows is the actual transcript of a series of text messages between me and my first Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructor, Napolean, who introduced me to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.):

Me:  Just finished teaching my first class.

Napoleon:  Howd [sic] it go

Me:  OK, but I have a lot to learn

Napoleon:  Try to call at least one student a dumbfuck each class.  That way they know how they are doing.  Students like the intructors [sic] feedback.  Just like slaves or prisoners.

Me:  If there is one thing I learned from your teaching method is that students learn best when they are ridiculed

Napoleon:  And spat upon…

Me:  I prefer to go number three on them, but I have a lot to learn

Napoleon:  WTF is number 3?

Captain Caveman is out of town for a week, and he asked me to take over his classes - three gi and two no gi.  The classes are very small, but it has been a great opportunity to practice articulating techniques, and has been a lot of fun.  For my first class, I taught the most basic sweep in the book - The Scissors Sweep.  For my second gi class, I taught a couple of techniques from the sit up series - the Sit Up Sweep and the Sit Up Sweep to the Gullotine.  I had a few visitors from our sister school show up in support which was really cool.

Speaking of which, congratulations to Monstro and Wildcat on their engagement.  Their children will submit us all.

2011 World Jiu Jitsu Championship

DATE: June 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th 2011.

ADDRESS: California State University, Long Beach - 1250 Bellflower Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90840

This will be forever known as the “Worlds without Roger.”  Super Pesado and absolute competitors are breathing a sigh of relief as for the first time since 2002 Roger Gracie will not make an Absolute Final’s appearance.  Roger decided to forgo the Mundials this year due to him just recovering from a leg injury.  Hopefully he gets an invite to this year’s ADCC in London and we can watch him there!

Before we get to the brackets, keep in mind that Alliance (aside from trying to win their 3 Worlds in a row) is trying to pull off the Grand Slam in 2011.  The Grand Slam is winning all 4 major IBJJF Gi Championships.  Alliance has already won the Europeans, Pans, and Brazilian Nationals.  Given that Alliance is bringing a loaded team at all belt levels, I think that there is little doubt they will accomplish this feat.  In the lower belt I think that the one team that can throw a wrench in their plans is Lloyd Irvin’s school.  They may not have a lot of black belts, but Lloyd is churning out some amazing blue, purple and brown belts.  Of note is his Purple Belt crop (DJ Jackson, Frank Camacho, Andris Brunovskis, Willie Leonard, John Delbrugge, Brad Pearson, etc).  Once the lower belts are done and if Alliance has somewhat of a lead, I really don’t see any team stopping them as Alliance has legitimate contenders at all weight division from Galo to Pesadissimo.

Galo

Contenders: Bruno Malfacine, Caio Terra, Rafael “Barata” Freitas, Brandon “Wolverine” Mullins, Yusuke Honma, Makoto Sawada

A field of 18 here which is actually one of the bigger ones I have seen at this weight.  Normally you would be hard pressed to find 8 people in the division.  I think much like the last 2 years, the finals will be another Bruno Malfacine vs. Caio Terra affair.  I love upsets but this will be the one division that I will be rooting for the favorites from start to finish.  The reason being is the underlying drama between Caio and Bruno.  After this year’s Pan Finals (that Caio won when these 2 fought in the weight division above) Caio made some very bold statements.  He said that he proved that “technique would beat steroids and that the IBJJF needed to start steroid testing.”  Now these comments were made right after the fight with Bruno and in front of a packed UC Irvine Stadium.  Caio may not have named Bruno but one can figure who he was talking about.  Actually most people feel he was accusing most of the Alliance guys (and “girl”) with these comments.  With this underlying drama, the dislike these 2 have for each other, this will be a great final.

Of course getting to the finals won’t be as easy as there are several competitors who do have a chance of coming up with the upset.  Felipe Costa the “King of the Bronze” (I think he has 6 or 7 worlds bronze medals) with try and put up a fight.  But has had little to no success against Malfacine, in fact losing to Bruno by a score of 20 something to 0 the last time they met.  Brandon Mullins of Gracie Barra is another one to watch but should he progress he would face Bruno in their second fight.  On the other side of the bracket is Rafael “Barata” Freitas, this year’s Pan Champion.  He should be in the mix for a medal but I highly doubt he would get past Caio Terra.

Pluma

Contenders: Ary Farias, Gui Mendes, Carlos “Esquisito” Holanda, Pablo da Silva, Samuel Braga, Samir Chantre, Laercio Fernandes, Daniel Beleza, Dai Yoshioka

Gui Mendes looks to do a lot better than he did at last year’s edition where he had a first round exit.  But in Gui’s defense it was against eventual Champion Pablo da Silva who was on no one’s radar till that win.  If Gui wants to get his revenge he will have to do it in the final as Silva is in the opposite bracket.  One person whose praise I have been singing for over a year now is Laercio Fernandes of Lotus Club/Robot Jiu Jitsu.  Last year Laercio medaled at the worlds and beat Caio Terra at the American Nationals.  He seems to be right at the edge to break through, will it be this year?  If so he will have a tough road with a first round draw with Sonny Nohara, a possible 2^nd round against Daniel Beleza, and if he does get through both fights he would meet Gui in the quarterfinals.  The favorite to meet Gui in the semifinals would be Samuel Braga of Gracie Barra.  This Draculino student closed out the worlds last year with Pablo Silva.  I’ve seen videos of Samuel training for this event and he looks very strong.  If he does make it to the finals with Gui it would be a rematch of their controversial mundials final in 2009 where Samuel was disqualified for punching Mendes.

The other bracket has Silva and Ary Farias.  This is Ary’s first world as a black belt but this rookie is a heavy favorite.  Physically I don’t think anyone can handle him in this division as Ary is an incredibly strong light feather weight.  But he does have a bad draw where would face Dai Yoshioka in the 2^nd round.  Yoshioka is an unfamiliar name to most being located in Japan but has an impassable guard that earned a silver medal at the 2009 worlds.

Pena

Contenders: Cobrinha, Bruno Frazatto, Rafa Mendes, Denilson Pimenta, Theodoro Canal, Mario Reis, Wellington Dias, Gustavo Carpio, Marcelino Freitas, Justin Radar, Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes

The shortest retirement since Brett Favre – Cobrinha is back!  After announcing that last year was his last worlds and his desire to concentrate on his academy, Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles couldn’t stay off the mats for too long.  He competed at this year’s Abu Dhabi Pro and doing well at it.  In fact he came in 2^nd at the absolute losing to jiu jitsu’s current stud in Rodolfo Vieira. 

But even Cobrinha at his best has had a tough time beating Rafa Mendes with Rafa winning their last encounter during the finals of the 2010 Worlds.  Quite frankly Rafa has got to be the favorite to repeat in this division.  But he will also face a very tough task in beating the “other” Mendes in Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes.  Tanquinho usually fights up a weight class but dropped down to Pena at this year’s Abu Dhabi Pro and beat Rafa in a final marred by controversy.  The rematch would happen in this final.  But Tanquinho will have no easy time getting there far as he would have to beat Ryan Hall, Bruno Frazzato, AND Cobrinha along the way.

Marcelino Freitas and Mario Reis could make a run for the title as well.  They fall on the same side as Rafa Mendes and will have some very hard fights as well.  We have to mention Mario’s first fight as it is against a friend of ours here at pullingtheline.   It will be against Gustavo Carpio a Marra Senki black belt with a great spider guard.  Gustavo is right on the cusp of breaking into the upper echelons of the Pena division, he is coming off a win over Justin Rader.  Can this up and comer pull off the upset against a declining Mario Reis?  We will find out Saturday!

Leve

Contenders: Lucas Lepri, Michael Langhi, Gilbert “Durinho” Burns, Phillipe “Furao” Della Monica, Celso Vinicius, Kron Gracie, Jt Torres, Leandro Perreira do Nascimineto

Talk about a stacked division!  47 competitors and about a quarter have a good shot at medaling.  The last few years this division has been led by the two Alliance aces in Michael Langhi and Lucas Lepri.  But finally there is someone who has shown he can consistently spoil the Alliance close out.  His name is Leandro Perreira do Nascimineto.  The last 2 times Leandro and Michael have met; Leandro has come out the victor.  I don’t think that the casual BJJ fan has heard of Leandro till his wins over Langhi but he has been winning at the lower belts – 2010 Brazilian Brown Belt Champion.  Can Leandro spoil another Alliance close out?  Leandro will have to work hard to meet Langhi in the finals since none other than Kron Gracie is on Leandro’s side.  Kron is dropping down a weight from his usual Medio division.  I think that this is a better move for Kron as his build looks more suitable for this weight category.  Kron has won gold at every single belt level in the mundials with black being the lone missing color.

The 2^nd bracket is just as stacked as the first.  This side has the likes of Lucas Lepri, Jt Torres, Durinho, and Celsinho.  To get to the semifinal Lepri is going to have to beat Durinho.  Much like his name, Durinho is a tough fighter.  Durinho’s first fight should be against Tim Peterson of Robot Jiu Jitsu.  We mention/support Tim as he too is a West LA Bjj practitioner and we have been watching him compete at all the local tournaments over the years.  He recently had a win against a very tough opponent in Jeremy Umphries of Wedrum Combat Team/PKG.

Celsinho claims that this will be his last worlds as he wants to focus on his school and seminars.  I would love to see him succeed and face Langhi in the final (a rematch from last year where Langhi won by refs decision).  But to do so Celsinho would have to beat Jt Torres in the quarterfinals.  If Jt wasn’t in such a tough division he would already have medaled at the black belt worlds.  But unfortunately he fights in such a tough division that he will get that elusive gold in another year.  I think that Jt is America’s budding bjj super star.  Love him or hate him, Lloyd Irvin has done well with Jt.

Medio

Contenders: Marcelo Garcia, Rodrigo Caporal, Claudio Calasans, Gustavo Campos, Murilo Santana, Clark Gracie, Lucas Leite, Victor Estima, Alan Nascimiento, Daniel Garcia

Marcelo Garcia – theoretically I could end the write up with just saying that, and honestly you would be hard pressed to argue with me on that.  But no I would never do that to the faithful pullingtheline fans.

As you can guess Marcelo is the favorite in this division.  He won it last year with a sweep over Claudio Calasans.  In recent memory I think that Marcelo has only lost to Roger Gracie (Absolute Division) at the Worlds.  Scanning my youtube fed brain; I think that Marcelo lost to Terere at weight over 7 years ago.  It is safe to say that this is Marcelo’s division.

3 thorns in Marcelo’s bracket will be in the forms of Victor Estima, Guto Campos and Alan “Finfou” Nascimiento.  Guto and Finfou will have to duke it out with each other first to see who progresses ahead to face Marcelo.  Now I do think that Victor has a shot at beating Marcelo but it is a long one.

But how long will this reign last?  It can be said that Calasans should be the favorite here.  He competes a lot more than Marcelo and has beaten some very big names in the past year, capping things off with an amazing wrist lock finish on Lucas Leite at this year’s Pans.   Claudio has a tough bracket with Clark Gracie, Murilo Santana (my dark horse in this division), and Lucas Leite.

A name missing in this group is that of Kayron Gracie.  Not too sure why but it doesn’t seem that he is registered for this year’s competition.  Kayron had a great semifinal bout with Marcelo last year and only losing by a sweep and guard pass.

Never the less I expect to see Marcelo square off against Calasans on Sunday.  Can Calasans dethrone the king? 

Medio Pesado

Contenders: Sergio Moraes, Ian McPherson, Eduardo Santoro, Otavio Souza, Romulo Barral, Eduardo Telles

A couple of the heavy favorites of this division are out this year: Andre Galvao, Braulio Estima (recovering from injury and saving himself for Abu Dhabi) and last year’s champion Tarsis Humprheys (I believe he is having surgery as we speak).  I am a big fan of the aforementioned 3 but don’t be fooled there are still a lot of super stars left in this division.

Surprisingly Sergio Moraes moved up a division.  I’ve always thought that Sergio looked like the biggest middleweight out there.  I wonder how much he had to cut to drop down to medio?  Even though he does move up I still expect him to be physically dominant in division and is a strong favorite to reach the final.

The main challenger in Serginho’s side of the bracket is Otavio Sousa.  Though young, Otavio has been around the scene for awhile now amassing countless medals at all the belts.  Though I do not think he consistently is yet on the level of Sergio he does have to tools to cause an upset.  Otavio has beaten some very tough names in the past.  Aside from that, physically Otavio is probably the one person in this division who is just as strong and explosive as Sergio.  If these 2 meet it will be a fast paced scrambling affair. 

The 2^nd strong favorite in this division would be last year’s silver medalist Romulo Barral.  Aside from being a favorite here, Romulo is a top 4 choice to take the absolute division as well.  Personally I am a huge Romulo fan and quite frankly pattern my game after him but even I am not sold on this.  The reason being is that Romulo had a very serious knee injury in last year’s finals against Tarsis Humphreys.  Since recovering he has come back but it does seem that the injury has taken something out of him.  He doesn’t seem to be in top rhythm coming into this tournament. If it came down to a Sergio vs. Barral final, my heart would be on Barral but my money would be on Moraes - as a fan and a Gracie Barra loyalist I really hope I am wrong on this.

Romulo is going to work hard to get through to the finals.  He has Eduardo Telles, Ian McPherson and Eduardo Santoro all on his side.  Eduardo “The turtle guard” Telles will give anyone fits.  If people remember the mundials from 2009 where the man himself, Roger Gracie, couldn’t even pass the daunted “Turtle Guard” and had to settle for a ref’s decision win over Telles.  Ian McPherson is a new black belt and made his debut at this year’s Pans.  Ian had a stellar lower belt career but once it hits the black, it all starts over!  Eduardo Santoro is an unknown star to the casual fan, but do not let that fool you as this man is as legit as they come.  He has been very successful on the local Paulista circuit for awhile and came 2^nd at this year’s Pan to Andre Galvao.  In fact Eduardo has a submission victory over Sergio Moraes at last year’s World League Pro in Sao Paulo.

Pesado

Contenders: Bernardo Faria, Rodolfo Vieira, Roberto “Tussa” Alencar, Alexandre Ceconi, Rafael Lovato, Antonio Barbosa

Rodolfo Vieira hands down.  This guy is in such amazing form at the moment that you would be a fool to bet against him.  I have him as the favorite not just for this division but the absolute as well, especially without Roger being here.  This would have been a great matchup, but alas we shall have to wait at least another year.

The silver to Rodolfo’s gold should go to Bernardo Faria.  This would be a rematch from this year Pan Absolute and Pesado final where Rodolfo won both against Bernardo.  On Bernardo’s side of the bracket there lies this field’s dark horse in the form of Antonio Barbosa from Chekmat.  Barbosa just got his black belt late in 2010.  He won this division at brown belt and closed the finals of the brown absolute with teammate Marcus Buchecha Almeida.  Not many people know about Barbosa but he could emerge here and pull the upset on Faria.  But first Barbosa must defeat Roberto “Tussa” Alencar.  If Alencar is on fire Saturday he too could pull off a string of wins

Rodolfo’s side of the bracket has the only man who beat him this year, Rafael Lovato Jr.  But this defeat came in a 7 minute No Gi fight, none the less Lovato holds a win over Vieira this year.  Rodolfo’s gi form this year has been absolutely stunning and I can’t see him faltering here.  Plus Lovato must beat another contender in Alexandre Ceconi of Rillion Gracie.

Super Pesado

Contenders: Antonio Peinado, Leo Nogueira, Joao Assis, Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida, Bruno Bastos

With Roger Gracie’s absence competitors can finally compete for gold in this division!  Roger has been the sort of boogeyman for many fighters, so much so fighters are known to either move up or down a division to avoid him.

Good to see Peinado come back down after competing at Pesadissimo for a couple of years.  He always seemed like a smaller guy in the division of the giants!  Now Peinado should be one of the larger competitors in this field.  Peinado is on the same side of bracket as the odds on favorite Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida.  Buchecha is coming off a submission victory over Bruno Bastos (another divisional contender) at this year’s final of the Pan.

The 2 favorites in the other bracket would be Leo Nogueira and Joao Assis.  Leo is Peinado’s partner in crime at Alliance and 2 would love to close out this division.  But I really do not think this will happen as Leo must get by Joao Assis.  Joao had an amazing 2010 where he was arguably the best No Gi Grappler out there.  But at the recent Samurai Pro Tournament Joao showed his gi game is just as good by beating Roberto Alencar and Antonio Braga Neto in the same day!  I’m thinking a Chekmat close out with Assis and Buchcecha.

Pesadissimo

Contenders: Rodrigo Cavaca, Antonio Braga Neto, Marcio Cruz, Mick Wilson, Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu

The big boys got game!  No longer is this division a stand up grip fighting event.  The fighters in the category this year all can play top or bottom.  Last year’s winner Cavaca is back in the mix.  But not much has been heard of him since last year’s worlds.  Hopefully he isn’t too rusty and his 50/50 guard and array of foot locks are as sharp as ever.  To get to the finals Cavaca is going to have to beat BJJ legend Marcio “Pe De Pano” Cruz in the semi’s.  But this would be a repeat of last year where Cavaca triangle Pe De Pano mere moments into the match.

The other side of the bracket seems to be the tougher of the 2 as Mick Wilson, Braga Neto, and Cyborg all look to capture some world gold.  Mick Wilson is only the 2^nd foreigner to win the Brazilian Nationals (first being Lovato).  Mick is an unknown to most as he is based in Australia, but do not doubt him as he is as tough as they come.  Braga Neto is one of the most intense competitors out there and truly has an all around game.  I cannot really pinpoint the man’s style as he is just as dynamic on the top as he is on the bottom.  Cyborg is a crowd favorite.  One would be wary to blink when this man is fighting.  During last year’s worlds, Cyborg was losing to Braga Neto by a wide margin only to pull out a triangle submission in the waning moments!

That is it folks!  I really wanted to analyze the women’s division and brown belts but sadly there is just not enough time in the day to do so.  I wish that the IBJJF had a finalized list last weekend!

The 2011 IBJJF Worlds (Mundials) are one week away!  This is the largest, and the most prestigious Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament of the year.  As many of you are aware, the lack of age groups creates huge brackets where some blue belt divisions have more competitors than a Rio favela has drug dealers.  There is an unconfirmed rumor floating around that, to save time, competitors of Brazilian origin will receive direct byes into the finals, begin with a four-point advantage, and be allowed to punch with a closed fist.  The IBJJF has neither confirmed nor denied these rumors, so we at pullingtheline.com suggest all competitors change their last name to “Gracie” post haste!

Assuming you are part of the leisure class, the Mundials are pocket change at $126 USD.  For the rest of you proletariats, this might sound like a lot of money, but let’s put it into perspective.  You can either register for Worlds or buy a bottle of 1997 Mascarello Barolo.  And who doesn’t purchase “Barolos” by the case and have them shipped via courier in climate and humidity controlled rail containers?  What are Brazilian Jiu Jitsu athletes if not sophisticated wine connoisseurs with collections they are willing to liquidate?  At what point did I begin asking so many rhetorical questions?

I’m not one to complain about the cost (or to suggest that perhaps the IBJJF might want to at least consider parlaying some of their massive profits into a better web site and referees) but $10 for the privilege of watching white and blue belts on Day 1?  The IBJJF should be paying me upon entering, handing me a complimentary Acai smoothie, and giving me VIP access to the “Hot Chicks Room.”  Are they aware of the tedium that is watching (no offense to any of my teammates, because I’m not talking about you – seriously bros, you guys are special, and I’d watch you compete, I’m just busy that day) a bunch of half baked Brazilian Jiu Jitsu padwans?  Yes, it is charming, at first, to watch neophyte after neophyte burn their grips in the first minute and dance around clutching each other’s lapels like a 2am frat house bar fight, yet is this really worth a couple of sawbucks?  Pro tip – Purchase a black belt online, rush the gate, waive it the face of the ticket taker, and find a place near the top of the bleachers to take a nap.

When did I become so cynical?  Ahh yes, I became so cynical when I turned 34 and my entire body began to break down all at once, save for my bionic vision, which has given me uncanny insight into my longevity in this sport.  My knee is hosed!  My groin has been pulled beyond repair!  My fingers are mangled!  The only way I stand a chance against some of the up and coming pre-adults in our kids class is when I feign injury and ruthlessly latch onto heel hooks.  I am the ghost of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu future, and I am not one of God’s beautiful creatures!

I’m mostly kidding.  I needed to shake off the cobwebs and get some of that cynicism out of my system in advance of the 2011 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Mundials.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited as hell that this major tournament is in my backyard.  Next week, I will be taking a (somewhat) serious look (not really, but at least not as cynical, I promise) at what it means to compete in a major tournament in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the best damned sport on the planet ™. 

Monstro!!!!!!!!!!  It’s time for your picks!  The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu community waits with baited breath for your insight and cogent analysis.

If you train BJJ long enough, you will most likely stumble upon, and “invent” a new technique that you have never seen before.  Odds are, you are not a pioneer of the sport, your last name is not Gracie, you live on the third (rather than the tenth) planet, and you have “invented” a move that has existed since the golden age of grappling when men fought in the nude.  While you could always claim the technique as your own, name it the Hello Kitty, and tell everyone you know that you invented it, BJJ etiquette demands that you at least conduct a cursory online search before writing your new book and touring the world conducting seminars.

A couple weeks back, Monstro discovered a cool back take, refined it, and while none of the black belts at the academy had ever seen it before, assumed that the technique belonged to someone else.  After some research, Monstro found the technique on YouTube being taught by Eduardo "Teta" Rios.

What is the difference between invention and discovery?  There are certain techniques that logically follow, and there is no doubt in my mind that people have (re)discovered them hundreds of times.  For example, Lloyd Irvin’s “mousetrap” makes sense to anyone that knows the Americana and the Kimura, and has attempted these techniques from side control.  I highly doubt that Professor Irwin was the first BJJ player to figure this out, and I highly doubt, even for his penchant for self promotion, that he would claim to be the “inventor.” Other techniques are unquestionably more innovative and creative, and regardless of who put the BJJ puzzle pieces together first, kudos to everyone who figured it out.

So, while in my mind, it was “Monstro’s Back Take Counter ‘aka Steal the Cookie’…” for a couple of weeks, it will be filed away as the generic “Back Take Counter.”  You can watch both Monstro and Teta teach the move here.

K.O.C.S.

Date: March 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th 2011

Location: 100 Bren event center, University California Irvine - Irvine, California 92617

My apologies for being so tardy on this post, life and work sometimes get in the way.  But I spent quite a bit of time on this write up to bring the Pulling the Line reader quality material.

Enjoy!

Galo

A 4 man division with 2 clear favorites: Felipe Costa and Rafael “Barata” de Freitas.  Brandon Mullins could pull off the upset here with a win over Costa in the semifinals.  Either way, each man has a 25% chance of winning.

Pluma

10 fighters in this division and each one has a legitimate shot at winning the title here.  Last year’s winner (Carlos “Esquisito” Hollanda) and runner up (Caio Terra) are both back in this division and are on the same side of the brackets!  I think this has to do with Bruno Malfacine moving up in weight.  After years of conquering the Galo division it seems that Bruno got bored and decided to move up.  We first saw Bruno at this weight at this year’s Euro Championships where he lost to Ary Farias (a big name not to be competing in the Pans) in the finals.

A good first round matchup is Milton Bastos vs Laercio Fernandes.  Milton has had great success in the lower belts and I believe that this is his first major tournament at black.  I have been praising Laercio since his win over Caio Terra at last year’s American Nationals.  But unfortunately he again gets a bad draw; like the European's he faces Malfacine in the 2^nd round of the brackets (this is assuming he beats Milton).

Finals: Expect Caio Terra vs Bruno Malfacine.  This will be a rematch of their controversial fight in last year’s finals of the mundials where Bruno won by a slim margin.  Caio has said in several interviews that he is training to “submit Malfacine.”  I hope he gets the chance!

Pena

Why can’t the Atos guys gain or lose weight?  Why do they have to all compete at Pena?  Didn’t they learn their lesson by closing out the European semifinals and finals?

Again Atos fields 4 strong favorites (3 of which are mundials medalists at the black belt) in Rafael Mendes, Guillherme Mendes, Bruno Frazzatto, and Ed Ramos.

Even with the looming close out of the last 3 matches, the fans will still be treated to some exciting jiu jitsu.  Guillherme draws Justin Rader in the first round.  Justin is coming of wins at last year’s no gi mundials as well as the recently concluded Houston Open.  I believe that these two have fought several times at the lower belts but never at black belt.  I think it is hard for anyone to bet against a Mendes brother.  But if Justin can keep the fight at his frenetic paces he could have a shot.

Hopefully (assuming he wins his 1^st fight) Gustavo Carpio will face Rafa Mendes in the 2^nd round.  I believe that this will be their 3^rd time fighting each other and 2^nd at black belt.  Both have amazing guards and futures in the sport.  We at pullintheline are rooting for Gustavo as once upon a time he was our instructor.

Someone who has a good chance to break up an all Atos close is Ryan Hall when he faces Ramos in the 1^st round and don’t be surprised if he wins. 

Leve

Favorites: Michael Langhi, JT Torres, Lucas Lepri, Zak Maxwell, Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes, Philippe Della Monica

Bracket 1:

Thankfully Langhi and Torres are on the same side of the bracket.  I say this cause Torres and Lepri (who is in bracket 2) have fought each other so many times in the past year, that I would like to see a new matchup!  The only way we get a rematch is if both make the finals.

An intriguing name here is Sandro “Batata” Santiago.  This name might familiar to some of the BJJ old-timers as he is famous his DVD series on the Batata Loop Chokes.  I don’t know how long it’s been since he competed but I personally will be watching his performance.

2 people could spoil Langhi vs Torres Semifinal and that would be David Ramos from Atos and Rodrigo Simoes from Gracie Barra.  But the chances of this I think are small as Langhi and Torres really are the cream of the crop.  They should have a great semifinal.  If memory serves me correctly I think that they have fought once before at last year’s European Championships with Langhi the victor.

Bracket 2:

This side has Lepri, Maxwell, Tanquinho and Della Monica.

Look for a Lepri vs Maxwell quarterfinal.  Zak won this division and the absolute at last year’s Pans as a brown belt.  He looks to continue this at the next level.  I think this is Zak’s 2^nd tournament as a black belt, coming in 2^nd place at last year’s American Nationals.  As tough as Zak is, I do not think he yet has the experience to overcome Lucas Lepri.  Lucas and teammate Langhi have essentially owned this division over the last few years, closing out a high percentage of the tournaments that they enter.

The other semifinal should be Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes vs Philippe Della Monica.  Aside from the Alliance duo and Torres, I think that Tanquinho has the best shot at winning this division.  If Tanquinho can get by Della Monica (who is a great competitor and would be an extremely tough fight for anyone), he could beat Lucas Lepri.

Medio

This was last year’s most exciting division with Kayron Gracie, Abmar Barbosa, and Sergio Moraes stealing the show.  Unfortunately this year’s edition won’t have Gracie and Moraes.  But that doesn’t mean that the quality will go down.

In bracket 1 there is a possible semifinal between Kayron’s Cousin Clark and Claudio Calasans.  Prior to last year, Calasans had been under most jiu jitsu fan’s radars.  But after winning both his division and absolute at the Abu Dhabi Pro, many took notice.  His one setback last year was a finals loss to Marcelo Garcia at the mundials.  But Claudio has bounced back strong since then and recently done well at the trials for the Abu Dhabi Pro.  Look for him to continue his winning ways as the favorite of this division.

The 2^nd bracket looks to be the toughest in this division with Gilbert “Durinho” Burns, Abmar Barbosa, and Lucas Leite all sharing the same side.  The Durinho vs Barbosa quarterfinal is an extremely tough one to call.  Gilbert usually fights a weight class below and Barbosa’s jiu jitsu has reached new heights in the past year.  The winner of that should face Leite in the semifinals.

Medio Pesado

The return of Andre Galvao!  “Deco” has been away from bjj competition for a couple years now but has finally decided to come back.  He entered the Abu Dhabi Pro trials a couple weeks ago and came back with a vengeance!  He won his weight and got 2^nd in the absolute.  These results show that Andre hasn’t missed a beat in his jiu jitsu.  But the Abu Dhabi pro fights are 7 minutes long while IBJJF black belt fights are 10 minutes in length.  Let’s see if this makes any difference.  Regardless I see Andre as the favorite here.

Andre’s side of the bracket seems to be the “easier” of the 2.  The interesting match up here could be Andre vs Marcel Louzado in the semifinals as these 2 use to be teammates at Brasa.  In fact Marcel was Andre’s partner in several of Andre’s books and DVD’s.

The other favorite in my eyes is Otavio Sousa.  He is last year’s champion and places well at all the major events.  Otavio’s first fight should be against Alliance ace Ian McPherson.  This is Ian’s first major tournament as a black belt, but don’t let that fool you as he has been beating up black belts for years.  This is a very tough first for Otavio.  On the other side of Otavio’s bracket there is a lesser known but still a very tough competitor in Marcos Souza.  Marcos is the Asian Open Absolute Champion and beat JT Torres at that tournament.  I have never seen him compete live and am not sure if he has ever come to the States to fight, this will be a curious one to watch.

In the end the finals should be Otavio vs Andre.  Both play a fast paced jiu jitsu game so fans should try not to blink when this match goes on!

Pesado

This is an extremely loaded pesado bracket.  Almost every major pesado player (main missing competitor is Alexandre Ribeiro) is here in Irvine for Pan Glory!  On one side of the bracket we have both Ricardo “Demente” Abreu and Rodolfo Vieira.  These 2 will have tough fights trying to face each other in the finals with Leo Nogueira and Leo Itturalde in their way. 

Demente is famous for being the only person not to get submitted by Roger Gracie at last year’s worlds (actually he is the only person not to get submitted by him in the last 2 years – this includes MMA as well).  This in its own is an amazing feat as Roger has been almost untouchable in the gi.

Vieira is a rising star in the jiu jitsu world.  He burst onto the scene 2 years ago as brown belt winning the Abu Dhabi Pro.

On the other side of the bracket the 2 favorites there should be Roberto Alencar and Bernardo Faria.  Bernardo is last year’s weight and absolute champion.  He also won the 2010 pesado division at the mundials.

Alencar has been on the scene for a few years now and is always a game competitor.  He recently won the Arizona Open.

Faria vs Alencar will be an INTENSE fight.  Both love the showmanship and mad dogging that go with intense battles.  This is one that fans should look forward to seeing!

Super Pesado

If there is a division with a clear cut favorite it would have to be found here, and he would be Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida.  This Rodrigo Cavaca black belt has been on an absolute tear that last few years and he isn’t even a year old in his black belt career!

Marcus should meet Orlando Zanetti in the semifinals.  Zanetti is not well known to bjj fans in the states.  But he has been very successful in the local Brazilian circuits; he could be a thorn in Buchecha’s side.

The other side of the bracket we should see Bruno Bastos get by his opponents and make it to the finals against Buchecha.

Pesadissimo

Only 5 big boys came to play but all are serious contenders for the title.

We start things off with Stephen “Pesadelo Triangulo” Hall vs Luiz “Big Mac” Theodoro.  Hall seems to compete at every single event, whether it be in Europe, Brazil or California, Hall will be there.  Drawing Big Mac in the first fight is quite unlucky.  Not only is the man large he is exceptionally skilled with his stand up, don’t look for Big Mac to pull guard!  I think you will see Hall work from his closed guard.  If somehow he can sweep Big Mac then I think he wins the fight, but that is a huge if.

The winner of that fight faces Antonio Braga Neto in the finals.  Neto won weight and absolute at this event 2 years ago.  If there was a favorite for this division it would have to be him.

The other side of the bracket has a semifinal of Gabriel Vella vs Antonio “Batista” Peinado.  There is a little history between that 2 as Vella use to be Peinado’s teammate at Alliance, in fact they were roommates at one point.

I am hoping for a Peinado vs Braga Neto final as these are the 2 most versatile fighters in this bracket and would be the only final that isn’t a stand up war.  If Vella v Big Mac happens, expect a lot of standing grip fighting.

IBJJF Suggestion

Looking through the brackets I wanted to bring up a gripe/suggestion I have for the IBJJF.  First let me give the readers some background.

All brackets except for black belt are randomly generated by computer software.  The one input that the computer has is to put two teammates from the same registered school at opposite ends of the bracket.  This way if they were to face each other it would be in the final.  Keep in mind there is also a rule that only 2 registrants can represent their team.

The black belt brackets are not randomly generated but are done by a group of representative from the main teams.  I believe that they debate and create the brackets the night before the official brackets are released.

My grips is this, why not manually create the brown belt brackets?  Granted there is a significant amount of work and time that would go into this but the brown belts are the future stars of our sport.  I bring this up because of a couple FIRST ROUND matchups that have happened recently.  At last year’s mundials there was a first round fight between Michel Langhi (Alliance) vs Ary Farias (Atos).  Going into the tournament these 2 were the major favorites to win that division.  But due to the randomized computer software these 2 met in round 1!  Aside from the 2 being great rivals we also have the intense rivalry between their respective schools.  This is an atmosphere the fan would love to see in a final.

In this year’s pan we again see another championship first round in the brown belt light division between Jordon Schultz (Alliance) vs Roberto Satoshi (Bonsai).  Satoshi is the reigning mundial champion at this division while Jordon won this at purple belt.  Aside from that these 2 met at this year’s European Championships Final where Satoshi put Schultz to sleep.  I would imagine that Jordon hasn’t forgotten that and wants to get Satoshi back.  Again this would make for an incredible final backdrop. 

Lastly, if these matchups were to happen in the first round it would mean that one of the competitors would not be able to do the absolute.  Remember that in non black belt divisions one must medal in their respective weights to compete in the absolute.  This is done to make sure that amount of people competing isn’t too large.  If I recall correctly, before this rule was put in place the purple belt absolute from a couple years ago had over 110 people.  A lot of the time you have the same favorites at weight as in the absolute.  It would really be unlucky if they met in the first round and one loses by a mere advantage and bam their tournament is over.  Just my 2 cents….