Fernando Gurgel is one of the founders of Brazilian jiu jitsu’s most dominating team, the Alliance academy. A former student of Romero Cavalcanti, Fernando Gurgel was at one point the head coach of the Alliance academy in Rio de Janeiro. Fernando is also the older brother of Fabio Gurgel. Find more of this great BJJ figure here.
The landscape of Brazilian jiu jitsu is rapidly changing, and this year’s edition of the Pan American Championship was a great example of how the sport has evolved from being a Brazilian national martial art, to becoming today’s world wide phenomenon. On this article we go through a few the carees of the “non Brazilian” Pan American champions of 2015 and the re-precautions this will have on BJJ.
A tournament that will serve as a landmark of the future, this year’s Pan American Championship saw 4 non Brazilian champions at the men’s adult black belt division. A true sign of great things to come for the USA and Europe. On this article you will find the full results of every fight on the 2015 Pan American Championship, IBJJF’s 20th edition of the tournament.
Full results of all the fights in the absolute black belt (adult) divisions of the IBJJF Pan American Championship of 2015. The tournament’s open weight division is famous for its exciting fights, gathering competitors from all weight classes, mixing under 70kg athletes against over 100kg in a unique grappling format.
Most weight divisions at the BJJ Pan American Championship 2015 are teeming with talent, especially the feather, light and middle weight divisions who had a great stream of talent coming through in the last couple of years. In this piece you will be able to have a general grasp of how the divisions might turn out.
the donkey guard is a grappling position created by Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt, Jeff Glover as a way to taunt and frustrate his opponents, being first used against Tom Barlow at the ADCC tournament (2011). The position resembles a a closed guard in reverse, and has been commonly used by it’s creator since 2011.
Sergio “Malibu” was one of the most recognizable figures in Jiu Jitsu during the 1980s and 1990s. One of the main advocates for the surfing/jiu jitsu lifestyle crossover, and former Pan American and Brazilian National Jiu Jitsu Champion, Malibu was a student of Rolls Gracie and Rickson Gracie who became highly involved with the start of the Master Academy of Romero Cavalcanti.
One of the greatest super heavyweight competitors in jiu jitsu’s sporting history, Alexandre “Café”, became known as a Gracie Barra representative during the 2000’s decade, where he accumulated victories over some top competitors such as Fabricio Werdum, Marcelo Garcia, Fernando “Terere” or Demian Maia to name a few. Café also had a short spell as a mixed martial arts fighter, competing in the UFC.
Ricardo Rezende is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu, being also one of the most talented grapplers of his generation, having earned important titles in the sport, such as the World Expo GP, the No Gi Pan American and the Miami Open, to name a few. Find more on this Fight Sports athlete here.
Kim Terra is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Ricardo Vieira, being a representative of the CTBJJA at international events, a team created by Kim’s older brother Caio Terra. Kim is regarded as a tough competitor in the black belt division, having medalled in tournaments such as the World and Brazilian National No Gi Championships as well as the Pan American Jiu Jitsu Championship. Check inside for more detail regarding Kim Terra.
BJJ Heroes’ jiu jitsu rankings follow a strict line of competition driven point system. These points gathered from the sport’s most important tournaments result in an unbiased list of top Brazilian jiu jitsu competitors by weight division.
One of the top competitors in Brazilian jiu jitsu’s female division, Monique Elias stormed through her competition at the lower belt levels obtaining a stacked list of sporting accomplishments. Find the story of this former model turned into fierce competitor in one of the toughest sports in the world.
One of Europe’s most prestigeous tournaments, the IBJJF London Winter Open 2015 was (yet again) an alround success. Located in the excellent Copper Box …
Guard passing and top position are subjects sometimes overlooked by jiu jitsu’s focus on the guard, but many of the most accomplished athletes in the sport have succeeded through their abilities to pass guards. In this article BJJ Heroes goes by a top 20 list of the best guard passers in the history of Brazilian jiu jitsu.
The toreada guard pass is the name given to a position utilized in Brazilian jiu jitsu and other grappling martial arts/combat sports, from which the top player can establish side control, escaping the guard. On this article you will find the history of this position, its origins, the top toureando guard passers in the history of the sport and see instructional videos of how to use the position.
Roy Harris is an accomplished American martial artist, known in the Brazilian jiu jitsu world for being a black belt under Joe Moreira and for belonging to jiu jitsu’s “Dirty Dozen”, the first group of 12 non Brazilian men to have been distinguished with the rank of black belt in this grappling style. Roy Harris is also known as one of the first instructors to publicly publish a formal testing criteria for jiu jitsu, formalizing his promotion tests from white belt to black belt. Find more of Harris’ story here.
Marcos Tinoco, also known as Marcos Silva or “Lekinho”, is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Marcelo Garcia, who trained extensively with Juarez Soares in Brazil. Tinoco belongs to a first generation of black belt competitors developed by the legendary Garcia, a team that caused waves in the sport of jiu jitsu at brown belt. Find here more about Marcos Tinoco, his roots and his grappling career.
Why Do We Call The BJJ Uniform a Gi and Not a Kimono? This is a common question, often asked by newcomers. The name derives from the Japanese roots of the martial art, especially the names applied by the judoka. Here are is a quick insight to the Brazilian jiu jitsu uniform names.
For the past few months, ever since Rickson Gracie brought the matter to everyone’s attention last year at the launch of his Jiu Jitsu …
Marcelo Alonso is a 5th degree black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu regarded as one of Carlson Gracie’s most famous and respected students. Alonso was an instructor at the Carlson Gracie Academy in Rio de Janeiro for many years, coaching many of the great fighters of that era before moving to the United States in the late 1990’s, settling in the Seattle area, where he quickly became a reference among the local grappling scene.
