Matt Jubera Opens Jubera Jiu-Jitsu in Broomfield, Colorado

Matt Jubera (center) with Xande (L) and Saulo Ribeiro.

Saulo Ribeiro Black Belt and Colorado's 2014 Black Belt of the Year, Matt Jubera, is opening up a new Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy in Broomfield, Colorado in February 2015 - Jubera Jiu-Jitsu. Matt is a good friend of mine who I originally began training with about 13 or 14 years ago when he was a freshman at the University of Michigan. His intelligent approach to studying jiu-jitsu, along with his relentless drilling until perfection made him a stand out at the Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu main academy that we trained at back in the Toledo and Detroit days. Within a few short years of joining Saulo and Xande's academy, Matt was awarded his Black Belt.

Matt has always been a serious and accomplished competitor on the BJJ scene. He's a Master's World Champion, 3x Pan American Champion, Black Belt National Champion and a Black Belt No Gi World Medalist. Matt has a background in wrestling and is also a Black Belt in Judo. His experience makes him one of the most qualified instructors and coaches in Colorado. If you want to take your Jiu-Jitsu training to the next level and become a serious competitor, and you want to train with an educated and intelligent Instructor, you have to train with Matt at Jubera Jiu-Jitsu. 

Jubera Jiu-Jitsu is in the process of taking reservations and pre-enrollments prior to opening their doors this February. There will be Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes for both Adults and Kids as well as Self-Defense classes for adults. These classes will fill up fast so make sure you go to www.juberajj.com and reserve your first class now before the rush!

Website: www.juberajj.com

Address:

6821 W. 120th Ave. C,

Broomfield, Colorado 80020

Phone: 720-961-3704

Don't wait! Classes will fill up soon so contact them now!

~Jason

Rio de Janeiro to Host 2016 Olympics!

On October 2nd, 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark the International Olympic Committe voted for Brazil to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

What makes this great for the sport of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is that typically the host country can have influence on whether or not a demonstration sport will be held as an event at the games. I'm no expert on the Olympics or how a sport goes about becoming an Olympic event. I've just been reading this Wikipedia page. Technically, since 1992 demonstration sports have not been allowed. But, China was allowed to hold a wushu tournament at the recent Beijing Olympics. Also, with the removal of baseball and softball from the Summer Olympic program I think that BJJ stands a great chance at being showcased at the 2016 Summer Games.

For more info go here.

(Thanks, Adam, for the heads up!)

A Short Film with Saulo Ribeiro

Rick Ellis (a student of Roy Dean) made a short clip featuring a training session with Saulo Ribeiro and Roy Dean. (Ironically, Roy Dean made a little light fun of me a year ago when one of his former students moved to Iowa, took a free class at my academy, and wrote back to Roy about his experiences with me. Actually, Roy didn't make fun of me. He just made a light hearted comment about how hilarious the letter was and supplied the message board for the comment to be posted on the internet. The comment is still available here. It makes me laugh everytime I read it!)

The clip reminded me of how philosophical Saulo is about Jiu-Jitsu and how pursuing the art of Jiu-Jitsu is so much more to him/us than just learning a martial art or fighting style. Jiu-Jitsu is meant to change your life and make you a better person. Jiu-Jitsu brings out your true self.

I remember Saulo saying to us in class: "When I roll with person, then I will know the true them. Who they really are. You can not lie when you are rolling. You can not hide who you truly are."

What he meant by that is, just because the other person may be better than you means nothing. Saulo is a multi-time World Champion. The odds of somebody beating him are slim. So, it's not about whether his opponent can beat him or not during a roll session. It's how they handle themselves when faced with personal adversity. It is good to have a more skilled person push you and to test your resolve and skills. You must, under even the most extreme circumstances keep your cool. Stay calm and go about executing your game plan as best as you know how. If you lose, you lose. So what? Tap out and fight again. Never quit fighting and challenging yourself to improve. This is the core of this philosophy.

What he also meant by this philosophy was that there are a great many people who think they are tougher than they really are. If you talk or act tough, that means nothing. Let us roll and see how tough you really are. And by seeing how tough you are, it doesn't imply that if you lose you are not tough. That just means you lack some skills or made a mistake. What is more important is how you handle the process of losing. Do you realize the situation is lost and just give up? Or do fight to the bitter end in an attempt to survive? Once you lose is your resolve broken, or do your rebound back and give it your all for another match? Do you time and time again go into a match against an opponent that is much more skilled and still keep trying to win, or do you mentally quit before the match has begun?

I have personally seen Saulo and Xande roll against "tough guys" in the academy and make short work of them. The tough guys would realize in about 10 seconds of the match that they were outclassed. From then on their will was broken. Match after match, submission after submission. They would lose all hope and faith in themselves. Having been dominated in BJJ, they would scarcely ever return to the academy to participate in a class. They came in as tough guys, they left as little boys. They unfortunately took it too personal and forgot to leave their egos at the door.

Thanks to Rick Ellis for making this short film. I look to seeing more videos from him.



~J