Champions From Brazil Come to Eastern Iowa

I haven't posted anything in a long time. So long in fact, people have emailed me to ask if things are "Okay?" Things are fine, I've just been recovering from a few Judo and BJJ injuries as well as doing some traveling. Not much time for training, put plenty of time for me to pack on some pounds. I digress my fat ass to the point...

The point of this post is that I have found out, on short notice, that 2 champions from Brazil are coming to Eastern Iowa to hold a 2 day seminar at the Miletich Fighting Systems (MFS) Academy in Bettendorf, IA. They are Fabrício Martins and Daniel Otero, both from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Fabrício (photo at left, courtesy of bjj.philippines) is the coach of both Daniel Otero and Rodrigo Uzeda. Rodrigo is currently the resident BJJ instructor at MFS. Fabrício has a very accomplished academy in Brazil that has produced many champions. His only representation outside of Brazil, that I am aware of, is an affiliate in the Philippines which is also very accomplished. Fabrício is currently a 5th degree black belt with an extensive competition resume. For the sake of being brief I have only included his championships as a black belt below:

1987: Campeão do desafio Cantão de Jiu-Jitsu, Campeão do Torneio Rio – Minas de Jiu-Jitsu, Campeão Lighting Bolt de Jiu-Jitsu

1988: Campeão Carioca, Campeão Suburbano, Campeão da LINJJ

1989: Campeão Carioca
1990: Campeão Carioca, Campeão da LINJJ, Campeão do América Futebol Clube de Jiu-Jitsu, Campeão da Copa Armazém do Esporte de Jiu-Jitsu

1993: Campeão Brasileiro de Jiu-Jitsu

1996: Campeão brasileiro de Jiu-Jitsu (masters), Campeão Carioca de Jiu-Jitsu

1997: Campeão Brasileiro de Jiu-Jitsu (masters)

Daniel Otero (photo at left, courtesy of Sherdog) is a student of Fabrício Martins and is the 2006 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion (black belt) in the Rooster Weight category. He is also an accomplished MMA fighter (7-1-1) (includes amateur fights) with multiple wins in the Shooto fighting organization. Read an interview with Daniel by MMA Universe here. Daniel's resume is as follows:

BJJ (as a Black Belt):

2003: 2nd Place Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship, Brazilian Nationals Champion

2004: 1st Place Brazilian Nationals Champion

2006: 1st Place Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship

MMA (including amateur fights):

Shooto Japan Back To Our Roots 3: vs. Masatoshi Abe, Loss (DQ) (Pro)

Shooto Brasil The Return: vs. Tomohiro Hashi, Win (TKO) (Pro)

Real Fight 3: vs. Márcio Silva, Win (Submission, triangle) (Pro)

Clube da Luta 5: vs. Estevao Leo, Draw (Pro)

Shooto Brasil 7: vs. Tiago Matos, Win (TKO) (Pro)

Real Fight 1: vs. Raul Carneiro, Win (Unanimous Decision) (Pro)

Shooto Brasil 3: vs. Wellington Silva, Win (Unanimous Decision)

Shooto Brasil 1: vs. Willian Parrudinho, Win (Unanimous Decision)

Shooto Brasil 1: vs. Edson Paulista, Win (Unanimous Decision)

The seminar is a 2 day event starting on Friday, February 29th at 5:00 P.M. at lasting until 7:00 P.M. The focus on Friday night will be with the gi (kimono). On Saturday, March 1st the second session kicks off at 10:00 A.M. and goes to 1:00 P.M. The focus on this day will be No-gi. The cost is $40 to attend one of the days, or $60 to attend both sessions.

Summary:

What: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Seminar with Fabrício Martins, Daniel Otero and Rodrigo Uzeda

When: 2/29/2008, 5:00 - 7:00 P.M. (with the gi); 3/1/2008, 10:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. (No-gi)

Where: Miletich Fighting Systems (MFS) Academy, 325 16th St., Bettendorf, IA (link goes to Google Maps location)

Cost: $40 for 1 day, $60 for 2 days

Contact: Gregg Humphreys - dynamogregg@msn.com , 563-343-3508

Sorry for the short notice. I hope that those that want to attend are able to do so. If you can't make it, contact Gregg (above) and let him know that you want these guys to come back to the area in the near future.

~J

The Best BJJ Blogs of 2007 - Vote Smash Pass

The Fightworks Podcast is conducting it's 2nd annual (?) contest for the best BJJ Blogs of the year. Believe it or not, this pathetic blog of mine here was actually nominated! Of course, it only has 2 votes so far, and one of them is from me... but that means that somebody out there actually likes the blog... or me. Either way, to even be on the list of some of those other blogs is pretty cool.

There are some very cool and well designed blogs on the list that we all have visited. Some of them are even linked on my blog to the right. There are a few new ones/ones that I hadn't heard of yet that look to be very good, as well.

The voting for the Best BJJ Blog of 2007 ends on December 30th. On December 31st, the winner will be announced. The prize for the winner is be 2 Grapplers Quest DVDs. Second place gets 1 GQ DVD.

So go over to the Fightworks Podcast and vote for me or your other favorite blog of 2007.

Rafael Lovato Jr. Interview

The Judo Podcast website has done an interview with Rafael Lovato Jr. following his win at the 2007 BJJ Mundials. Rafael, a Team SRJJA black belt, started Judo about a year ago and talks to the Judo Podcast in a 45 minute interview about his take on Judo and how it impacts his game. He also talks about some of the differences between BJJ and Judo. It's a great interview with insights for both BJJ players thinking about getting into Judo, or Judokas thinking about starting BJJ.

Visit their website to play the interview here.

Also, to see some Judo highlight clips from the 2007 U.S. Senior Nationals visit Judo Throw Down. Great stuff.