Jacare Seminar in Greenvile SC

Jacare will be holding a Seminar in our Association school in South Carolina  

Copa Alliance in São Paulo, Brazil

Pictures from this event please go to:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=30089&id=111479765554567&fbid=164712600231283

Learn from Alliance’s newest black belt - Graciemag article

by Marcelo Dunlop — November 29, 2010.

Big with Jiu-Jitsu fans in the United States, having an extensive fan club of his own, stalwart competitor Ian McPherson (Alliance Atlanta) was just promoted to the rank of black belt after nine years of training and lots of dedication.
“Ian got his black belt in Atlanta at the end of October. Besides him, Jordan Schultz was promoted to brown belt after beating Ronis Gracie at the last World Championship”, remarked Romero Jacaré, leader of Alliance Georgia, USA.

Ahi Tuna Jerky Available at Store

Ask the Managers for details, only $6.99

New Healthy Training Snack Available at Front Desk!

Only 6.99 Per Bag! High quality tuna jerky is a staple in any athletes diet. Prof. Jacare eats it!!!!

Better than Beef

A quality product starts with quality ingredients something you will not find in the beef jerky market. Beef jerky is made from older steers graded at the bottom of the FDA’s eight tier rating system for beef products. Itsumo Ahi Tuna Jerky is made from only the highest quality sushi in the world.

DHA Omega 3

There has been a dramatic surge in interest recently amongst the public and health professionals alike on the health effects of omega-3 fatty acids derived from fish oils. DHA plus EPA are both considered to have beneficial effects in the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease plus associated risk factors as well as other chronic disorders.

Natural Sea Salt

Itsumo’s promise is to always use the most natural and healthy ingredients. That’s why we stay away from processing and artificial additives, just look at our label. You can read and pronounce everything on it. What a change! Don’t you think it’s time you have natural, healthy snacking a chance.

A World Leader

We are the world leader in Sashimi Ahi production with 15 tons processed daily. Our main facility in the Southern Phillipines employs our patented chemical free, CO free, and chlorine free shelf life extension and pathogen elimination technology to yield true Japanese grade AAA #1 Ahi Tuna Jerky.

http://www.itsumoahijerky.com/

Can 270lbs Men Jump?

Thanksgiving schedule

 

In observance of the Thanksgiving holiday we will be closed Thursday the 25th through Saturday the 27th.We will be having normal classes Monday - Wednesday so we expect to see everyone training until the break. Hope eveyone has a happy Thanksgiving!

Chris Moriarty Friday Nights

With 285 gridlocked we had the opportunity to work with Chris in a smaller group. He covered a lot of details and gave us some awesome review on foot sweeps and related throws

Part 1 - Theory

Part 2 - Drills

Part 3 - Technique

Jacare teaches and confers black belt degrees in Texas

Last November 13th, the patriarch of the Alliance Jiu-Jitsu team, seventh degreered and black Belt Romero ‘Jacare’ Cavalcanti, gave a Seminar in Dallas, Texas for the three Alliance team affiliates(Mohler MMA, Pesadelo Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Texas Elite).

It was extremely well attended by about 100 members of all ranks and sizes. The good attendance showed the strength and growth of not just the team, but of the gentle art as a whole in Texas.

Professor ‘Jacare’ showed many of the techniques proven in high level competition in a very logical and precise manner and imparted his love for Jiu-Jitsu as he exhibited his passion for detail that he has given to the Alliance team over many years.

After the techniques and drills were done for the seminar, Jacare’ promoted several of the Black Belts present. Allen Mohler received his 3rd Degree, Jon Bjorksten received his 2nd Degree, and Marcus Hicks, Carl Ortega, Jeff Hennen, and Kirk Gibson all were promoted to 1st Degree Black Belt.

http://www.graciemag.com/en/2010/11/jacare-teaches-and-confers-black-belt-degrees-in-texas/

News from Michael Langi Seminar in the UK

Michael on Back

Group photo

2 new blues

We received this email from our friend and Instructor Lee Livingstone after Micheal Langi spent a week teaching at our Alliance schools in the UK
Hey Clinton, Just thought i'd send you a few pics of our Michael Langhi training week. It was a fantastic week of training where Michael showed us his world famous "Spider Guard" techniques. Michael is an excellent instructor & great ambassador  for Alliance JJ. We also had x2 guys promoted to blue belt by Michael  - Keith Joseph & Terry Emery. Regards, Lee

Congratz to Dennis Siver

Congratz to Alliance Purple Belt Dennis Siver, who had an impressive win over Andre Winner by choke in the first round of his fight in UFC 122
 

Paiva and Nakai bolster Jiu-Jitsu in Tokyo - Graciemag Article

Yuki Nakai between Paiva and Carlson Junior. Photo: Publicity.

President of the Japanese Jiu-Jitsu Confederation Yuki Nakai carries on with his hard work to popularize the sport in the country. In November, the one-time opponent of Rickson Gracie, in the late Japan Open MMA event, received some gentle art aces and attended the Copa Alliance in Tokyo.
“There were nearly 300 athletes and the level just gets better and better,” said Alexandre “Gigi” Paiva in praise. The Alliance teacher made the most of the tournament to conduct a series of seminars at the team’s branch in the country.
Another to show up in the Land of the Rising Sun was Carlson Gracie Junior, who has solid roots in the country and was kind enough to teach some expressions in the Japanese language to Gigi Paiva, “Junior is almost fluent in Japanese,” joked Gigi.

Who is Nara Yun?

Nara (pronounced NA-DA) moved to the US from Korea in 2009. Nara was a great addition to our school with his excellent Judo, Wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu skills. He trained at Alliance Atlanta for about a year, and then returned to his homeland due to circumstances beyond his control.

Anyone who has ever trained with Nara knows that he is a very gifted jiu jitsu practitioner. Nara recently won the Abu Dhabi Pro Korean Trails! Add Nara as a friend on FaceBook and congratulate him. link to Nara's FaceBook

Ian McPherson - Black Belt Demonstration

Lucas Lepri: “When you work this hard and then win, it’s exciting” - Graciemag Article

by Deb Blyth - http://www.graciemag.com/en/2010/11/11731/


Lucas Lepri cleaned up in the lightweight division of the 2010 No-Gi Worlds last Sunday after having done the same last year, and he was thrilled. “I feel very proud because this is my second No-Gi Worlds win,” Lepri says, “When you train a lot and work this hard for one event and then you win it, it’s very exciting. I’m so happy. The guys I fought were very good, the Worlds are very tough to win.”
This has been a very good year for Lepri. He won the lightweight division at the 2010 European Open in Portugal, closing out with Michael Langhi. Then he and Langhi closed out the Gi Pan in California together. “Michael took the win because last year I took first place.” At the 2010 Gi Worlds, he took third place and he just won gold at the No-Gi Pan in New York and the No-Gi Worlds on Sunday. “I’m so happy with my results,” he says.

 

Lepri, who flew in from New York City for the tournament, had three matches on Sunday. In his first match, he won with a choke from back mount. “I tried to take him down but he escaped, and then I tried to submit him a couple times but he blocked me,” Lepri says, “After about five minutes, I took his back and then applied the choke from the back… the mata-leão.”
In his second match, he faced Philipe Della Monica from Gracie Barra. “I took his back and submitted him from behind,” he says. After going two for two with the rear-naked choke, Lepri entered the finals ready to go and prepared to win. “I fought Augusto Mendes (Soul Fighters),” he says, “He was winning the match. He got the takedown, and then, at around eight minutes, I took his back and finished from the back again.” Lepri pulled a hat trick – he submitted his three opponents with a choke from back mount three times.
“I train that move every day,” he says, “I practice it over and over and do the drills so that it’s automatic,” Lepri says, “But sometimes it’s a risk. You can take a person’s back, but if the guy escapes, you go on bottom and the guy goes on top and gets points for the sweep.”
That’s what happened to Lepri in the 2010 Gi Worlds, and he was really disappointed. “I lost because of a sweep,” he says, “I was fighting Celso Vinicius from Gracie Elite Team. I tried to take his back and he escaped and took out my hooks. I was on the bottomand he stayed on top, swept me, and took two points. Then I tried to sweep him and take his back, but he escaped. I finished the match behind by two points.”
Lepri says the guys in the lightweight division are really tough. “There are a lot of really good fighters in my division,” he says, “They are all very technical and strong. All the fighters train a lot, so we all know how hard we work and how much energy we expend to try and win tournaments. The emotion is very high.”
One interesting fact about Lepri is that he easily fights and wins at two different weight divisions: lightweight and middleweight. Most players will gain or cut weight to try to get an advantage to win their matches, but Lepri just roams between the two divisions without much thought. He fought at the 2008 No-Gi Worlds in the middleweight division and took second place. “I lost to Daniel Moraes by one advantage point,” he says. Last year, he fought at the No-Gi Worlds and the No-Gi Pan but changed to lightweight and won both. In 2010, he won the No-Gi Pan at middleweight and the No-Gi Worlds at lightweight.
Lepri usually fights in the lightweight division and tries to keep that weight, but it’s hard for him. “Every tournament I have to cut weight,” he says, “I cut four to five pounds.” But Lepri feels very comfortable in both divisions. “I can fight at lightweight or middleweight,” he says, “I’m short, so if I fight lightweight, I have a better chance. Middleweight guys are taller and that can be more difficult, but sometimes I don’t want to cut the weight and so I just fight at middleweight. And sometimes I fight at middleweight just in no-gi.”
It’s nice to have that kind of flexibility in your Jiu-Jitsu game. “I’m very flexible for fighting either,” he says, “I can gain weight or cut it. Both divisions have really tough guys. I get good fights in either division.”
As for his no-gi game, Lepri says he likes gi better, but feels his game is more suited to no-gi. “I don’t train too much no-gi,” he says, “But I think my game is very good for it. When I sign up to fight no-gi, I still train with the gi. I think my game has helped me with the transitions. I like to apply the takedowns, I play more half-guard, and the transitions are good for me. This has helped me a lot.”
After the No-Gi Worlds Lepri hung around California to hold a couple seminars at Paragon BJJ. He conducted one in Hollywood on Wednesday and the other is in Santa Barbara on Thursday. “If anyone wants to come, they can contact Ronald at (213) 308-1205,” Lepri says.
At the end of the week Lepri’s flying back to New York to resume his teaching and training at Alliance New York City. He’s going to take a bit of a rest until the beginning of 2011 when he will begin his hard-core training regimen for all the big gi and no-gi tournaments coming up during the year. “I love this life,” he says, “I love to travel, fight, and teach. It’s my life.”
Lepri wants to thank his students at Alliance New York City. “Thank you to my wife for giving me the support when I need it,” he says, “Thank you also to GRACIEMAG so I can talk about my experience at the tournament.” Lastly he’d like to thank his sponsors Keiko Sports for giving him the support to fight, and KP Studio Physical Conditioning, “They help me prepare for all my tournaments.”

Shereen @ the NoGI Worlds

Congrats to Shereen Fons, our most active competitor, who came in second at the No-GI Worlds

Morning Training: Wake up to Sharper Reflexes - by Adam Benshea

Taken from  http://www.joshstrength.com/blog/morning-training

The romantic image of a prizefighter rising before the sun to complete his roadwork is etched in the mind of most boxing fans. Of course, this morning run builds the crucial endurance that keeps a fighter fresh in later rounds. However, the pugilist’s sunup training has significance outside of increased cardiovascular conditioning.
Physical training in the morning can increase your metabolism rate, and wake up your central nervous system. Waking up your nervous system in the AM means that you will have sharper reflexes when sparring and rolling in the PM.
Yet, the dreaded dawn distance run is not the only way to get the nervous system going. The early 20th century wrestling champion, the Great Gama of the Punjab, would rise well before dawn to perform 3,000 one and two leg squats and 2,000 one and two arm push-ups.
Here are some workout ideas to be implemented first thing in the morning. Remember, starting your day with a workout will make you sharper on the mat, in the cage, around the office, or wherever life’s battles occur.

100 (+) Push-ups

This is a push-up workout based on changing body placement at each set to keep your body and mind guessing. By consistently changing your push-ups, you will progress out of the morning fog and into, what the Samurai call, ‘mindfulness.’
Start with 10 repetitions of each push-up variation, and then increase the repetitions as your strength progresses.

• Wide grip (extend the hand placement slightly beyond shorter width)
• Diamond (touch the thumb and forefinger of each hand to form a diamond shape)
• Knuckles (on your knuckles, just like Cobra-Kai in the Karate Kid!)
• Finger tips (only the tips of your ten digits touch the ground)
• Normal Push (you know this!)
• Finger pointing outward (the fingers on each hand are placed horizontally away from the other)
• Finger pointing inward (the fingers on each hand are placed horizontally toward the other)
• Decline (place your hands on the floor and your feet are elevated on a chair or bed)
• Clap (in the midst of each repetition clap your hands together)
• Close grip (bring the hands close together with your elbows tight against your torso)

Boxing with Shadows

Shadow boxing is a great way to work your striking techniques, timing and physical condition. In this variation, throw your combos as you normally would, but after every tenth punch, hit a sprawl.
The addition of the sprawl will provide a more complete total body workout than normal shadow boxing and it produces a drill that is more applicable to the nature of an MMA fight. This is because an MMA fighter will consistently have to fluctuate between throwing strikes and defending takedown attempts.
In addition, working your striking combos inside of a specific drill will wake your mind and body out of their nocturnal slumber.

About the author:

Adam benShea is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Ricardo “Frajinha” Miller (Paragon Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu). Adam has won the World, Pan American, and California State Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships. He is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and holds an MA from Indiana University. Adam is currently training at the Alliance HQ in Atlanta with Franjinha's instructor Romero "Jacare" Cavalcanti. Adam's is working at Emory University completing his PHD.
Check out his website for more workout ideas: Adam's Website. Adam is the Joshstrength.com Grappling/MMA Advisor.

2 New Blues

Congrats to Tony and Mauricio

New Blue Belt

Arthur!

Welcome Back Cobrinha!

About 2 weeks after knee surgery Cobrinha is officially back on the mat teaching and training.
UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Pre-order your Alliance Elite Gi by November 12th

You: Sweetness, how do I order?

Me: Look below!

Online:

Budo Videos

Facebook:

Alliance Facebook Page

In Person:

Alliance Atlanta HQ

Affiliates, email jordon@alliancebjj.com for wholesale discounts!

Upcoming Jacare Seminar in TX

Fundamentals class review: By Paul Klien

Disclaimer: I am a blue belt under Romero "Jacare´" Cavalcanti, and I currently train at Alliance HQ.

The fundamental class is 25 lessons, the first three classes are private. I do not know what the first three classes are, but I assume its basic information you get when you first walk in without bjj knowledge.

This is a brief, while biased review of the three classes already taken. Its been well received. The basic structure is warm ups, techniques, and 3-4 drills. What makes it unique, is the combination of which techniques are used together. This is the 'special sauce' of the program.

I. When the techniques is combined with other ones, the drill, makes a mock realistic fight, that enforces muscle memory, and gets the mind out of the way, while the real learning, automatic reactions are being learned and drilled. Example, the Day 4 class, there was a drill to recompose guard. What was a pleasant surprise for my partner I train with, they recompossed guard quick and did it 100% correct. The speed and natural movement just flowed.

II. Transitioning from one position to the next, less hesitation from one movement to the next. Where jiu-jitsu flows, instead of stop, go, stop, think, go, stop, think, go.

III. The emphasis on self defense in the fundamental class. The original scope of BJJ is self defense. The majority if not all of the mock drill fights are both for sports and self defense.

I do have one question for my fellow brothers and sisters in bjj land. I am curious on how Gracie Barra, and the other teams implement their beginning classes.

First Phase of Alliance Instructors Course Completed

After winning the World Championship for the third time in a row, Jacare and Fabio decided to unify our teaching method throughout the team. On the last week of November Fabio Gurgel came up to The Alliance HQ in Atlanta, GA. Together with his Master Jacare they led all the Alliance Instructors through the first phase of the Instructors course.

The Course was held from October 26^th-28^th from 9-12:30pm. We had a number of our own students as well as Instructors from our affiliate schools represented. Fabio and Jacare led a crash course in their teaching methodology and built a new training system based around Self Defense and Jiu-Jitsu Fundamentals. The purpose of this system is to ensure that new students have the tools to able to effectively defend themselves against a bigger more aggressive opponent.

There is nothing revolutionary about this approach, quite the opposite actually. With the popularity of Sport Jiu-Jitsu, Instructors have begun neglecting the some of the key principles that make Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu so affective. This 25 class program will provide the students with a solid foundation from which the more advanced techniques can be built.

The course was well received and after 3 days of role playing and training all 32 participants received their certification.

Congratulations to:

Derek Kaivani

 Faron Sinkis

Howard Wilcox

Sonya Barton

Teresa Taggart

Ed Kennedy

Mark Plavcan

Daren Roberts

Jim Bagley

Jordon Schultz

Philippe Gentry

Willy Rodregez

Brian Burk

DJ Farmer

Mark Diffley

Yuseff Nabi

Fred Zebley

Mike Dauenhaur

Paul Shreiner

Steve Hall

Billy Fletcher

Rafael Rosendo

Tatsuo Goya

Jim McPhearson

Alex Britto

Jason Evangelista

James Shook

Rogerio Santos

Mitch Phillips

Felipe Neto

Clinton Gouveia

Jonathan Tooker

New Alliance Black Belt!

Ian Being Belted By Jacare

Jacare and Fabio with the Newest Alliance Black Belt

Big congrats to Ian McPherson who received his black belt from Jacare.  Can't wait to see you take on the big dogs in the upcoming tournaments!

Ian will be having his official ceremony with demonstration on Thursday November 4th at 7:30pm

Hopefully everyone will come and support!

New Jiu Jitsu fundamentals class

Alliance is starting a new jiu jitsu fundamentals course that will be taught Monday through Thursday from 6:30PM to 7:30PM. This is a great opportunity for people who are new to jiu jitsu to get a solid understanding of jiu jitsu fundamentals. A common mistake made by people new to jiu jitsu is focusing on advance techniques too early. This is like trying to build a tall building with out a sound base, no matter how elaborate and creative the building is with out a sound structural base it will collapse. One common trait among all top jiu jitsu fighters is their complete understanding of the basic techniques. Whether you are brand new to the sport, or even if you have been training a few years and need to adjust some basic details of your game the new Alliance fundamentals course will be a great addition to your training. Hope to see everyone there!!