Archive for September, 2009

Posted on September 10, 2009 - by Jim Hughes

Royce Gracie MMA Tournament, RAIN or SHINE, September 12, get details here!

Have fun and improve your jiu jitsu, MMA , and self defense skills in the best tourny ever —The World Series of MMA.

Join us Saturday September 12, 2009 RAIN OR SHINE for the action packed Sting Grappling & Gi Competition. This event is for Royce Gracie MMA Members & Friends: www.WorldSeriesOfMMA.tv for details.

SuperKids-Academy Parents and all members who are parents or aunts or uncles: Please note, Paul Bratslavsky will be teaching a special class the morning of the tournamnet, Saturday Sept 12, in the ring for your kids. Please come for class at 9:00 at our outdoor arena in East Windsor. West Hartord Morning Class will be cancelled for this special event.

Then, everyone, after the tournament, drop what you are doing and get yourself to Puerto Rico September 18 and 19 for the Royce Gracie MMA Beach Seminar at our favorite hotel, La Concha in San Juan: www.gracie-jiu-jitsu.com/locations/puerto-rico/ for details.

In the meanwhile, here’s something to think about:

I hope that peace and love prevail in our world. I want that for my children. I want it for my students. But, as Royce said to me once while we were driving in the middle of the night from one place to the next: “we can live in peace BECAUSE we are willing to fight.”

Our families need us to be ready and willing to fight. And if we die doing so, we need loyal friends standing behind us willing to step up and throw it down.

Its time to test your skills. You won’t know if you don’t. That little nagging question in the back of the mind…what if…??? How will I…??? Can I…??? What if I get creamed…??? What if…I can’t do it…If I lose…if I die…???

These are familiar questions.

I won my first jiu jitsu competition years ago at the Gracie Jiu Jitsu National Tournament that Royce ran out in California. I got the bug.

By just being tenacious, I caught each of my opponents and won my division. The next day, in the absolute division, I was knocked out of the brackets in the first round when I was caught in a choke by Dave Gomez from Michigan. I learned more in the match I lost than in all the ones I won combined.

But overall, I especially learned about those persistent little thoughts that run at the back of one’s mind and how it is really just a bunch of chatter.

None of my opponents were as big as I pictured them. Nobody swung me around by my feat and spun me on their finger and crushed me like a bug under foot. Most were just like me. A little nervous. A little distracted. Wanting to prove themselves. Tuff in ways they did not understand and not so tuff in the ways they thought they were.

That’s competition. You come face to face with yourself. Its not about winning (although I recognize we all like the idea of winning). Its about stepping on the mat in a unpredictable situation and seeing how you react. You see yourself from the inside out. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Competition is the only mirror of it’s type.

A little sore, a little tired, a little under the weather? Enter anyway. The conditions for a battle are never perfect, and, in self defense you’re always at some disadvantage. Just the practice of competing even when you don’t feel too great will make you better. Royce Gracie Jiu Jitsu and MMA is all around good medicine. i have a good story about entering a tournament shortly after getting lyme disease. Ill tell you sometime.

Our tournament is dedicated to Grandmaster Helio Gracie. He loved competition. But he also really disliked what had become of his art in Brazil where the emphasis shifted towards point strategies and stalling to win.

This tournament, and our network of schools, are for those who stand with me in true loyalty to Royce and his father, the direct source and the spring from which MMA sprang.

The last tournament that I personally competed in is one i will never forget. I took third place as a purple belt in the Gracie Jiu Jitsu National Tournament. It was the last one Royce ran. There were a lot of very good guys in the purple belt division. It was not like the tournaments you see nowadays where they have all kinds of divisions based on age and weight and the length of your hair. I understand why tournaments are organized like that. With many divisions, virtually everyone ends up walking around with some kind of medal one way or another. Everyone feels they are the champion. If you want 1000 people to show up to a tournament make sure to have 1000 divisions so each and every person can say they are the champion. everyone can focus on their weight and how much they had to lose to get into their “ideal” fighting shape. Then there are all manner of excellent excuses for why things did not go so well “ya, I was tired from being so deyhdrated from trying to make weight
” or, “that guy obviously walks around at 210 and somehow dropped to 159 and a half… if only…then…LET ME SAY THIS ABOUT THAT: IF YOU ARE TRAINING, YOU ARE ALREADY A CHAMPION. BY YOUR ACTIONS YOU HAVE MADE YOURSELF PART OF A UNIQUE GROUP OF PEOPLE AND YOU ARE THE CREAM OF THE CROP — WHETHER YOU COMPETE OR NOT! Whether you win today or lose. It does not matter. The only thing that matters is that you keep showing up and dont give up. Dont compete for medals or awards. Do it because its really fun and to improve your skills. It does not matter who your opponent is, how much he weighs or how much you weigh or even the length of your hair or how long you have trained. What really matters is something different. You have to find what that is.

Anyways, back to my story. Royce’s father, Grandmaster Helio, was there at the head table observing all the action. He came to me after I lost one of my matches and said “your jiu jitsu very good.” in his distinctive Brazilian Porteguese accent. I didn’t expect to hear that especially when I lost a match. After reflecting on it, it occurred to me that it is not about winning, but more about what we bring to the situation. The attitude we demonstrate, the attitude of perserverence and patience and the willingness to keep in there. The attitude of complete joy in what we are doing, especially, when under pressure and when things are not going well. There is more to the story about what happened that day, but, i will have to tell it another time.

With the help of Perry Siegel, our tournament director, we created our tournament, called the World Series of MMA and Sting Grappling, in honor of Helio Gracie. I know he will be there in spirit with us Saturday September 12.

Come and join in the only competition experience of its kind Saturday September 12 at Sofias Plaza behind Royce Gracie MMA, 122 Prospect Hill, East Windsor CT. Exit 45 off 91. Turn right. Go up the hill. Turn right just after the light and weave your way to the back parking lot. You’ll see our outdoor arena in the way back. We have a nice grassy hill overlooking the ring set up. So you might bring a towel or picnic blanket. Ask anyone who has competed. There are no other tournaments like the one we have put together for Royce Gracie MMA members and friends. Its fun. It moves at a good pace. You get a lot of matches. There is no BS. Its friendly because we are among friends.

We are running two divisions:
1. Gi (plain white, or Atama, or, Royce Gracie MMA Brand only)
2. Sting Grappling (No Gi ), wear plain board shorts and royce gracie t shirt. Any t shirt from one of our prior college MMA Challenge or World Series of MMA events. Plus, we will give you a competition t shirt when you show up.

It is organized very simply: As an absolute pool. You will be assigned a 5 person division randomly. The are no weight classes or belt divisions. You have a match with every person in your division. You earn points each time you do something productive, if there is not a submission, then the match is decided by referee decision based on points. The way the match is won determines how Grand Points are awarded. The Grand Points accumulate throughout the day and determine who advances to the finals. The finals are held in the big raised competition ring and two Grand Champions (Gi and Sting Grappling) will rise to the top.

(Note: 87 % of matches have been decided by submission in the 10 events we have run. The fighters show up to fight. We don’t have stallers and point specialist because you are actually at a disadvantage if you organize your fight plan that way. This is why I know that Helio Gracie is smiling down upon our efforts). Also, thank you in advance for not whinning or complaining. I have never once heard Royce complain about anything except my driving. So in the spirit of good all around positive Royce Gracie Attitude, and the fact that this is a family oriented event, we expect only good sportsmanship at all times.

In addition, to GRAND CHAMPION medals for the absolute Gi and Sting Grappling finalists, medals will be awarded for the top preliminary tournament point holders according to the following categories:

1. White Belt Gi
2. Blue Belt Gi
3. Purple Belt Gi
4. Women Gi
5. White Belt STING GRAPPLING
6. Blue Belt STING GRAPPLING
7. Purple Belt STING GRAPPLING
8. Women STING GRAPPLING
9. Person with longest hair (sorry, that division had to be cancelled, CaveMan Mike Sanders is back from Florida and he got his hair cut)

Any questions, talk with our Tournament Director Perry Siegel the day of the event.

Go to www.WordSeriesofMMA.tv for further details and for the link to purchase tickets. Early Registration is $40 to compete and $10 general admission