Archive for the ‘News:’ Category

Posted on August 30, 2011 - by Doug

Due to power outage, no class on Tuesday 8/30 in Glastonbury

Due power outages in Glastonbury resultant from Irene, class will be canceled in Glastonbury tonight.
At this writing Glastonbury is 78% without power.
There should be class at 7:30 in West Hartford so please don’t forego training.

Posted on August 16, 2011 - by paul

Gracie Jiu Jitsu Seminar Tuesday August 23 with Jim Hughes and Paul Bratslavsky

Join us on August 23rd at 7:30 pm in West Hartford. We will be doing a special seminar open to all of our members and their friends who are interested in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. If you are a beginner, intermediate or even an advance student, don’t miss out. We will cover some of the basic techniques, self defense and concepts that everyone should know, not only to do well in a Self defense situation, but also to help you move towards achieving your next rank. We will also hear from Jim about his experience of achieving his Black Belt under Royce, as well as, the mental attitude and training process that is required in order to get better no matter what level your training partner is. Everyone is full of techniques but not everyone is aware of the required mindset necessary to progress in Gracie Jiu Jitsu. Come and train with Jim, who has trained with Helio and Royce and learn the Authentic Royce Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Posted on August 15, 2011 - by Doug

Royce Gracie Open Seminar and Championship Tournament

The seminars and tournament were a lot of fun, very educational, and everything ran very smoothly.
Saturday morning we got an early start. The setup began around 6 a.m. and we were ready to go for the 8 a.m. seminar.
It was unusually early for a seminar, but those that helped set up were sweating before it began. Many thanks to those that put the effort in on setting up, especially Rick, katie, and Paul.
The was plenty of mat space, and the venue offered a spacious environment.
Royce started with the self defense portion, which is ultimately the heart of Gracie Jiu Jitsu. Starting on the feet, working some stand-up defensive technique to warm-up, the details were great. All techniques were based on leverage and they simply work.
We moved on to the clinch, and a leverage based takedown. Some awesome details on a choke followed by some alternate submissions completed a great, logical sequence of effective techniques. Royce’s teaching style and the effective techniques he teaches make him one of the best teachers I’ve ever had the honor to train with, if not the best.
The second session was primary ground work. Starting with guard passes, and finishing with a great foot lock combination. All the techniques again in logical sequence completing a decision tree that offers flexibility based on variables of the situation.
A number of people received promotions by Royce and all were recipients of knowledge that is priceless.
The tournament format was inline with the normal seminar format. Normally after the instruction portion of a seminar is complete, participants spar. In this case the sparing was a single elimination absolute submission only tournament, winner receiving a $1000 prize. there were some great matches, and the participants all seemed happy win or lose. There were representatives of all belt levels white belts through black belts. The lower ranks were mostly eliminated early on but some made it into the later rounds. The winner was Dan Simler, a black belt out of Massachusetts. He actually finished for the win in the championship match with the final achilles lock Royce taught as the last technique before the tournament. His technique was smooth, and spectators saw some great jiu jitsu. In the final match, a smaller opponent beat a bigger, stronger foe, with technique In a 20 minute match that was all action. Truly fun to watch.
All participants made a good showing, and note, the championship match was a black belt vs a purple belt, which shows as Royce says “the belt only covers 2″ of your ass, your are responsible for the rest”.
In all the seminars were great, and the tournament was a great experience.

Posted on August 13, 2011 - by Doug

Congratulations to Katie!

Katie, our coach in Boston was promoted to purple belt by Royce today. It was well deserved, she is an inspiration to me. Anyone that has reached that level knows the dedication it takes, and it is no small thing. I know I speak for all the other coaches when I say we are proud of our jiu jitsu sister.

Posted on August 12, 2011 - by Doug

Royce seminars / tounament tomorrow. Be a good uke.

Don’t forget the seminars/tournament tomorrow. First seminar is early, 8 a.m. second is at 10:30 a.m. wearing gi for seminars is recomended, wear gi or no gi for tourney. Tourney starts at 1 p.m.

Be a good uke when you train. Found a great video showing Royce’s brother doing a demo with a young yellow belt that illustrates being a good uke:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ag1Wx_3MaE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

See you on the mat tomorrow, don’t miss this opportunity to learn from one of the best teachers I’ve had the privilege to train with in over 20 years in the martial arts.

Posted on July 20, 2011 - by Doug

Looking forward to Royce seminar & tournament!

This started out to be a simple, standard seminar, but it has Morphed into something with a life of its own. I’m excited at the prospect of seeing Royce and seeing some potentially great grappling matches. I always enjoy seeing Royce, let’s face it, he’s pretty much the reason any of us got involved with jiu jitsu. I enjoy the seminars, and I always pick up new techniques, details, and tricks. I love watching good jiu jitsu matches. Add it all up, and this is a win win for me… I hope to see everyone there, old friends, new friends, and friends I haven’t met yet…
:)

Posted on July 20, 2011 - by Jim Hughes

aug 13 Royce Gracie Seminar and Championship Tournament: please note class time changes!t

Royce Gracie Open Seminar and Championship Tournament:

August 13, 2011, $1000 Grand Prize, Winner Takes All.

Train with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and UFC Legend, Royce Gracie, Saturday August 13, 2011

*8:00-10:00: Fundamentals of Gracie Jiu Jitsu Self Defense:  $80 cash only at the door

*10:30-12:30: Advanced Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA:  $80 cash only at the door.

*1:00 until the last competitor is standing: Royce Gracie Open Championship Tournament:  FREE for Competitors with your seminar admission.

YOU MUST ATTEND AT LEAST ONE SEMINAR CLASS TO ENTER THE TOURNAMENT.

Seminar and Tournament Spectators: $40 at the door. CHILDREN UNDER 16 FREE WITH A PAID ADULT.

Spectators and Fighters: Get all your memorabilia signed by the Legend himself. (That signed pair of UFC gloves is worth serious money, just ask our friend, Sam, owner of K&M All Star Sports in the Crystal Mall).

This seminar and tournament is open to all martial artists and the many diverse stylist of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and anyone wanting to learn from Royce Gracie.

UNION STATION, HARTFORD CT, Saturday August 13. DOOR OPENS AT 7:30AM , classes at 8:00; 10:30 and Competition starts at 1:00. 

Sponsored by www.Gracie-Jiu-Jitsu.com,www.RoyceGracieMMA.com,
Coors Lite: The Coldest Beer in the World, K&M All Star Sports & Vigil Clan Entertainment

Posted on June 17, 2011 - by paul

Start you summer the right way and do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Have you always wanted to learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but have been to lazy to try, then there is no hope for you. Not even kidding! This invitation is only for the motivated students. Come in to anyone of our locations and try out a class. You might actually like it. On top of learning great self defense and getting in the best shape of your life you get to become part of the Gracie Family tradition. We are the only approved network by Royce Gracie in New England. All of our coaches have received their rank from Royce and Rodrigo Gracie. If you want to get your belt from Royce Gracie and be part of the Gracie Family tradition then this is the place for you. Because we are a network of schools through out CT and MASS, when you become a member at any of our locations, you get to train at any one of our other schools for free. Giving you access to a wide variety of coaches and unlimited training.

Attention: For members only.

Everyone make a note on your calendar for Saturday, August 13. Royce will be visiting us in CT.

Looking forward to seeing every one on the mat.

Paul Bratslavsky

Posted on June 12, 2011 - by Katie

Posted on June 2, 2011 - by Jim Hughes

Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and its growing popularity in the media

Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
and its growing popularity in the media

By College Student Paul V

Gracie Jiu-Jitsu in the mass media is the topic I choose to write on. I find this interesting because I’m a communications major and like to see new trends in media and its contrast them to the changes in society. One growing trend that sticks out in my mind is MMA and within that Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. To fully understand the transition and popularity of Gracie BJJ and its part in MMA we must look at the roots to compare and find when it grew in popularity. ​Carlos Gracie’s brother Helio Gracie founded Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. By 1921 the steps of Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu were being formed and near completion. Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu became more popular in the nineties when Royce Gracie captivatingly won UFC one, two and four. The history of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is commonly mentioned in some form in the media, such as in UFC where name recognition and its influences in MMA are often mentioned. Media plays an important part in the popularizing of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu because of the amount of face-time that Royce would get for his victories and use of unique style. The importance of ground fighting was found through his victorious displays as well as the foundation of BJJ becoming a staple for a lot of MMA fighters. Today we see many shows and channels dedicated to MMA such as UFC, Pride, WEC, and Strikeforce. The Gracie name is still seen as an important name and used to hype fights such as an upcoming fight between another Gracie. ​The fight plan we learned and are continuing to learn are important in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu because they show the fundamentals of defensive techniques. The fight plan is shown by closing distance, establishing a clinch, organizing a take down, and achieving a dominant position. When put in a bad position it’s important to learn how to protect oneself in that position, reverse it, and end the fight with a submission. A lot of viral videos are posted online to show the fundamentals of a good fight plan and defending oneself by practicing Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. On youtube alone a single training clip can hit as many as one hundred forty five thousand, and clips of Royce’s first UFC fight hit half a million views. Truly the popularity of the MMA as a sport and the style of BJJ is growing. ​In the media the theory of Gerbner’s “Mean World Syndrome” which is linked with cultivation theory which tries to explain the effects of over exposure of certain themes on television to peoples emotions and thoughts. Mean World Syndrome goes further into detail explaining that in our cultures society we have a disproportional viewing of violence and evil acts on the news than in reality. Usually the news shows ten times more violent acts than what actually occurs on average. People handle the rise of fear for ones well being in different ways, one being self-defense classes. These social issues are relevant to our class in that it helps teach proper ways of dealing with conflict and handling oneself in everyday circumstances as well as proper self-defense in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu practice. ​Relating the components of the fight plan to these issues of Mean World Syndrome and other identified problems are done by comparing the affects of fear in the media with fear felt in high conflict situations. Like many fears in life, the problem can be linked with a lack of knowledge. By having a plan like the fight plan taught in this class based off of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu one knows in harsh situations that the proper training and planning along side a calm and collected mind could help in reducing the fear and triumphing over it.

References:

http://www.jiu-jitsu.net/history.shtml

http://martialarts.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_future_of_mma_on_television

http://riotimesonline.com/news/rio-sports/mixed-martial-arts-and-brazilian-jiu-jitsu/