PAN AM BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU
The art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has become an extremely popular, and mainstream form of combat sports. Ever since its creation in the early 1900's by the Gracie clan, the art has evolved from a self defense system into one of the most formidable sporting arts on the planet. With the rise of new age Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournaments, many jiu jitsu legends like Marcelo Garcia, Roger Gracie, Marcus Almeida, Mica Galvao, Nicholas Meregali, and Andre Galvao have taken the sport to a whole new level. Nowadays Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has a highly complex platform of BJJ tournaments that students can enter. These competitions range from local open tournaments, all the way to the top of the mountain at the IBJJF world championships.
What This Article Covers:
- How to Prepare for a BJJ Tournament
- What Is the Pan Ams
- Can Kids Compete in the Pan Ams
- The History of Winners in the Men's Division
- The History of Winners in the Women's Division
Becoming a competitor on the world circuit of grappling starts at the state level, as each competitor will try and become state champion for their region. After winning the states the usual progression for competitors is to move up through the bjj comp system to the Nationals, and then the Pan Pacifics. There are also the Pan Americans, the Brazilian Nationals, the European Championships, and the highest of the high, in both the IBJJF world championships, and the ADCC world championships. Being successful at any of these competitions relies upon students to train hard, train smart, and develop their style of grappling to give themselves the best chance possible at winning the gold medal.
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HOW TO PREPARE FOR A BJJ TOURNAMENT
Preparing to compete in any style of tournament requires athletes to first of all show continuity within their training. There are many different aspects that go into the proper preparation of a BJJ competition birth. Students must work extensively hard, and practise many of the techniques they learn so that their technical processes become muscle memory. It is vital that they not only work for attacking formations, but learn how to defend submissions, and positions, as well as develop a game style to specifically target how to escape from all of these positions. Forming a strong defense is the best way to enable a student to attack with a ferocious sting. This is how some of the best no gi jiu jitsu fighters in the world prepare for competition, as they will battle every member in their academy over and over, until they are battle hardened. Jumping in the deep end, and rolling against higher level athletes, will help students strengthen their defenses, and significantly develop their ability for endurance. It is also extremely important to roll against students of a lower belt rank, this is so they can properly execute many of their techniques, and understand how to develop their flow chains, and how to strategically set their traps.
Another important aspect for comp preparation is strength and conditioning. There is an old saying that goes; technique will always beat strength, and even though to a degree that is true, an athlete that has exceptional technique, and is considerably strong will become problematic for any competitors. This is why it is imperative that students help their Brazilian Jiu Jitsu by increasing their overall strength. A great way to do this is by working on their explosive power, durability in their muscles, and making sure that not only are they getting stronger, but they are doing it in a way that helps them prevent any type of injury. As well as strength training, students need to improve their cardio, and even though this can be done during rolling sessions, it does not hurt to add some extra form of running, or swimming into the mix. Another important part of strength and conditioning is flexibility, and mobility, as students need to have a wide range of movement in order to be successful. This means stretching exercises are vital, and students should do dynamic stretching first to warm up the muscles, before then increasing their static stretching to get more of a deeper stretch. It is just as important to stretch after training to warm down the muscles, as it is to warm them up before training. Mobility exercises are extremely important for students, and this is so they can prevent any form of significant injury, as they will need to increase their overall range of movement.
The next vital cog in the wheel of competition is developing a game plan. It can be easy to learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, where students will become systematic, and then bulletproof their bodies, but by the time they hit the competition mats they are unsure how to use it. Strategizing is an important component in the art of war, as students will need to understand how to maximise their chances at winning against different styles that their opponents will bring to the mats. Whether a student is a guard player, a takedown specialist, a leg lock strategist, or a top game fighter, they still need to have a solid game plan, as well as several backup plans. Having an extremely good defense with escape plans is a good way to head into a tournament, because if a student finds themself stuck in a position then they can execute many of these escape plans, which will lead to an attacking formation. In all cases understanding how to utilise the right movements at the right time is crucial for winning the moment, and outplaying their opponents.
WHAT IS THE PAN AMS
The Pan Ams is the nickname for the Pan American Championships in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, it may also be known to some as the Pan Championships. This competition has been held annually since 1995, and has had a multitude of athletes from some of the most iconic, and best bjj teams compete. This competition also represented a huge step towards more of an international focus within the sport. In the very first event 250 athletes gathered to compete for the prestigious title, and now after two decades the event has recorded 4600 athletes competing in the most recent 2022 Pan Am Championships in Florida, in the United States of America. This event is one of the big four IBJJF grand slam events which includes the European Jiu Jitsu Championship, the Brazilian National Jiu Jitsu Championship, and the World Jiu Jitsu Championship. The Pan Am Championships is equal to the European Championships in points with a rating of 4, and is only second to the World Championships, which has a rating of 7. Nowadays athletes are training extensively in a bid to secure a place in the Pan Am Championships, as this is a great stepping stone toward becoming a future world champion in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
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CAN KIDS COMPETE IN THE PAN AMS
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has been growing rapidly over the last two decades, as now the IBJJF have added many different youth jiu jitsu tournaments to their schedule. Since 2010 kids have been able to compete in the Pan American Championship circuit. In 2010 at the inaugural event Gracie Barra dominated every category in the mighty mite, pee wee, junior, and teen divisions. Gracie Barra and Atos BJJ have been the two most successful kids teams in this event, winning 5 overall team titles each. Gracie Barra have won the last 4 team titles consecutively from 2019 to 2022, and before Gracie Barra's domination, Atos BJJ had previously won 3 team titles consecutively from 2016 to 2018. The fact that kids are now able to compete in the big four grand slams that the IBJJF has to offer is an incredible testament to the organisation, and the growth of the sport across the world. With many children now competing from all different countries, the future of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu looks extremely bright.
THE HISTORY OF WINNERS IN THE MEN'S DIVISION
There have been many winners in the history of the Pan American Championships. This highly prestigious event has been dominated by Brazilian athletes for two decades now, as anyone else outside of Brazil winning the event is a rarity. Out of the 251 winners in the history of the event, a remarkable 230 of them have been Brazilian, leaving only 21 winners as non Brazilian athletes, and only 12 winners are American born athletes. Some people may wonder what is absolute division in jiu jitsu, and the short answer is, it's an open weight category. In the history of the Pan American Championships only Brazilian athletes have ever won the absolute division, with athletes like Rigan Machado two times in (1996, 1997) Saulo Ribeiro in (1998) Antonio Schembri in (1999) Fabricio Monteiro in (2000) Xande Ribeiro in (2001) Alexandre Dantas in (2002) Marcio Cruz two times in (2003, 2005) Ronaldo Souza in (2004) Roger Gracie in (2006) Romulo Barral in (2007) Andre Galvao two times in (2008, 2014) Antonio Braga Neto in (2009) Bernardo Faria three times in (2010, 2015, 2016) Rodolfo Vieira in (2011) Antonio Carlos Junior in (2012) Marcus Almeida in (2013) Leandro Lo two times in (2017, 2018) Lucas Barbosa in (2019) Fellipe Andrew in (2021) and the most recent winner Erich Munis in (2022).
There have been a host of different gold medal winners in all weight categories. The divisions range from 57 kilograms all the way to the over 100 kilogram division, as all 8 weight category divisions have seen a multitude of exceptional champions compete. Andre Galvao has become the most prolific champion in Pan American history winning 2 gold medals in the 82 kilogram division, 3 gold medals in the 88 kilogram division, 2 gold medals in the over 100 kilogram division, and 2 gold medals in the absolute division, making that a total of 9 gold medal wins. Another prolific champion was the late and great Leandro Lo, who won 8 Pan Am championship gold medals including 2 gold medals in the absolute division. Other champions like Bernardo Faria won 6 gold medals including 3 gold medals in the absolute division, Bruno Malfacine also won 6 gold medals, and Rubens Charles won 5 gold medals. Other athletes like Marcus Almeida, Lucas Leite, Antonio Braga Neto, Xande Ribeiro, Marcio Cruz, Roberto Magalhaes, Lucas Lepri, Roberto Correa, and Marcio Feitosa have all won 4 gold medals each, and 3 gold medals have been won by athletes like Rigan Machado, Joao Miyao, Paulo Miyao, Caio Terra, Bibiano Fernandes, Bruno Severiano, Alexandre Dantas, and Felipe Andrew. The calibre of Brazilian born Jiu Jitsu fighters is outstanding, as the level of professionalism in Brazil is phenomenal.
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THE HISTORY OF WINNERS IN THE WOMEN'S DIVISION
The women's division in the Pan American Championships has followed suit with the men's division, as 118 Brazilian women athletes out of 133 have won the gold medal. The absolute division, which has only ever been won by Brazilian women athletes like Luciana Dias in (2008) Ana Laura Cordeiro in (2009) Gabrielle Garcia five times in (2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2019) Luana Alzuguir in (2011) Beatriz Mesquita in (2014) Andresa Correa in (2016) Tayane Porfirio in (2017) Luiza Monteiro in (2018) and the most recent winner Yara Soares in (2021) From 1999 to 2003 there was only three women's divisions the lightweight division at 64 kilograms, the middleweight division at 69 kilograms, and the heavyweight division at 80 kilograms. The absolute division did not start until 2008, and this is mainly due to the lack of numbers in women's Jiu Jitsu. Nowadays there are 8 different weight categories including the absolute division, which has some of the best female bjj fighters competing in the world today.
The most successful female grappler to ever set foot on the Pan American stage is Gabrielle Garcia. Gabbi is a female icon that has inspired many women to compete. In Pan American competition she has won 11 gold medals including 5 absolute gold medal wins. Three other exciting athletes have all tied for the second highest gold medal haul by winning 7 Gold medals each, Luiza Monteiro, Beatriz Mesquita, and Luciana Dias, with each of them also winning an absolute title crown each. Other talented athletes like Ana Laura Cordeiro, Luana Alzuguir, and Gezary Matuda have all racked up 4 gold medals each, with Ana and Luana winning an absolute title each. Other athletes like Kyra Gracie, Mariana Coelho, Michelle Nicolini, and Talita Nogueira have all won 3 gold medals each. The calibre of women athletes in today's grappling format is incredible, as up and coming athletes like Nathalie Ribeiro, Ffion Davies, Ana Carolina Vieira, and Yara Soares are making significant impacts on the Pan American circuit.
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