One might say that Tom DeBlass wears a lot of hats in the BJJ world.  He is a jiu jitsu black belt under the illustrious Renzo Gracie lineage, earning it directly from Renzo's first black belt Ricardo Almeida.  He runs a thriving BJJ...

The Veterans vs the Up and Comers Keenan Cornelius and Nicholas Meregali are largely considered top Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitors in the gi. Both titans of the sport were fallen Saturday night in the inaugural event for Who’s Number 1, as Cornelius was defeated by Roberto...

Meregali Returns With Masterful Double Gold Performance All eyes were on the return of Nicholas Meregali to the competitive mats this weekend at the Brazilian National Championships, arguably the toughest major tournament out there.  In only his second competition of the year, Meregali...

Black Belt Champions Get Paid The IBJJF has announced that it's 2019 World Championship in Long Beach would feature payouts ranging from $4000 to $7000 dollars for black belt female and male winners.  The actual payout will be determined by the number of...

On January 14-20th, in Lisbon, Portugal, the IBJJF hosted their European Jiu-Jitsu Championships.  This was their 16th IBJJF European Championships.  This event is one of the largest (in 2018 there were over 4,000 registered competitors from over 70 countries) and most important events...

This past weekend, the 2018 World IBJJF No-Gi Championships took place.  There were many new names on the podium, as well as favorites such as Gordon Ryan and Beatriz Mesquita winning both their weight division as well as the absolute titles. Devastating Leg...

Exploring the incident... Rigan Machado black belt Adam Nadow was attacked in the parking lot of his Jiu Jitsu academy, Fudoshin BJJ. Nadow recounts the event in his own words. As an instructor and coach, Dean Lister has been sought all over the world...

Is This Class Submission Useful At A High Level? Some Jiu Jitsu submissions are more effective than others, I think that is something we can all admit to. Although some unorthodox submissions are made popularly successful by only a subset of players, it...

by Todd M. Shaffer, September 25, 2018   One of the leading young gun black belt competitors out there today is Matheus Gonzaga.  At just 23 years old, he is fast making moves on the competition scene and is definitely an up and...

Woodly Retains Welterweight Strap and Earns Black Belt Receiving a black belt in BJJ is by no means a small accomplishment for anyone. IT takes years of dedication, and commitment to be awarded the high honor of the Faixa Preta. But receiving inside...

No matter what the endeavor, it's human nature to want results fast.  If you've been training BJJ long, you are well aware that technique improvement and those coveted belts take quite some time to earn.  The expectation that we are going to be...

Do you think I’m ready? Do you really feel that I deserve it? Maybe I should do a couple more competitions first. How about one more year? These are just a few of the rebuttals instructors and Professors frequently hear when they’ve communicated...

Wherever you find yourself on the road to black belt right now, there is one thing we can all agree on.  It's a long, long, upward battle.  As time goes on and you begin to progress through the color belts, it becomes almost...

White to blue.  Blue to purple.  Purple to brown. Brown to black.  The belt progression.  The long road. When you are just starting out as a brand new white belt, blue and purple belts at your gym seem like they walk on water. ...

We start training BJJ for a wide variety of reasons. Maybe we want to get into better shape, lose weight, and improve our health overall.  Perhaps we are looking to learn some self defense concepts and techniques, increasing our overall confidence.  Whatever the...