UPDATED REGISTRY: 2009 FBT THAILAND BJJ/GRAPPLING OPEN

***AS OF 09.02.2009

WHITE-BELT
under 60 KG
Derek Kwik (HK BJJ/Team Grips)
Hiromu Takei (EMAC)
Hiromu Takei (EMAC)

under 64 KG
Ram Ananda (Deftac Cebu)
Hilman Wirahadisaputra (Universal Grappling)
Pei Zhou (Beijing BJJ)
Thomas Gumiran (Kamphuis-Fabricio)
Rhandee Ramos (BJJ Singapore)
Matthew Chua (BJJ Singapore)
Samat Khovitoonkij (EMAC)

Jay Uy (Deftac Cebu)

under 70 KG
Bryan Espino (Deftac Cebu)
Min Yoo (Shanghai BJJ)
Ivan Chua (BJJ Singapore)
Matthew Phan (BJJ Singapore)
In Ming Loh (Checkmat/Escobar BJJ)
Chambaud Marc (Shanghai BJJ)
Yasser Aryan (Team Reza BJJ)
Glen Toreja (Kamphuis-Fabricio)
Steven Rhodes (Leao Dourado)
Raymond Varilla (Deftac BJJ)
Kraithawat Watthanakrai (EMAC)
Neelan Hordatt-Reece (Evolve MMA)
Jiro Mori (Free JP)
Gregorio (Nico) Pinga (Kamphuis/Fabricio)
Minwoo Park (3Monkeeez)
Terence Tan (Fight G)

under 80 KG
Teemu Laaksonen (Finnfightersgm)
Anthony Hogan (Bangkok BJJ)
Apilux Huvanandana (Bangkok BJJ)
Ferasse Tea (Shanghai BJJ)
Omer Kurlender (Grips bjj Hong Kong)
Tom Woodfin (Deftac Cebu)
Jamie Lee (Evolve MMA)
Leo Katigbak (Carlson Gracie/Sprawl MMA)
Matthew Mollenkof (Kowloon BJJ)
William Ong (PJ Jiu Jitsu)
Erwin Nolido (VPF)
Ali Monfaradi (Bahrain BJJ)
Maher Aseeri (BJJ Singapore)
Robert Bruce (KDT)
Ramzi Farzad (Team Reza BJJ)
Hamad Al Ansari (Team Reza BJJ)
Eisuke Fukuchi (JP)
John Gearing (Kontact)
Walt Power (Macau BJJ/Nova Uniao)
Kyle Kapunan (Deftac BJJ)
Judd Sanchez (Evolve MMA)

Sebastien HAUS (Kowloon BJJ)
Ian Teng (Evolve MMA)
Martinho Marques (Macau BJJ/Nova Uniao)
Christian Daghio (Pattaya Kombat Club

under 90 KG
Joel Moore (Bangkok BJJ)
Lorne Ziskinder (Bangkok BJJ)
Fahad Khalifa (Team Reza BJJ)
Peter Isaksson (Bangkok BJJ)
Timothy Chen (BJJ Singapore)
Hadi Mohammed Ali (Team Reza BJJ)
Ruetawat 'Sun' Chringchitra (EMAC)

under 100 KG

over 100 KG

BLUE-BELT
under 60 KG
Kritsada Subpawanthanakun (EMAC)
Chee Yip Leong (Checkmat/Escobar BJJ)

under 64 KG
Tomi Hashimoto (Bangkok BJJ)
Jack Visoky (Evolve MMA)
James Lim (BJJ Singapore)
Niti Techottiasnee (EMAC)

under 70 KG
Fritz McArdle (Tri-Force JJ)
JR Santos (VPF)
Hoin Chung (Kowloon BJJ)
Wahab Waheed (Team Reza BJJ)
bert Suncio (Carlson Gracie PH)
Sung jin Lee (Taiwan BJJ)
Bryan Garrison (Chiang Mai)
Karl Rodriguez (Gracie Barra PH)
Qitong Li (Beijing BJJ)
Matt Fujieki (Team HK Relson Gracie)

under 80 KG
Danny Hathiramani (Impakt)
Demitri Telfair (Taiwan BJJ)
Derrick Jong (Shanghai BJJ)
Gully Go (VPF)
Ofer Lidar (Bangkok BJJ)
Peter Buendia (VPF)
Nestor "pons" Ponce (VPF)
Mark Ng (Kamphuis-Fabricio)
Neil Fereira (Kamphuis-Fabricio)
Mohammed Yaseen (Team Reza BJJ)
Toffy Ilagan (Deftac BJJ)
Ali Ebrahimi (Team Reza BJJ)
Allen Solomon Chong (Checkmat/Escobar BJJ)
Fang Han Lim (Checkmat/Escobar BJJ)
Aaron Goh (Checkmat/Escobar BJJ)
Luis Serafim (Macau BJJ/Nova Uniao)

under 90 KG
Forrest Akers (Kowloon BJJ)
David Sinclair (Taiwan BJJ)
Leo Ho (Kowloon BJJ)
Taichi Takano (Bangkok BJJ)

under 100 KG
Luke Chaya (Bangkok BJJ)
Alex Shum (HK BJJ/Team Grips)
Marcus Valda (Deftac PH)

over 100 KG
John Brennan (Bangkok BJJ)
Eugene 'Kenu' Lee (Checkmat/Escbar BJJ)
John Breedlove (Bangkok BJJ)

PURPLE-BELT
under 60 KG

under 64 KG
Toru Fujii (RB Academy)
Patrick 'Huan' Nguyen (Saigon Star Fitness)

under 70 KG
Seena Monfaradi (Team Reza BJJ)

under 80 KG
Sebastien Desvignes (Bangkok BJJ)
Mark Simmerman (Bangkok BJJ)

under 90 KG
Hisham Noor (Team Reza BJJ)
Scott Calver (Kreation JJ)
Geir Spanien (Pattaya Kombat Club)

under 100 KG
Ali Sulit (VPF)
Patrick Goodwin (Macau BJJ/Nova Uniao)
Hyun kab Park (John Frankl BJJ)

over 100 KG

BROWN-BELT
under 60 KG

under 64 KG
Kiyoyuki Matsui (Alive, Mie)

under 70 KG

under 80 KG

under 90 KG
Ross Dallow (Extreme BJJ)
Ray Elbe (Tiger Muay Thai/Lotus Jiu-Jitsu)

under 100 KG

over 100 KG

BLACK-BELT
under 60 KG

under 64 KG
Almiro Barros (Evolve/Renzo Gracie)

under 70 KG
Reza Monfaradi (Team Reza BJJ)
Leandro Issa (Evolve/Renzo Gracie)

under 80 KG
Daniel Charles Pereira (Macau BJJ/Nova Uniao)

under 90 KG
Jason Bukich (Taiwan BJJ/Apex Jiu-Jitsu) NO-GI only

under 100 KG

over 100 KG


WOMEN:
WHITE-BELT
under 60 KG
Hiroko Nakano (EMAC)
Kathy Duque (VPF)
Nikki Ng (Kamphuis-Fabricio)
Chiqui Castillo (Hayastan MMA Academy- California)
Muenkae Borriboon (EMAC)

under 64 KG

under 70 KG
Cat de Leon (VPF)

under 80 KG

under 90 KG

under 100 KG

over 100 KG


BLUE-BELT
under 60 KG
Jonna Baquillas (Kamphuis-Fabricio)
Aki Yu (Kowloon BJJ)

under 64 KG

under 70 KG

under 80 KG

under 90 KG

under 100 KG

over 100 KG

PURPLE-BELT
under 60 KG
Hee Jin Lee (John Frankl BJJ)

JUST: NO-GI
under 70 KG
Xavier Mahdavian (Boxer Rebellion) Novice

under 70 KG
Ryuma Kaise (Thailand ?) Advanced

under 80 KG
Sylvain Outrequin (3Monkeeez) Elite
Hisanori KOTANI (Saigon Submission Sports) Advanced

under 90 KG
Jason Bukich (Taiwan BJJ/Apex Jiu-Jitsu) Elite

MISSING INFORMATION (incomplete):
Boyd Clarke (Tiger Muay Thai)
Kanekris Sucharitaves
Yasuo Okochi
Richard Cesena (Unified BJJ)
Marcus Valda (Deftac BJJ)

TMT: BJJ BLACK-BELT JERRY LAURITA

The TMT camp in Phuket, Thailand recently hosted a seminar by 2nd degree BJJ Black-Belt Jerry Laurita this past week. Prof. Laurita is a black-belt under Joe Moreira. For more photos, check out:

WWW.FIGHTINGTHAI.COM

BJJ EVOLUTION ROUND 2: MENDES BROTHERS COUNTERS ALLIANCE & CHECKMAT ESCAPES TO 50/50-GUARD

Caught this on the UG forums, check'em out. (LINK)

Alliance (escape)


Rafael Mendes (counter to Alliance escape) I


Alliance (escape)


Guilherme Mendes (counter to Alliance escape) II


Checkmat (escape I & II)



Mendes (counter to Checkmat escape)


Damn I love youtube!

UPDATES

2nd day in now so the body is getting settled a bit more but with a newborn that doesn't count for much, hehe. Anyways, enjoying the change of scenery, weather and food. Just wanted to let people know that I regularly update the registry-list of competitors for the 2009 FBT Thailand BJJ/Grappling Open. Just scroll down and you'll see the date has changed. Again, if you don't see your name or your weight division is not correctly posted, please let us know by e-mailing thaibjjregister@gmail.com with the correction. Things are getting a bit more colorful in the higher-belt divisions and we're still expecting some last minute additions so keep checking. There will most likely be some bracket-splits due to the size.

For more info, check out: WWW.THAILANDBJJCOMP.BLOGSPOT.COM

Also, for those keeping up with competition results, we've got the latest from Indonesia: Warrior Submission Grappling Championship 2. Check out the link and cool posts by BJJ black-belt Niko Han.

ROYCE GRACIE: SEMINAR TOUR ASIA

Royce Gracie will be making his way through Southeast Asia with a seminar tour. More details to follow but these are the dates so far.

November 7^th … Gracie Barra in Manila, Philippines

November 8^th … Gracie=0 ABarra in Cebu, Philippines

November 9^th … KomJyoKai Aiki-jitsu in Cebu, Philippines

November 12^th … Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, Thailand

BANGKOK TOURNAMENT: BJJ SPIRITS MAGAZINE FOR GOLD MEDALISTS

Thanks to the great support of BJJ Spirits Magazine, gold-medalists of the 2009 FBT Thailand BJJ/Grappling Open will receive a copy of this great jiu-jitsu/grappling magazine, all of which include a DVD with instructionals and editorials from Japan, Brazil and US. Just one of the many perks the BJJAT is working to provide for it's competitors this coming September 19-20, 2009. -Luke WWW.THAILANDBJJCOMP.BLOGSPOT.COM

ANOTHER TRIP

I will be away this week so posting may be slow but that's not to discourage you guys from sending in news. -Luke

EVOLVE MMA: ART OF WAR 14

Team Evolve to Fight in Art of War 14 in Macau

BJJ Black Belt Super Heavyweight World Champion Antonio Braga Neto will be fighting dangerous striker Rodney Glunder on the main fight card at 90 kilos at Art of War 14 in Macau on September 26, 2009. Braga Neto fights out of Evolve Mixed Martial Arts and is a member of the official Evolve Fight Team. He will be training his BJJ under the legendary brothers, Roberto "Gordo" Correa and Rafael "Gordinho" Correa. His Muay Thai training will be under the elite Sityodtong Team at Evolve by Nuengpichit Sityodtong and Chatri Sityodtong.

WWW.EVOLVE-MMA.COM

CHICO MENDES: MORE 50/50-GUARD ESCAPES

Chico Mendes of Checkmat BJJ demonstrates two more approaches to escaping the 50/50-guard with special thanks to Ari Farias.

GEEK-OUT: 50/50 GUARD ESCAPE

Not sure how many of you are into keeping up with the top-competitors of today and what the latest jiu-jitsu trend may be on the mat (technique, not fashion) but if you are, you'll have heard some news/discussion over the 50/50-guard. Aptly named for it's mirror-position of wrapping the leg from between the legs of the opponent to the outside and locking it in like a figure-four (triangle). The more notable users of this guard are Bruno Frazatto, the Mendes brothers and Ryan Hall. The first three share the same bracket as Ruben 'Cobrinha' Charles and some may say the 50/50 was their solution to dealing with the Alliance champion. So far the only sucess is by Rafael Mendes at the Abu Dhabi Pro JJ over Conbrinha but this particle guard has been making a lot of noise on whether it is a stall or how competitors may use it in competition, both bad/good.

Anyways, what's got me excited is not the argument of what is good or bad jiu-jitsu since it's all part of the evolution as one group overcomes the other with change/adaptation. And for those who keep up with the Fightworks Podcast, you'll have heard the latest interview with Ryan Hall and his thoughts on the 50/50-guard.

JIU-JITSU EVOLUTION: 50/50-guard pass from none other than Alliance, the home team of Cobrinha. In addition, Graciemag has also published another escape from Renato Tavares. Check'em out.

ALLIANCE: purple-belt, Ricardo Mesquita

Renato Tavares (ATT)

ALAVANCA ACADEMY WELCOMES NEW INSTRUCTOR: ANTONIO ROBERTO CRIVELARI JR.

New Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor, Antonio Crivelari Jr., will be coming in from Brazil to teach at the Alavanca Academy in Shanghai, CH. Antonio is a BJJ black-belt representing the Checkmat Team which is lead by BJJ/Grappling superstar Leo Vieira.

Antonio Crivelari Jr x Rosemberg Kiffer by X-COMBAT

Kron Gracie x Juninho

UPDATED TOURNAMENT REGISTRY: 2009 FBT THAILAND BJJ/GRAPPLING OPEN (09.19-20.2009)

Here is the latest on the FBT Thailand BJJ/Grappling Open registry. Remember, if the information you've submitted is incomplete, then your application will not be accepted. If you did not include your e-mail then we have no way of contacting you, then you are not registered. If you are even slightly unsure as to whether your information was registered and have yet to receive a confirmation e-mail from us, then e-mail us now at thaibjjregister@gmail.com. Also, be sure to check our tournament blog at www.thailandbjjcomp.blogspot.com for the latest on rules/regulations and other pertinent information.

POTENTIAL BRACKET-SPLIT:
We are in the process of dealing with the larger brackets that may require a split, more specifically; white-belt under 70kg and under 80kg, blue-belt under 70kg and under 80kg. There are also brackets with lone-fighters and we will address those as well so that everyone has several opportunities to fight.

***AS OF 08.26.2009

WHITE-BELT
under 60 KG
Derek Kwik (HK BJJ/Team Grips)
Hiromu Takei (EMAC)
Hiromu Takei (EMAC)

under 64 KG
Ram Ananda (Deftac Cebu)
Hilman Wirahadisaputra (Universal Grappling)
Pei Zhou (Beijing BJJ)
Thomas Gumiran (Kamphuis-Fabricio)
Rhandee Ramos (BJJ Singapore)
Matthew Chua (BJJ Singapore)
Samat Khovitoonkij (EMAC)

Jay Uy (Deftac Cebu)

under 70 KG
Bryan Espino (Deftac Cebu)
Min Yoo (Shanghai BJJ)
Ivan Chua (BJJ Singapore)
Matthew Phan (BJJ Singapore)
In Ming Loh (Checkmat/Escobar BJJ)
Chambaud Marc (Shanghai BJJ)
Yasser Aryan (Team Reza BJJ)
Glen Toreja (Kamphuis-Fabricio)
Steven Rhodes (Leao Dourado)
Raymond Varilla (Deftac BJJ)
Kraithawat Watthanakrai (EMAC)
Neelan Hordatt-Reece (Evolve MMA)
Jiro Mori (Free JP)

under 80 KG
Teemu Laaksonen (Finnfightersgm)
Anthony Hogan (Bangkok BJJ)
Apilux Huvanandana (Bangkok BJJ)
Ferasse Tea (Shanghai BJJ)
Omer Kurlender (Grips bjj Hong Kong)
Tom Woodfin (Deftac Cebu)
Jamie Lee (Evolve MMA)
Leo Katigbak (Carlson Gracie/Sprawl MMA)
Matthew Mollenkof (Kowloon BJJ)
William Ong (PJ Jiu Jitsu)
Erwin Nolido (VPF)
Ali Monfaradi (Bahrain BJJ)
Maher Aseeri (BJJ Singapore)
Robert Bruce (KDT)
Ramzi Farzad (Team Reza BJJ)
Hamad Al Ansari (Team Reza BJJ)
Eisuke Fukuchi (JP)
John Gearing (Kontact)
Walt Power (Macau BJJ/Nova Uniao)
Kyle Kapunan (Deftac BJJ)
Judd Sanchez (Evolve MMA)

Sebastien HAUS (Kowloon BJJ)
Ian Teng (Evolve MMA)

under 90 KG
Joel Moore (Bangkok BJJ)
Lorne Ziskinder (Bangkok BJJ)
Fahad Khalifa (Team Reza BJJ)
Peter Isaksson (Bangkok BJJ)
Timothy Chen (BJJ Singapore)
Hadi Mohammed Ali (Team Reza BJJ)

under 100 KG

over 100 KG

BLUE-BELT
under 60 KG
Kritsada Subpawanthanakun (EMAC)
Chee Yip Leong (Checkmat/Escobar BJJ)

under 64 KG
Tomi Hashimoto (Bangkok BJJ)
Jack Visoky (Evolve MMA)
James Lim (BJJ Singapore)

under 70 KG
Niti Techottiasnee (EMAC)
Albert Lim (Studio 23)
Fritz McArdle (Tri-Force JJ)
JR Santos (VPF)
Hoin Chung (Kowloon BJJ)
Wahab Waheed (Team Reza BJJ)
bert Suncio (Carlson Gracie PH)
Sung jin Lee (Taiwan BJJ)
Chang Isaac (Taiwan BJJ)
Bryan Garrison (Chiang Mai)
Karl Rodriguez (Gracie Barra PH)
Qitong Li (Beijing BJJ)

under 80 KG
Danny Hathiramani (Impakt)
Demitri Telfair (Taiwan BJJ)
Derrick Jong (Shanghai BJJ)
Gully Go (VPF)
Ofer Lidar (Bangkok BJJ)
Peter Buendia (VPF)
Nestor "pons" Ponce (VPF)
Mark Ng (Kamphuis-Fabricio)
Neil Fereira (Kamphuis-Fabricio)
Mohammed Yaseen (Team Reza BJJ)
Toffy Ilagan (Deftac BJJ)
Ali Ebrahimi (Team Reza BJJ)
Allen Solomon Chong (Checkmat/Escobar BJJ)
Fang Han Lim (Checkmat/Escobar BJJ)
Aaron Goh (Checkmat/Escobar BJJ)
Luis Serafim (Macau BJJ/Nova Uniao)

under 90 KG
Forrest Akers (Kowloon BJJ)
David Sinclair (Taiwan BJJ)
Leo Ho (Kowloon BJJ)
Taichi Takano (Bangkok BJJ)

under 100 KG
Luke Chaya (Bangkok BJJ)
Alex Shum (HK BJJ/Team Grips)
Marcus Valda (Deftac PH)

over 100 KG
John Brennan (Bangkok BJJ)
Eugene 'Kenu' Lee (Checkmat/Escbar BJJ)
John Breedlove (Bangkok BJJ)

PURPLE-BELT
under 60 KG

under 64 KG
Toru Fujii (RB Academy)

under 70 KG
Seena Monfaradi (Team Reza BJJ)

under 80 KG
Sebastien Desvignes (Bangkok BJJ)
Mark Simmerman (Bangkok BJJ)

under 90 KG
Hisham Noor (Team Reza BJJ)
Scott Calver (Kreation JJ)
Geir Spanien (Pattaya Kombat Club)

under 100 KG
Ali Sulit (VPF)
Patrick Goodwin (Macau BJJ/Nova Uniao)
Hyun kab Park (John Frankl BJJ)

over 100 KG

BROWN-BELT
under 60 KG

under 64 KG
Kiyoyuki Matsui (Alive, Mie)

under 70 KG

under 80 KG

under 90 KG
Ross Dallow (Extreme BJJ)
Ray Elbe (Tiger Muay Thai/Lotus Jiu-Jitsu)

under 100 KG

over 100 KG

BLACK-BELT
under 60 KG

under 64 KG

under 70 KG
Reza Monfaradi (Team Reza BJJ)

under 80 KG
Daniel Charles Pereira (Macau BJJ/Nova Uniao)
John Frankl (John Frankl Jiu-Jitsu)

under 90 KG
Adam Shahir Kayoom (Bangkok BJJ)
Jason Bukich (Taiwan BJJ/Apex Jiu-Jitsu) NO-GI only

under 100 KG

over 100 KG


WOMEN:
WHITE-BELT
under 60 KG
Hiroko Nakano (EMAC)
Kathy Duque (VPF)
Nikki Ng (Kamphuis-Fabricio)
Chiqui Castillo (Hayastan MMA Academy- California)
Muenkae Borriboon (EMAC)

under 64 KG

under 70 KG
Cat de Leon (VPF)

under 80 KG

under 90 KG

under 100 KG

over 100 KG


BLUE-BELT
under 60 KG
Jonna Baquillas (Kamphuis-Fabricio)
Aki Yu (Kowloon BJJ)

under 64 KG

under 70 KG

under 80 KG

under 90 KG

under 100 KG

over 100 KG

PURPLE-BELT
under 60 KG
Hee Jin Lee (John Frankl BJJ)

JUST: NO-GI
under 70 KG
Xavier Mahdavian (Boxer Rebellion) Novice

under 70 KG
Ryuma Kaise (Thailand ?) Advanced

under 80 KG
Sylvain Outrequin (3Monkeeez) Elite
Hisanori KOTANI (Saigon Submission Sports) Advanced

under 90 KG
Jason Bukich (Taiwan BJJ/Apex Jiu-Jitsu) Elite

MISSING INFORMATION (incomplete):
Boyd Clarke (Tiger Muay Thai)
Kanekris Sucharitaves
Yasuo Okochi
Richard Cesena (Unified BJJ)
Marcus Valda (Deftac BJJ)

ARTICLE: AARON LE BOUTILLIER 'MY BRAZIL TRIP'

(l to r) Fabio 'the general' Gurgel & Aaron Le Boutillier

The author of our 'year 1' series returns to Bangkok from his recent visit to Brazil. While on business, Aaron was able to find time to train at a number of places like Alliance under Fabio Gurgel. Here's his story.

My Brazil Trip
By
Aaron Le Boutillier

(l to r) Aaron Le Boutillier & Prof. Don

After a steady 6 months of training at Bangkok BJJ and a sore amount of privates with Professor Adam Kayoom, I felt a trip to Brazil was pending. The fact that I had a training course through my job in Sao Paulo with a first class ticket with the airline TAM of course played somewhat in my decision!

One always wonders if you can really prepare yourself for training in the “motherland” and of course once you experience the warmness and kindness of the Brazilian people, then you realise immediately the answer is yes. Walking into gyms in Sao Paulo alone was a little daunting, is it possible to have a room with so many “cauliflower” ears and broken noses rolling around the place? , despite my earlier comments, I must admit the first night in Professor Fabio Gurgel’s gym was a little worrying. Had to gulp a few times and take a deep breath. If there was a shop that sold fake “cauliflower ears” I would have bought a pair.

On my first day of training for the airlines in Sao Paulo, I explained to my group that one of my passions in life was Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and two of the guys in the class were blue and purple belts at a club near the airport and on the outskirts of the “favella” (Portuguese word for slum) so of course by the end of the day an invitation was extended to roll at their club. Run by an older man by the name of Master Don, this was a real small close knit group of people, most from the aviation industry and not one of the more hardcore clubs one can find. None the less, Master Don, a BJJ and Judo black belt had been rolling since the age of eight and was happy to see a new addition to his Gi class. He gave me that smile, those of you that have trained at a new gym know the one I mean, “hello there, whoever you are, tonight I am going to make sure when you wake up tomorrow, you will remember my name!”

As it turned out Master Don was one of the nicest guys I met on my trip as were ALL of his students. Somewhat fascinated by my cheesy hooks and strangely flexible hips they embraced me like a long lost brother and we trained hard for 4 nights in a row. For me the rolling was as always a great way to bond cross culturally and without the need for language, but the real experience was being invited afterwards each night to drink the Brazilian assa-e which is the de-rigour drink after training. Mixed with bananas and so cold it gives you brain freeze, this was the true acceptance into the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Is there any way to make that sound as it should with that strong Brazilian accent? I think most of you guys know what I mean…….it sounds so cool……..shuuuuuu shhhhitsu!

Through a close friend Darryl in Singapore, I had the email and telephone number of Professor Fabio Gurgel and was told I had to train there at the Friday no-gi class and if possible take some privates from the man himself. Can you just call Fabio up and say “yo, it’s Aaron, can we roll tomorrow?” I thought maybe an introductory e-mail was the best bet. Chances are he would not respond which would give me the perfect reason not to go there and get crushed. He replied! His e-mail correspondence was nothing short of professional and business like and I was made to feel very welcome and to be honest a little surprised with his swiftness in response and general polite banter about the professional training I was doing in Sao Paulo and it turned out we had some mutual friends in that line of business.

So, there you have it. I had no choice; I had to go to the gym for the Friday no-gi night. I jumped in a taxi and made my way to Villa Olympia which is basically a fitness centre with the end part being Fabio’s gym. I arrived early, maybe a little early as I have a tendency to do and gingerly made my way into the long daunting gym of Fabio Gurgel. Lined with trophies, medals, posters and memorabilia that one would expect to find at such a famous Alliance gym. The Alliance gym!

The receptionist, a cute Brazilian woman with basic English skills introduced herself as did I (with a name card) she was hot………in fact……..all the women I met were! And she shouted to someone in a backroom that Aaron was here and guess what? Fabio walks out the room and welcomes me and chats away like we were mates for years. That relieved some of my fears and once he explained was busy in a meeting and that we would talk later and of course we had our private the next morning.

It was an hour before the start of the class so that gave me time to warm up the credit card with t-shirts, patches, sexy shorts and rash vests (for those of you training open mat last Saturday you would of noticed my new sexy alliance shorts and rash vest!) once I had sufficiently made it quite obvious how un local I was with my stupidly large bag of merchandise I started to warm up.

Things started to get scary from then on. Tough looking dudes started arriving, big dudes, steroid dudes, cauliflower eared dudes. Basically an uncannily large amount of scary dudes. I did my best to shake hands with them as they came in and hoped to God none of them would be my partner. Of course, my destiny was to be that a large majority got the pleasure of imposing their game on me.

To be honest……I did not too bad. The warm up was gruelling and I was pleased to see a few people having to leave the mats to throw up, I of course did not! I represent Bangkok BJJ and we do not do that kind of thing!

Rolling turned out to be fun and Fabio after a while put me with his 17 year old protégé, the next BJJ World Champion so Fabio forecasted. My Facebook entry for that night was “just had my ass kicked from one end of the dojo to the other by a 17 year old!” I will say no more on the matter.

I left feeling energised, sore for sure but somehow proud to have made the effort to go there and do it. Like the Nike advert says “just do it” and I was looking forward to my private with Professor Fabio the next morning.

As many of you know, the morning after can be a painful one and getting out of bed and making my way back to the gym was not what my body was telling me, but a private with Fabio Gurgel is not something you arrive late for. As usual I was there early, in fact real early! The gym was not open yet.

The private went well and Fabio explained to me what he had noticed from the night before when he had watched me roll, especially with his protégé and we took that private from there. My thoughts on Fabio Gurgel…..humble, polite, articulate and humorous and obviously a superb coach. So, in summary what have I come back with? Nothing new, nothing mind blowing just the following……….for those of you training at Bangkok BJJ you are truly lucky to have such an open friendly bunch of guys, for those of your training with Professor Adam Kayoom you need to realize how lucky you-we are to have him as a coach and to all the guys in Singapore and Bangkok who have helped me thank you for giving me enough of a game to gain a modicum of respect in the “mother land”.

Special thanks to Professor Adam, Darryl, Luke, Chris and Sebastian.

SHOUT OUT: NOBI KASHIWAGI

Nobi is wearing the blue-gi, sitting on the lower-right-hand corner at the very front.

This weekend I received wonderful news of a good friend receiving his BJJ black-belt. What makes this especially nice is that this is the guy that got me to start training jiu-jitsu nearly 5 years ago when he was a purple-belt at Alliance NYC. Nobi Kashiwagi was awarded his black-belt from Fabio Clemente (Alliance NYC), August 2009.

At the time I was working in NY as a design-assistant and was in pretty bad shape working long hours, partying hard and not taking very good care of my body. I decided that on my 25th birthday I would turn things around and commit myself to some form of physical discipline. I knew that joining a gym wouldn't do jack for me cause I had done that already with little to no success or motivation. I always had an interest in the martial arts but never got the support from my parents to pursue it so here was my chance as an adult. So one afternoon after mentioning my plans to some co-workers I was handed the phone with someone already waiting on the other end. It was Nobi whom I had never met before but convinced me to stop by that very night to try my first class of BJJ . I tell ya, my first class sucked cause I was a heavy smoker at the time and it felt like I was running and rolling around with heavy iron weights inside my chest. Long story short, within two weeks I was hooked and began training regularly 3-5 times a week. Within four months of doing jiu-jitsu I quit smoking cold-turkey and haven't looked back since. Nobi and a number of other guys at Alliance made my introduction to BJJ an extremely positive one and continues to support and nurture my journey whenever we meet up.

So I am very proud and excited for my friend who's now reached a new chapter in his jiu-jitsu journey as I'm sure it will inspire him to accomplish even more and positively effect those around him like he has me.

Congratulations Nobi!

***Nobi is also the author of www.ibjj.com, a jiu-jitsu diary that was part inspiriation for bjj-asia.

TECHNIQUE: YEAR 1 (TRIANGLE DRILLS)

The return of our 'year 1' series with Aaron.

LEO VIEIRA SEMINAR: MALAYSIA

Marcos Escobar BJJ confirms that Leo Vieira (2003/2005 Abu Dhabi Champion) will be in Malaysia this October 24 & 25 for an BJJ/NO-GI/MMA seminar. More details are to come but for those interested, contact escobarbjj@gmail.com. If you're not familiar with who Leo Vieira is that's just crazy-talk. Check out these vids and get yourself educated.

Leo Vieira vs Yuki Nakai


Leo Vieira vs Renato Charuto


DETAILS:

SEMINAR DATES & TIME: (24th & 25th OCT 2009)
24th (sat) - 10am to 13pm - GI / 6pm to 9pm NO GI
25th (sun) - 10am to 13pm - MMA

total of 9h

FEES:
1 session = MYR400
2 sessions = MYR550
3 sessions = MYR650

For reference:
All prices in Malaysian Ringgitt.
10% disc for 10 pax registering at same time.
10% disc for all Troia gears for the seminar participants during the seminar.

If need help to book a hotel in Malaysia, please inform in advance. Limited places... better register as soon as possible.

2009 FBT THAILAND BJJ/GRAPPLING OPEN: REGISTERED COMPETITORS

***UPDATED: 08.17.2009

This is the current list of registered competitors for the 2009 FBT Thailand BJJ/Grappling Open taking place this September 19-20, 2009. Please note that if you do not see your name on this list and believe you have registered, you must contact thaibjjregister@gmail.com. Some of you have incomplete boxes that need to be filled out otherwise your registration cannot be accepted. This list focuses on the GI registration as a reference.

Just over a month before registration closes, September 16th!!!

WHITE-BELT
under 60 KG
Derek Kwik (HK BJJ/Team Grips)
Hiromu Takei (EMAC)

under 64 KG
Ram Ananda (Deftac Cebu)
Hilman Wirahadisaputra (Universal Grappling)
Pei Zhou (Beijing BJJ)
Thomas Gumiran (Kamphuis-Fabricio)
Rhandee Ramos (BJJ Singapore)
Matthew Chua (BJJ Singapore)
Samat Khovitoonkij (EMAC)

under 70 KG
Bryan Espino (Deftac Cebu)
Jay Uy (Deftac Cebu)
Min Yoo (Shanghai BJJ)
Nathan Tagnipez (Deftac Cebu)
Ivan Chua (BJJ Singapore)
Matthew Phan (BJJ Singapore)
In Ming Loh (Marcos Escobar/Petaling Jaya BJJ)
Chambaud Marc (Shanghai BJJ)
Yasser Aryan (Team Reza BJJ)
Glen Toreja (Kamphuis-Fabricio)
Steven Rhodes (Leao Dourado)
Sebastien HAUS (Kowloon BJJ)
Raymond Varilla (Deftac BJJ)
Kraithawat Watthanakrai (EMAC)
Neelan Hordatt-Reece (Evolve MMA)

under 80 KG
Teemu Laaksonen (Finnfightersgm)
Anthony Hogan (Bangkok BJJ)
Apilux Huvanandana (Bangkok BJJ)
Ferasse Tea (Shanghai BJJ)
Omer Kurlender (Grips bjj Hong Kong)
Tom Woodfin (Deftac Cebu)
Jamie Lee (Evolve MMA)
Leo Katigbak (Carlson Gracie/Sprawl MMA)
Matthew Mollenkof (Kowloon BJJ)
William Ong (PJ Jiu Jitsu)
Erwin Nolido (VPF)
Ali Monfaradi (Bahrain BJJ)
Maher Aseeri (BJJ Singapore)
Robert Bruce (KDT)
Ramzi Farzad (Team Reza BJJ)
Hamad Al Ansari (Team Reza BJJ)
Eisuke Fukuchi (JP)
John Gearing (Kontact)
Walt Power (Macau BJJ/Nova Uniao)
Kyle Kapunan (Deftac BJJ)
Judd Sanchez (Evolve MMA)

under 90 KG
Joel Moore (Bangkok BJJ)
Lorne Ziskinder (Bangkok BJJ)
Fahad Khalifa (Team Reza BJJ)
Peter Isaksson (Bangkok BJJ)
Timothy Chen (BJJ Singapore)

under 100 KG

over 100 KG

BLUE-BELT
under 60 KG
Kritsada Subpawanthanakun (EMAC)
Chee Yip Leong (Checkmat/Escobar BJJ)

under 64 KG
Tomi Hashimoto (Bangkok BJJ)

under 70 KG
Niti Techottiasnee (EMAC)
Albert Lim (Studio 23)
Fritz McArdle (Tri-Force JJ)
JR Santos (VPF)
Hoin Chung (Kowloon BJJ)
Wahab Waheed (Team Reza BJJ)
bert Suncio (Carlson Gracie PH)
Sung jin Lee (Taiwan BJJ)
Chang Isaac (Taiwan BJJ)
Bryan Garrison (Chiang Mai)
Karl Rodriguez (Gracie Barra PH)

under 80 KG
Danny Hathiramani (Impakt)
Demitri Telfair (Taiwan BJJ)
Derrick Jong (Shanghai BJJ)
Gully Go (VPF)
Ofer Lidar (Bangkok BJJ)
Peter Buendia (VPF)
Nestor "pons" Ponce (VPF)
Mark Ng (Kamphuis-Fabricio)
Neil Fereira (Kamphuis-Fabricio)
Mohammed Yaseen (Team Reza BJJ)
Toffy Ilagan (Deftac BJJ)
Ali Ebrahimi (Team Reza BJJ)
Allen Solomon Chong (Checkmat/Escobar BJJ)
Fang Han Lim (Checkmat/Escobar BJJ)
Aaron Goh (Checkmat/Escobar BJJ)

under 90 KG
Forrest Akers (Kowloon BJJ)
David Sinclair (Taiwan BJJ)
Leo Ho (Kowloon BJJ)

under 100 KG
Luke Chaya (Bangkok BJJ)
Alex Shum (HK BJJ/Team Grips)

over 100 KG
John Brennan (Bangkok BJJ)
Eugene 'Kenu' Lee (Checkmat/Escbar BJJ)

PURPLE-BELT
under 60 KG

under 64 KG

under 70 KG
Seena Monfaradi (Team Reza BJJ)

under 80 KG
Sebastien Desvignes (Bangkok BJJ)
Mark Simmerman (Bangkok BJJ)

under 90 KG
Hisham Noor (Team Reza BJJ)

under 100 KG
Ali Sulit (VPF)
Patrick Goodwin (Macau BJJ/Nova Uniao)

over 100 KG

BROWN-BELT
under 60 KG

under 64 KG
Kiyoyuki Matsui (Alive, Mie)

under 70 KG

under 80 KG

under 90 KG
Ross Dallow (Extreme BJJ)

under 100 KG

over 100 KG

BLACK-BELT
under 60 KG

under 64 KG

under 70 KG
Reza Monfaradi (Team Reza BJJ)

under 80 KG
Daniel Charles Pereira (Macau BJJ/Nova Uniao)
John Frankl (John Frankl Jiu-Jitsu)

under 90 KG
Adam Shahir Kayoom (Bangkok BJJ)
Jason Bukich (Taiwan BJJ/Apex Jiu-Jitsu) NO-GI only

under 100 KG

over 100 KG


WOMEN:
WHITE-BELT
under 60 KG
Hiroko Nakano (EMAC)
Kathy Duque (VPF)
Nikki Ng (Kamphuis-Fabricio)
Chiqui Castillo (Hayastan MMA Academy- California)
Muenkae Borriboon (EMAC)

under 64 KG

under 70 KG
Cat de Leon (VPF)

under 80 KG

under 90 KG

under 100 KG

over 100 KG


BLUE-BELT
under 60 KG
Jonna Baquillas (Kamphuis-Fabricio)
Aki Yu (Kowloon BJJ)

under 64 KG

under 70 KG

under 80 KG

under 90 KG

under 100 KG

over 100 KG

PURPLE-BELT
under 60 KG
Hee Jin Lee (John Frankl BJJ)

JUST: NO-GI
under 70 KG
Xavier Mahdavian (Boxer Rebellion) Novice

under 70 KG
Ryuma Kaise (Thailand ?) Advanced

under 80 KG
Sylvain Outrequin (3Monkeeez) Elite

under 90 KG
Jason Bukich (Taiwan BJJ/Apex Jiu-Jitsu) Elite

MISSING INFORMATION (incomplete):
Boyd Clarke (Tiger Muay Thai)
Kanekris Sucharitaves
Yasuo Okochi
Richard Cesena (Unified BJJ)
Marcus Valda (Deftac BJJ)