Unless you've been living under a rock there has been much chatter on social media groups about the two phenomenal Japanese/Brazilian twins finally making their move to the United States. A new gym in New York City known as Unity Jiu-Jitsu is very close to opening their academy. From what I have gathered Murilo Santana will be running the gym and of course the bolo twins of Joao and Paulo Miyao will be training and possibly teaching to some degree. It sounds like the intent of this move is for them to re-focus their training in the Big Apple and capture some World Championships at the Black Belt level. They have spent a great deal of training during their time in Jiu-Jitsu under the banner of Cicero Costha which is also well known for developing the talents of Leandro Lo.
Pretty exciting stuff right?! If you don't know where these talented brothers come from then take a minute to watch this excellent piece by BJJ Hacks which focuses on training at Cicero Costha gym. I know quite a few local competitors that have recently visited the Sao Paulo gym for some training. It's a different world training in Brazil I can promise you that much.
New York City is just packed with some talented schools you could takes weeks of vacation to visit all of them. Off the top of my head there is Marcelo Garcia Academy, Renzo Gracie, Vitor Shaolin, and the addition of Unity Jiu-Jitsu is just amazing as there are all fairly close in proximity. There are many other schools already in the area...you just can't go wrong picking a school or selecting a few to drop-in for some training. I could easily exhaust my vacation days for 2015 trying any of these schools and not get to nearly all of them.
Here is a match with Paulo Miyao from the 2013 IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu tournament earlier this year. Unfortunately I don't know his opponent's name but it does appear to be an Absolute match.
Miyao threatens early with a leg-lasso spider/De la Riva hook which eventually allows him to attack with Berimbolo as you would expect. His opponent does a good job to prevent the back-take by taking a seat himself and controlling Miyao's grips (note: Miyao's non-DLR leg).
At the 3:00 mark Miyao attacks with an Omoplata which was the beginning of the end.
His opponent attempts to posture out of the shoulder lock at 3:47. Note how Miyao compromises his posture (at 3:56) and bring him back to the floor.
Miyao does an excellent job of keeping the pressure on as his opponent finally tries to somersault roll and Miyao obliges him. He allows him to feel safe, remove the shoulder lock, then takes his back for all his efforts at 4:26.
Interestingly Miyao appears to finish the match with a modified sleeve/collar choke rather than the typical lapel choke from the back.
The IBJJF 2013 Pan Championship has come and gone. This year was bigger than ever spanning over the course of five days. While the Pan may not be considered the most coveted tournament it seems to be the most attended each year which begs the question..."Why is it NOT the most coveted title?" There were a few big names missing from the black belt brackets this year as some are heavily focused on other tournaments such as the Abu Dhabi Pro. Such names as Lovato, Rodolfo, Farias, & Marcelo Garcia just to name a few did not compete this year. As usual, Budovideos did an excellent job of providing streaming coverage which aerial mat views and selectable mats. The commentary was top notch as well with the likes of Budo Jake, Shawn Williams, and guests like Kurt Osiander popping in.
In Black Belt action:
Caio Terra defeated Bruno Malficine (points)
Guilherme Mendes defeated Laercio Fernandes (points)
Rafael Mendes defeated Cobrinha (points)
Michael Langhi closed out with teammate Lucas Lepri
Clark Gracie defeated Marcelo Mafra in epic fashion (submission)
Andre Galvao defeated Gustavo Campos
Roberto Alencar "Tussa" defeated Nivaldo Lima (points)
Leo Nogueira defeated Gabriel Vella
Marcus Almeida "Buchecha" defeated Alexander Trans
Open Weight
Marcus Almeida "Buchecha" defeated Andre Galvao (points)
In Brown Belt action:
Joao Miyao took gold in Light Feather
Paulo Miyao took gold defeating Gianni Grippo by choke at Feather
Rafael Henrique Pereira defeated reigning Pan champ AJ Agazarm
Keenan Cornelius took double gold in his weight and the open
Noteworthy:
Michael Liera Jr (Atos Purple belt) is one to watch as he is becoming very dominant. He took double gold in his weight and the open. We will continue to see big things from him.
Marcio Andre (Nova Uniao Purple belt) followed up his 2012 Worlds title with a gold at Pan. He will probably be promoted to brown before the next Worlds tournament.
Say what you want about the Miyao Bros and Gianni Grippo but their De la Riva/Berimbolo game looked very dominant all day Sunday.
Keenan looked as dominant as ever quieting critics that the TLI drama and move to Atos might disrupt his concentration.
Rafael Pereira's win over AJ Agazarm at Brown Light came as a big surprise since Rafael's performance in the Brown Belt Kumite was less than stellar.
Sean Roberts (Ralph Gracie) got his wish and faced Leandro Lo in the 2nd round of his weight class where he was dominated 43-0 before being submitted by Lo. You have to give Sean credit for competing at the Pan after receiving his black belt just a week prior.
The Great Kurt Osiander took gold in his respective division.
Cobrinha loses another close final to Rafa Mendes. I do feel Rafa outworked him at the end of the match getting the decision. One has to think that Cobrinha will have to truly beat Rafa by points or sub if he is going to get over the hump. Ref decisions have not been good to him.
I was happy to see Caio Terra break out of his funk against Bruno Malficine. Bruno looked unstoppable on Sunday and Caio executed a brilliant game plan scoring late in the match threatening with a calf slicer at the end. Caio seemed calm and collected throughout the entire match.
Clark Gracie was impressive with his aggressive omoplatas all day. Good to see him capture gold. One of the best finals on Sunday. See the video below.
I can't say enough good things about Buchecha. Many people hate watching the bigger guys compete because they can be boring. You never seem to get this with Buchecha. He moves with the speed and technique of a Lightweight. The absolute final between him and Galvao was epic.
Clark Gracie vs Marcelo Mafra (Medium Final)
Buchecha vs Andre Galvao (Open Final)
AJ Agazarm vs Rafael Henrique Pereira (Light Final)
Caio Terra vs Bruno Malficine (Rooster Final)
Paulo Miyao vs Gianni Grippo (Feather Final)
Keenan Cornelius vs J. Miyao (Brown Belt Open Semi-Final)
Black Belt Finals HL's
Academy Results
:
1 - Gracie Barra - 46
2 - Lotus Club Jiu-Jitsu - 34
3 - Gracie Elite Team - 31
The IBJJF European Championships may not have been packed full with as many household names as we might see at Worlds or Pan but there were plenty of great, high level competitors that filled the brackets last weekend. From what I have gathered there were some great matches and definitely some notables.
Terere returned to competition and loses a controversial DQ (knee reap) against Claudio Calasans in the Middle weight Final.
From GracieMag:
Alan Do Nascimento just brought the venue to tears. After conceding the win to Fernando Tererê in their middleweight match, he handed Fernando Tererê his black belt. He later explained his actions: Fernando Tererê made what I am in Jiu-Jitsu. He taught me since the white belt. This belt, he gave one day and asked for 5 reais and I knew it he was going to buy crack. I told him then that I was going to give him back the belt when when he got back on his feet. There's no better moment than that! I will sleep filled with joy and proud today!"
This was the first IBJJF tournament that both the Miyao brothers competed at Brown belt
Team Lloyd Irvin came in 2nd place overall team points in a gi tournament
Leo Nogueira (Alliance) takes the black belt Absolute
Mackenzie Dern wins her first title at black belt
Joao Miyao choked unconscious by Keenan
Just a quick review of the team results from over the weekend.
:
1 - Alliance - 105
2 - Team Lloyd Irvin - 71
3 - Gracie Barra - 64
1 - Gracie Barra - 42
2 - Nova União - 31
3 - CheckMat - 30
Notable divisions:
Brown Adult Male
Light-Feather
FIRST
João Ricardo Bordignon Miyao -
PSLPB Cicero Costha
SECOND
Nicolas Gallard -
Gracie Barcelona
THIRD
Alysson Gustavo Da Cunha Miranda -
Nova União
THIRD
Adam Adshead -
Combat Base UK
Feather
FIRST
Paulo Henrique Bordignon Miyao -
PSLPB Cicero Costha
SECOND
Gianni P Grippo -
Gracie Elite Team America
THIRD
Wojciech Piekut -
Gracie Barra
THIRD
Tuomas Kristian Tammilehto -
Brasa
Medium-Heavy
FIRST
Keenan Kai-James Cornelius -
Team Lloyd Irvin
SECOND
Bruno Ferreira Cuppari -
Brasa
THIRD
Tomasz Skórkowski -
Atos JJ International
THIRD
AJ Agazarm -
Gracie Barra
Open Class
FIRST
Keenan Kai-James Cornelius -
Team Lloyd Irvin
SECOND
João Ricardo Bordignon Miyao -
PSLPB Cicero Costha
THIRD
Paulo Henrique Bordignon Miyao -
PSLPB Cicero Costha
THIRD
Christopher Bowe -
Gracie Barra
BLACK - Adult - Male
Rooster
FIRST
Brandon Mullins -
Gracie Barra
SECOND
Koji Shibamoto -
Tri-Force Jiu-Jitsu Academy
THIRD
Jordy A. Jean Antoon Peute -
Gracie Barra
THIRD
Takahito Yoshioka -
Tokushima BJJ
Light-Feather
FIRST
Laercio Fernandes -
Alliance
SECOND
Carlos Vieira Holanda -
CheckMat
THIRD
Thomas Lincoln Correa Lisboa -
Alliance
THIRD
Andre Carvalho Monteiro -
BJJ Revolution Team
Feather
FIRST
Rubens Charles Maciel -
Alliance
SECOND
Augusto Lopes Mendes -
Soul Fighters BJJ
THIRD
Osvaldo Augusto Honorio Moizinho -
Institute of Martial Arts - Caio Terra
THIRD
Eduardo Ramos da Silva -
Atos Jiu-Jitsu
Light
FIRST
Michael Josef Russell -
Mauricio Gomes Origin BJJ Team
SECOND
Vinícius Tavares Marinho -
GF Team
THIRD
Gabriel Rodrigues A. Goulart -
Alliance
THIRD
Maxime Silvére Olivier -
CheckMat
Middle
FIRST
Claudio Calasans Camargo Júnior -
Atos Jiu-Jitsu
SECOND
Fernando Augusto da Silva -
Alliance
THIRD
Mathias Fernandes Ribeiro -
Alliance
THIRD
Alan Douglas Pereira do Nascimento -
CheckMat
Medium-Heavy
FIRST
Rômulo Claudio Barral -
Gracie Barra
SECOND
Rodrigo Fajardo -
Gracie Barra
THIRD
Renato Guimaraes Cardoso -
CheckMat
THIRD
Vitor Fabio Martins Toledo -
Atos Jiu-Jitsu
Heavy
FIRST
Dimitrius Soares Souza -
Alliance
SECOND
Leonardo da Costa Maciel -
GF Team
THIRD
Fabiano Junior Leite de Souza -
Alliance
THIRD
Marcelo da Silva Bernardo -
United BJJ
Super-Heavy
FIRST
Bernardo Augusto Rocha de Faria -
Alliance
SECOND
Lucio Furtado Rodrigues -
Gracie Barra
THIRD
Mauricio Henrique Cristo Lima -
PSLPB Cicero Costha
THIRD
Filippi Soto Mattos -
Barbosa JJ
Ultra-Heavy
FIRST
Alexander Riis Hilligsoe Trans -
CheckMat
SECOND
Rodrigo Henrique Cavaca -
CheckMat
THIRD
José Ferreira da Silva Júnior -
UAE Jiu-jitsu Team
THIRD
Leonardo Pires Nogueira -
Alliance
Open Class
FIRST
Leonardo Pires Nogueira -
Alliance
SECOND
Bernardo Augusto Rocha de Faria -
Alliance
THIRD
Alexander Riis Hilligsoe Trans -
CheckMat
THIRD
Claudio Calasans Camargo Júnior -
Atos Jiu-Jitsu
Keenan Cornelius vs Paulo Miyao (Absolute Semi-Finals)
At the 4:35 mark, Keenan attempts a toe-hold which he abandons and momentarily gives up his back. P.Miyao defends the foot lock well and inverts moving towards his back. P.Miyao only manages to get one hook in and Kennan double underhooks that same leg and forces P.Miyao back to his guard. Very well defended and not often that we see Keenan in this kind of trouble against a fellow brown belt. Even once they land in the guard, there is a brief moment P.Miyao may have been able to work to the back again with Keenan's left arm so heavily committed across his body but he cuts off that opportunity by posting his left foot and shutting down that option.
At the 6:37 mark Keenan is standing, P.Miyao on his back playing open guard during a restart. Keenan steps his right foot onto the inside left knee of P.Miyao, slightly passes the right foot of P.Miyao to the side and drops down beating P.Miyao's hip to pass the guard. Very fast and surprising guard pass! The match was essentially won here for Keenan and this was a fantastic match in my opinion. I realize that the double guard pull, fighting for grips and attempted Berimbolo game isn't everyones cup of tea but this is some high level stuff and the entire fight didn't remain in this position.
Keenan Cornelius vs Joao Miyao (Absolute Final)
Cobrinha vs Osvaldo Augusto (Feather Semi-Final)
Cobrinha vs Tanquinho (Feather Final)
Paulo Miyao vs Gianni Grippo (Feather Semi-Final)
Terere vs Claudio Calasans (Middleweight Final)
This was a very disappointing match. Everyone was happy and excited to see Terere back in the competition scene and off the street. There is some debate as to what exactly happened during this match, whether he had already been warned for the knee reap prior to the eventual DQ or immediately DQ'd without warning. It appeared to me that he had already been in violation of the knee reap rule well before the match was finally stopped. Very anticlimactic finish to what could have been a great match.
