BJJ World Championships 2012

The BJJ World Championships Start Today!!! Extremely exciting, watch them online on Budovideos.com or if you are lucky enough to be able to come to the event in person, even better!!

Its a shame for Gracie Barra fans that we dont get a chance to see Roger Gracie and Braulio Estima in action this year due to their MMA committments but certainly Kayron Gracie and Romullo Barral are competing and I just cant wait to see how Alliance will do this year as well.

Also I noticed there are no good promotional videos this year, just a shame!! Take a look at last years one, was pretty good, they definitely should do a good one this year!

Five Top BJJ Players Getting Famous

5. Pablo Popovitch

Hats off to the guy that beat Marcelo Garcia in the ADCC which is what he did in 2009. Pablo Popovitch, if you ever seen him fight, is an incredible grappler. Incredibly skilled, talented and powerful grappler that has been for years been overshadowed by the Marcelo Garcia phenomenon. Pablo really does deserve praise and someone to follow this year.

4. Braulio Estima - Gracie Barra is proud of its champions and Braulio Estima's performance last year has been more than impressive. Not only was he able to dominate everyone in his own division at ADCC 2009, he looked also unbeatable in the absolute taking gold thanks to his inverted triangle choke he does so well.

Braulio is a true champion and a very accomplished BJJ fighter having been BJJ champion many times before. Although for years outshined by guys like Xande and Ronaldo Jacare, Braulio is really showing his worth nowadays and will surely do well in mixed martial arts as well.

3. Demian Maia - there are few talents in BJJ who can make UFC fighters look like amatuers. This is what Demian can do literally playing with his opponents once the fight reaches the ground. Although Maia could not takedown Anderson Silva in his last fight, surely he has a great career ahead of him in the UFC once he improves his wrestling and striking.

2. Ronaldo Souza - Jacare is one of the most athletic and yet incredibly technical fighters. Having dominated the jiu jitsu and grappling scene for years, he turned to MMA with great success. Ronaldo is able to take down even the most versatile fighters with ease and once on the ground, they are helpless to resist him. His last fight against Villasenor in Strikeforce confirms this.

With his takedowns looking the better than most wrestlers and striking rapidly evolving, Ronaldo Souza will very soon be the middleweight Strikeforce champion. Good luck to him.

PS: Jake Shields I think got scared of how good Souza really is and has run off to the UFC.

1. Roger Gracie - when you look at what Roger Gracie has accomplished so far, he can't help giving credit to his achievements. He is the first fighter to win the BJJ Worlds Absolute 3 times and the only guy to submit all of his opponents in 2009 worlds by taking mount. He is also the only guy to submit all of his opponents in ADCC 2005 winning both his own weight and absolute. This guy is truly the greatest BJJ specialist ever and one of the best grappling stars in the world.

Roger is an extremely humble and hard working guy and is a great pleasure to see him compete. I just wish he fights MMA more.

I would personally also love to see him fight in Sambo just for fun, as Rigan Machado and Rickson did just to see how he would do. The rules are different but it would be interesting to see how BJJ vs Sambo does these days.

The Triangle - Symbol of Jiu Jitsu

Triangle is an extremely effective technique in both jiu jitsu and judo. The first time I tried it, I loved how effective it was provided you achieved the correct position. How wrong was I for thinking that I have mastered the technique after a year of training.

The triangle choke is perhaps one of the most effective and deadly techniques in jiu jitsu. It is the definition of a high percentage technique especially considering the fact that it is almost impossible to escape it once you have locked your opponent in its deadly trap.

The thing to note in the triangle is the detail and the variety. By detail I mean the amount of detail there is to the triangle choke. It is a vital submission to master but you have to be able to apply it perfectly, like second nature, with speed and precision, doing everything perfectly, moving the hips, locking in your opponent, using your hips and groin muscles to apply pressure, controlling the arm and apply pressure to the back of the head.

If you think that's all the detail to the basic triangle from the guard, you are mistaken. Not only you must master the basics but also understand how your opponent will try to escape and prevent this.

By variety I mean of course the number of situations and variations there are. The reverse triangle submission is a favourite move of Braulio Estima, the ADCC 2009 champion in the Absolute as well as multiple time BJJ World Champion.

You can apply the technique from the cross body (top and bottom), from the guard, from the mount and from the back. You can transition from one position to another and from the classic triangle to the reverse triangle as well as from other submission attempts back into the triangle.

The classic combo that I was taught at my academy was of course from the guard. First go for the armbar, then switch for the omoplata and then back to triangle then armbar. A great exercise where you practice controlling your opponent and transitioning from one effective submission to another. (among other things)

Please check out some of the youtube videos below that give a test of variety to the triangle choke.

British Open

Looks like the British Open held brought to all of us by the triple BJJ World Champion and ADCC 2009 Absolute Champion Braulio Estima in Birmingham.

Fightworks podcast discusses this one but in general I think the tournament shows that the sport is growing rapidly and I am sure in the coming years they may need to hold a three day or even four day event to get through all the matches.

Check out the results here: http://www.bjjbritishopen.com/results.html

Roger Gracie to debut in Strikeforce in May

Roger Gracie, perhaps the greatest brazilian jiu jitsu player ever is set to debut in Strikeforce May event. Roger is 2-0 in MMA so far both delivered via submission and now he is set to take on new competition facing the likes of Kevin "The Monster" Randelman or Rameau Sokoudjou. Roger of course has additional pressure to represent bjj and the Gracie family on the MMA arena after Rolles Gracie's poor performance at UFC 109.

Both are relatively seasoned fighters who have faced tough competition in the past but now both are down on their lack having lost many of their last fights. Kevin Randelman is 17-14 in MMA and former UFC Champion, trains with Randy Couture having previously been associated with team Hammer House. Kevin has explosive power and extreme athleticism but has not been able to take advantage of these qualities as well as his great wrestling skills to win fights as he did in the past.

Rameau Sokoudjou has been last seen losing via TKO to the current light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi and Minowa at Dynamite!!. The guy is 7-6 in MMA and boasts some good judo but has not been able to recently win fights against the current top competition.

Roger has also been helping his fellow bjj player Braulio Estima in his own debut in MMA. Best of luck to them both representing brazilian jiu jitsu on the big stage! Here is the link