The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championships (my experience)

Ybot

Blue Belt
Joined
Aug 26, 2006
Messages
277
Reaction score
26
Location
Sacramento, CA
Hey all. I just competed at the Mundials and wanted to share with you my excitement at having competed and the excitement of watching the best in the world go at it. It's gonna be a long read, so I'll break it up as I go over the next couple of days.

I competed both in the Brown belt absolute, and heavy-weight divisions.

Absolute Brown:

The absolute division took place on Friday, August 24, and I ended up paired up in the first round with a guy that I fought twice last year at the US Open as a purple belt. At the US Open he beat me once and I beat him once. Anyway, we squared off and basically fought for grips. Really, I'm pretty awkward on my feet and have little in the way of takedowns. My strategy was to defend his takedown attacks and hopefully end up on top. He attacked some foot sweeps and caught me with one, I didn't let go of my grips and was able to turn quickly to my knees and get back up before he could even follow me down. He did get the 2 points for that takedown though. he attacked a few time more and eventually I had an opportunity for a deep underhook and so I stepped in to try to hip throw him. I had the stronger grip, and a great position for the throw, but didn't drive in hard enough, and he was able to reverse the throw. We went to the ground with him immediately taking a strong side control on top driving his shoulder across my chin. I was able to work him into my guard, and finished off the match quickly after with a basic armbar attack from my guard, tapping him out before the first minute was up.

This first match, even though short, taught me a lot. When I had face the guy before he had attacked foot sweeps too, but Cassio (my instructor) had been coaching me then and had told be to grab the leg when he attacked. I had completely forgotten to try to grab the legs this time. The other thing was there was no reason I shouldn't have got the throw on him when I got the underhook. I need to drill that throw so that I have the confidence to commit to it if it's there.

My second match was against a Brazilian who was a bit smaller than me. Again we fought for grips and he attacked foot sweeps, and again I neglected to grab his legs. I was feeling a bit off balanced so, I tried to re establish control, then pull guard. When I did, they gave my opponent the points for the takedown. Immediately I could feel him trying to stall in my guard, not bothering to try hard to pass. This seemed to be his strategy the whole match was to get up on points, and stall out. I was however able to sweep him from my guard and we ended up tied 2-2. I worked the guard pass and when I was nearly passed he turned to his knees and was able to get back to his feet. I don't remember how it happened, but in the scramble to stand he was able to take me down again and ended up in my half guard. 2 more points for him. Again he tried to stall, and again I was able to sweep him so I ended up on top in his half guard. Score is now 4-4. Working from the half guard he was able to get another sweep/takedown by getting a sort of double leg from his knees. I ended up pulling guard again, but he was able to stall out the remaining time in my guard for the win. I lost 4-6.

Really I feel my main mistake in this match was giving up the first takedown to him by pulling guard. I thought I was pulling guard from a stable stance, but watching the video latter I saw that he was attacking, and so the takedown was legit. I more or less gave it to him though, and in the future I need to be more careful. By giving him the first points it kept me behind trying to catch him, rather than dictating the match.
 
OP
Ybot

Ybot

Blue Belt
Joined
Aug 26, 2006
Messages
277
Reaction score
26
Location
Sacramento, CA
Absolute Brown (other news):

American Brown Belt phenom Bill Cooper made it to the finals of the brown belt absolute division against Otavio Souza from Gracie Barra. While attacking an oma plata on Cooper Souza grabbed Coopers pants, to keep him from rolling out of the attack, pulling them down revealing Coopers bare *** to the crowd. At this point the ref stops the match and disqualifies Cooper for not wearing underwear.

Brown Belt Heavy Weight Division:

I was paired up in the first round of the heavy weight division with Kevin Casey, a brown belt from Rickson Gracie, and a top American competitor who had taken Gold in the previous Pan Ams as a brown belt.

Again, I lost the takedown from a foot trip. On the mat I had guard and Casey played a really tight game. I just had no room to move, attack, or escape. He played for a slow tight guard pass, and I did my best to defend. At some point he got past my guard, but I was quickly able to re-establish it. Casey was a tough opponent who when time ended had the win with a score of 5-0.

This guy was just better than me. True I should have been more cautious with the takedowns, but really, that's not why I lost this one. Nothing for it but to keep training and hope I get another shot at him.

Other News From Brown Belt divisions:

After taking gold at the Mundials last year as an 18 year old purple belt (You can't even get purple until your 18), Kron Gracie, the son of BJJ legend Rickson Gracie, was promoted to brown belt on the podium by his unkle Royler. So, flash forward to this year Kron doesn't show up to fight in the absolute division, but does compete in his own weight class, winning all his matches (several by submission), and beating in the finals
Otavio Souza, the very same guy who did win the brown belt absolute division.

Black Belt action:

This years Mundials was amazing. There were so many big names there competing, and watching these guys was just plain inspiring. Most of the Greats were competing, but a couple of notable absences were Ronald "Jacare" Sousa, and Marcelo Garcia. I can't complain, though, because we had great action from such names as Andre
Galvao, Romulo Barral, Roger Gracie, the Ribeiro Brothers, Rafael Lovato Jr., Robert Drysdale, Luis Felipe "Biggie Mac" Theodoro, and of course my instructor Cassio Werneck.

Cassio made it to the quarter finals of his division after two tough matches. He was unlucky in that he drew Galvao, in my opinion the best in the division, in the quarter finals match. Cassio has fought Galvao twice in the past and lost both. Cassio lost again in this match. Cassio pulled guard, but Galvao found a way to pass directly to mount. Galvao attacked and finished the choke from mount for the win. Galvao is a monster, and should have been the gold metalist, in my opinion, but he met up with a teammate in the finals and rather than rolling, choose to bow out and give his teammate
Lucas Leite the gold.

A name that I had heard a lot about, but never seen the guy, was Romulo Barral. Let me say now, that this guy is something else. Barral was impressive in both the absolute division and his own weight class. In the absolute he made it all the way to the finals, defeating Xande Ribeiro along the way, only to lose to the larger Roger Gracie in the finals. In the black belt Medium Heavy division Barral submitted a guy in the semi-finals with a flying triangle choke, and went on to defeat the legendary Saulo Ribeiro in the finals.

Alexandre "Xande" Ribeiro won the Heavy division, Saulo Ribeiro took second in the medium heavy, and Rafael Lovato Jr. took gold in the Super Super Heavy. Three teammates who all three train and teach at the same school in San Diego California. I'm trying to talk my sister into going to train with these guys, but it hasn't happened yet.

Of all the great competitors who competed, though, Roger Gracie once again proved he was The Man. Roger walked easily through both the absolute and Super Heavy divisions submitting everyone along the way, with the exception of Margarita in the Absolute division (which is my pick for the best match of the entire tournament). Roger Gracie's style is slow and methodical, mostly playing a guard game, sweeping, taking mount, and submitting from the mount. One after another the best guys fell to him.

Anyway, if you have any questions about the tournament, let me know, but I think that does it for my run down of the event.
 

Makalakumu

Gonzo Karate Apocalypse
MT Mentor
Joined
Oct 30, 2003
Messages
13,887
Reaction score
232
Location
Hawaii
WOW! That sounds like an awesome experience. How old are most of the competitors? Do they have divisions for white and blue belts?
 

Eternal Beginner

Brown Belt
Joined
Aug 5, 2004
Messages
498
Reaction score
7
Location
Canada
WOW! That sounds like an awesome experience. How old are most of the competitors? Do they have divisions for white and blue belts?
We had a guy from our club attend this year and he said it was phenomenal! I think this was the first year they have had divisions for white belts and juniors.

Going to these big tournaments is an awesome experience, to compete in or just to watch. I competed in the World Master and Seniors Tournament in Rio earlier this summer and watching some of the great black belts in their divisions was inspiring to say the least.

Also getting the chance to meet and roll with other competitors from around the world in an experience that really is priceless.
 
OP
Ybot

Ybot

Blue Belt
Joined
Aug 26, 2006
Messages
277
Reaction score
26
Location
Sacramento, CA
WOW! That sounds like an awesome experience. How old are most of the competitors? Do they have divisions for white and blue belts?
I would say that most of the competitors in the black belt divisions were 20 somethings. Once you hit 30 you can start competing in the usually less competitive Masters division rather than the Adult division. You don't have to though, and if you still have it then you might as well compete in Adult. The best example would be Saulo Ribeiro. I don't know his age, but I know he's well into his 30s now. The man is a legend owning more Mundials Golds than any other competitor, and even taking second this year.

You did see several older black belt competitors compete this year too, because the Mundials doesn't have Masters, Senior, or Senior II divisions, only Adult (and this year Juvenile).

This was the first year they held white belt divisions at the Mundials, but there were always blue, purple, and brown, as well as black belt divisions. One of the girls from my school won the silver in her divison as a white belt, and one of my other teammates won the white belt gold in his division.
 

Latest Discussions

Top