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 Hawaii Martial Arts News & Rumors
This page is dedicated to Hawaii-specific Martial Arts News & Rumors
If you have any news or rumors, please email it to me
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March News and Rumors Archives
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3/30/01 6:20 PM

Handsome Guy Lisa and Mike just saw Neal, Kristin, and Hunter. Everyone seems to be doing well. Hunter is having a little trouble breathing so he will be under supervision in the ICU for at least two weeks. He is very long. Neal and I are wondering where he got his nose from. Kristin and Neal are recovering from this tiring ordeal, but are in good spirits. Here's the proud father and his son.

3/30/01 2:10 PM

It's a Boy! Congratulations to Relson Gracie Aiea brother Neal Tomimatsu and his significant other, Kristin, have just popped out little Hunter Tomimatsu last night at 8:17 PM. Hunter was 5 weeks premature so he weighed only 4 lbs 4.8 ozs and is 16.75 inches tall. He has to stay in intensive care for two weeks, but otherwise seems to be ok. According to the nurses at Kaiser, Hunter was seen double legging and fireman carrying the other babies in ICU. They also swear that they could hear something after each takedown..."Who's the man?! WHO IS THE MAN?!" Neal's nights of sleeping his normal 12 hours a night are over! CONGRATULATIONS!

3/30/01

Baret Competes in Japan March 20, 2001, Hawaii's Baret Yoshida competed in the Combat Wrestling Championships in Japan. According to reports, Baret took second. In the finals, Baret had his opponent in a triangle and the guy just held on and didn't tap for the win. Baret also competed in a PRO kickboxing match while in Japan. It was also said that he was set up because Baret was supposed to fight a guy with the same experience (basically Baret hasn't had any actual kickboxing matches). The guy he fought had a lot of amateur fights and just lost his debut fight as a professional before fighting Baret. I'm not sure how Baret won, but he did. Baret may live in Japan. He has not returned yet. I know Enson will take care of Baret and he will get to train with the best lightweights in the world as well as develop his kickboxing skills there. This may be a very good move for him. I'll post more info when I receive it. Take a look at Susumu Nagao's pictures of Baret competing in the Combat Wrestling Championships at http://come.to/susumu.

Niko Fights in UCC 4 On May 12, Hawaii's Niko Vitale will fight his toughest opponent to date, "The Janitor" Vladimir Matyushenko of the rAw team. Matyushenko has been on a tear ripping up the middleweight division, but somehow gets overlooked. The fight will be in Canada and we wish Niko luck as he fights for the vacant UCC light heavyweight title.

3/29/01

Happy Belated Birthday to Relson Yesterday was Relson's birthday. If you hit the academy tonight, be sure to wish him a belated birthday. I don't think he wants me to reveal his age, but I can say that he can still party just as hard or even harder than any 22 year old I know or at least as hard as a 29 year old I know.

Another Boy's Night Out This FRIDAY is another installment of Boy's night out where we as brothers in Jiu-Jitsu bond. As usual, the plan is to meet at Mai Tai's as early as possible. Remember, it gets packed early so if you don't like standing in line, you better get there by 9:00 pm or so.

3/28/01

Quote of the Day "Opportunities multiply as they are seized." Sun Tzu

3/27/01

Pride-13 video clips Thanks to Big Jeff for the link and the heads up for this great site that hosts NHB video clips. It has great clips of Pride-13. Check it out at: http://kfreaks.virtualave.net/pride.htm If you don't have roadrunner or DSL, don't worry. It isn't that bad. Download and play the clips while you are checking your email. It worked for me.

Anyone ever heard of Don May? We received this email from Clay Moore from Minnesota asking if his former martial arts teacher is somewhere in Hawaii. His email is below, can anyone help him out? Please cc us on the email, just for us to know if anyone heard anything. Thanks. Greetings, This is kind of a long shot, but I'm trying to track down my former martial arts teacher Don May. He was teaching a Korean hybrid style called Tukong Moosul in Austin, TX about ten years ago, and then he moved to Pahoa to run some kind of healing retreat. If you've heard of him and have a lead I'd be very appreciative. Thanks, Clay Moore clay@claymoore.com http://www.claymoore.com

3/25/01

Pride 13 - Collision Course Results March 25, 2001 Tokyo, Japan This Pride blows NHB wide open. Past favorites Vitor Belfort, Mezger, and Coleman return to the ring in impressive fashion. Dan Henderson knocks out Renzo and possibly the biggest upset in NHB, Tre Tellingman defeats Igor Vovchanchin by decision. The Japanese superstar, Sakuraba, finds out why they call Vanderlei the "Axe Murderer." This is the first Pride that allows the new rules. Here are a couple of the new rules that made a huge difference. - A standing opponent CAN kick and knee a grounded opponent. - Fighters wearing shoes can kick. Fight 1 - Vitor Belfort defeated Bobby Southworth by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 4:09min 1st Round Fight 2 - Guy Mezger defeated Egan Inoue by KO (Straight Right) 2:25min 1 Round Fight 3 - Heath Herring defeated Denis Sobolev by Submission (Keylock) 1:22min 1R Fight 4 - Dan Henderson defeated Renzo Gracie by KO (Right/Left Punch Combo) 1:40min 1st Round Fight 5 - Mark Coleman defeated Allan Goes by KO (Knees to the Head) 1:19min 1st Round Goes shot and tried to take down Coleman, Coleman sprawled and stuffed Goes shoot and obtained the front headlock position. From there he landed 4-5 knees to Goes head, the second or third one KO'd Goes. Fight 6 - Tadao Yasuda defeated Masaake Satake by Decision after 3 Rounds Fight 7 - Tra Telligman defeated Igor Vovchacnhin by Decision after 3 Rounds Fight 8 - Vanderlei Silva defeated Kazushi Sakuraba by TKO 1:38 1st Round (Ref Stoppage, kick to the face) Silva landed several knees and kicks to Sakuraba's head. Sakuraba was in the turtle position for about 30 seconds and the referee finally stopped it when Silva planted a hard right soccer-ball kick to Sakuraba's face.

Hawaii Fighters in IFC XII IFC: Warriors Challenge 12 Table Mountain Casino, Friant, CA April 11, 2001 A few Hawaii's fighters are on the International Fighting Championships ("IFC"): Warriors Challenge 12 fight card. Check it out. COMPLETE CARD (Subject to Change): Gan Mc Gee vs Rocky Batastini Paul Buentello vs Sam Sotello Brain Sleeman vs Phil Bensminger Joey Villasenor vs Eddy Rolon Steve Heath vs TBA Anthony Hamlet vs TBA Josh Hernandez vs David Padilla Takayuki Hosokawa vs Mike Jonet Brennan Kamaka vs Jake Schilitz Caleb Mitchell vs Victor Estrada Lincoln Tyler vs Keith Guaglianone MIDDLEWEIGHT TOURNAMENT: Dennis Asche vs Toby Imada Jimmy Walker vs Jason Von Flue Darren Holtzclaw vs Scott Gohde (Alternates) If anyone is in the area at that time, please support the Hawaii fighters. Tickets are available through Table Mountain Casino or by calling BASS tickets 1(800) 225-BASS.

Elvis thanks you I want to thank everyone who came out to celebrate our birthday with us. My wife and I had a great time and I will get each and everyone of you back! I promise! I was breathing out a flame of "Beautiful" the rest of the night. PS. The saimin at Hungry Lion sucks.

3/23/01

Renzo Pre-Pride Story Full Contact Fighter has an excellent piece on Renzo Gracie as he prepares for an extremely tough fight with Dan Henderson. Check it out.

Congratulations We would like to congratulate Roman Gaspar on his promotion to blue belt. He is one of the guys that go in to the tournaments and can follow our suggestions and coaching to a tee as well as has a great feel for Jiu-Jitsu and great technique. He's off to Whistler, Canada for a ski vacation so we're lucky we caught him before he left.

3/22/01

Party Tomorrow Since today is our birthday, Mike will be going out with a bunch of friends to Mai Tai's (third floor of Ala Moana Center, next to Bubba Gumps) this Friday to celebrate. We hope to be there around 9:00 PM because it gets packed early. Also, wear a collared shirt (and sleeves, for Neal only) in case we go to Ocean Club after. It's not really going to be anything different than anything we usually do, but if you can, come anyway. It's always nice to have some kind of reason to party.

3/21/01

Sacks Gets Press Former Duputy Prosecutor, Eric Sacks, along with beating people up in Jiu-Jitsu, fights crime and puts criminals behind bars. He was on a streak of over 20 wins in court (kind of like in class). He has since temporarily (or maybe not temporarily) left the Prosecutor's Office to explore the field of real estate. While prosecuting, one of his cases made the Advertiser yesterday (Tuesday, March 20, 2001 Page B6) and I thought I would share it with everyone. I can't believe they didn't use the "Pow Pow" quote. It's kind of tough to read so good luck.

3/20/01 2:30 PM

Update I saw my father this morning at the hospital and he seems to be doing alright. They have him hooked up to an external pace maker. The surgery was scheduled for 1:30 PM and it should take only an hour. They will not even put him to sleep while they implant the pace maker. If all goes well, he should be out of the hospital by tomorrow and back to work on Monday. We'll keep praying that everything goes ok, but the doctor said that they will be more comfortable when the pace maker goes in because his heart is weak.

Bradda Cooper Looking for Fighters The April 28th amateur fight show that the Coopers, JIL, and Superstar are putting on is still looking for fighters to complete their card. If you are interested, contact Bradda's wife, Monica.

3/20/01

Request for Prayer We usually don't ask for much, but this is a time that we would like to request a little something. Our father's legs began to swell for no reason on Sunday night. My father is the type that thinks nothing is a big deal and that he would just see the doctor in the morning. Luckily, my mother convinced him to let her take him to the emergency room. He had high blood pressure. What doesn't help is that he smokes like two pack of cigarettes a day, doesn't exercise, and has diabeties and high blood pressure. We didn't get much information that night and they took him to intensive care just to monitor his heart. He saw a Cardiologist yesterday and said that he would have to try some medicine and if that didn't work, he would have to get a pacemaker. Well, the medicine didn't work and he goes in for surgery to add a pacemaker at 1:30 pm today. We would like to see if you can say a little prayer for our father so that everything goes ok. I don't even know how serious of a surgery this is. Of course, my father probably thinks it's no big deal. I guess that's where we get our will to eat pain and not act like wussies. Thanks for the prayer.

Quote of the Day The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. - Martin Luther King Jr., 1929-1968, American Black Leader, Nobel Prize Winner, 1964

3/19/01

Back from the Missing I have survived the Catholic Engaged Encounter. This is an opportunity to spend the weekend with your perspective bride/groom to talk over some issues and hear what two married couples (that act as the hosts for this weekend) have share with each topic as it relates to their lives. It actually was not as bad as I thought. The layout is the host married couples do a reading on a subject explaining what it means and how it applies to their lives and experiences. The couples then split up and write on the topic for about 20 minutes. We then get together with our partner and read each other's writings and then discuss some topics that you disagree on or didn't know about. The summary is Write Exchange Discuss (WED, get it?). They put us up in dorms (yeah, guys on the first floor, ladies on the second) and fed us dinner on Friday, three meals on Saturday, and breakfast and lunch on Sunday. We started on Friday night at 7:30 pm and finished at 11:00 pm. We started at 8:00 am and finished about 10:30 pm on Saturday and about 3:00 pm on Sunday after a mass. This encounter forces you to address different issues that you may have thought that you agreed upon, but you will soon find out that you probably do not. This also gives you an opportunity to be truthful about some issues that you wanted to address, but didn't want to get your head cut off for. If you cannot last with your partner without TV, radio, friends, beer, etc. for three days, you probably should save your money and not get married. There is also an encounter for Christians. I'm a Christian, but Lisa is a Catholic so we had to go the Catholic encounter to get married in a Catholic church. They have a marriage encounter for married couples who want to get to know their mate better. I recommend this weekend to prospective couples and married couples who want to refresh their relationship, to see if they are on the right track to marriage, and/or to help keep their marriage healthy. ~Mike

Quote of the Day A couple of great quotes that relate once again to Jiu-Jitsu. Build up your weaknesses until they become your strong points. - Knute Rockne, 1888-1931 American Football Coach Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832, German Poet, Dramatist, Novelist

3/19/01

Quote of the Day "Don't cuss. Don't argue with the officials. And don't lose the game." John Heisman Mr. Heisman's quote depicts the attitude that we want everyone of our students to portrait when in competition. Cussing out loud to yourself or to one of the officials in not only bad manners, but it is childish. You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Yelling or arguing at the officials is just going to infuriate them and they will have a closed mind about the situation and not re-evaluate their decision in an objective manner. Finally, like we tell all of our students, if it is left up to a decision, then count on losing. A submission ends all doubt. We always tell our guys to play to submit your opponent and that will take all subjectiveness out of other people's hands and put the outcome of your match in your own hands.

Please report any problems Like we previously mentioned, the server that held our web page's files crashed and everything had to be restored by backup. Please email us with any problems that you experience anywhere on our page (dead links, no pictures, etc.) We appreciate your help.

3/16/01

Congratulations The following Aiea students have been promoted. All these guys below have more than deserved this promotion. We had to catch the top three before they took off again and hid from the promotion. Kit Ledda - 3 stripe blue Rostito Ledda - 3 stripe blue Ikaika Green - 1 stripe blue Brian Kaneshiro - 1 stripe blue Chris Slavens - blue belt

Wish me Luck As most of you know, Mike is marrying Lisa on September 29, 2001. We are going to the engagement weekend this weekend where a couple goes to a Catholic church type of camp for the weekend to talk over some issues that will come up during marriage. This takes me out of the mix of going out this weekend. Hopefully, this weekend helps or I just wasted my St. Patrick's Day celebration. While at the camp, I'll pray that the guys I normally go out with don't have too much fun without me (heh heh).

3/15/01

Amateur Fighting Event Shooto Star, Ray "Bradda" Cooper, and his wife Monica along with Jesus is Lord and Superstar are putting on an amateur fighting event on April 28 at their gym in Campbell Industrial Park. They would like fighters to apply or contact them if they are interested in competing. They also want fighters that TRAIN, not brawlers or tough guys with no technical experience or background. This is an opportunity to try your hand at NHB in a professionally run event put on by people who know the business. Cooper obviously has connections with Shooto and I am sure the Super Brawl promoter, T. Jay Thompson, will be at the event to scout for talent. The weight classes will be 135, 145, 155, 165, 175, 185, 195, 200+ pounds. Please email Monica to let her know if you are interested in fighting. We will post the specifics for the spectators as that information becomes available.

Elvis Siting! I know this is a bit late, but...While in Chicago to visit Eric and on vacation with Chris, myself, Rex, Kaleo and our significant others, we had the pleasure of seeing Elvis at the Sears Tower Observatory. Of course, I had to be very stealth in my shooting of the picture because as all of you know, Elvis has been trying to keep a low profile for the last 25 years or so. Sure, he picked up a few pounds, but haven't we all? The funny thing is that Rex did not know why I was taking this picture. I'm not sure if I posted this already, but if I did, it's worth another post. ELVIS IS ALIVE!

3/14/01

Web Site Outage We have learned that our website has been down for a little while over late last week into the weekend. The host where we post our site had a hard drive crash and it needed to be reloaded. Chris reloaded our page, but I'll wait until everything is restored before I post pictures. Thanks for letting us know. It is interesting that the week I leave for Arizona the website goes down...coincidence? Actually, the outage was worse than suggested. As I was writing this, our site was no where to be seen. I just checked it and our host reloaded all our goodies in our allocation so I uploaded our entire page once again. Thanks for the notification and patience.

Congratulations! The following BJJ practioners and our students were very deserving of their promotions due to all their hard work and dedication. They more than demonstrated their knowledge and application of their techniques in the last tournament. We can't say enough about these warriors. Philip Lung - Blue Belt Don Cabinian - Blue Belt Richie Cabinian - Blue Belt One Stripe

3/13/01

Quick Review of the Arnold Gracie Worlds Last night at the academy I saw the video of some of the fights. A couple standouts were brown belt, Daniel Moraes (who is here) and Saulo Riberio's brother Alexander. Alexander submitted his first two opponents with armbars very quickly and then faced in my opinion the best Jiu-Jitsu player on the planet, Vitor "Shaolin" Riberio. Alexander was very tentative from the beginning and all of a sudden slapped an armbar on Shaolin. This is a tight armbar that Shaolin had to crack his arm to escape. Alexander had it straight and Shaolin's arm was bent. Shaolin somehow escaped and won, eventually beating Marcio Feitosa in the finals. Daniel Moraes fought about 5 matches when he faced Marcio Feitosa in the semi-finals. Feitosa only had two matches before this one so he was fresh. Remember that Daniel is a brown belt and Marcio is a black belt world champion. Daniel gave him the fight of his life almost beating Marcio. After the match, Daniel was completely exhausted, but he did not show it anywhere in the match. Daniel wants a rematch and I know he will get it whether no gi or in the worlds as a black.

3/12/01

Mike's back from Arizona I'm finally back after a week of exciting work training. It was a long week that basically allowed me to not much other than the training. I was in the training from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM everyday, Monday through Friday. I did get a chance to teach a couple of classes at our Phoenix Association. Not too many guys showed up, but I didn't expect too many people because I called them on the Thursday before I left. I want to thank purple belt, Nathan Zigler, for helping to call to have some guys show up and welcoming me to his association. The guys I met were great as with all the Relson associations that I have visited. I taught classes on Tuesday and Friday night. Nathan wanted me to take a look at a couple of guys who he thought should be promoted. After watching them practice the techniques that I taught and spar, I agreed and had the pleasure of promoting Val, who is already a Judo brown belt, to 2 stripe blue and Nabeel to 1 stripe blue. All the guys there really impressed me with their technique and dedication. I stopped by Gustavo Dantas Nova Uniao school quickly on Thursday night to say hi. Gustavo won my division in the purple belt 1997 Mundial (World Championships) along with Leo Santos who is one of the best black belts competing right now. Gustavo was on the other side of the bracket from me and I would have fought Leo if I won one more match. He was extremely cool and welcoming and even remembered my name. I don't even know how he knew my name. Fighter, Trevor Lally, was there and I did an interview with him which I hopefully will finish in time for the next FCF. I stopped by Roland "Doomster" Sarria's place as well earlier that night. He is a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu and runs the Rage in the Cage events. I also did an interview with him that I hope to get done. I'll try to post some pictures of Arizona this week. Overall, not a bad trip. Everything in Phoenix/Scottsdale/Tempe area is very close and not much driving was needed (Thank God!). I went with a co-worker that I dragged everywhere with me. I rented the car so he had to come, but he was cool about following me around while I completed my agenda. I missed stopping by Megaton which bummed me out. Hopefully, if I ever get back there, I'll stop by to see him as well.

3/10/01

Egan Inoue added to Pride 13 card DSE/PRIDE announced additional matches being added to the PRIDE 13 extravaganza scheduled for March 25th! Hawaii's own, Egan Inoue will have his toughest match to date, taking on Lion's Den fighter, Guy Mezger. Mezger had an incredible perfomance against Sakuraba and then got knocked out by Silva in one of the last Pride events. You can bet that he is looking to make up for his match against Inoue. We heard that Egan wanted to fight Mezger about a week ago, and I guess that Egan and Pride agreed on a price. Pride also recently added Mark "The Hammer" Coleman versus Allan Goes from the Brazilian Top Team. In my opinion, Goes is one of the best pure BJJ NHB fighters in the game and he will be put to the test against Coleman, who is considered by many to be the best NHB heavyweight in the game after his Pride Grand Prix performance. Official Line Up: Kazushi Sakuraba vs Vanderlei Silva Igor Vovchanchyn vs Ken Shamrock Renzo Gracie vs Dan Henderson Masaaki Satake vs Tadao Yasuda Mark Coleman vs Allan Goes Egan Inoue vs Guy Mezger Pride is known for coming up with incredible cards and this is going to be no exception. I can't wait for the Sakuraba vs. Silva. In fact, I think that every match is going to be incredible. If you are wondering, they had to throw in the Sataka versus Yasuda to appease the Japanese.

3/8/01

Elvis is in the building Actually BJJ black belt, Fredson Alves and brown belt, Daniel Morais are back from their trip and taught some incredible things last night. Fredson is planning to spend a year in Hawaii and Daniel is planning to stay for 6 months. Both of them were winding down from the Arnold-Gracie tournament and definitely looked to come to Hawaii to relax. Fat chance. They can think about relaxing after they have given all of us tons of techniques to work on, which I don't see happening with the thirst for new techniques that everyone here has. Be sure to come to the academy and take some classes with these two practitioners. I am sure you won't be disappointed.

3/6/01

Margarida is NOT coming It looks like Fernando "Margarida" Pontes, BJJ black belt now fighting for the Brazilian Top Team, is NOT coming to Hawaii for his previously planned two day seminar, tentatively scheduled March 6th & 7th. Everyone is bummed. Margarida did not travel and compete at the Arnold-Gracie Worlds and as far as we know, no follow up with Margarida was made to confirm his travel arrangements. If things change we will let you know. However, Daniel Moraes is coming back to Hawaii and Fredson Alves, who is a Royler Gracie black belt and always in ends up with very good standings at major BJJ tournaments, has confirmed that he will come to Hawaii for possibly a year.

Arnold-Gracie Worlds Update The event featured a number of world class athletes, but from numerous accounts has a lot of room for improvement. Relson and the Hawaii team of three returned today. Expect everything to return to normal in the next few days. The Relson Gracie Team won the team title for the tournament. Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro (Nova Uniao) defeated Marcio Feitosa (Gracie Barra) 4-2 points (Shaolin collected the 4 point by way of two suplexes) As a side note: Feitosa had to get by Daniel Moraes beating him 5-0 (take down and guard pass). Alexandre "Xande" Ribeiro (Gracie Humaita) defeated Alexandre "Cacareco" (Ruas Vale Tudo) By points and his brother, Saulo awarded him with his black belt.

Official SHOOTO Rankings As of Feb. 2001 These updates show the drop of Baret Yoshida to #4 ranked, due to his loss to Tetsuo Katsuta in Japan and Ray Cooper dropping to #6 ranked, due his loss to Paul Rodrigues at Super Brawl. We are behind all the Hawaii fighters and wish them the best of luck in their future matches to obtain their goals of the Shooto championship. Selected by Ranking Committee of Shooto Commission. This ranking does not include consideration of the March 2 nd results.( Middle weight 1 st, Kato lost against Anderson Silva who belongs to Chute Boxe.) Featherweight 58.0 kilos 127.87 lbs or less Champion: Mamoru [ STG Yokohama / Japan ] 5W 1D 1. Uchu Tatsumi [ K'z Factory / Japan ] 10W 1D 1L 2. Hiroaki Yoshioka [ Paraestra, Tokyo / Japan ] 3W 2D 1L 3. Jin Akimoto [ K'z Factory / Japan ] 7W 2D 5L 4. Masahiro Oishi [ K'z Factory / Japan ] 5W 3D 4L 5. Takeyasu Hirono [ Wajutsu Keishukai / Japan ] 1W 3D 3L 6. Yoshinobu Ota [ Shiojuku / Japan ] 3W 2L Lightweight 63.0 kilos 138.89 lbs or less Champion: Alexandre Franca Nogueira [ World Fight Center / Brazil ] 6W 1. Naoya Uematsu [ K'z Factory / Japan ] 8W 1D 2. Noboru Asahi [ Purebred Omiya / Japan ] 18W 4D 4L 3. Tetsuo Katsuta [ K'z Factory / Japan ] 5W 2L 4. Baret Yoshida [ Grappling Unlimited / U.S.A.] 3W 2L 5. Katsuya Toida [ Wajutsu Keishukai / Japan ] 4W 2L 6. Stephen Palling [ Jesus is Lord / U.S.A. ] 2W 3L 7. Hiroyuki Abe [ RJW Central / Japan ] 2W 1D 1L 8. Kimihito Nonaka [ Purebred Omiya / Japan ] 4W 2D 4L 9. Hisao Ikeda [ Purebred Omiya / Japan ] 8W 1D 4D 10. Vacant Welterweight 69.0 kilos 152.12 lbs or less Champion: Vacant 1. Dokonjonosuke Mishima [Cobra-kai / Japan ] 6W 2D 1L 2. Takanori Gomi [ K'z Factory / Japan ] 7W 3. Marcio "Cromado" Barbosa [Hugo Duarte & Pereira/Brazil] 1W 1L 4. Rumina Sato [ K'z Factory / Japan ] 15W 3L 5. Din Thomas [ Internal Power / U.S.A. ] 2W 1L 6. Takuya Kuwabara [ Purebred Omiya / Japan ] 8W 4D 2L 7. Ian Schaffa [ Spartan Gym / Australia ] 1W 1D 1L 8. Ryan Bow [ Freelance / U.S.A. ] 4W 1L 9. Kohei Yasumi [ Paraestra, Tokyo / Japan ] 3W 2D 10. Dennis Hallman [ AMC Pankration / U.S.A. ] 2L Middleweight 76.0 kilos 167.55 lbs or less Champion: Hayato "Mach" Sakurai [ Gutsman Shooto Dojo / Japan ] 12W 1D 1. Tetsuji Kato [ Purebred Omiya / Japan ] 9W 2L 2. Alex Cook [ Spartan Gym / Australia ] 3W 2L 3. Matt Hughes [ Miletich Martial Arts Center / U.S.A. ] 2W 4. Frank Trigg [ rAw Team / U.S.A. ] 1W 1L 5. Paul Rodrigues [ Internal Power / U.S.A. ] 1W 1L 6. Ray Cooper [ Jesus is Lord / U.S.A. ] 4W 3L 7. Dan Gilbert [ Chicago Fight Team / U.S.A. ] 1W 1L 8. Jutaro Nakao [ STG Osaka / Japan ] 6W 2D 7L 9. Steve Berger [ Rodrigo Vaghi JJ Academy / U.S.A. ] 1D 10. Marcio Feitosa [ Gracie Barra / Brazil ] 1D Lightheavyweight 85.0 kilos 187.39 lbs or less Champion: Vacant 1. Larry Papadopoulos [ Spartan Gym / Australia ] 2W 2D 2. Lance Gibson [ Franko/Gibson Pankration Academy / Canada ] 2W 3. Akihiro Gono [ Team GRABAKA / Japan ] 8W 3D 5L 4. Masanori Suda [ Club J / Japan ] 7W 5L 5. Martijn de Jong [ Martijn Dojo / Holland ] 1W 1L 6. Ronald Jhun [ Jesus is Lord / U.S.A. ] 2W 2L 7. Izuru Takeuchi [ K'z Factory / Japan ] 3W 2D 1L 8. Kenji Kawaguchi [ STG Yokohama

3/4/01

A Letter >From Some Friends From time to time, with work, family and Jiu-Jitsu, trying to balance everything seems overwhelming and an impossible task. We get burnt out and almost psychotic. I'm sure most of you out there know the feeling. Most martial arts instructors do not make a lot of money teaching. Mike & I say that if we make enough to pay for the gas to get to class, we are happy. And often times, it takes a few months to balance out paying for that gas. The Relson Gracie team came together this Saturday at the Hawaiian BJJ Championships and proved to everyone that each and every one of them are champions. With Relson being at the Arnold Schwartzenegger-Relson Gracie Submission Wrestling Championships in Columbus, Ohio, it was up to Mike & I to organize and support the team in his absence. Both of us have been feeling a bit burnt out because our workload at our "regular" jobs has been increasing and with Mike preparing for his wedding and me working on my new house, we have been losing a ton of sleep. I don't know about Mike, but I am sometimes at the end of my rope and feel totally stressed out. However the performance of the Relson Gracie Team this saturday and this letter below, makes all the pain, well worth it and "recharges our batteries." This is the kind of compliment that brings a tear to our eye. Alright enough of that before I become the first man to start a menstral cycle. As a little background on Don, Ritchie, Ryan, and Mr. Cabinian, they all excelled at high school wrestling and even wrestled in college. They are among the hardest working and most respectful people that we have ever met. Ritchie entered the competition with a completely torn ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament in the knee) and Don entered after just having his ACL reconstructed three months ago. I have had my ACL reconstructed, and to give you a point of reference, I could not phantom even practicing BJJ three months after my surgury. Ritchie and Don won their weight classes in their respective gi divisions and entered the no-gi division and shared 1st & 2nd place because they were in the same weight class. These guys are the students that every instructor wishes they had. And you know what? We are lucky enough to have a class filled with students like that. I also included my reply that sums up our feelings for our training partners/students/friends/teachers, which we call our Jiu-Jitsu family. Chris & Mike, Just wanted to say thanks alot for everything you've done. It showed today, the way everyone performed and supported one another that it is a direct reflection of the way you guys teach and conduct yourselves!! The way every one of our opponents were tapping, it definitely got peoples attention!! My brothers and I are really fortunate to have great teachers such as you two. We really appreciate it! We practice, train and fight hard for you guys. We want to represent you guys in the best possible way! Thanks for the concern about our injuries, it means alot! Anyway, just wanted to say "good shit." You guys deserve it!! See you later! richie & don TEAM GRACIE!! Our response: Ritchie & Don, It's compliments like that, that make it all worth it! You guys are the best! I always tell people that they will get out of Jiu-Jitsu, what they put in and you guys are perfect examples, champions. Nobody works harder or deserves it more than you guys. We worry about all of you guy's knees because, even though it doesn't seem like it, there is life after Jiu-Jitsu and you will need those knees later. We are proud and honored of everyone, win or lose, training with us and competing. I am glad that everyone's hard work was rewarded with a medal. Every time they look at their medal, I hope that they feel a sense of accomplishment and the feeling that hard work pays off. I hope that they carry that attitude to everything in life. If only all of you guys knew how fortunate we are, not only for you being on our team, but for being our friends. Thanks again for everything, Chris

3/3/01

Mike leaves for Arizona Tonight I leave on business for Arizona from tonight to next Saturday. I will be giving classes to the Phoenix Association on Tuesday and Friday night at 6:30 pm. Hopefully, I'll have time to stop by Megaton's and Gustavo Dantas schools. See you when I get back!

Relson Gracie Team Smashes Competition! The Relson Gracie Team took the team title in impressive fashion in the Hawaiian BJJ Championships held today at UH's Klum Gym. There are too many champions to name quickly. Relson's Aiea academy took all firsts and one second. The results will follow soon. Team Standings: 1st Place: Relson Gracie Team 50 Pts 2nd Place: Nova Uniao 20 Pts 3rd Place: Brazilian Freestyle Jiu-Jitsu 16 Pts 4th Place: Team Marcelo Tigre 6 Pts 5th Place: Jesus is Lord Gym 5 Pts

Arnold Gracie Worlds Update A quick call from Todd states the following: Rex won one and lost one match. Todd had to go up one weight class and lost his first match. Lionel Perez from Florida won his weight class. Saulo Riberio beat Conan Silveira by points and controlled Conan the entire match. The no-gi tournament is tomorrow.

3/2/01

Mike is teaching class at Relson's Tonight I will be teaching beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes tonight at the academy. I taught on Wednesday and we did not have an advanced class so if you guys do not want to take the advanced class, it's better for me and I can leave early to go to Mai Tai's. I rarely teach at the academy so take advantage if you want. You can ask the beginner and intermediate guys if they enjoyed my class on Wednesday. See you there. If not, see you at Mai Tai's (heh heh).

Hawaiian BJJ Championship Weigh-in Tonight Weigh in at UH Studio 4 (I think) from about 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm. Bring your registration form with payment. The price is $40 for one division (gi or no-gi) and $50 to enter both divisions.

Quote of the Day Build up your weaknesses until they become your strong points. - Knute Rockne, 1888-1931 American Football Coach Boring Narrative: This quotation applies to many things including Jiu-Jitsu. Many people ask us how they can get better in Jiu-Jitsu. "Better" must be qualified. We believe that "better" in Jiu-Jitsu means that you have a more thorough understanding and more efficient application of the Jiu-Jitsu techniques in all positions. The best way to achieve this is to step back and analyze your game, find your weakness, "build up your weakness until they become your strong points," and then move on to your next weakness. In simple terms, if your guard is the weakest part of your game, start pulling everyone to guard until you become confident and competent. Then, reanalyze your game to find out the "new" weakest part of your game and work on that. It is working well for us and I know it will work well for you. Notice I said working because it is always a work in progress.

3/1/01

Arnold Gracie Worlds this Weekend The terminator, Arnold Schwartzenegger (yeah, I'm sure I spelled that right) and Relson Gracie has teamed up for an ESL seminar (kidding, for those who know was ESL means). They are throwing one of the biggest grappling events in America. 5-time world champion, Saulo Riberio will have a superfight with UFC veteran, Conan Silveira. There is going to be no gi super tournaments with cash prizes. Some of the fighters scheduled to compete are World Champions Marcio Feitosa, Vitor "Shaolin" Riberio, and Alexandre Riberio (Saulo's brother). Jeff Monson is supposed to have a superfight. Marco Ruas team is rumored to attend and compete which includes Babalu and Cacareco. Todd and Rex from Hawaii have either left or are leaving today to go up. We wish them luck if they decide to compete. Scott Devine and Lionel Perez from Florida are also supposed to compete as well. This should be a killer tournament. Relson is supposed to bring Daniel Moraes (purple belt world champion) back (he was already here) and Fredson Alves (black belt front runner for the world championship).

Mike leaves for Arizona I will be leaving for Arizona this Sat for work training/seminar and will return next Sat (3/3-3/10). This means that the page will probably not be updated as frequently unless I can access the net from Arizona (not sure if I will have access). I will tell Chris to update the page as much as possible. I will see if I have time to stop by our association in Arizona and possibly give a class or two there.