GB Future Champions did an outstanding job

To see the high skill level, hard work and discipline presented by our kids made everyone at GB very proud. They really gave it their all and we thoroughly enjoyed so much the evening.

Congratulations for the GB Professors, Instructors, Assistant Instructors and Volunteers for the outstanding job they are doing with the GB Kids Programs throughout California. The kids showcased beautiful take downs, guard passes, sweeps, chokes, armbars and so on … there could not have been a better representation of good Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for the expectators.

Big thanks to all the Professors, Instructors and students who helped us seting up the event, without your help we could not do it. We would like to specially thank Professor Mike Buckels from Gracie Barra Costa Mesa for the awesome job he did leading the organization.

Everybody walked out with big smiles on their faces, and most wanting to come back and see it again . A final note to the kids: Well Done, keep training hard and Thank You!

Here are some cool pics for you guys to enjoy:

Professors lined up to award the medals.(foto by Professor Magidi)

Focus and determination before stepping on the mats. Thats how we do it!(foto by pesh)

Professor Marco Joca referring and doing his part on “Keeping the legacy alive”. Professor started to study under Master Carlos Gracie Jr at the young age of 9 years old.(foto by pesh)

Professor Marcio Feitosa referring. Professor started to study under Master Carlos at the age of 12 years old. For sure at the moment of this pictures lots of memories were going through his mind.(foto by Professor Magidi)

So much talent displayed all day long. Kids you are amazing!(foto by Professor Magidi)

Master Carlos Gracie Jr. was there the whole evening awarding the kids with medals. We don’t know anybody who loves Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu more than this Man.(foto by pesh)

Master Carlos Gracie Jr awarding the kids. He must be very proud of the nice things Gracie Barra is doing for the comunity.(Foto by pesh)

There are many pictures posted on Professor Magidi’s website. If you would like to see it: CLICK HERE!

Gracie Barra Keeping the legacy alive!

June 30th 2008 Posted to News

The involvement of great leaders and important people with the gentle art is not a recent phenomenon. Following up with our last post about the Quote of this Week “Men in the Arena”, find below a very interesting statement from President Roosevelt and his relationship with the Jiu-Jitsu Japanese masters who lended in Brazil a few years later to make the link that allowed the birth of BJJ.

“… Yesterday afternoon we had Professor Yamashita [Yamashita was Roosevelt’s Jiu-jitsu instructor before Meada and Tomita had arrived there in the U.S.] up here to wrestle with Grant. It was very interesting, but of course jiu jitsu and our wrestling are so far apart that it is difficult to make any comparison between them. Wrestling is simply a sport with rules almost as conventional as those of tennis, while jiu jitsu is really meant for practice in killing or disabling our adversary.

In consequence, Grant did not know what to do except to put Yamashita on his back, and Yamashita was perfectly content to be on his back. Inside of a minute Yamashita had choked Grant, and inside of two minutes more he got an elbow hold on him that would have enabled him to break his arm; so that there is no question but that he could have put Grant out. So far this made it evident that the jiu jitsu man could handle the ordinary wrestler. But Grant, in the actual wrestling and throwing was about as good as the Japanese, and he was so much stronger that he evidently hurt and wore out the Japanese.

With a little practice in the art I am sure that one of our big wrestlers or boxers, simply because of his greatly superior strength, would be able to kill any of those Japanese, who though very good men for their inches and pounds are altogether too small to hold their own against big, powerful, quick men who are as well trained [of course we have to disagree with President Roosevelt here].”

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)
(Theodore Roosevelt’s Letters to His Children. 1919. NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS, 1919 NEW YORK: BARTLEBY.COM, 1999)