Today we witnessed the first Pan Kids Jiu Jitsu Championship. There were kids there from all over the United States of America, and in classic Brazilian Top Team fashion, BTT Long Beach brought 7 game competitors. It was a single elimination tournament, just like the big boys' Pan Ams, and medals were awarded for first, second, third, and just participating. Our Kids were PHENOMENAL --- very stoic and focused in competition. When all was said and done, emotion overflowed as BTT took home 3 Gold, 2 Silver, and 2 Bronze Medals. All 7 placed first, second, or third. Oh, and by the way, 5 of our fighters fought in a belt division higher than their own belt. When Edwin said to Franklin "when I beat this this yellow belt for the Gold, will I get my yellow" Franklin had to be quick on his feet!! Of course Edwin then disposed of his American Top Team opponent flown in from Florida. Thank you to Marcelo for the leadership, the competitors for the unyielding fight in your souls, the teammates for the preparation and support, and parents for your dedication. Brazilian...TOP TEAM!!!

• Bryan S: Result: Gold, Group: yellow. What happened: win armbar
• Edwin S: Result: Gold, Group: yellow. What happened: win keylock, win points
• Andrew M: Result: Gold, Group: white/yellow. What happened: win sub, win frontchoke
• Jake O: Result: Silver, Group: yellow. What happened: win armbar, win armbar, lose points
• Michael M: Result: Silver, Group: white/yellow. What happened: win sub, lose armbar
• Roland O: Result: Bronze, Group: white/yellow. What happened: win rnc, lose rnc
• James L: Result: Bronze, Group: yellow. What happened: win points, lose choke

You got the results from our kids team today from Pan Am's. What you did not here about is the sportsmanship that our 4 year old to 12 year old teammates expressed. We shook hands, we competed, we shook hands again and thanked the opponents coach for bring us a competitor or victim. Nonetheless, our BTT Kids Team conducted themselves as mature relaxed combatants. Every time one of our kids steps onto that mat, I used to get nervous, now I wonder how our student will finish their opponent. I want to let everyone know that I was very impressed with our 7 competitors and extremely happy to see my senior students, who were not competing come and show their support for their teammates. Our Kids Team is truly a TEAM. To watch how these young people learn these techniques, apply them and not get cocky when their hand is raised in victory is my Gold Medal. Our Kids Team is evolving into great jiu jitsu practitioners, outstanding combatants and well disciplined athletes. So for those of you who do not know about this BTT Kids Team or think that they are just a bunch of kids, you better keep practicing because when the become blue belts at the age of 16, they will be more than MONSTERS on the mat. Thank you Master Marcelo for giving John and I the skills to pass on to this BTT Kids Team. Thank you parents for your dedication to this team. Thank you to all the kids at BTT for training hard and showing the jiu jitsu world that BTT Kids Rock!

I want to give props to the adults who competed today. It takes guts to step in there.

• Kristen: Result: Gold. What happened: fight video
• Albert Lee What happened: fight video
• Tony What happened: fight vid 1, fight vid 2
• Michael G. What happened: Lost by points to eventual gold medalist. Mike fought tough against a very good wrestler.
• Jomar What happened: His first comp. Welcome to the nap club. I've been there. Next time we will get em.
• Dylan R What happened: Fought tough but lost on points. I believe it was his first comp. He did real well though.
• Carsell Swain: Result: Gold. What happened: "The Specimen" took apart the competition, winning 4 fights!

From Prof. Marcelo: A true warrior is the one one that learn and accept the defeat and comes back for more!!! This was the first time that you and Jomar compete and Michael was his second time, is important to get your feet wet and feel the rush and adrenaline. Most important of all my friend is that you were there. The victory and the defeat are available only for the ones that step on the mat and fight. Very proud of you guys

Once again, we are very proud of all those that competed today. I saw many great things happen with everyones jiu jitsu game. I saw students that are so confused in certain situations at practice, just escape from those situations very easily today. I saw huge hearts and great sportsmanship. Everyone that stepped on to that mat to show what you could do, did OUTSTANDING. We want to thank those students who did not compete today for coming out and supporting your team. I also want to thank the entire team for helping to get your teammates ready for this and all competitions. We would like to thank the Parents for supporting us and having trust in John and I to teach your kids and help them to grow. We are very proud of everyone today. Parents and students, you should be very proud of how you all did in this tournament. I am extremely proud of how all of our kids conducted themselves with respect and mature sportsmanship. John and I are proud after every tournament to let people know that, "Yes, that is one of our kids."

• Jake: Result: Gold, Group: yellow. What happened: win pts,win pts,win pts
• Rudy: Result: Silver, Group: yellow. What happened: win pts,lose triangle
• Matthew: Result: Gold, Group: yellow. What happened: lose pts.Win armbar
• Riley: Result: Lose pts, Group: yellow. What happened: win keylock,lose pts
• Bryan: Group: Yellow Belt. What happened: lose pts
• Edwin: Result: Gold, Group: white. What happened: win pts
• Andrew M: Result: Bronze, Group: white. What happened: win pts,lose armbar
• Michael M: Result: Gold, Group: white. What happened: win pts,win pts
• Brett: Result: Bronze, Group: white. What happened: win pts,lose pts
• John John: Result: Bronze, Group: white. What happened: lose pts
• James: Result: Silver, Group: white. What happened: win pts,lose pts
• Devyn: Result: Gold, Group: white. What happened: win pts,win pts,win rear-naked choke
• Roland: Result: Bronze, Group: white. What happened: win pts,lose pts
• Andruw G: Result: Gold, Group: white. What happened: win pts,win pts
• Misael: Result: Bronze, Group: white. What happened: lose pts,win triangle

Phenomenal job gentlemen. We are so proud of your composure, your jiu-jitsu, your control of the fight (and you know I love the top control and sweeps), and sportsmanship. Oh, and did we mention the results? Oh - those results were nice!!! 15 fighters and 13 medals. Thank you kids and parents.

Congratulations to our competitors once again! We brought 6 fighters and left with 3 gold and 2 silver medals!

• Kristen: Result: Gold Gi and no-Gi, Group: Open weight & skill category.
• Albert: Result: Gold, Group: No-Gi ,blue belt.
• Justin: Result: silver, Group: Gi, white belt.
• Rob Soquena: Result: Silver, Group: Gi, blue belt.
• Tony: Result: Silver, Group: No-Gi, blue belt.

Two competitions on opposite sides of the earth and BTT Long Beach is represented by chamopions at both of them. I am proud to tell you guys that one of our very own, Omar Sabha, is a European Champ. One competitor fell victim to the Ramadan RIP in the finals. Additionally competing in open weight, Omar was firing on all cylinders; winning three fights, but lost in the semi finals to a 6'5, 215 pound beast, (he got second place)

• Omar Sabha: Result: Gold (weight div.), Silver (open weight div.). What happened: Check out the Youtube videos: watch, watch, watch

Brazilian Top Team delivered 10 World Champions on this day. The kids were absolutely incredible. The final tally was 10 Gold, 1 Silver, and 3 Bronze medals (16 total competitors). We won 25 matches versus only 8 losses. I believe we took 2nd as a team (final tally not yet published). Gold medalists won bicycles -- maybe that extra motivation fueled their competitive juices to such success. The coaches Franklin Quenga & John Orr couldn't have been more proud, and the parents couldn't have been more supportive. Brazilian....................TOP TEAM!!

• Samantha Lopp: Result: Gold, Group: Yellow Belt. What happened: Win by points.
• Bryan Samayoa: Result: Gold, Group: Yellow Belt. What happened: Win by keylock, Win by points.
• Jake Orr: Result: Gold, Group: White Belt. What happened: Win by armbar, Win by armbar.
• Matthew Mendoza: Result: Gold, Group: White Belt. What happened: Win by rear naked choke, Win by points.
• Edwin Samayoa: Result: Gold, Group: White Belt. What happened: Win by points, Win by points.
• Misael Marquez: Result: Gold, Group: White Belt. What happened: Win by armbar, Win by keylock, Win by points.
• Michael Morales: Result: Gold, Group: White Belt. What happened: Win by points, Win by points.
• Andrew Morales: Result: Gold, Group: White Belt. What happened: Win by points.
• Devyn Che: Result: Gold, Group: White Belt. What happened: Win by rear naked choke, Win by front choke.
• Roland Ortega: Result: Gold, Group: White Belt. What happened: Win by rear naked choke, Win by points.
• Rudy Medrona: Result: Silver, Group: White Belt. What happened: Win by points, Win by armbar, Lose by points.
• Bill Samayoa: Result: Bronze, Group: Yellow Belt. What happened: Lose by points.
• Andrew Guerra: Result: Bronze, Group: White Belt. What happened: Win by rear naked choke, Win by points, Lose by armbar, Win by points.
• Brett Galloway: Result: Bronze, Group: White Belt. What happened: Lose by armbar, Win by points.
• Riley Quenga: Group: Yellow Belt. What happened: Lose by armbar, Lose by points.
• Bailey Lopp: Group: Yellow Belt. What happened: Lose by ref decision, Lose by ref decision (no points scored in either fight by Bailey OR HIS OPPONENTS). Very tough subjective losses.

Today saw the BTT Kids bring fury usually spared on a Sunday. They were bottled up, and let it rip on their home court in Long Beach at Long Beach Poly High School. 10 kids competed, and 8 medalled. They fought with the true grit and focus of ancient gladiators. This was just what the doctor ordered to prep for the November Kids' Worlds Tournament. See you there, if you dare. The results follow from today.

• Jake O: Result: Gold. What happened: Win armbar, Win armbar, Win points
• Edwin S: Result: Gold. What happened: Win points, Loss points, Win points
• Brett: Result: Gold. What happened: Win points, Win points
• Matthew M: Result: Silver. What happened: Win pts, Win armbar, Loss keylock
• Andrew M: Result: Silver. What happened: Loss armbar, Loss armbar
• Michael M: Result: Bronze. What happened: Loss armbar, Loss armbar
• Jake: Result: Bronze. What happened: Loss points, Loss points
• James L: Result: Bronze. What happened: Loss armbar, Loss points
• Bryan S: Result: Kicked a$$, but no medal. What happened: Loss armbar, Win points, Loss points
• Roland O: Result: Kicked a$$, but no medal. What happened: Loss points, Loss points

Mike Wilson says "Thanks everyone for helping us train, we couldn't have done it without our team, Brazilian Top Team! Now lets get ready for Mundials, only 6 days left to register. Oct. 31 is the last day!"

• Mike Wilson: Result: 2nd Place, Group: No gi, Absolute.
• Mike Wilson: Result: 3rd Place, Group: No gi, 155lb.
• Garrett "Niner" Hall: Result: 2nd Place, Group: No gi, 165lb. What happened: Should have been 1st place, bad call by the staff on the bracketing
• Garrett "Niner" Hall: Result: 2nd Place, Group: Gi, 165lb.
• Noah Bouh: Result: 3rd Place, Group: Gi, 175lb.

BTT Brings it again with 9 Golds, 5 Silvers, and 5 Bronze medals. Placing 5th overall in the standings

• Leonardo Saggioro (BTT Brazil): Result: Gold, Group: Adult Pena, Belt: Brown.
• Jennifer Pettersson: Result: Gold, Group: Adult Female Absolute, Belt: Purple.
• John Orr: Result: Gold, Group: Senior 1 Leve, Belt: Purple.
• Brett Collins (BTT No Limits): Result: Gold, Group: Senior 1 Meio Pesado, Belt: Purple.
• Carl Herman: Result: Gold, Group: Senior 1 Pena, Belt: Purple.
• Tom Vadakan: Result: Gold, Group: Senior 2 Galo, Belt: Purple.
• Sak Pidech: Result: Silver, Group: Adult Pluma, Belt: Purple.
• Gabriel Procopio da Fonseca (BTT Brazil): Result: Silver, Group: Adult Open, Belt: Purple.
• Gabriel Procopio da Fonseca (BTT Brazil): Result: Bronze, Group: Adult Medio, Belt: Purple.
• Jennifer Pettersson: Result: Bronze, Group: Adult Female Medio, Belt: Purple.
• Douglas Martinez: Result: Gold, Group: Senior 1 Leve, Belt: Blue.
• Joe Chavez: Result: Silver, Group: Senior 1 Pesadissimo, Belt: Blue.
• John "Ant" Antognoli: Group: Senior 1 Medio, Belt: Blue.
• Gerome Uly: Result: Bronze, Group: Adult Pesadissimo, Belt: Blue.
• Vannary Vong: Result: Bronze, Group: Adult Female Pena, Belt: Blue.
• David Cho (BTT No Limits): Result: Gold, Group: Adult Pluma, Belt: White.
• Angelo Lago: Result: Gold, Group: Adult Meio Pesado, Belt: White.
• Nick Gerasimou (BTT No Limits): Result: Silver, Group: Masters Pesadissimo, Belt: White.
• Rich Bordner (BTT No Limits): Result: Bronze, Group: Adult Leve, Belt: White.

As usual the BTT Kids represented in a big way at the NABJJF Tournament this weekend. The kids were coached by John Orr and Omar Sabha (Franklin out of town) for this one. There were many fights, victories, exuberations, exhilirations, and a few agonies in the form of first round losses to eventual gold medalists. All in all we had 12 competitors taking home 6 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place medals. All fighters were medalists, as the NABJJF medals all kids for participating. The specifics follow.

• Michael: Result: Silver. What happened: Win submission, Loss armbar (5 in bracket)
• Hector: Result: Silver. What happened: Win armbar, Win rear naked choke, Loss armbar (6)
• Jake: Result: Silver. What happened: Win armbar, Win rear naked choke, Win points, Loss points (7)
• Bryan: Result: Silver. What happened: Win points, Loss armbar (4)
• Edwin: Result: Bronze. What happened: Loss armbar, Loss points (3)
• Marcos: Result: Bronze. What happened: Loss keylock, Loss ezeikiel choke (3)
• Roland What happened: Win points, Loss points, Loss choke (8)
• Andrew G What happened: Win ezeikiel choke, Loss points, Loss points (11)
• Andrew M What happened: Loss points, Loss points (7)
• Rudy What happened: Loss armbar (7)
• Bill What happened: Loss armbar (6)
• Alex What happened: Loss keylock, Loss keylock (4)

Like the kids who competed earlier on Saturday, the adults of BTT brought it home with great performances and excellent skills - congratulations to all of our competitors!

• Omar Sabha: Result: Win (Gold). What happened: Straight from Omar's Mouth: First fight-drama for ur moma. Took the guy down, passed half guard set up my ramadan rip and the guy went to sleep. The drama happened as I was shaking his legs, his coach though I was disrespecting his fighter so he decided to run on the mat and push me. The whole btt family jumped to my assistance. That coach decided he should prob apologize since he saw master murrillo in my corner. Second fight I fought Caiques son. Two time world champ. I swept the guy and he somehow locked up a triangle. I got out of it and eventially passed. It was a dog fight. It was an epic fight in which I won 5 to 0. Third fight. The guy pulls guard and sets up a collar choke. I stand up and keep posturing until he got tired. Eventially setting up the stand pass. Once I passed I got into his half where I immediately went to reverse half and passed. I set up the north south choke where the guy went to sleep. After I let go and went to celebrate with Master Marcelo, the fighter saidhe didn't tap. So I had to go back and re-submit the guy. Lesson to be learned.... Don't let go of a sub intil the ref pushes u off. Straight up Fourth fight- another Caique student of three years. I pulled half and swept the guy. Then we stoood up. And tangled for a while. We were off the mat and the ref told us to stop and go to the middle where that SOB pulls a fast one and takes me down. One min left in the fight and the score is tied. I swept the guy and then pulled half to end the fight and bring home the GOLD
• Carsell Swain: Result: Win (Gold). What happened: He won his first two matches via chokes and won his final two on points. Congrats to Carsell for winning his first tournament at Blue Belt.
• Marion: Result: Win (Gold).
• Jennifer Pattersson: Result: Win (Gold).
• Anthony: Result: Win (Gold).
• Vannary: Result: Win (Silver). What happened: Had to fight open weight and was 30 seconds from gold.
• Lev Lvovsky: Result: Win (Silver). What happened: Won his first fight via Ezekiel.
• Ify Nwadiwe: Result: Win (Silver).
• Franklin Quenga: Result: Win (Bronze). What happened: His second fight was a clinic with Franklin up 10 to 0 before finishing with an armbar. Outstanding!!
• Niner
• Lj
• Tom Vadakan
• Mike
• Vishal
• Singer

Great job to the BTT Kids on their 2009 South Bay Open results!! With only 14 competitors taking home an amazing 9 Medals the BTT Kids won the 1st Place Team Championship this year!! Wow. Our jiu-jitsu was devastatingly dominant.

• Matthew: Result: Win (Gold) - 3 wins 0 losses.
• Andrew: Result: Win (Gold) - 3 wins, 0 losses.
• Jake: Result: Win (Gold) - 3 wins, 0 losses.
• Brian: Result: Win (Gold) - 2 wins, 0 losses.
• Sam: Result: Win (Silver) - 1 win, 1 loss.
• Hector: Result: Win (Silver) - 2 wins, 1 loss.
• Rudy: Result: Win (Silver) - 1 win, 1 loss.
• Riley: Result: Win (Bronze) - 2 wins, 1 loss.
• Joseph & Edwin: Result: tie 0 wins 1 loss - these two will compete next week at BTT for the Bronze.
• Bill: Result: 1 win 2 losses.
• Bailey: Result: 1 win, 2 losses.
• Andrew Morales: Result: 1 win, 2 losses.
• Roland: Result: 1 win, 2 losses .

When all the dust settled, the South Bay Tournament results put Brazilian Top Team's Kids in first place as the school to win the most medals!!! Nobody could be prouder of these kids than their teammates, their parents, and teachers! Congratulations!

Following tremendous showings in recent competitions, Prof. Marcelo Perdomo, joined by Master Murilo Bustamante performed the semi-annual Long Beach BTT belt promotion ceremony. Every fighter was extremely deserving, once again showing just how carefully and thoughtfully Prof. Marcelo observes his student's abilities.

• White to Blue
• Brian Khou
• Daniel Parker
• Brett Cook
• Vince Lopez
• Jesus Sosa
• Erick Jiminez
• Roger Lee
• Kevin Lopez
• Feliz Gomez
• Marin Orellana
• Gerard Smith
• Alex Espinoza
• Hugo Mosqueda
• Joe Chavez
• Carcell Swain
• Rene Medina
• Hayley Brandt

• Blue to Purple
• Tom Vadakan
• Al Carbonara
• Singer Huang
• Raul Martinez
• Sak Pidech

Many of our previously wet-behind-the-ears white belts have turned from novices to hardened blue belts, hopefully starting down a permanent path within our sport. Seasoned blue belts have joined their old friends in the purple belt club after months and months of grueling work, getting pummeled by one another, and the purple belts whom they now join. Some of the new purple belts have waited years, with time off of the mat, only to come back and show their best to truly deserve the sign of dedication to the art. Congratulations to all of you!

BTT competed this weekend (June 20) at Grappler's Circuit. Not the best run tournament, but BTT brought it with almost 30 competitors. Here are the unofficial results. My apologies if I missed anyone (compiled from various texts and emails).

• John Orr: Result: Win (Gold), Group: Adult, Belt: Purple Belt.
• Erick Jimenez: Result: Win (Gold), Group: Adult, Belt: White.
• Ryan Howard: Result: Win (Gold), Group: Adult, Belt: White.
• Gorilla Joe: Result: Win (Gold), Group: Adult, Belt: White.
• Derrick: Result: Win (Gold), Group: Adult, Belt: White.
• Matthew : Result: Win (Gold), Group: Kids, Belt: White.
• Bailey : Result: Win (Gold), Group: Kids, Belt: White.
• Rudy : Result: Win (Gold), Group: Kids, Belt: White.
• Edwin : Result: Win (Gold), Group: Kids, Belt: White.
• Samantha: Group: Kids, Belt: White. What happened: Beat Gold Medalist, but lost on coin toss. (Her Bronze was truly a Gold.)
• Jake Orr : Result: Win (Silver), Group: Kids, Belt: White.
• Andrew : Result: Win (Silver), Group: Kids, Belt: White.
• Bryan : Result: Win (Silver), Group: Kids, Belt: White.
• Bill : Result: Win (Silver), Group: Kids, Belt: Yellow.
• Thomas : Result: Win (Silver), Group: Kids, Belt: White.
• Franklin: Result: Win (Bronze), Group: Adult, Belt: Purple.
• Omar: Result: Win (Bronze), Group: Adult, Belt: Blue.
• Albert: Result: Win (Bronze), Group: Adult, Belt: Blue.
• Rosh: Result: Win (Bronze), Group: Adult, Belt: Blue.
• Andrew : Result: Win (Bronze), Group: Kids, Belt: White.
• John the Ant: Group: Adult, Belt: Blue. What happened: No Loss, Injury
• Noah: Group: Adult, Belt: Blue. What happened: Lost coin toss
• Tom Vadakan: Group: Adult, Belt: Blue.
• Pat: Group: Adult, Belt: White.
• Iffy: Group: Adult, Belt: White.
• Brian : Group: Kids, Belt: White.
• Riley : Group: Kids, Belt: Yellow.
• Devyn : Group: Kids, Belt: White.
• Quentin : Group: Kids, Belt: White.
• Roland : Group: Kids, Belt: White.

Arguably the most competitive and toughest Jiu Jitsu tournament in the world was fought by three of BTT's finest. Fighters convened at California State University Long Beach from all over the globe. Below is an example of how BTT can put it on the line, and come out on top

• Carsell Swain: Result: Win (Silver), Belt: Blue. What happened: 1st match win 15-0; 2nd match wins a tough 4-0; 3rd match wins 2-0; 4th match Carsell is up by an advantage until about 10 seconds left. The ref calls him for "stalling" (Carsell is on top, in half guard), so his opponent is given an advantage point, and Carsell receives a -1. Carsell's opponent thought at first that Carsell won, and was very gracious and cool after the match.
• Kristin Davidson: Belt: Blue. What happened: Kristin lost a tough fight by I believe an advantage. Basically the other girl just held on to her in the stand up, and leaned into Kristin, and Kristin was never able to get her takedowns off. Tough one.
• Tony Pinedo: Belt: Blue. What happened: Tony won his first match, I believe 2-0. Lost his second match by 2-0, I believe.
• Rob 'on a Mission': Belt: Blue. What happened: Rob won his first by an advantage. I'm proud of Rob on this one, he fought very smart. Rob lost his second match 11-2, but almost caught his opponent in an armbar in the last second of the fight. Rob had great composure throughout, something that he is learning and getting better at.
• Rogerio Albuquerque: Result: Win (Gold) [super heavy] , Win (Gold) [open], Group: Super Heavy & Open Division, Belt: Blue. What happened: 1st match won 11-0; 2nd match won by a close one. Both had 1-1 advantage, but his opponent received a -1 for stalling; 3rd match won by a sweet armbar; 4th match won by triangle, at around the 2 min mark.

Nice Job Team!

BTT represented at the 2009 Pan American Jiu Jitsu Championships with 18 fighters taking home 7 Medals. This is the second largest BJJ tournament in the World, and as it takes a warriors heart to compete in BJJ competitions in general, this one also takes stones of steel. Marcelo camped out at the tournament for 3 days and coached the team to greatness. Great job to all competitors and supporters. The BTT family has never been stronger. Here are the results as I (John Orr) remember with the help of Tom Vadakan and the fighters themselves.

• John Orr: Result: Win (Gold), Group: Senior 1, Belt: Purple Belt. What happened: 3 fights, 3 wins with combined total score 23-2. Sound like a fighter coached by Marcelo to control the fight? Second fight vs. a 2007 PanAm Gold Medalist. 3rd fight vs. a 2008 Gold Medalist.
• JP Donahue: Result: Win (Gold), Group: Senior 2, Belt: Purple. What happened: 1 fight, 1 win. As dictated by JPura himself "Jp purp super heavy fought perfect and beat bill hotter of cesar gracie in dominating fashion to take the gold". He also rocked the luchador and btt tighties on the medal podium. It was all so f******g cool.
• Carsell Swain: Result: Win (Silver), Group: Adult, Belt: White. What happened: Won three matches and lost the final by I believe 2 points. He played very smart and used his wrestling background to dominate.
• Jen Pettersen: Result: Win (Bronze), Group: Women, Belt: Purple. What happened: Lost first in her weight and open to eventual gold medalist in each. I believe she won bronze in her weight.
• Tom Vadakan: Result: Win (Bronze), Group: Senior 1, Belt: Blue. What happened: 1 win, 1 loss (to eventual Gold Medalist). I got third in my division (Light Feather). Tom moved up a weight class and went down an age group, because there was no one to fight. The guy who won gold in the division, came up to Tom after the division was over, and told him he was by far his toughest opponent and he wished they met in the finals.
• Al Carbonara: Result: Win (Bronze), Group: Masters, Belt: Blue. What happened: Won his first two fights and lost his third. Fought like a warrior and an officer of the law. He did more serving than protecting!
• Rogerio Albuquerque: Result: Win (Bronze), Group: Adult, Belt: Blue. What happened: Rogerio displayed a clinic against his opponents. He won his first 3 matches using his great guard game and had amazing sweeps. He lost by advantage in his fourth match.
• Adam: Result: Win (Bronze), Group: Adult, Belt: Blue. What happened: Adam won his first two matches and lost his third. He will be a force in the future.
• John Thomas (JT): Group: Adult, Belt: Purple. What happened: JT had a war. He faced a guy with an amazing open guard. Got caught in the last 30 seconds by a slick armbar set up.
• Omar Sabha: Group: Adult, Belt: Blue. What happened: Omar subbed his first opponent with a gi choke. I thought the guy's head was going to pop off. He lost a close match on points in his second.
• Vannary Vong: Group: Women, Belt: Blue. What happened: She had a tough first match, losing to the eventual gold medalist. Lost by an advantage. Tough pairing.
• Kristen Davidson: Result: Won 2/3, Group: Women, Belt: Blue. What happened: She won her first two matches by points. Displayed incredible heart and fortitude. Was caught in a triangle in her third to eventual gold medalist. Quoted as saying "That'll never happen again. Damn arm in there."
• Ryan: Group: Adult, Belt: Blue. What happened: Plain and simple, Ryan should have been awarded the win. He was the aggressor and was in control the whole fight. They gave the other guy an avantage win.
• "Gorilla" Joe: Group: Adult, Belt: White. What happened: It was zero / zero and the judge awarded his Gracie Barra opponent the win. Who puts on PanAms?
• Hayley Brandt: Group: Women, Belt: White. What happened: Tough first fight loss. Hayley is tough as nails though ready to go with anyone.
• Albert Lee: Group: Adult, Belt: Blue. What happened: Lost tough first fight. Watch out for his high guard / rubber guard though.
• Noah Bou: Group: Adult, Belt: Blue. What happened: Also lost tough first fight. Tough wrestling background.
• Vishal: Group: Adult, Belt: Blue. What happened: Also part of the tough first fight crew. One to watch in the future.
• Joe: Group: Adult, Belt: Blue. What happened: Went 2-1. Tough as nails. One to watch.
• Erick Jiminez: Group: Master, Belt: White. What happened: Lost tough first fight.
• Pat: Group: Adult, Belt: White. What happened: Lost first match to ezekiel. will kill at will now.

Again, good job team.

After the No Limits tournament on Sunday, Juliano Prado (No Limits' head BJJ instructor and tournament organizer) took John Orr aside and asked permission to call their next tournament the Brazilian Top Team Invitational. Seriously, it was absolute BTT domination. 9 kids, 9 medals. Golds, Silvers, and Bronzes. We ran the show.

Our adults put on a clinic. Went 15 and 1. Our Jiu Jitsu was 300 percent better than their Jiu Jitsu. The 1 loss partially due to a pulled hamstring.

• Omar: Gold w gi. Subbed all.
• Albert: Gold w gi. Gold nogi. He doesn't even know what he's doing yet either at 19 yrs old. Watch out.
• Joe: Bronze nogi on one hamstring (pulled it bad in first fight and only loss). Won next 3 on a bad wheel.

We ran this tournament. I've never seen us dominate this bad. It is because our team is growing up. Nobody touched us from Gracie Barra to No Limits / Lotus Team to Neutral Grounds (who all had many compete and were smashed versus BTT every time). We looked like men amongst boys. Great support too from all the kids' families, to All Blacks, Jennifer, On a Mission, Franklin, Douglas, and whoever I (John Orr) missed.

• Devyn: win 2, lose 1. Both wins by sub. Silver medal. Dark alley = walk the other way buddy. Don't let "I'm only 4 yrs old" fool you. After the fight Devyn was seen out by Silvio's BBQ sipping a snow cone, stating "I train with the best to devastate the rest."
• Andrew: win 2, lose 2. Won 1st 2, loses Gold Medal round to take the Silver. Takes impromptu "superfight" after 3 other fights and loses a close one to take his 2nd Silver of the day. When asked by another competitor about the scrapes on his face, he said in a confused manner "What are you talking about?? That's how we roll at the 5:30 crew."
• Matthew: lose 2, win 1. 6 yrs old, 41 lbs. Fights 50 lbs first, loses 1 to Gold Medalist (kids are 25% heavier than him for those of you that are mathematically challenged). Bumps up to Yellow Belts in his own real weight class and takes Bronze. Looks innocent, but truly deadly.
• Isabella Maae: 0 wins, 1 loss. Rommel Dunbar comes up to me and awards her the Gold Medal bc nobody can step to her division. He asks if she can bump age, then comes back and bumps her weight, then comes back and makes her fight the boys. Eventually she fought Rousimar Palhares and lost a close one. Warrior.
• Navah Maae: 0 wins, 1 loss. Thank god this wasn't a street fight. She was overmatched by a very advanced boy who attacked from the bell, and worked out of the subs - at one point squaring up in such a fierce manner that I thought the poor kid was a dead man. Decision - other boy. Kid is lucky to be alive though.
• Jake: 0 wins, 1 loss. Unfortunate victim of match-up with Gold Medalist in 1st fight. Defended valiantly for 1:30 of 2:00 fight and eventually had fight stopped by arm bar by ref. Jake vehemently screamed "I never tapped!!" then cried in a manly fashion to his dad stating "I only got 1 fight dad..." When asked how many fights he was looking for, he said "At least 3 --- if Omar is in my bracket I could handle 33." Not happy at all as he watched the other fights in his bracket, humbly commenting "I'd whoop any of their a***s."
• Edwin: 0 wins, 1 loss. Fought a 17 yr old, as Rommel couldn't find any 6 yr old man enough to take on Edwin. Smiled the whole time. Somehow the 17 yr old ended up being twice his size. Someone help me figure that one out??
• Riley: 2 wins, 1 loss. Silver Medalist. First time Riley actually fought kids his own age and weight. Hyperventilated before the fight merely bc of that fact (brown paper bag really does work). Dominated the first 2 fights, lost in the finals 2 to 0 to Rommel's chosen boy in a tight one. When asked about the day afterwards, simply noted "That bike was mine. I already picked out the streamers for the handlebars. Anybody got a cheeseburger??"
• Bryan: 1 tie only. Silver Medalist. This ranks up there with Area 51, the Grassy Knoll, and the mysterious J-Pura. What actually happened?? Bryan attacks for 3 minutes while this kid backpeddles for the 3, then they just call it a tie. Then they say Bryan is 25 lbs too heavy, and he doesn't even get to fight the kid for the Gold. They give him the Silver, plus the map to Indiana Jones' Holy Grail. I'm still not sure what happened except Bryan chased around some little kid that wanted no part of him.
• Bill: 1 win, 1 loss. Takes Silver Medal. 12 to 0 in first fight. Dasrite BTT. 2nd fight loses to future Nobel Peace Prize winner who right now is only focusing on BJJ. Kid was sick. Bill was sharing ideas on the present state of US politics between fights with his opponent. "Good sportsmanship" was his motto to JO as JO instilled fighting strategy upon the young Bill "grasshopper."

• Kristen Davidson ‣ Blue Belt ‣ Female : Silver
• John Ma'ae ‣ Blue Belt ‣ Male ‣ Medium Heavy ‣ Senior 1: Bronze
• Robert John Soquena ‣ Blue Belt ‣ Adult Male ‣ Super Feather: Gold
• John Antognoli ‣ Blue Belt ‣ Master ‣ Adult Male ‣ Middle: Silver

All the students in the kids class have worked extra hard, congratulations for all your effort! Keep on training hard crew!! Only four stripes on a belt, then you move up belt color. The progression for kids is: White - Yellow - Orange - Green Once 16 years old, White - Blue - Purple - Brown - Black. Set your sights high!! Thanks for all the effort, hard work, and positive attitudes.

• White belts
  • Three Stripes
    • Riley
    • Brian
  • Two Stripes
    • Edwin
  • One Stripe
    • Navah
    • Brandon
    • Devin
    • Lil Alex
    • Jake
    • Andrew
    • Isabella

Well deserved, as always - who's next?

• Blue
  • Chevo Mendez
  • Brandon Recendez
  • Noah
  • John 'The Ant' Antognoli

Once again, fighters step up, and they get their due, congratulations!

• Blue
  • Omar Sabha
  • Khunvanary Vong
  • Kristen

No rest for the wicked folks - right after the SBO comes this!

• Chris - This was his first tournament, but you would have never known it. He battled his way into the finals and took a silver medal. His focus was amazing and his opponents never knew what hit them. I saw him blow a guy back with a double leg that would have made all us proud.
• John (Ant) - from John: I was nervous up until the time i hit the mat, as this was my first tournament too. I pulled half guard against everyone and worked the sweep before they could even come down on me. if not for a careless mistake with 30 seconds left while up on points, i would have made it to the finals as well. I did however manage to put my bronze medal opponent to sleep, so it was in a way a validation for my efforts.
• Noah - This was a big step up for Noah competing as a newly annointed blue belt. Up on points in the bronze medal match, Noah lost to a very slick sweep and kimora.
• Omar - What can i say about Omar? He rolled through his bracket, taking every match on points and took the gold. The highlight of the tournament though was when Omar rolled his way into the open division finals and faced a fresher 270 lb. monster. Omar actually swept him and (i think) could have taken that gold as well, but in the end, his opponent was just too big and rode a tired Omar out for the win. Everyone was amazed though at Omar's ability to fight over and over and never show any sign of giving up. That is what being a BTT warrior is all about.

After a short hiatus, with time to regroup our fighters, and for a better, stronger, more determined competition team (helmed by JT), BTT Long Beach posted some amazing results at the 2008 South Bay Tournament.
Not only did our adult competition team rise up with new leadership, so did our kids Jiu Jitsu team, first their results:

• Edwin "The Budda" 7 yrs old at 80 lbs got lumped in with a 9 year old, and fought him tough for 2 close matches to pull out a silver medal.
• Jake "The Mohawk" 6 yrs old at 66 lbs lost his first, but came back hard to score a Rear Naked Choke to secure the bronze in his bracket in his second.
• Riley "The Monster" 9 yrs old at 56 lbs fought a guy twice his size in his first match, won by dominating RNC in his second, and lost a close third match 3 to 0 (questionable as well b/c he didn't get points for taking the back)
• Bryan "The Jokester" 8 3/4 yrs old at 90 lbs fought very hard in his 2 matches
• Chris "The Big Brother" 13 yrs old at 120 lbs won his first in awesome fashion and lost afterwards in tough battles.

As far as our adult competitors:

• Omar Sabha fought at least four times. His last match was incredible! He was caught in a triangle choke, picked his combatant up off the ground and walked off of the mat with him. Omar was almost disqualified, however Caique, over ruled the referee decision and gave the opponent 2 pts. and made them restart. Omar then took his opponent down, established side control and went for the submission. My brother did it BTT style with a spectacular GI-choke finish, that his opponent tapped out to
• Khunvanary Vong took gold in the rooster division and then decided to compete at the next weight division where she placed Silver!
• Kristen fought some very tough opponents. She came, she saw and conquered. She took home the Bronze.
• Chris entered his first BJJ tournament and took the bronze medal. Chris, lost his first match, however I felt bad for the next three guys. He kimora'ed, arm-bar'ed and arm-bar'ed. He was so intense, he wasn't just there for points!
• Rob "Man on a Mission" took home the Silver.

Following hot on the heels of the Pan-Am belt promotions, two more of our fighters were promoted!

• Purple
  • John Thomas
• Blue
  • Luke Cozart

As of Tuesday April 8th 2008, Brazilian Top Team Long Beach will be training at a new facility located at 4323 E Anaheim St, Long Beach 90804. We will no longer be training at the facility on 7th and Junipero. There will be NO CLASS on Monday the 7th.

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After the Pan-American Jiu Jitsu Championship, Prof. Marcelo publicly recognized the hard work of several of our fighters. Congratulations to you for all of your hard work!

• Black
  • Brandon Dabu
  • "Big" Mike
  • Dave Harris
• Purple
  • JP Donahue
  • Raj "Elastic" Nair
  • Israel Sanchez
  • Lee McDermott
• Brown
  • Matt
• Blue
  • Kelly
  • Ed Gonzalez

Check out the gallery (login required) for pictures from the night!

Congratulations to all of our fighters, listed below are the medals that our fighters won. Win or lose, never forget how much courage it takes to step out onto the mat, as John Orr put it:
It takes a warrior's heart and courage to compete, and there is no bigger stage than the Pan Ams. I am proud of all our warriors going into battle over the next 3 days, and will be there to support you however I can. They say "Train hard - fight easy." We train hard.

• Gold
  • Israel Sanchez (Blue Belt, Masters, Male, Feather)
• Silver
  • Khunvanary Vong (Silver (White Belt, Adult, Female, Super Feather)
• Bronze
  • Luke Cozart (White Belt, Masters, Male, Heavy)
  • Franklin Quenga (Blue Belt, Senior 1, Male, Light)
  • JP Donahue - Blue Belt, Senior 1, Male, Super Heavy)