Additional Contact Information

Evolution Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy

Team Royler Gracie-David Adiv

3965 Mayfield Road
(inside Cleveland Aikikai)
Cleveland Heights, OH 44121
Phone: (440) 941-3255
Email: graciecleveland@gmail.com

Updates

This blog isn't really updated anymore. Current information about the academy can be found on the academy website http://www.evolutionjj.com/ or facebook site http://www.facebook.com/evolutionjj

Thanks for visiting and hope to see you on the mats soon!

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Women's Self Defense Classes

Free Women's Self Defense Classes

Wednesdays at Noon

Evolution BJJ Academy

Team RGDA

3965 Mayfield Road

Cleveland Heights, OH 44121

For more information contact

Darren Branch

216-952-9921

Team Evolution at the Mundials / World Championships in Rio

Quick note from Rio. . .

Training has been hard, but going well. Ken Kenney competed yesterday, getting to the third round after submitting his second round opponent with a flawless spider-guard to triangle to triangle-armbar sequence. He lost a close 2-0 decision in the next round after being swept in an attempt to pass his opponent´s half-guard.

Congratluations to Ken.

Donald competes in the brown belt featherweight (pena) division tonight.

Also, be sure to check out Kid Peligro´s latest article on the ADCC website, which mentions Ken´s performance.

http://news.adcombat.com/article.html?id=11577

TOURNAMENTS IN TORONTO THIS WEEKEND

THE ACADEMY WILL BE CLOSED THIS WEEKEND (JUNE 17th - 18th) FOR THE BRAVADO JIU-JITSU OPEN AND THE ONTARIO SUBMISSION WRESTLING INVITATIONAL. DETAILS BELOW

There will be two tournaments this weekend in Toronto, Ontario. Both will be held on Saturday June 17th.

Many of us will be leaving Cleveland on Friday to travel to Canada. Accommodations are at:

Toronto Marriott Airport
901 Dixon Road
Toronto, M9W 1J5
CANADA

Call 416 674-9400 and mention the Bravado Jiu Jitsu tournament to receive the discounted rate.

The first tournament, to be held during the day on Saturday, is the Bravado Jiu-Jitsu Open.

The Bravado Open will be held at:

Martingrove Collegiate
50 Winterton Drive
Toronto, Ontario Canada

This is a GI TOURNAMENT but divisions will not be separated by belt. Rather, they are separated by weight:

Weight Classes:
less than 140
140 - 155
155 - 170
170 - 185
185 - 205
205 - 225
225+

and by years of experience:

Skill Divisions:
Novice = < intermediate =" 1-3" advanced =" 3+">Weigh-ins are from 8am - 10am on Saturday, so if you are competing, you will need to drive / fly to Canada on Friday. The tournament begins at 11am for adults.

Rules are typical Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu rules and the tournament costs $55.00 to enter.

Contact for the tournament is Tony Isaacs (416) 505-3165 and more info can be found at www.bravadojj.com

The second tournament is the Ontario Submission Wrestling Invitational.
This is an invitation-only no-gi tournament, with single bouts on the card.

The fight card is as follows:

-FABIO HOLANDA (BTT CANADA) X ROB SPIDER DICENSO (NOVA UNIAO) - MAIN EVENT

-Donald Park (ROYLER GRACIE - DAVID ADIV) X Nino Bezerra (BTT CANADA)

-AJ Scales (NOVA UNIAO) X Damien Sabourin (BTT CANADA)

-Joey Scardamaglia (KARMA) X Felipe Heidrich (BTT CANADA)

-Ashlin Kanawaty (BEHRING) X Tanya Vlahac (BTT CANADA)

-Dane Graham (TEAM KOMBAT) X Patricio Canales (BTT CANADA)

-Jonathon Lee (Schilling BJJ) X Greg Chadd (ALLIANCE)

Doors open to the event at 5:30pm and the event will start at 6pm.

More information can be found here: http://www.ontariograppling.com/OSWI.4.htm

Royler rockin' the threads!

Royler is currently in LA, along with Rolker and Rodrigo, helping Royce prepare for his upcoming UFC bout against current Welterweight Champion, Matt Hughes.

Recently, Kid Peligro wrote an article with an update on Royce's training, highlighting Royce and Royler working with James Strom, Royce's strength and conditioning coach.

Check out the article here: http://news.adcombat.com/article.html?id=11116

Also, check out Royler proudly wearing the original Team Evolution tee, for all the world to see.

Evolution Brazilian Jiu Jitsu / Team Royler Gracie - David Adiv wishes Royce the best of luck. With Royce's talent and dedication, combined with a stellar corner, he has all the tools to, once again, establish his place among the greatest UFC fighters of all time.

PAN AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2006

I leave on Thursday afternoon for Los Angeles to compete in the Pan American Championships.

I am competing in the Brown Belt Pena / Featherweight division, as well as the open weight / Absolute division.

The training has been good and I thank the team for all the support.

I'm hoping to have the following conversation in the LAX airport on Monday. . .

TSA Agent: Sir, would you step through the metal detector?
*Walks through the detector*

*BEEP!*
TSA Agent: Sir, would you mind removing that very large medal that's hanging around your neck?

Donald: Oh, this? No problem . . .

Upcoming Tournaments - April 2006

There are a handful of tournaments coming up the next few months. Although I'll be out of town for the Pan-Ams and a series of seminars with Royler, I would urge the team to participate in these tournaments, as they will likely be well-run and great experiences for both the seasoned competitor and those new to the competition scene.

TOURNAMENTS IN THE MIDWEST

April 15th 2006 - Milwaukee Challenge
2751 S Lenox Street
Milwaukee, WI 53207

This tournament will be run by Henry Matamoros, new black belt under Pedro Sauer. Keep in mind that this is Easter weekend and the day after Royler's seminar at our school. Weigh ins begin at 8am, tournament begins at 10am. Check out http://www.henrymatamoros.com/news_events.htm for additional information


April 22nd & 23rd 2006 - Great Lakes Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships

East West Martial Arts will be hosting a tournament on Sunday April 23rd in Livonia Michigan. The actual address is:

Madonna University
36600 Schoolcraft Road
Livonia, MI 48150

Saturday April 23rd, they will also host a two-part seminar with Jean-Jacques Machado.

Check out http://www.eastwestmartialarts.com/jjm.pdf for additional information


April 29th 2006 - In-House Tournament at Shawn Chitwood's Academy

Once again, Shawn Chitwood (Saulo rep) is holding an in-house tournament for friends of their academy.

Teams represented will be RGDA Cleveland, Shawn's academy, Relson's Columbus academy and Paul Jordan's Chu to Bu Judo academy.

This should be a small, but great tournament for friends and teammates. The last tournament was very enjoyable and a great experience for all involved.

The tournament will be held at Shawn's academy:

314 E. Main Street
Lexington, OH


Other tournaments in the coming months include the NAGA Chicago at the end of May and the NAGA Columbus in July (www.nagafighter.com for more details).

Royler Coming to Cleveland, OH

Royler Gracie, 4x Mundials Champion, 3x Abu Dhabi Champion and arguably the greatest competitive Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athlete in history, will be at our academy on Friday April 14th for a seminar at 7pm.

More details will come soon, but space will be limited. If you plan on attending, please express your interest to Donald ASAP.

This opportunity is not to be missed. As a competitor, a teacher and a fighter, Royler represents the best of jiu jitsu. As always, we are honored to have him at our school.

Nice Article from David Camarillo (Ralph Gracie Black Belt)

Just some thoughts on student obligation and how it may hinder ones technical potential...

Generally when I post I talk about what an instructors' obligation to the student is and how important it is to the paying customer that they receive their money's worth... But here I am going to talk about the obligation of the student. I thought of this recently as I have had some experience with this in my gym.

Whether it comes from a fighter or a Jiu-Jitsu student I have found that some people require more than just good technique, reinforced in a cooperative and friendly environment, to excel. In many cases whether or not they reach their full potential is in reality outside of their instructors' hands. There are many competent instructors that give everything possible to their students and the return sometimes falls short.

When reaching their full potential a student must believe their instructor to some end. They must obtain a certain level of confidence in what is being presented to them. In this line of thinking comes the best example of a students responsibilities to themselves: The over exaggeration of attributes, to gain positions that are desirable in Jiu- Jitsu, hinders the student from the realization of technique and what can be accomplished by being technical. At one time or another I have reinforced the importance of technique versus size and strength. I have reiterated time and time again that relaxing in Jiu-Jitsu is one of the most important things you can learn. To some it is a matter of succumbing to the natural components of the situation that makes the path toward technique an easy one to tread. For example, lacking in size tends to force one in the direction of technique versus in that of attributes. If one is lacking in size all they have left is technique to even the odds.

For the most part I have found that the ego plays a great role in this hindrance. I have had some personnel experience with this as well so I am going to continue as if it is correct. With the ego it is sometimes too much for one to handle that someone of equal or smaller size could stand a chance against them. When a student is put into this situation they react naturally, with aggression and strength. The student here may feel that he is learning but actually thwarts their potential by replacing technique with that of attributes to prove a point. In the end this type of thinking replaces logic and becomes their learning process.

Another example of the ego taking control of a student is the fact that in many cases the strength and aggression used in training sometimes may work. And there is a sense of accomplishment that naturally comes with that. We all want to feel like we are making gains in our Jiu-Jitsu training. And when we see quick results we tend to believe that whatever got me to this position must be the "right" way. In this case there must be an interruption in this rationale. The obvious answer to this is that a position gained with attributes should not be celebrated. The reasoning here is simple. If a position is gained without the technical ability to obtain it then it was forced and would generally not work on someone of equal or larger size. This is also explained in more detail when considering escapes that focus on strength as a means to accomplish the technique. In this case there is a tendency to believe that "powering out of a technique" is proper, and may seem so, but when attempted on a more advanced level student the result may be drastically different.

I believe these are some of the reasons that many people don't understand the importance of training with the gi. As technique should be our greatest asset, when you take the gi off you tend to depend more on your attributes and less on that of what you gain from taking the time to learn proper technique. It is in a sense of quick and easy fix to those who yearn for a feeling of accomplishment and self- gratification. As well as praise from fellow peers. If this responsibility is not realized than the technique and the extent of your potential will ultimately never be realized...

Furthermore it should be noted that I use the words "tend to" and "naturally" for a reason. I don't think it is a simple explanation why people do the things they do. For example: I think it is more natural that larger people tend to use more strength than a smaller person. Many times this hindrance is not a conscience decision. And I write this so that we may throw ideas at the problem to better understand it...

Evolution BJJ @ Arnold / Gracie Worlds

Team Royler Gracie - David Adiv took over Columbus, OH last weekend at the annual Gracie Worlds / Arnolds tournament.

The tournament was held in the Nationwide Arena over the course of two days.

RGDA - Cleveland, OH / Evolution Brazilian Jiu Jitsu brought 9 competitors to the tournament and took home 9 medals.

Donald Park won three medals over the weekend, including an impressive 1st place finish in the Brown Belt Absolute /Open Weight and a third place finish in the Professional Lightweight No-Gi division (where he notched a quick submission over the highly skilled Phil Cardella).

Continuing with this streak, Pete Sherer dominated his opponents and took the gold in the White Belt Absolute / Open Weight division, showing that Pete's hard work on the mat and in the gym paid off.

Jordan Goldberg took silver in the white belt masters middleweight, while Dave Ziegler fought through a very large division to win the silver medal in the white belt adult middleweight.

Lana Stefanak won the gold in her gi division and went on to compete in the Womens Professional No-Gi division. Lana took on the eventual champ, Kizma Button, in the first round. After locking Kizma in a tight armlock and nearly catching her in a guillotine, Lana eventually
succumbed to Kizma's guard passing skills and lost a close match, 3x0.

Rex Manos tore through the teens white belt division and placed 3rd, while Ken Kenney showed excellent sweeps and submissions in a 3rd place effort in the white belt masters welterweight.

Relson Gracie Worlds - Tournament 3/3 - 3/5

Relson Gracie's annual Gracie Worlds tournament will be held this weekend (March 3 - 5) in Columbus, OH.

We will field a strong team for the tournament and look forward to testing ourselves against some excellent competition over the weekend.

As the team will be in Columbus for the weekend, we will NOT have class at the academy this Saturday and Sunday.

If you are competing, or would like to watch, we are leaving the academy on FRIDAY at 7pm sharp to travel to Columbus. We will be staying at the Knight's Inn near Columbus for the weekend, should you need accommodations.

Please call me at 216 534 2033 if you need to get in touch with me over the weekend.

Best of luck to the team, and we'll see everyone on Monday.

Evolution BJJ to Serve As A Central Location for RGDA Jiu Jitsu

Cleveland, OH will be an unlikely mecca for jiu jitsu this weekend. On Saturday February 25th, David Adiv will be teaching two workshops at Donald Park's Evolution Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy.

Along with David Adiv and Donald Park, a number of Royler Gracie - David Adiv representatives will be in Cleveland for the weekend to sharpen their skills and strengthen the spirit of collaboration that is a hallmark of the Royler Gracie - David Adiv Jiu Jitsu association.

We've received word that the following RGDA representatives will be in house for the weekend of technique and training:

David Adiv (Black Belt, Head of RGDA)
Donald Park (Brown Belt - RGDA Cleveland, OH Instructor)
Jason Tabor (Brown Belt - RGDA HQ Instructor)
Jason Fox (Brown Belt - RGDA Warsaw, IN, Instructor)
Trevor Lewis (Brown Belt - RGDA Barrie, ON, Canada Instructor)
Dave Dayboll (Brown Belt - RGDA Port Colborne, ON, Canada Instructor)
Chris Robinson (Purple Belt - RGDA Newmarket, ON, Canada Instructor)
Gavin Enck (Purple Belt - RGDA Athens, OH Instructor)
David Medd (Purple Belt - RGDA Port Colborne, ON, Canada Instructor)

We also expect up to 6 more students (including another brown belt and purple belt) from our Indiana and Canada schools to travel to Cleveland for the weekend.

The strong showing from the representatives, combined with the 35+ students from RGDA Cleveland will undoubtedly make for the most active and well-attended RGDA collaboration EVER in the Midwest!

The Royler Gracie - David Adiv Jiu Jitsu association continues to grow rapidly in the Midwest and across the world. The movement is accelerating -- make sure not to miss it!

RGDA Shows Its Strength in the Cage and On the Mat.

The RGDA Jiu Jitsu Association showed its strength and versatility to the Midwest over the weekend.

On Saturday February 18th, 3 fighters -- AJ Pulling, Mike Russo and Jason Dent -- fought in the Gladiator Fighting Challenge / Caged Vengeance MMA show in Cleveland, OH. AJ, Mike and Jason are members of the Griffonrawl MMA gym and train with RGDA brown belt and
representative, Donald Park at his academy in Cleveland (Evolution Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - www.evolutionjj.com).

In the 170 lbs division, AJ Pulling dispatched Carl Miller quickly with excellent strikes from the mount, finishing the fight at 0:47 of the 1st round with an armbar.

Mike Russo put on an excellent display of Gracie self-defense by defending a guillotine attempt by his opponent, veteran Chad Truckovich, with a textbook overhook defense - to - crowd pleasing slam. Mike finished the fight early after delivering punishing strikes from the mount and ultimately catching his opponent with a rear naked choke.

Jason Dent took on Clint Zeedyk in the main event of the evening. Jason showed his talent in this fight and once again confirmed that he is quickly becoming a force in the 155lbs division. Jason took the fight by referee stoppage / TKO at 1:30 in the second round after dismantling his opponent with precision leg kicks, strikes from the clinch and excellent groundwork.

The team went 3-0 for the evening and showed an excellent blend of jiu jitsu and stand-up skill in a winning effort.

Team RGDA continued its winning ways the next day, when after a 4 hour drive (which began at 6am after the fights the night before, 8 members from Evolution Brazilian Jiu Jitsu / RGDA - Cleveland, Ohio traveled to Auburn Hills, MI to compete in the Champions Challenge no-gi
tournament.

Out of 8 competitors, the team took home 6 medals -- 1 gold and 5 silvers.

Jordan Goldberg stepped up after 6 months of training and fought hard in his first competition. Although Jordan's first round opponent was the eventual winner of the division, Jordan showed great skill and excellent technique in his first round effort. Jordan plans to compete at the Gracie Worlds / Arnold Classic in March, where he looks to build upon his tournament experience in both the gi and no-gi divisions.

David Ziegler competed on the opposite end of the bracket and dispatched of his first few opponents easily, showing a great deal of heart and superb technique on his way to a second place finish in the division.

Joe Ireland entered the lightweight division and showed why he is one of the most technical practitioners on the team. After dominating his first few opponents to reach the finals, Joe caught his opponent in a tight triangle choke early in his final match. After nearly two
minutes, Joe was forced to relinquish the submission attempt and eventually was caught with a figure four toehold at the end of the time period. Joe placed second in his division as well.

Mike Martin was equally impressive in his effort, displaying excellent takedown skills and undeniable heart on his way to a silver medal in the light heavyweight division.

Darren Branch and Brian Foley competed in the intermediate divisions (featherweight and heavyweight, respectively). Both Darren and Brian ran through their divisions with superb takedowns and impressive technique to reach the finals. Darren, who was battling illness,
fought hard in his final match against a competitor who was initially signed up for the lightweight pro division. After leaving the score 0x0 at the end of regulation, Darren and his opponent entered sudden death. Unfortunately, his illness got the better of him and Darren was forced to withdraw halfway through sudden death. Darren and Brian won second place in each of their divisions.

Back in the novice division, Steven Grubkin utilized excellent closed guard work and armdrag attempts to keep his opponent off balance during his first round match. Although he fought hard, Steven found himself in the unenviable position of being down 2x0 with time ticking
away. In an attempt to find the submission, Steven opened his game up towards the end of the match only to have his opponent take advantage of the opportunity to score more points and secure the win.

The final competitor was RGDA representative Donald Park. Donald entered the advanced middleweight division, competing above his normal weight class. After submitting his semi-final round opponent in 0:24 with a flying triangle / armbar, Donald won the division with another
triangle in a time of 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

By all accounts the team showed very well at the tournament and looks forward to the next opportunity to put on a display of RGDA technique.

R.I.P. Mestre Carlson Gracie

We received news that Carlson Gracie passed away this morning in Chicago. Mestre Carlson was a great fighter and once held the title of Gracie family champion. As a teacher and coach, he built one of the strongest jiu-jitsu teams in existence and helped develop numerous champions on the mat and in the ring and cage. Famous fighters including Amaury Bitteti, Ze Mario, Murilo Bustamante and others once listed Carlson as their instructor.

Carlson had been living in Chicago for a number of years, heading up an academy with his son (Carlson Jr.). He was in the process of building a strong jiu-jitsu and NHB team at the time of his death. His presence will be sorely missed by the entire jiu-jitsu community.

R.I.P.

Royler: #1 Jiu-Jitsu Fighter of the 90s

A few months ago, Gracie Magazine (www.graciemag.com) published their thoughts on the greatest Jiu-Jitsu fighters of the last few decades.






















Royler was voted the #1 Jiu-Jitsu fighter in the 90s. Rickson was voted the same for the 80s. Rolls held the distinction for the 70s.

Here's a link to the articles:

The 90's

http://www.graciemag.com/?c=148&a=3327


The 80's

http://www.graciemag.com/?c=148&a=2982

David Adiv Seminar - Saturday February 25th 2005

David Adiv, 2nd degree black belt under Royler and the head of the RGDA Jiu Jitsu team will be in Cleveland, OH at our academy the weekend of February 24th. (Friday night through Sunday)

David will be teaching two workshops on Saturday the 25th:

12-2pm: Gi workshop
2:30-4:30pm: No-Gi workshop

The cost of the workshops are as follows:

$80 for one workshop
$100 for both workshops

David will also be teaching private lessons on Saturday and Sunday. Prices for the private sessions (per hour) are as follows:

$130 for one person
$75 per person for two people
$65 per person for three people
$50 per person for four people

For more background on David, please see http://evolutionjj.com/david.html

As a bonus, that weekend we will also host a good friend of mine, Jason Tabor. Jason is one of David's top students and an incredible jiu jitsu athlete.

Contact me at rgda_ohio@hotmail.com or 216.534.2033 to sign up for the workshops or schedule private lessons.

***********************************************************************************

SCHEDULE CHANGE FOR THIS SUNDAY'S (1/29) CLASS

Team:

We will NOT be having our regularly scheduled class at 2:30pm this Sunday, January 29th.

Instead, we will be having a joint class with the group at Griffonrawl.

The class will be held at Griffonrawl (6070 Pinecone Road (off of Heisley Road) in Mentor, OH) at 12 Noon.

We will leave our academy parking lot at 11:30am SHARP for the class at Griffonrawl. We should be back by 2:30 or 3pm.

If you live far east of the academy, you may want to drive to Mentor separately. Please note, again, that the class starts at 12 noon in Mentor.

Call me or email me with questions.

Donald

Next Tournament (Champions Challenge - February 19th 2006)

Our next competition will be the CHAMPIONS CHALLENGE no-gi tournament.

The tournament will be held on Sunday February 19th and will be held at:

Avondale Senior High School
2800 Waukegan St.
Auburn Hills MI 48326

We will be training HARD for this tournament and will step up the no-gi portion of our training over the next month. This is a smaller tournament, but a great one. It is run by Caique's team, Warrior Way (in Michigan). Caique and his whole team are great people and excellent representatives of true Gracie Jiu Jitsu. We'll support this tournament as a team and will train hard to have a good showing.

I would encourage everyone to compete, as it isn't very far away and the cost is reasonable. Tournaments are not about winning or losing; rather, they are about testing your skills and spirit at a moment in time against other competitors. Competition is a great opportunity to develop your network of jiu jitsu peers (as you'll be coming up with them through the years), to better understand your strengths and weaknesses, and to test yourself in a competitive, dynamic and safe environment.

Additional details are below:

The tournament will start at 10am, registration will begin at 9am.

Fees for competitors will be $35 (with pre-registration) or $40 at the door.

The tournament is no-gi ONLY. The divisions will be as follows:

Mens Novice = 0-2 years experience
Mens Advanced = 3 years and above.

Womens and juveniles / teens will be placed in brackets at the tournament.

Weight classes:
149 & under
150-164
165-179
180-199
200 & up

General Rules:
-No obscene language
-No cervical locks (e.g., crucifix, can opener)
-No strikes
-No heel hooks
-No hands to the throat for the purpose of pinching of the windpipe. (Non-choking techniques to open the guard will be allowed.)
-No slamming: This does not apply to take downs but there will be no spiking of your opponent's head to the mat.
-No small joint manipulation

Judging and Scoring:
Clean takedown: 2 points
Passing guard: 3 points
Sweep from guard or half-guard: 2 points
Knee on belly: 2 points
Mount: 4 points
Back mount: 4 points

Please remember: In order to gain points for any postion, the competitor must show clear control for a minimum of 3 seconds.

Time Limits:
Novice - 6 min.
Advanced - 8 min.

Prizes:
All first place winners will recieve a samurai sword.
2nd and 3rd place winners will recieve medals.

Any other questions, please contact Dan Cousineau at 810-664-5574.

More ROTR VI Pictures

More pictures from Hawaii:

Pictures from 2004 Rumble on the Rock VI

Here are some pictures from Royler's fight at Rumble on the Rock VI (x Kazuyuki Miyata):

More random pictures

In an effort to quell the impending rebellion (owing to the delay in the official photo gallery), here are some more random photos:

Photos from Japan (K-1 Heroes - Royler x Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto):

2005 Holiday Class Schedule

Happy Holidays Team Evolution!

The academy will not have regularly scheduled classes between Saturday, December 24th and Sunday, January 1st.

Regularly scheduled classes will resume on Monday, January 2nd at 9pm.

Stay tuned to the blogsite, as there may be holiday open mats scheduled.

Also, here are a few pics from the last fight in Japan.



The team while training at the hotel:








Vini, why are you wearing that mask?














Oh, that's why. . .
















The next Pride Heavyweight Champion stopped by while we were working out at Gold's Gym in Tokyo (Omori):














Vini & Claudinho (casca grossa pa caralho!):














The team and Kelly Slater in the locker room:

Travel to Relson In-House Tournament

I just received word that we should be at the tournament between 11am and 12pm, not at noon as I had announced in recent classes.

Given that the drive to Lexington will take approximately 1.5 hours, we'll be leaving the academy at 10am (NOT 10:30am as I had announced.

If you plan on driving / riding down with the team on Saturday, please meet in the academy parking lot at 10am.

Also, please note there is no class on Saturday, but we will resume class on Sunday.

-Donald

Relson Gracie In-House Tournament This Weekend (Dec. 10th)

Relson's Columbus chapter (Jeff Hudson / Robin Gieseler) have been kind enough to invite us to their in-house tournament, to be held at Shawn Chitwood's (Saulo rep) academy in Lexington, Ohio on December 10th (Saturday). We will be taking a team down for some friendly competition.

Details:

Relson Gracie In-House Tournament
Location:
SCMA Martial Arts & Fitness
314 E. Main St.
Lexington, OH 44904
(419) 884-3888
www.teamchitwood.com

Start Time:
12 Noon

Cost:
$25 per person (gi and no-gi)

Rules:
CBJJ rules
www.cbjj.com.br

Academy Closed for Thanksgiving

The academy will be closed for Thanksgiving.

While there won't be official classes, there will be informal training sessions at the regular times on Thursday and Sunday of this week.

Regular classes resume on Monday, November 28th.

Happy Turkey Day, team.

-Donald

Relson Gracie Nationals - 15 October 2005

Columbus, OH

Relson Gracie held his annual Gracie Nationals tournament in Columbus,OH on October 15, 2005. One of the most popular events in the Midwest jiu-jitsu scene, the tournament drew competitors from across the country -- from California to New Jersey, Georgia to Hawaii, jiu-jitsu fighters came to test their skills and challenge their spirits. Some of the Midwest representatives of Team Royler Gracie - David Adiv sent a strong contingent to the tournament. Competitors from Donald Park's Evolution Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (RGDA - Cleveland, OH) combined forces with Jason Fox's Total Jiu-Jitsu Academy (RGDA - Warsaw, IN) to field a large group of highly skilled jiu-jitsu practitioners. At the end of the day, the team saw great success in nearly every division, proving again that Team RGDA has found a strong foothold in the heartland of America.

Results:

Patrick Rice (RGDA Indiana): Patrick competed in his first tournament and lost a tough match to one of the top finishers in his division. His experience was a positive one and he is training harder than ever in anticipation of his next tournament.

Joe Sickman (RGDA Indiana): Joe lost a couple of tough matches to seasoned competitiors. He fought well and gave them both very tough matches. Joe is training and looking forward to his next no-holds-barred competition later this year.

Jason Longmire (RGDA Indiana): Jason competed in his first Gracie Nationals as a purple belt and performed extremely well. He won his first match and then lost to a tough competitor in the finals of his division. Congratulations on a great competition and a second place finish.

Jason Dent (RGDA Ohio): Jason exhibited excellent takedowns and methodical submissions to win the blue belt lightweight gi division.

Mike Russo (RGDA Ohio): Mike took the bronze in his blue belt division. Mike went 2 and 1 for the day, catching his final opponent with a nice footlock from the bottom.

AJ Pulling (RGDA Ohio): AJ looked great in his no-gi division and after posting a few nice wins, had an absolute war with Jamie Toney(pro-MMA fighter), who went on to win the division.

Darren Branch (RGDA Ohio): Darren took the gold in the blue belt superfeatherweight gi division and showed some serious takedowns that were the talk of the tournament. He also competed in the no-gi 155 and under division (weighing 135) and lost by sub to Robert Bihn, whoe nded up taking the division.

Pete Sherer (RGDA Ohio): Pete took silver in his first tournament ever. His were some of the most exciting matches of the tournament. Pete came from behind in his first match (he was mounted) and spun fora nice armbar from the bottom to finish the match. After dispactching of his second opponent and losing a hard-fought battle in the finals, Pete exhibited great technique and heart in his first outing. Not bad for only a few months' experience.

Steven Grubkin (RGDA Ohio): With only 2 months of training, Steven showed a great deal of heart and awesome defense in his gi and no-gi matches. Everyone was proud to see Steven stay cool under pressure and mount some exciting offense as well.

Greg Wallace and Bobby Gilliam (RGDA Ohio): Greg and Bobby both lost their first round matches to very game opponents.

Lucas Beatty (RGDA Ohio): Lucas had a great tournament. He won the silver in the lightweight white belt gi division after three dominating wins and a heartbreaking judge's decision in the finals which saw Lucas holding his opponent in a triangle choke for nearly one minute. Lucas also competed in the no-gi 155 and under division and easily dispatched of his first two opponents to reach the quarterfinals. Lucas bowed out to Jason Fox, who went on to the semifinals.

Jason Fox (RGDA Indiana): Jason Fox competed in the no-gi under-155 division and dispatched of his first few opponents to reach the semi-finals in impressive fashion. In the semi-finals, he faced off against an excellent competitor from Gracie Barra - Cincinnati and lost a close match. Employing an excellent guard game, Jason'stechnique was superb in his efforts and drew positive comments from teammates and spectators alike. A champion competitor, Jason placed third in the division.

Donald Park (RGDA Ohio): Donald Park was placed on the opposite end of Jason's division (no-gi under-155 division). Competing with a broken hand and foot, Donald submitted his first three opponents in under 2 minutes combined to reach the semi-finals of the bracket. The semi-finals were much of the same as his opponent found himself caught in a reverse triangle as time expired. In the finals, Donald faced Robert Bihn (who previously defeated Jason Fox in the semi-finals) and fought a difficult back-and-forth match that ended after regulation with a tie score: 0 x 0. In sudden death overtime, Donald was taken down for the only score of the match and settled for 2nd place.

Overall, the team performed very well and showed that RGDA is a force not only on the east coast, but also in the Midwest.

Gracie Humaitá

Welcome to the Evolution Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy

Welcome to the official news site for the Evolution Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy and the Ohio chapter of Team Royler Gracie - David Adiv.

Team news will be posted here, along with articles and photos.

For more information on the team or the academy, please visit http://www.evolutionjj.com or http://www.roylergracieohio.com