USA Jiu Jitsu National Tournament Director, Chris Stolzman, has had a busy month doing a lot of really cool things for Jiu Jitsu.

In the beginning of March, Chris flew out to Los Angeles. There he worked alongside Johnny Ramirez, owner of New Breed Acadamy, rolling out a new series of staff development seminars for four of Johnny’s gyms. Staff from Portland, Chicago and, of course, the L.A. branch were in attendance. While Chris was there, Johnny also officially chartered his school.

While on the west coast, Chris also visited Kazeka Muniz, who has been Chris’s primary coach for the past several years, as well as his good friend.   Chris also made Kazeka an official member of the Black Belt Council. And while Chris was there, Kazeka also officially chartered his school. Kazeka Muniz is also flying to England this week in order to run the training camp at the Wolf’s Lair for Rampage, who will be fighting Rashad Evans in an upcoming UFC match.

After Chris finished on the west coast, it was back to D.C. to spend a week organizing the  National Tournament. He is trying to arrange airline and hotel sponsors, as well as finalize the venue location. USAJJ is very excited to bring another international level of competition to the U.S.

And while he was here was when we had our visit from Master Behring. Chris was honored to assist Master Behring with the seminar at Fort Meyer for the Level 2 Combatives.  Also, Papa John and Matt Larsen are initiating a program to certify all the Level 4 Combatives graduates as Blue belts in Jiu Jitsu, recognition they certainly deserve.

Mark Selbee, Laura Hart, Master Murgel, and Chris Stolzman

From D.C., Chris headed to Atlanta. There he was able to practice with Master Ricardo Murgel at KnuckleUp. Chris was very impressed with the direction Master Murgel has taken the Jiu Jitsu program. Master Murgel’s team has recently won the NAGA Nationals. Master Murgel is also a member of the Black Belt Council and we are excited to have him help drive the future of Jiu Jitsu in America. Master Murgel also agreed to hold a seminar at the NTC in the beginning of May and we are looking forward to that.

Then it was up to Cincinnati to meet with Jorge Gurgel who just opened a new academy in Westchester. They talked about the future of USAJJ and holding the Mid-West regionals in  Cincinnati. Now Chris is back in D.C. to finalize the National Tournament.

And with all of this going on, our Director, Chris Stolzman, STILL managed to train at least 3 days a week.