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.

The tournament is being held April 15^th, 16^th, and 17^th, and has a total prize value of $150,000. This is one of the largest purses in any Jiu Jitsu event in the world. The absolute champ will take home $12,000. Sure beats working in an office.

The event has the full support of the Abu Dhabi government and is supported personally by his Highness the Supreme Prince and Commander In Chief of the United Arab Emirates National Army, H. H. Sheik Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.  The tournament is being promoted as the largest in the world. Also new this year, there will be a womens division. It is great to see that women practitioners are gaining the same recognition in the sport as men.

Papa John will be attending with Gilson Fernandes .  One of the reasons they are going to Abu Dhabi is to support Jiu Jitsu International, and our Jiu Jitsu organization,  and discuss its participation amongst other countries. Sylvio Behring, president of the Jiu Jitsu Internationale Black Belt Council, will be there coaching Anderson Silva who is competing at a UFC event April 10th.

Also attending is Johnny Ramirez, who is a member of the USAJJ Black Belt Council and operates a successful Jiu Jitsu school in Los Angeles. As you may know, Johnny won the Abu Dhabi West Coast Trials which took place in Santa Cruz, CA on January 24th

The tournament will be open to everyone. Participation in the trials is not mandatory; however the winners of the trials have an all expenses paid trip to Abu Dhabi for the tournament.

This is a huge event featuring combatants from around the world. We all envy Papa John for his chance to take part in this amazing tournament.  Good Luck to Papa John and ALL the competitors, and have fun!

USA Jiu-Jitsu exists to promote Jiu-Jitsu as an amateur sport in order to encourage the International Olympic Committee to include Jiu-Jitsu in the games.

Your membership supports that effort!

New Breed Jiu-Jitsu owner Johnny Ramirez explains what USA Jiu-Jitsu membership does for the jiu-Jitsu athlete. Watch the video to hear what he has to say.

What do you think? How would USAJJ benefit you? Leave us your opinions here!

The market is flooded with schools offering grappling, submission fighting, mixed-martial arts and jiu-jitsu instruction. Consumers wonder which schools are legitimate and which are belt factories designed to take your money without offering any real skill training.

New Breed Jiu-Jitsu founder Johnny Ramirez tells us that USA Jiu-jitsu’s instructor certification offers a level of credibility no other body can. Watch the video to hear his thoughts on the subject. This is the second part of the interview we had with Johnny during his visit to our National Training Center

RSS Readers: watch the video here

USA Jiu-Jitsu offers instructor certification for all Jiu-Jitsu students who have achieved the rank of blue belt. The course is designed to aid in the development of students who aspire to teach the art to which they have devoted themselves.

New Breed Jiu-Jitsu founder Johnny Ramirez talks about why a student should attend the USA Jiu-Jitsu instructor certification course. Watch the video to hear his take on the value of the course.

Johnny is part of USA Jiu Jitsu Black Belt Council and one of the best instructors I’ve ever had the honor of rolling with.