Master Kazeka Muniz

Here is some great news if you live in Lancaster or Palmdale California. Master Kazeka Muniz, member of the Black Belt Council, has opened a new academy in Palmdale, CA.  The new school is named Premium Fitness and it is set to bring some much needed Jiu Jitsu love to the surrounding area.

Master Kazeka Muniz obtained his black belt in Jiu Jitsu from Carlos Gracie Jr. of Gracie Barra academy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He has trained alongside such world class jiu-jitsu fighters as Renzo Gracie, Ryan Gracie, Roger Gracie, Marcio Feitosa, Draculino, Soca, Pe de Pano, Gordo, and the Machado Brothers.

Master Muniz has lived in Krasnoyarsk, Russia and Tbilisi, Georgia (former Soviet Union) training with world and Olympic champions Adam and Bouvaisar Saitiev under world-renown coach Alexander Karniashvili. Master Kazeka Muniz was the strength and conditioning coach for 4 Olympic gold medalists in wrestling from Cuba. He is still welcome to train with both the Cuban and Russian Olympic wrestling teams.

In 2004, Master Muniz helped create England’s number one MMA gym, the Wolfslair, and was the wrestling coach for former UFC Light heavy weight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Ultimate Fighter Season 2 champion Michael “the Count” Bisping.

The Kids Jiu Jitsu class at Premium Fitness

Premium Fitness is a huge gym with plenty of room and equipment for training. And there are a LOT of things to train in. Premium Fitness offers Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, No-Gi Jiu Jitsu, Freestyle Wrestling, Kickboxing, and of course, a combination of them all for the MMA program.

A lot of attention is placed on the childrens classes as well. Master Muniz offers a Kids Jiu Jitsu and a Kids Wrestling class. It’s never too early to have your child involved in a healthy form of exercise, and starting at a young age will set patterns and behaviors that last a lifetime.

So if you’ve been looking for a  Jiu Jitsu academy in Palmdale or Lancaster, CA, look no further. Master Muniz can teach you what you want to know, and he does offer a free week pass. There’s a reason he is such a highly respected member of the sport and one of the governing bodies for this Jiu Jitsu organization.

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.