Special guest, Larry Shealy!

Hey everyone, good news! We’re going to have an Instructor Certification Course later this month. If you are an instructor, an assistant instructor, or just want to be an instructor eventually, you’re exactly who we want to help. Teaching Jiu Jitsu takes a certain set of skills that need to be just as developed as your skills on the mat.

We’re holding it over a three day period, June 25, 26, and 27th. It will be two full days of instruction on Friday and Saturday, then a partial day on Sunday followed by graduation and certification.  It will be at the USA Jiu Jitsu National Training Center, 7841 Rolling Road,Suite D. Springfield, VA 22153.

As a special bonus, we’ll be having a guest instructor, Larry Shealy! Larry has been a member of USAJJ nearly from the get go, and is renown for his involvement in th Jiu Jitsu community. He is also a black belt, and a member of the Black Belt Council.

In 2003, Larry began developing the “Kid-Jitsu®” program along with the “Kid-Jitsu® Values Program”. This trademark registered program teaches children the fundamentals of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, while weaving targeted values into each lesson within the “Kid-Jitsu®” Children’s Curriculum.

So come down to the NTC and learn proper techniques for teaching Jiu Jitsu to other people. It’s guaranteed to be fun, and it will help you become a better teacher. Register online or call the NTC to reserve your spot now. Cost is free to member schools for the primary instructor, $175.00 for individual members, $250.00 for non-members.

Did you HEAR it? That’s intense! And with the big gash from the surgery, it looks even crazier in person. The best part, though, is how he just walks off like it’s not a big deal. That’s tough.

Morrison was competing in Mission Submission 1.5 when it happened. When Morrison passed his opponent’s guard, Jay Speight a very talented 16 y/o, he set up a move called a Bicep Slicer. It’s called a Bicep Slicer; bet that’s a little worse than a Charlie Horse.

A Bicep Slicer is a painful move (no, really?)  that super extends the nerves in the bicep and the forearm, but it’s not intended to break any bones. No submission in MMA is intended to break bones – they are aimed at joints and ligaments.  What happened to Morrison was a really freaky accident.

An expensive one too. To the tune of $47,000. that’s a LOT more than a membership in USAJJ.

What happened to Morrison. Both bones snapped.

While we may practice and take precautions against injury, it can still happen to anyone. That’s why it is important to have the insurance. Here’s the breakdown:

General Liability -This program provides protection for your Martial Arts School its owners, directors, instructors and employees against claims of bodily injury liability, property damage liability and the litigation costs to defend against such claims.
Coverage is provided up to $1,000,000.00 per occurrence with a general aggregate amount of $2,000,000.00. There is no deductible and no charge for additional insureds.

School owners register for USAJJ here.

Accident Insurance - All youth and adult students and staff members of the Policyholder are covered while participating in sponsored activities. A member is also covered while traveling, directly and without interruption, to and from any Policyholder sponsored activity and his or her home or place of residence. Coverage is $100,000 per accidents with a $250 deductible.

Individual members register for USAJJ here.

So if you’re not a member, maybe you should reconsider. Unless you carry $47,000 in your back pocket.

Donnie Tinsley and Students

We recently welcomed Donnie Tinsley to our Jiu Jitsu organization and he just sent us an announcement concerning a tournament coming up. Coastal Combat Circuit is hosting Mission Submission 1.5 in Elizabeth City, NC.

If you live in North Eastern North Carolina, you know that tournaqments are few and far between in the area, but Donnie is hard at work to change that. Mission Submission 1.5 is the highly anticipated follow up to the the successful Mission Submission tournament.

This event is a Nationally Ranked No-gi Jiu Jitsu tournament and is being held Saturday April 3^rd.  The tournament will be located at 300 E. Elizabeth St. in Elizabeth City on the corner of Elizabeth and Road St.  Don’t forget that a percentage of ALL profits go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

If you live in the area, go check it out. There will be plenty of action and teams from all over. Plus you’ll be helping a great cause. For more info, go to the Coastal Combat Circuit homepage.

And don’t forget, if you have an event coming up, let us know!



Commissioner Papa John Gorman, Tournament Director Chris Stolzman, and NTC GM John Eidman have all been working long and hard to get this off the ground and in action. And while many of the details are still being ironed out, we are urging people to start pre-registering now. Many schools and teams have already committed, including New Breed Academy, Behring Jiu Jitsu, and KnuckleUp.

The location for the tournament in Las Vegas has been narrowed down to two venues, and once one is decided on, we’ll be sure to post it immediately.  Once we have a better idea of the number of people who will attend, we can work out all the rest of the details.

Also at the tournament, we will be posthumously presenting an award to founder Helio Gracie for his dedication and perserverance in making Jiu Jitsu what it is today.

Sorry for the scant details, but we wanted people to know this is finally happening. So mark your calendars for August 7th, and start training now. The first USA Jiu Jitsu tournament is now official!

Jordan Military during troop maneuvers

Here is some exciting news. “Papa” John Gorman has been honored with an invitation by King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein of Jordan to visit his country!

The official invite came on behalf of the kings military. There, Papa John is planning to discuss the Modern Army Combatives Program with the Jordanian military.

The goal of Modern Combatives is to build real combative ability by teaching realistic training methods and growing self sustaining indigenous Combatives programs within units and organizations. It is focused on hand to hand combat, and Jiu Jitsu is a fundemental part of the system. It was developed by Matt Larsen, a member of the USAJJ Black Belt Council.

Papa John is also going to invite members of the Jordanian military to come to Fort Benning in Georgia to train. Fort Benning is the home of the United States Army Combatives School, started in 2002.

The school offers four levels of instructor certification, and it would allow Jordanian soldiers to learn here in the States, then return home and pass on the instruction. Also, instructors from the USACS could travel to Jordan, allowing for a mutually beneficial cross cultural training exchange.

And possibly even more exciting, Papa John is going assist in founding Jiu Jitsu Jordan, which will be yet another national organization under the Jiu Jitsu Internationale banner. Every country that joins our Jiu Jitsu organization brings us one step closer to our dreams of participating in the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

So good luck Papa John and have a safe trip!

USAJJ officially 501(c)(3)

USA Jiu Jitsu has finally been approved for 501(c) (3) tax-exempt status! We are one of the only Jiu Jitsu organizations in the country to have this status. Here is an explanation of why this is so important to our cause.

We are now recognized by the U.S. Government

A 501(c) organization, like USA Jiu Jitsu, or simply “a 501(c)” is a tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation or association. Section 501(c) of the United States Internal Revenue Code, provides that 26 types of nonprofit organizations are exempt from some federal income taxes. USAJJ is type 3 which includes organizations that are Religious, Educational, Charitable, Scientific, Literary, Testing for Public Safety, to Foster National or International Amateur Sports Competition, or Prevention of Cruelty to Children or Animals . Obviously, we fall under the International Amateur Sports Competition heading. By law, 501(c)(3) orginizations are subject to limits or absolute prohibitions on engaging in political activities.

So what does all this mean?

It means that USAJJ is officially and legally non-profit.

It also means that as a member of USA Jiu Jitsu, you belong to an organization that has no motives other than to promote the sport of Jiu Jitsu. We have always firmly believed in an organization that is free of politics and egos.

We hold that the promotion and support of Jiu Jitsu as a whole must come before any individual concerns. We will never promote any political party, or be used as a political tool.

And most importantly of all, these facts are recognized by the United States Government.This brings us one step closer to our goal of having Jiu Jitsu in the 2016 Olympics.

Today is a wonderful day in the world of Jiu Jitsu.

USAJJ All American Winners

USA Jiu-Jitsu proudly announces the recognition of USA Jiu-Jitsu All-Americans.

The board of directors unanimously voted to recognize the USBJJF (United States Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation) American National Championship as the precursor to the not-for-profit USAJJ National Championship (to be announced at a later date).

Athletes that placed in the top three medal spots of competition (weight division and/or absolute) in the years preceding the USAJJ National Championships are hereby designated “All-Americans.”

This is one of the many efforts to promote national pride in the efforts of our early Jiu-Jitsu athletes as the organization works with Jiu-Jitsu International to make the Olympic dream a reality.

In the future designated All-Americans will be able to request a certificate recognizing their outstanding accomplishment.

On behalf of the USAJJ board of directors and commissioner we would like to congratulate these athletes and encourage future competitors to strive for this All-American mark of excellence in the US Jiu-Jitsu community.

This course took place from 12/04 to 12/06 at the USAJJ’s National Training Center in Washington, DC.

Students were exposed to different teaching methodologies, leadership development, business planning, and even how to plan a tournament. These concepts go well beyond technique to produce well-rounded teachers, instructors, and academy owners.

As you’ll see on the video, the course mixes lecture with practice; the ITC students take turns teaching an actual class in which even white belts are in charge of correcting and guiding upper belts. This training gives them the ability to become assistant instructors (in the case of white belts) or even the head instructor (for blue and purple belts that operate away from a black belt).

The last day of the course is dedicated to tournament planning, referee education, and the instructors are divided into the multiple staff requirements of a big tournament: timekeepers, score keepers, referees, registrations, weigh-ins, and tournament director.

After debating the best strategies, ITC students are put in charge of running an actual USAJJ In-House tournament.

The last tournament was broadcast live on uStream this past Sunday, and it was a great hit.

Below, check out pictures of the award ceremony for both the Instructor Training Course and the in-house tournament.