Hey everyone!
We are starting our testimonial page on our website, please email us how Gracie Barra Fullerton has made a positive impact on yours or your families life.
Everyone always tells me the benifits of GB Fullerton and I would to share your stories with everyone else.
You can email them to us at info@gbfullerton.
Thanks and cant wait to hear your stories!
GB Fullerton Staff.
Caveirinha is getting ready for move to Hawaii. Photo: Personal archives
A Gracie Barra black belt who has produced a great number of athletes in Minas Gerais, Aldo Januário, better known as Caveirinha, was called up for a mission on behalf of the team. The fighter is packed for Honolulu, Hawaii, where he will head training at Gracie Barra University.
“Master Carlos Gracie Jr. invited me to go to Hawaii to teach at Gracie Barra University. I expect it to be a bigger gig than what I did in Minas. Today, in Belo Horizonte (the capital of Minas Gerais state) I count 45 black belts, with several world champions and champions of a number of other major events. My team is one of the largest in BH and I intend to do something in even bigger proportions in Hawaii,” he says, very optimistic about the project.
“I feel the name Gracie Barra will be very strong there, a reference around the world. Working in the team for 23 years, I went from white to black belt under Master Carlos and, now this new opportunity has arisen, I’m not going to waste it. Everyone who knows me knows how determined I am and how much I love my team and students. We’re going to do great over there! ” he adds.
No stranger to challenges, the trip to Hawaii reminds him of the time leading up to his move to Minas Gerais to teach.
“It was funny. I showed up at the academy and Carlinhos said, ‘Caveirinha, do you want to make a living with Jiu-Jitsu? Then he go home and grab a suitcase; you’re going to go live in Belo Horizonte.’ (laughs) That was in 1997 and nothing was premeditated. But the master has known me since I was a kid and knows that I follow through with my end of the bargain. I showed up there without knowing anyone and gradually got the project moving. Nowadays we have academies in Europe and some of my students are with the master in California. The most important thing for me about this gig in Hawaii is that Carlinhos put faith in me again. My goal is to open 100 Gracie Barra academies in several countries!”
Aldo with students in Belo Horizonte. Photo: Personal Archive
In the meantime, Caveirinha is reminded how work at the branches in Minas Gerais carries on strong, and bears news.
“In Belo Horizonte my brother Fabio will be in charge. We have a number of new projects. Next month we’ll open a new academy, which will be the largest in BH, fully integrated into the Gracie Barra Premium Schools system. Students may only enter if they are properly uniformed and we will follow all the teaching methodology,” he says, going on to explain the advantages of the system.
“Of the branches I’m in charge of, half already follow this method. In my view, it’s revolutionary, preventing, for example, new students from getting hurt. Carlos Gracie and Marcio Feitosa are to be congratulated. It’s something that is good not just for the higher ranked, but also for beginners. These days, someone who enrolls at the academy then goes on to take his wife, children and friends to train. The overall organization is what makes the difference. This will revolutionize things and will be reflected in the number of students around the world,” he wagers.
Jiu-Jitsu to the rescue – Caveirinha is one of many Brazilians born into a humble family. For the resident of a poor community in Rio de Janeiro, sport, specifically Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, provided new opportunities in life.
Surrounding Master Carlos Gracie Jr. (middle), Caveirinha and family. Photo: Personal Archive
“My father left my mother, Betti, with five children. I’m from the Rio das Pedras community in Jacarepagua, and from a modest family. My greatest joy is seeing my brothers and family members all training Jiu-Jitsu. The sport has changed our lives and today we are happy for this choice and for being able to help our family a bit. My life was always been like this, a great battle. I suffered, but Gracie Barra is a family and I love it more with every day. For this reason there’s no such thing as team Caveirinha; it is all one. I fight and will always fight for Gracie Barra.”
Speaking of fighting, Caveirinha also made his name in competition. These days, though, he is focused on teaching, a passion of his. But, if need be, competing is not out of the question.
“I had the pleasure of winning a lot of championships and fighting alongside Marcio Feitosa at the Brazilian Team Nationals. I have a good CV as a fighter, but what I like most is expressing my love for the team and the pleasure I derive from teaching Jiu-Jitsu. For me the most rewarding thing is to see a student with a medal or developing good technique in practice. But I’m 31 years old, if need be I can fight still (laughs)! “
by Deb Blyth
The Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Fundamentals, four-DVD set was recently released to the public and I had the chance to sit down and review it for GRACIEMAG.com.
As a blue belt, I’m a self-proclaimed BJJ “addict,” a novice student who asks a lot of questions about the sport and longs to learn how to put all the techniques together efficiently and effectively. I’m always looking for tools to educate myself on the subject so, I was happy to check it out.
Marcio Feitosa orienting other black belts at GB America. Photos: Mike Pesh.
The GB Fundamentals DVD set is a comprehensive, 16-week curriculum that covers 32 classes (two a week) and over 60 BJJ techniques in the series. It’s comprised of BJJ and self-defense strategies that are divided into three phases, which include avoiding strikes, creating tight clinches, performing takedowns, and once on the ground, how to improve your level of control over your opponents through submission moves. The DVD set is geared towards both beginning BJJ students (including those with no BJJ background at all) and advanced students looking to master their BJJ skills.
The instructor in the videos is the Head Instructor of GB America, Marcio Feitosa. Feitosa is a 3rd-degree black belt who became a GB student at the age of 12 and a Jr. Instructor at the age of 14 at GB’s Main School in Brazil. He is a 3-time World BJJ Champion and Abu Dhabi champion, Brazilian Nationals, Brazilian Team Tournament and Pan Ams Champion. He grew up on the GB mats under the guidance of Master Carlos Gracie Jr., so he is an obvious choice to teach Master Carlos’ BJJ methods and philosophies.
I spoke with Flavio Almeida, Director of the GB Association, about the GB Fundamentals DVD to see what he thought I would get out of them, “How cool is it for you as a student to be able to review all the BJJ techniques you practice in class, at home? Regardless of a person’s belt level, there is always something new to learn or revisit. At the same time, you can better understand the history and philosophy of BJJ by watching the Master Carlos Gracie Jr. interview.”
Almeida went on to say, “There are over 300 GB schools worldwide. The majority of these schools use this curriculum to introduce their students to BJJ. But this video is not just geared to GB schools and students. It’s a huge asset that the whole BJJ community now has available to them, so we’re hoping that every BJJ school will use it. Master Carlos is the son of the founder of the art of BJJ. He learned BJJ from the source, including from his brother Rolls and his uncle Helio. This video represents what he defined as the fundamental techniques for BJJ and it’s a contribution from GB to the BJJ community at large.”
After my inspiring interview with Almeida, I went home to watch the video, armed with the knowledge that BJJ is like a puzzle and that each technique I learn is one more piece that will help me put the whole puzzle together. He told me that the purpose of these videos is to compliment my training. There is no order to the GB Fundamentals. Like a puzzle, I can add pieces to my over-all BJJ picture, by choosing whatever set of techniques I’d like to learn more about on any given day.
I started the video set by watching the Master Carlos Gracie Jr. interview. Listening to Master Carlos speak, I was impressed to learn that when he created a new school in Barra da Tijuca, he wanted to give the school an identity more relational to the city itself than to himself, so he called it Gracie Barra. He said that there were so many other Gracies involved in the school, he didn’t want to value his own name only. He wanted to put the focus on the entity as a group and not one person. This selfless, community-oriented vision impresses upon the viewer the true character of this inspirational leader.
After the interview, I moved onto the actual techniques. There are four volumes to the DVD set. Volume 1 covers Defending the Guard, Volume 2 trains on Side Mount Control & Escape, Volume 3 describes Back Control & Escape, and Volume 4 instructs on Passing the Guard. I started with Volume 1 and I have to say, I was instantly transfixed. The videos cover all of the classroom training that we receive during a regular Fundamentals class, but the video is far more descriptive than classroom training. Feitosa spends a lot of time explaining and detailing out each technique.
BJJ fundamentals: from Carlos Gracie Jr’s mind to files, and now to DVD.
For example, in instructing on the Front Choke Escape 1 and Ready Stance, Feitosa explains why you’d use this technique – to escape whenever someone grabs our neck. He then instructs on every aspect and detail of the technique from keeping your feet parallel and getting a good stance, to shrugging your shoulders and tucking your chin down because it makes it impossible to be choked, to bending down and making a shield in case of leg strikes to stepping back and circling your head out to prepare your ready stance, along with every aspect of ready stance – what to cover, measuring distance, and learning to walk in your ready stance (he makes a whole drill out of it).
As I watched, I realized that this instruction probably added at least 10 extra minutes to each technique learned in class with extra time spent on the finer points of each technique; things they don’t have time to teach in class, but are very important to learning the overall fundamental technique. For a question-asker like me, the video answered questions I could ever think of asking about each technique. I found myself nodding in assent to Feitosa saying, “OH! Now I get it. That makes sense to me.” If I had been watching the video with a friend, I would have made her get on the floor with me to practice each technique until I mastered it.
All in all, the GB Fundamentals DVD is a great educational tool for BJJ students to support their learning at home – it’s definitely worth the investment in your BJJ training.
On Saturday 02/13 we had our first parents and kids class here in Fullerton. It was a great sight to see everyone speadign time with family as well as training Jiu Jitsu. We even had to promotions for Madison and Peyton congrats guys keep it up.
We will definatly have another one soon!!!!
Guys sign up now to start receiving our newsletter on a monthly basis.
Hit the image above to see our latest newsletter!!
Cant see the form? Click here
Great News!
Gracie Barra has been nominated once again to be ranked as Orange County’s best martial arts school.
Lets show Orange County is the home of GB and we are here to stay!!
Don’t forget everyone this Monday our schedule will change for presidents day, it is as follows:
Kids class 9:00am-9:45am
All Levels 10:00am-11:00am
Live Training 11:00am-12:00pm (no, this is not a mistake! There is 1 hour of live training, so eat a banana and drink plenty of water. lol)
Hope to see you all there
Recently Professor Marcio put out an AWESOME video explaining a very special day in Gracie Barra History.
You can watch that video here. While we were busy creating this video Marcio wished he could give the students a better look at the workings of Gracie Barra.
Which leads us to today. Professor Marcio is now on Twitter, You can follow him @Marciofeitosagb.
We couldn’t be more excited to share all the new things Gracie Barra has planned. Being the president of GB Marcio is going to give us a first hand look at the inner workings of the GB Family. You can expect many updates from Mr. Feitosa through out his day, It could be anything from what he is having for lunch to a crazy technique he is teaching overseas. 
As you can see he is already on his way to getting his first stripe on his Twitter white belt.
Hey everyone,
This Saturday 02/13 from 9:00am-10:00am we will be having our first ever parents and kids class. This is an opportunity for adults to train with there kids, nieces and nephews regardless if they are students or not. No gi will be required for this class so just come and have some fun and learn Jiu Jitsu with the Family.
We will see you all there!!
If you have any questions please talk to Paul or call/email
