Recent Times

So I know I have been a bit slack in posting but I will start again ASAP. Let me know if there is anything in particular that you would like to know about. Also, this was for a uni project but if there is enough interest and you guys let me know I will keep up with it and let you know events going on, national and international, history about BJJ and MMA, more fighters profiles and anything else you guys ask for. So holla at me ;)

#TrainingLyf

Girls really need to start getting into training. It is so much fun and energising! 

  

 

 

Quick Update

IBJJF rules for age groups. The red dot shows what you are NOT allowed to do. 

Rough guide for getting to your BLACK BELT

 

Getting Back Into It

After injury and sabbaticals, 2 girls are back on the mats! More girls should come and join. It really is lots of fun and a great skill. 

 

UFC Greats

In 2005 the UFC started the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. A reality TV series about amateur MMA fighters literally fighting their way to get a contract in the UFC. TUF season 1 is when the UFC started to become noticed more and the grand final was the main catalyst. It was Forrest Griffin vs Stephan Bonnar and was donned fight of the year. This also shot the 2 fighters to fame and glory. 

Forrest Griffin
34 Yrs Old
Columbus, Ohio, USA. 
Light Heavy Weight (93kg/204lbs) 
6'3"/191cm
Team : Throwdown and Xtreme Couture
Wins - 19  Losses - 7

Forrest Griffin is a BLACK BELT in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Robert Drysdale. Before TUF season 1 he was a police officer and was persuade by Dana White to be on the show. He defeated Stephan Bonnar in the grand final and became the first TUF Champion. Dana White stated that this was "the most important fight in UFC history..." making Griffin and Bonnar UFC's favorite sons. 
2008 Forrest became the Light Heavy Weight Champ after he defeated Quintin "Rampage"
         Jackson by unanimous decision. 
2012 was UFC 148 and Forrest Griffin's last fight defeating Tito "The Huntington Beach Bad
         Boy" Ortiz
2013 he retired from the UFC and competitive MMA due to chronic injuries
2013 inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame

Stephan "The American Psycho" Bonnar
37 Yrs Old
Hammond, Indiana, USA. 
Light Heavy Weight (93kg/205lbs) 
6'4"/193cm
Team : Roufusport
Wins - 15  Losses -8

Stephan Bonnar is a BLACK BELT in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Carlson Gracie and a BLACK BELT in Tae Kwon Doe. 
Before the UFC and TUF season 1 Stephan Bonner was a two-time Golden Gloves Champion in the Super Heavy Weight Div. He had been training in BJJ, Tae Kwon Doe, Boxing and Wrestling. In 2000 he gradutated in Sports Medicine from Purdue University.  Even though in 2005 Bonnar lost the TUF season 1 grand final, he became a fan favorite. Due to injuries and a suspension he has had to give up a few fights.
2012 was UFC 153 and Stephan Bonnar's last fight, losing to Anderson "The Spider" Silva
2012 retirement was announced
2013 inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame

Updated

This is an updated schedule for LEGION XIII if you are interested in coming to train. 

Note : Junior BJJ is only on the the school terms. 

MMA Weights and Winning

Most competitions have 8 weight classes. (random fun fact lbs is for star sign Libra. The symbol for Libra is the scales)

Flyweight - 57kg/125lbs
Bantamweight - 61kg/135lbs
Featherweight - 66kg/145lbs
Lightweight - 70kg/155lbs
Welterweight - 77kg/170lbs
Middleweight - 84kg/185lbs
Light Heavyweight - 93kg/205lbs
Heavyweight - 120kg/265lbs 

The lighter end of the spectrum is known for being quick and agile, while the heavier weights are known for their hard hands (knockout power) and good grappling (mostly wrestling, judo and sambo)


For ways to win you can do the following to your opponent
Knockout - K.O - pretty self explanatory (you are unconscious for any period of time)
Technical Knockout - TKO - the referee thinks the opponent is unable to continue the match 
Submission - again, pretty self explanatory (arm bar, kimora, rear naked choke, triangle, etc)
Decision - The fighters fight all rounds (3-5) and a panel of 3 judges score each round (usually out of 10) and the person with the most points wins. These points are based on the number of take downs, submission attempts, how many kicks and punches landed)
               - Unanimous Decision is when all 3 judges agree on the winner
               - Split Decision is when 2 judges agree on 1 fighter winning and the 3rd judge
                 scores in the other fighters favour
               - Majority Decision is when 2 judges agree on a winner and the 3rd judge says the 
                 fight was a draw
               - Minority Draw is when 1 judge scores in favour of one fighter and the 2 other 
                 judges agree the fight was a draw

If you want a closer look at rules and regulations here are the rules that are UFC sanctioned. 

Current UFC Champions (as of may 2014)
Fly - Demetrious Johnson
Bantam Mens - Renan Barao
Bantam Women - Ronda Rousey
Feather - Jose Aldo
Light - Anthony Pettis
Welter - Johny Hendricks
Middle - Chris Weidman
Light Heavy - Jon Jones
Heavy - Cain Velasquez

Current Bellator Champions (as of may 2014)
Bantam - Eduardo Dantas
Feather - Pat Curran
Light - Eddie Alvares
Welter - Doug Lima
Middle - Alexander Shlemenko
Light Heavy - Emanuel Newton
Heavy - Vitaly Minakov

PRIDE FC Champions (PRIDE finished in 2007)
Light - Tankanori Gomi
Welter - Dan Henderson
Middle - Dan Henderson
Heavy - Fedor Emelianenko  

More To Come

Mixed Martial Arts is a pretty misunderstood sport. It is harder than people know, especially the training and sacrifices and it is also a lot less violent than people think. There are actual rules to make it safer like - no eye gouging, no biting, no knees to the head when arms or hands are touching the ground, head butting, groin area, striking the back of the head and more. 
Over the few days I'll be telling you more about MMA and where it started to it's international following. 

MMA is a sport that combines a mix of different martial arts that involve striking and grappling. Some of these are Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, Samba, Wrestling, Boxing and Judo. Before the UFC there were competitions around the world that involved opponents using a mix of martial arts against each other. Some time in the 1920's Brazil started something called Vale Tudo (full-contact unarmed combat event) and was brought to the US in 1993 by the Gracie family and the UFC was created. This was the year that the term Mixed Martial Arts or MMA was coined in a review of UFC 1. UFC 1 - 3 was a bit of a free for all and had boxers against wrestlers and taekwon doe black belts against judo black belts, there were not a lot of rules and it was usually very one sided, but still entertaining. It probably wasn't until PRIDE FC was formed in 1997 that it became more internationally recognised and followed, especially in Japan and Russia.  

Video

A bit late I know but here is a small video of Andy and Reid having a little roll after the seminar in March. 

 

Girls Of Jiu Jitsu

While this is a more of a male dominated sport, there are women out there that are just as good (if not better ;) than the men).

Kyra Gracie
28 Yrs old.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Lightweight (58kg/141lbs)
 Kyra Gracie is pretty much Brazilian Jiu Jitsu royalty being the grand daughter of Robson Gracie (son to Carlos Gracie Sr.). Having grown up around her uncles, black belts Ralph, Ryan and Renzo, Kyra was around the sport all the time and trained for fun as a toddler. When she was about 11 she started to train seriously and competing once she was a YELLOW  BELT. It was such a male dominated sport at the time her family felt that Kyra should quit Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but she was determined to keep going, getting her BLUE BELT in her mid teens. Kyra stayed an active competitor her whole BJJ career, now she is a 2nd DEGREE BLACK BELT under her uncle Carlos Gracie Jr at Gracie Barra, California.
- 2005/2007/2011 GOLD Abu Dhabi World Championships
- 1998/1999/2000/2001/2005/2008 GOLD Brazilian National Championships
- 2010 World Championships. 
Kyra is now teaching BJJ, looking into breaking into the MMA circuit and does multiple seminars, interviews and some acting in movies and tv shows. 

 

Hillary Williams
 25 Yrs old. 
Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.  Middleweight (69kg/152lbs)
Hillary started training in 2006 at Westside MMA under Roli Delgado and Matt Hamilton. She started competing as soon as she could and started winning comps left and right. In 2010 Hillary was given her BLACK BELT just a short 7 months after receiving her BROWN BELT, making it 4 years from the time she was a white belt. Hillary quickly became a dominant figure in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu community, especially for women. Some of her career highlights are 
- 2007 GOLD Pan Jiu Jitsu Championships - white belt div
- 2007/2008 GOLD Pan Jiu Jitsu Championships - purple belt div
- 2010 GOLD World Professional Jiu Jitsu Cup Trials - brown/black div
- 2010 GOLD World Championships IBJJF - brown/black belt div
Hillary currently studies Biology at the University of Arkansas.

Mackenzie Dern
21 Yrs old
Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Featherweight (58kg/129lbs)
Being the daughter of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu BLACK BELT, Wellington Dias, Mackenzie was around the sport from the birth and started training when she was just 3 years old. As a child Mackenzie competed in every comp and by the age of 14 she was already competing as an adult BLUE BELT and winning. With a BJJ lineage like her's (Carlos Gracie Sr., Helio Gracie, Royler Gracie, Wellington Dias) it is not hard to see that she holds the female world record of the most consecutive wins at the World Championships and the first female ever to fight in the Metamoris Invitational Draw. At such a young age Mackenzie has a lot of accomplishments under her... black BELT, which she received in 2012.
- 2008 to 2010 GOLD World Championships - blue belt div
- 2011 GOLD Pan America Championships - purple belt div
- 2011 GOLD World Championships - purple belt div 
- 2012 GOLD Pan America Championships - brown belt div
- 2012 GOLD World Championships - brown belt div
- 2012 BRONZE Abu Dhabi World Pro - brown belt div
- 2013 SILVER Abu Dhabi Pro - black belt div

 

Australian Girls In Gi

This is not a club. It is a support network founded in 2010 by PURPLE BELT, Jess Fraser. AGIG is helping to promote Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for women and encouraging them to train. You can find a selection of gyms on their website for VIC, NSW, QLD and WA. If you don't live in any of these states you can always contact them and they will be able to tell you a suitable gym near you. AGIG understand that it is not easy for women to get into the sport or even feel like they are in a good and safe environment, so they get out there and show that there are places like this and are there to support and help you  

Clothes

Here are the new Legion XIII tshirts. Designed by yours truly.  A little different from what it was originally but that's ok. (white is the printed, black is the actual design and below are last years jumpers)

 

This Weekend

Keep up with events and go see Brace MMA 17th of May at the AIS arena, Canberra.

Lately

So the 10th of May was a Triple Bull Jiu Jitsu competition in Wollongong. Unfortunately only one person could compete, Stephen Owens in the adult purple belt gi and no-gi. While there was no medals, he went very well against the current top ranked purple belt giving him a lot of hassle and only losing by 2 points. 

Competing

Triple Bull Jiu Jitsu has a comp on this weekend at Wollongong. If you have any interest in the sport come down and have a look. Watching the kids and black belts compete is always fun. You will see some really great (and let's face it, not so great) skills. IBJJF have also released a new set of rules.

Kids Classes at Legion XIII in Canberra also start today.

The Cutest

It's great watching little kids get into martial arts. Check out these 2 little ones doing Taekwandoe 

there is also this video 

 

Coaches Challenge

I live for coaches challenge episodes when it comes to The Ultimate Fighter and TUF 3 Brazil did not disappoint. Ok so that is a lie, i was a little disappointed that it didn't go for longer or was funny like the TUF Nations Aus v Can but that's ok. Sonnen and Silva had a little bit of a soccer comp. A few drills and the first one to score 3 goals. I won't the rest away. You should watch and see it for yourselves! 

http://www.ufc.com/news/tuf-brazil-3-episode-9-recap

No Time For Losers

A massive congratulations to Legion 13 member Reza Almasi on win his win by TKO! Huge amounts of dedication, hard work, good corner men and team mates for support, you can accomplish anything. :)

 

All Women!

For the first time ever there is going to be an all women's The Ultimate Fighter for season 20. It is a new weight class, straw weight (115 pounds or 52 Kg) There is no title holder at this weight, obviously, so the winner will become the straw weight womens champion! So this is a massive opportunity for these girls. Check out this article for behind the scenes.

There are amazing women out there and more and more girls are getting into the sport. It really is a great way to get fit and learn self defense.