A partir de hoy, 2 Diciembre, empezamos a entrenar en el gimnasio nuevo que se esta montando Augusto, en el edificio a lado de SmallWorld Cafe, cerca del disco de Olivia Valere en la carretera de Istan. El horario es el mismo — 20:30h a 22:00h. Hay un link abajo a una mapa.

Beginning today, December 2, training will take place in a new gym, being setup my Gracie-Barra member Augusto. The gym is in the same building as the SmallWorld Cafe, close to the Olivia Valere disco in the Istan road (in Marbella). Training times are the same — 8:30 pm to 10:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Below is a Google map to the location.

Map to the new gym…

Google map to the new gym

NEW FACEBOOK PAGE

A new Facebook Page has been created to help keep everybody informed about Gracie-Barra Marbella, and to announce events. Please visit the page, become a Fan, and let others know about it. Thanks!

Gracie-Barra Marbella Facebook Page

For the past week or so, we’ve had the pleasure of having Nabil Khrissi, of Paris, France, training with us at Gracie-Barra Marbella. Nabil is a very talented brown belt under Master Ricardo de la Riva.

It’s always great to have the opportunity to train with high-level BJJ practitioners from other schools. It was particularly nice having Nabil with us, as, in addition to having a very solid BJJ game (he received his brown belt after only three years!) he’s also a really nice guy, that we all came to consider a new friend.

We’re looking forward to seeing Nabil again here in Marbella, or perhaps at the upcoming ADCC in Barcelona, and the BJJ European Championships next year in Portugal.

This year GB Marbella sent 10 people to compete, who returned home with seven medals:

• Vinicius Moura took bronze in his black-belt category.
• Jose Antonio Merida (of our partner school in La Linea) was the star of the team, winning gold in his category, and silver in the brown-belt open class.
• Matt Henderson took bronze in his brown-belt category.
• Augusto Aloisio took bronze in his purple-belt category.
• Miika Mehmet took gold in his white-belt category.
• Brendan Slade took bronze in his white-belt category.
• Last but not least, DD took silver in his white-belt category.

In addition to these, Brandon and Javi Bombero had really good showings in the white-belt category, and Leo Galati had the misfortune of being paired with the current world champion in his first purple-belt fight. (In fact, Leo had an excellent fight with the world champion. It could have easily been the final!)

As always, our favorite photographer, designer and BJJ tough-girl Caroline Azzi was there to take photos. We hope to have them up an online soon!

In other news, our good friend Jude Samuel, a black belt from Roger Gracie’s gym in London who frequently visits Marbella and trains with us, had an amazing performance at the European’s, winning gold in his black-belt category, and silver in the open class, losing only to the legendary Fabio Gurgel!

All in all, it was a fantastic event. We had a lot of fun, got to see our BJJ buddies from around Spain, and even had a chance to take some photos with Rickson and Kron Gracie! Looking forward to next year!…

To close the month, Carlos gave a special workshop, beginning with some classic BJJ self defense techniques, and closing the night with a series (progression) of attacks and submissions beginning with a choke from the guard which, even though many of us had never seen it, turns out to also be a classic BJJ technique.

We want to wish Carlos all the very best in his career, and as a close friend of our teacher, Edson Sururu Jorge, we hope that Carlos will have a chance to return and continue supporting the group.

Carlos now leaves for a few weeks giving workshops in Poland, before returning to the United States. Have a safe trip, Carlos. It was great having you with us this summer!

We also want to say a big thanks and express our appreciation to professor Edson Jorge, for taking good care of us during his extended stay in Brazil. While away, Edson is helping to keep our jiu-jitsu sharp by organizing superb guest instruction from world class athletes like Carlos. Thanks, Edson! We’re all looking forward to your quick return to Spain!

Finally, we’ll close with a final interview from Carlos:

I’ve got some very exciting news to report! We’re honored to have a new guest coach in town, Carlos “Sapaõ” Ban. Sapaõ, who’s a close friend of Edson and a Ralph Gracie black belt, will be spending the summer months with us here in Marbella, teaching BJJ, grappling and his specialty, MMA.

Carlos has spent almost a decade living and training in the United States, first in California with his teacher Ralph Gracie, and then most recently taking up residence in Las Vegas, perfecting his MMA at the Brazilian Top Team (Las Vegas), with the full support of his sponsors, Manto Fight Wear, Jiu Jitsu ProGear.com and Koral Kimonos.

In just the first week in Marbella, it’s amazing to experience a completely new BJJ game, as well as Carlos’ unique approach to training. In addition, Carlos speaks perfect Spanish and American english!

You can read more about Sapaõ at the link below, or feel free to come by Platinum Gym on Mon, Wed and Fri at 8:00 pm, Tues and Thur at 6:00 pm (MMA/grappling) for some great training. Of course, Carlos is available for privates and seminars while he’s here.

http://barrabrothersca.com/index_files/bio.html

Last week we said goodbye to Augusto “Tio Chico” Vieira, a close friend of Edson who visited us for two months as guest instructor.

During the months he was here, Tio Chico became a friend to us all, and taught us some amazing jiu-jitsu. To give you an idea just how good he is, consider that this year at the BJJ Mundiales, he barely lost to the very guy that choked out the mythical Kron Gracie, and eventual gold medalist. And just prior to leaving, he spent his last weekend here in Sevilla, competing at the Hemo Hold grappling tournament, where he took first place in both his category and absolute, beating, in the process, some of Spain’s best grapplers.

You can certainly expect to see big things in the future for Tio Chico!

Augusto now leaves Marbella with destination New York, where he’ll spend some time with Renzo Gracie, and set his plans for his future.

With that, we wish Tio Chico all the best in his career. Thanks for two great months!

Augusto Aloisio

Our Argentinean sensation Augusto Aloisio has quickly established himself as one of the top competitors in Spain. Ten fights in a day? Broken arm? The other guy weighs 105kg? No problemo — Augusto always finds a way to win, and that’s what happened this weekend, as “Augu” won both his weight category, and the overall absolute title in the Intermediate Category. (And get this: Augusto right now is walking around in a full arm cast, due to an injury he suffered in his second of five fights!)

Congratulations, Augusto! Videos of the fights are being processed and will be added to this article within the next day.

Augusto “Tio Chico” Vieira

As many of you know, GB Marbella has had the honor the past few months of having a guest instructor in Marbella, Augusto “Tio Chico” Vieira. Tio Chico is a close friend of Edson, and a clear up-and-comer on the competition BJJ scene. He has been an amazing instructor for us, showing us moves and details that we’ve never seen before.

In his final days in Marbella, Augusto took the opportunity to travel this weekend to compete with our other Augusto in the Hemo Hold tournament, where he put in two great fights, winning both his category and the absolute title in the prestigious Advanced category. In his first fight, he was able to finish top Brazilian fighter Paulo Sergio de Souza with an arm triangle, and in the absolute fight, with one of Spain’s elite grappling fighters, Tito Beltran, was able to finish with a rear naked choke!

Congratulations, Augusto (That sounds familiar!…)

Videos

Below are videos of some of the fights. More coming soon…

Augusto “Tio Chico” Vieira vs Paulo Sergio de Souza

Augusto “Tio Chico” Vieira vs Tito Beltran

Augusto Aloisio vs Antonio Vadia

Augusto Aloisio vs Enrique Marín

Augusto Aloisio vs David Aranda

Augusto Aloisio vs Samuel Sanvicente

We’re happy to announce a seminar with Augusto “Tio Chico” in La Linea, on Saturday, 12 July. The time will be 10 AM to 1 PM. Bring both the kimono, and grappling clothes. Look to see you there!

Here’s a Google Maps link to the location:

Google Maps link to Seminar in La Linea

Platinum has re-opened their doors, and we’re once again training there, Monday, Wednesday and Friday’s at 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM. This month we have a special guest here: Tio Chico, who you all will remember came and gave us a great seminar earlier this summer, prior to heading off to the US to compete in the BJJ Mundiales.

Our coach Edson Jorge is presently helping George St. Pierre train and improve his jiu-jitsu (in preparation for his upcoming UFC belt defense against Jon Fitch) at the Gracie Barra academy in Rio de Janeiro. Sweet! Edson should be back in town around late June.