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We found this article on FIGHT! Magazine. The author is a Lloyd Irvin student and does a great job of explaining how many schools ( karate / taekwondo) are now becoming MMA schools without having the credentials to teach.  Its a though world out there as almost anyone is can find a shortcut to claiming to have a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The author gives you common things to look out for. One of the main issues is that the people that started the whole bjj and mma revolution are selling out by offering fake certification camps and seminars. There are so many sketchy things schools and instructors are doing, you have to really do research. Back a year ago the thing to do was to quickly search their names in Google and see some of their credentials. Your best bet now is to search names in google and follow their credentials to find out how legit they are. Its getting more and more difficult.

For example, some schools throw in-house tournaments just so that they can say well we had 15 students competing we won 7 golds 3 silver, but they will leave out that only 100 people in total competed.  Say there are some weight classes and some skill level. That is almost 1 fight. Do your research and do not make distance and money the number one factors,  because at the end of two years you will loose more money and time overall than the person that was not cheap and lazy about their investment.  DO YOUR RESEARCH. Some times the instructors will list that they are Black Belts (find out who gave it to them and who has that person developed)  and in their competition credentials will list 4 championships but will left out at which belt this was acquired. Ooh I am a so an so champion. If they don’t specify the belt there might be something sketchy going on. For Example:

Being a Blue Belt Adult World Champion is a great accomplishment but being a Black Belt Adult World Champion is completely different. Only two Americans have done it . It gets even crazier. You may have to find out how many fights they had to win it to get a better perspective. A middleweight to win the Worlds will have 5-6 fights while the lightest and heaviest division will have 1-2 and at most 3. This shouldn’t be a deal breaker as at least the person is doing more than most, but get a good perspective on the issue.

Even more now different organizations like Grappler’s Quest, NAGA, offer the “Naga World Championships” and the “Grappler’s Quest World Championships”.  Who is the undisputed World Champion?

Well in BJJ the best black belts compete at the World Championships run by the IBJJF.   Naga and Grappler’s Quest are good tournaments to win, but they are on a different level. Its all relative:

IBJJF/ADCC

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Naga/Grappler’s Quest

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Ranked/Rated Tournaments

Tournaments that offer big $ incentives ($1000 or more to have the  best grappler’s participate) 200+ Divisions 1000+ Competitors plus tournaments not including kids.

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Small Local Tournamanets

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Inner School Tournaments

The list above should give you some perspective. If the person list that they are a World Champion, but doesn’t list some details? Then it is time to do some research, because anyone  who wan the Black Belt Adult World Championships will let you know what weight class, year, division, etc… The best have nothing to hide, its what I am trying to say.

 PART 1- Click to Expand.

  PART 2- Click to Expand.

  PART 3- Click to Expand.

Congratulations to our our teammate Mike Fowler who won the Silver Medal at 77Kg and won Open Weight Class and Asian Jiu-Jitsu Chamiponship November 29th , 2008. Mike is who is one of the United States premier black belts and recognized globaly was featured also on Graciemag this January ( issue #142). Congrats on that too!

Make sure you enrolled in our school newsletter or the newsletter for bjjengineer.com as Master Lloyd Irvin  gives us a lot of insights about the things that has made him successful on the mats and off the mats.

Can Team Third Law BJJ catch up to Mike Fowler’s 12 muscle-ups. Mike is trying to do 15 in a row, and we are trying to beat him. Check him out right here:
http://bjjengineer.com/?p=76

A 9-year-old Bakersfield boy is being called a hero after he saved a girl and her dog from a pit bull attack.

Drew Heredia said he and a friend were walking a small dog Dec. 30 when a pit bull jumped on the dog. The unidentified 12-year-old girl reportedly tried to save her dog, prompting the pit bull to turn on her.

Heredia said he jumped on the pit bull and applied a choke hold that he learned while taking classes at a Brazilian jiujitsu studio in southwest Bakersfield.

“It was kind of a heart-pounding moment,” Heredia said. “It was very scary.”

He said he held the dog for 20 minutes until an animal control officer arrived.

“At first, I wanted to kick it, but then I thought it’s not a good idea, because it could get my leg,” Heredia said.

The girl was taken to Mercy Southwest Hospital where she was treated for puncture wounds.

The pit bull was quarantined at the animal control office, where it will be euthanized after 10 days. No one has claimed the dog.

The girl’s dog was injured, but it’s expected to survive. The dog ran away during the attack but returned home Friday afternoon.

To watch the young hero Drew’s account of the episode on video and read the complete story on BakersfieldNow.com,   

Click here for full story!