Ruffhouse wins the 2nd AZ Kids Cup

The 2nd Arizona Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Kids Cup took place on April 24, 2010 in Mesa at the Westwood High School gymnasium. Even with the 5th AZ Open being 6 weeks prior to the event, the tournament was able to gather close to 200 Kids and Juvenile Competitors. The competition focused completely on providing its competitors with a fun and memorable day, filled with plenty of Jiu-Jitsu action, goodies such as balloon animals and face painting, and the featured prize, a Nintendo Wii, raffled off to one lucky child. Here are some of the results:

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Over 650 Competitors are expected!

GD JIU-JITSU Events in association with the Arizona State Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (AZSBJJF) is proud to announce the 2010 Arizona Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu State Championship. The competition will take place on June 26-27, 2010 at Westwood High School located at 945 W. 8th St. in Mesa, AZ 85201.

Gracie Mag will be covering the event. Don’t forget to check out their upcoming May issue which will feature an article on the 5th AZ International Open of BJJ.
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*T-Shirts for all Pre-Registered Competitors

Check out the Competitors’ T-Shirt designed by Aggro Fight Wear. Only the Pre-Registered competitors will receive T-Shirts.

Kids Cup Schedule

• 9:00 am Doors Open
• 9:45 am Rules Presentation
• 10:00 am Kids White Belts – Kindergarten, Pre-Teen and Jr. Teen (Rooster and Feather)
• 10:45 am White Belts – Jr. Teen (Light to unlimited) and Teen
• 11:30 am Yellow and  Orange – Pre-Teen and Jr. Teen
• 12:30 pm Yellow and  Orange  Teen, and Juvenile

Click here for the brackets.

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The World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup took place in the Abu Dhabi International Tenis Complex in Abu Dhabi, UAE on April 15, 16 & 17 of 2010. The event had over 300 of the best jiu-jitsu competitors in the world competing for $150,000 in cash prizes. Trials were held all over the world for this competition, and Issa Able, who won the Blue Light and the Open Class (7 matches) during the U.S. West Coast Trials, represented GD Jiu-Jitsu/Nova Uniao in Abu Dhabi. Issa ended up taking 3rd place in the Blue/Light weight Division, and he lost in the quarter finals of the Open class accumulating a total of 10 matches in 2 days,with the final record of 8-2 with 5 submissions.
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Carlos Farias brought 2 medals back to AZ

The 2010 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship took place in Irvine, CA from April 8th to the 11th. The largest tournament in IBJJF history gathered over 2800 competitors from all over the world. Arizona competitors were able to win over 40 medals! The standouts from Arizona were: Carlos Faria (Lion’s Den), who won the Black/Master Open Class and placed 3rd in the Master/Ultra Heavy (8 matches), Kristina Barlaan (GD Jiu-Jitsu), who won the Blue/Female/Feather division and took 3rd in the Open Class, accumulating a total of 9 matches in one day, and Phil Brown (GD Jiu-Jitsu), who had the most matches (total of 6) to win his division in the Blue/Master/Middle. More pictures will be available soon. Here are the full results:
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Alex from Tigers Lair took home the 32" LCD TV

Although the beautiful 3.5″ medals were a great reward for competing and placing, 3 lucky competitors were able to win the special raffle prizes offered at the 5th AZ Int’l Open:

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560 Competitors!

At 9:37pm on March 10, 2010, the registration for the 5th AZ Int’l Open of BJJ reached its maximum amount of competitors before its original 11:59pm deadline. With 180 in the Kids Division and 380 in the Adult Division, the 5th AZ Int’l Open is the largest BJJ tournament in Arizona history with a total of 560 competitors. Both the brackets and updated tournament schedule are available now, at the tournament website. Surprisingly, the sold out competition is not the only attraction of the 5th AZ Int’l Open. These attractions include:

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Kron Gracie

Making its debut as an International event, the 5th Arizona Open welcomes two more Black Belt competitors with Worldwide recognition. 2009 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Runner-Up and 2009 European Champion, Kron Gracie (Rickson Gracie), is set to compete against 2009 US National No-Gi Champion, GRACIEMAG #2 Fighter to Watch in 2010, and Gracie Barra Stand-Out, Philipe Della Monica (Gracie Barra), in a Middleweight match. Witness all the action, along with the Featherweight match-up between 7x World Champion Robson Moura (Nova Uniao) and 2009 Japanese National Champion Nobuhiko Kitahara (Axis JJ), at the 5th AZ International Open of BJJ on March 13-14, 2010 in Mesa, AZ. Click here for more info or to register.

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GD JIU-JITSU Events in association with the Arizona State Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (AZSBJJF) is proud to announce its 5^thinstallment of the Arizona Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open. Typically drawing mainly competitors from Arizona and its neighboring states, the AZSBJJF sent an open invitation to teams from other countries to compete and represent their homeland, transforming the AZ Open into an international event for the first time.

The tournament will feature an international black belt match between a seven-time World Champion from Brazil, GMA Robson Moura (Nova Uniao), and 2009’s national champion of Japan, Nobuhiko Kitahara (Axis JJ), who will be travelling from Tokyo to represent the Jiu-Jitsu Federation of Japan.

“The AZSBJJF’s partnership with the Jiu-Jitsu Federation of Japan (JJFJ) started in 2009, when I met its President, Taka Watanabe, at the 2^nd Rickson Gracie International. I was very impressed with their organization and their dedication to making Jiu-Jitsu a popular and organized sport in Japan”, says Gustavo Dantas, Vice-President of the AZSBJJF and promoter of all its events, who is expecting between 400 and 500 competitors on March 13^th and 14^th.

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