Revolution Mixed Martial Arts Blog

2010-08-08T12:19:00.003-05:00

Hey Everyone, Check out our upcoming events!

2010-07-27T14:32:00.004-05:00

The summer has been eventful here at Revolution. In June, after the 2010 World BJJ Championships, Rodrigo Feijao Antonio, a 6x World Champion with Nova Unaio was at Revolution to give a seminar. We also traveled up to Bentonville to attend a seminar with Rodrigo and his student Daniel. We got in a lot of grappling and learned some good details on chokes and guard passes. Rodrigo is an excellent instructor and if you have the chance to train with him I'd highly recommend it.

Justin Fiser went to the International Kickboxing Federation's World Championships to represent Revolution! He trained hard for this tournament and we are extremely proud of the progress he's made as a fighter. During the IKF worlds, fighters fight over a 2 day period, and fight multiple fights in a single elimination bracket. Anyone can register, so long as they are an amateur, and the limit is 16 participants. Justin had 8 in his division.

Friday was weigh ins and Saturday was the first day of fights. Justin didnt have much trouble at all making weight. Saturday, he won his first fight in a dominating fashion. His second fight was against a fresh opponent. Fiser got a knock down and 8 count on his opponent very early on and sealed the deal with a KO in less than a minute in to the first round.

Justin's third fight was Sunday. It was earlier in the day and against last years champion who had considerably more experience. Justin came out firing and each round was close, but his opponent got the nod and Justin got 2nd in the Worlds.
I know without a doubt he can win this next year. Preparing for an event of this magnitude does wonders for a person as a fighter. Justin's striking has improved tremendously, and it is important to realize that if you are an aspiring mixed martial artist it is imperative you develop your skills in kickboxing/ muay thai and bjj/ wrestling before going to mma. The talent overall at this event is something that you must witness first hand. We look forward to next year.

While in Florida we also got to do a lot of traingin with our BJJ coach Robson Moura. Thursday we did some training during his day class and then in the evening Jory and Robson came back to class to train and roll with Robsons students while Abby did a private lesson with one of Robsons female students.

Friday morning was an early one. Jory and Abby woke up early to assist Robson in a seminar for a security detail for the local military, who are tasked with protecting the generals. It was a great seminar and you can find out more about it here:

Abu Dhabi Combat Club News

Friday night Jory, Abby, along with William (A black belt from Cabot, AR) and Steve Snyder (A Brown belt from NC) went to teach and train at one of Robson's affiliates in Orlando! They were a great group of guys and we got a lot of rolling in. Jory showed some advanced X Guard and some basics.

While we were out Chris and Grant held down the fort for some exciting classes at Revolution Benton and Hot Springs.
There is no rest for the weary, though. Marcelo, who is a 3x World Champion and Professional Fighter with Nova Uniao from Brazil will arrive here next weekend for extended teaching and training. We are very lucky to have him as part of our BJJ family!

2010-07-03T18:06:00.005-05:00

We have been working hard here at Revolution. Justin Fiser is training hard for the IKF. We have had, and will have guests in from various gyms helping us train for different competitions. Andy, our blue belt from Hot Springs, recently competed in the TX State BJJ Championships. He brought home a gold and a silver. Below is a blog about his competition experience. We are proud of Andy for training hard towards his goals!

I had a great time at the Texas State BJJ Championship. There were 400+ competitors and 5 absolute divisions. The absolute and Black belt absolute divisions were really impressive. There were teams representing TX, OK and I believe I was the only competitor from AR.

I competed in the Beginner (1-3 yrs) in nogi and Blue belt Masters (30 +) in gi. It was just me and another guy in our nogi class, but I figured what the heck, I'll sign up for absolute to get my money's worth. The first match me and my opponenet went hard but stifled each others attacks. We ended in a 0-0 tie at the end of regulation and had to go to a 1 minute overtime. It was going well and I felt like I had the advantage until I slipped up and he applied a Kimura. I fought it hard but with one last ditch effort he put everything he had in to it and got the kimura, popped my elbow and strained my shoulder in the process. I was devastated, physically and mentally...I couldn't believe what had just happend...I wanted to quit. My wonderful wife talked me through it and I started putting Ice on it and taking tylenol and trying to get ready physically and mentally for my gi division.

There were 4 of us in gi. My first match was against the guy who had previously beaten me. Again we had to go to overtime to decide our match and in the 1 minute overtime I was able to pass guard and get North/South and 2 pts for the win...Sweet Redemption!

My next match was against the Gold medal winner of the Adult Nogi 150-169.9 division and a pro fighter to boot. I tried not to let that get in my head. In that match, I was able to get the takedown and several position points and was able to work through the adversity to win the Gold medal to become the 150-169.9 Blue Belt Masters Texas State BJJ Champion.

This was the finest accomplishment in my martial arts career so far due to the adversity I had to overcome.

All of the people I met were 100% class and the tournament was great.

First of all I'd like to thank God for everything you've done for me.

Second, I'd like to thank all of my coaches and training partners and sponsors at Revolution, Southern Impact and Ouachita Rehab and Fitness.

2010-06-21T22:23:00.014-05:00

Hey Guys, I'm excited to share with you Charlie's Blog from the World Championships! He was so kind enough to write about his experience for us. Charlie has been a dedicated student of Revolution for quite some time. He is not what you might consider your typical "fighter". Charlie trains, but he isn't quite 19 anymore, and he also has a "real" job, working full time for the Army National Guard serving our country. He trained very hard for this competition and we are very proud of him for reaching his goals! Charlie is more proof that you can do anything you set your mind to do!

So Abby and Jory asked me to write a little bit about my trip to the Worlds this year. It’s been a great year so far and it can only get better. After taking about 3 weeks off in January for an injury I started training hard in February for the Arkansas Championships. I would make as many classes as I could sometimes training 3-4 nights a week when work would allow and was even able to get in a couple of Robson seminars in Tampa and Corpus and Houston.

At each seminar I would learn something new every time I hit the mats from everyone I trained with. Every class I would try and roll with Jory at least once with the goal of lasting a little longer or defending that one position that I would get caught in the night before. Every time I would defend one he would pull out another.

April was a tough month. I had to go to South Carolina for a course in the military. The great thing about the course was it was a Combatives (hand to hand combat) course. I spent 14 days training 8-10 hours a day. We rolled forever it seemed like every morning and every afternoon.

It was a great experience to train with the instructors there and the students. I learned to do something that everyone I have ever trained with told me I need to work on and that was controlling my breathing. I got back from there and had a week of light training before the Arkansas tournament. I finished the Arkansas tournament winning gold in the gi division finishing all my matches by submission at the same time breaking 2 bones in my foot and my pinky toe.

It was worth it. After my injury I had to take a back seat to hard core training but still made as many classes as I could just to get in the technique portion. After a week or so I started some light training still wondering if I was going to be able to compete at the worlds. The final full week before the worlds I hit the gym hard, training as much as I could possibly get in and working technique and takedown defense with anyone and everyone. One thing I wanted to take away from this training was to just progress my knowledge of the art. Working with Bill, Ward, Andy, as well as everyone else just got me more motivated for the next level. The weekend before the tournament I took it kind of easy working take down defense in the morning hanging out and watching the fights with some of the guys on Saturday night. Waking up the next morning to drive to FT Worth for the NOVA MUNDIALS Training camp was rough. But after I got there I was shocked by the number of people preparing to go. Training with that many black belts and just the atmosphere of camaraderie is the reason that I and many others love this sport. Bruno, Rodrigo, and Robson put on an excellent camp; I am sad I could only make the last day.

After training Sunday I drove back to Arkansas to sleep and get up the next day to pack and start the drive to Long Beach. Like any trip I take I planned on leaving early in the morning at like 6-7 but with the way the morning started we didn’t get to start till 10. I got to Malvern when the first obstacle hit me. Literally a rock hit the side of my windshield on the passenger side and in 10 minutes it was almost half way across the windshield. After a small stop in Dallas to see my dad and take a quick nap we were back on the road. For some reason instead of taking me north to I40 the GPS decided it would be more beneficial to take me across the great state of Texas. We made it as far as Abilene before sleep over took me and it was time to stop. Tuesday morning at 6 am we were back on the road and making great time. We pulled into Los Angeles to stay with my brother about 6-7 that night Tuesday night and it couldn’t have come any sooner as I was totally drained.

I woke up Tuesday morning and decided to take it easy getting ready for my matches on Wednesday. I just went to the Farmers Market had a light lunch and relaxed. Then I went and saw Prince of Persia, which was pretty good and just kind of put the future out of my mind. Wednesday morning I woke up and had a REALLY light breakfast of fruit and packed up and headed to the arena. Once I got there it actually hit me. Man this is a HUGE tournament.

After walking in and looking for the rest of the team I watched a few matches. The competitors seemed to be on a completely higher level than I was. The main thought in my head was I know I trained hard but did I train as hard as I could or as hard as I should. Once they called me down I started sizing up the competition, and it wasn’t looking like I was going to catch to many breaks. During the weigh in, it was apparent I was the smaller guy in the division, not something I am really used to being. A post one of my coaches left on my facebook page made me think and smile.

"Courage is fear holding on a minute longer." –Patton.

After remembering this, it was time to get down to business.
I was lucky and privileged that Bruno was there coaching some of his students and that he was able and willing to coach me. My first match went pretty well to start. He went to shoot for a takedown which I was able to avoid and put him on his knees. As I went for his back he grabbed my gi pants so I pulled guard. Working from my guard all year I had gotten pretty comfortable and in my mind at that point I wasn’t at the World Championships. I was back in Benton at the gym rolling with the guys. That probably was not the best thought, but it just popped into my head. I was able to maintain good sleeve control and set him up for a scissor sweep, and all the guys at the gym know that’s my favorite. After achieving the mount I worked a couple of different choke attempts and never could get one sunk in. Not paying attention to my posture he was able to reverse the mount and rolled me back over into my guard. Then it was back to work trying to get back on top. I was able to get double sleeve control again and for the second time in the match I was able to get the scissor sweep and was back in the mount. It was time to start looking for submissions again. This time he was more cautious of what he would give me and defended the choke attempts very well. At one point I started to go for an arm bar but as soon as I started a single phrase shot through my head and I could hear Jory go “why give up top position for a submission that might not work”. So I quickly abandoned that idea and went back looking for chokes. At the whistle I stood up and looked at the score and had won the match 12-0 and my hand was raised. It was a great feeling. I got a break between matches since the two guys behind me were going. I don’t know how much of a break it was since I was watching knowing the winner would be my next opponent. It was a great match and a nice come from behind win for the guy I would meet in the finals.

Right before the finals match Bruno had to go to a different area to coach one of his students and I got kind of nervous. I noticed that another Nova coach, Gustavo Dantas, had just arrived and I quickly went over and asked if he would coach me in the finals. The final match started with both of us pummeling for under hooks and working for a good takedown. He ended up getting the first shot going for a hip toss and missing. I stepped around on the same exchange and was able to get the hip toss and make it into side control. After working from this position for the last couple weeks I went straight for the lapel using it to control his head. Every time I went to control his legs he would lock my arm. After a minute or so the ref gave me a warning for stalling which I completely didn’t understand. Luckily for me Gustavo was able to and relayed the message that we were about to be stood up. I was able to control his legs long enough to transition from side control to full mount. I began working on submissions and was able to lock in an Americana. I heard his elbow pop and stopped in order not to cause any more damage or so I thought but he said he wasn’t hurt so I went for the next submission not wanting to hurt my opponent. After about 30 seconds or so the whistle hit and the match was over. I won 6-0. The reality didn’t really set in that I had just won my division, and it was about 15 minutes before it did. There was nothing that could ruin that day for me. All the training and all the sweat and work was worth it.

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching matches and celebrating and cheering on all the nova competitors that were there. That night we decided to have a big meal to celebrate and refuel so my sister in law took me to my favorite Indian Restaurant called appropriately The Star of India.

2010-06-01T23:26:00.011-05:00

It's been a month since our last post, longer actually. But we have been so busy here at Revolution!

May 15 and 16, Jory and Abby traveled to Snyder's LDMA in Highpoint, NC to train with Robson. Jory also gave a seminar on the X Guard. We had a great time training the day before the seminar also in a high ranks training session. We covered some great things that we brought back to the program here at Revolution. We also gave a contribution from the funds to the Nova Uniao community project. The Non-profit program is focused on teaching Jiu-Jitsu to underprivileged youths. By getting them off the streets and into an environment where they can learn discipline and build confidence for their future, the Nova Uniao community project is focused on helping those youths in need. Organized by Nova Uniao Co-Founder, Andre Pederneiras, the program is currently operated in two locations: “Morro Azul” with classes taught by Black Belt, Fabiano “Babu” Freitas, and “Morro Santo Amaro” with classes taught by Sengoku fighter and Black Belt, Marlon Sandro.
Finally, we introduced a new Nova Uniao patch for the tail of your gis. This patch will be available mid June. So far it's a huge hit!

Pictures from Robson's Seminar can be found here: Robson's Gallery

Pictures from Jory's Seminar can be found here: Jory's Gallery

We have several videos on YouTube about the Seminars, Please check out our Channel at: TheRevolutionMMA. Click on the "View All" Link to view the most recent Videos.

May 22, Jory taught the X Guard workshop here for the students at Revolution. Congrats to Ward and Charlie who earned their green belts after over a year of dedicated training. Several of the white belts from Revolution also earned tips on their belts. We had many students from other gyms come, and it was great training!

May 28-30, Jory, Abby and Jennifer went to the Nova Uniao training camp in Dallas, TX to train with Robson, Bruno Bastos, and over 11 other BJJ Black Belts. On Friday, we attended a good training session at Octagon MMA with Bruno and the black belts. Saturday was an intense training session with even more black belts as they upped the grappling intensity in a final preparation for the worlds. Saturday night we had a good time with some tasty Brazilian Barbeque and the UFC!!!

Sunday we attended a great seminar taught by Bruno Bastos, Rodrigo Feijao, and Robson Moura. We learned some most excellent lapel chokes and half guard passes! There were 11 Black Belts at this seminar! We spent 30 minutes at the end rolling with all the colored belts who attended! It was a lot of fun!

Pictures from the Training sessions can be found here: N U Training Camp 2010

Pictures from the Seminar can be found here: NU Seminar

As a reminder 6x World Champion Rodrigo Feijao will be here at Revolution MMA June 13 for a seminar for all of you. Do not miss this! He is a phenomenal coach and competitor. Most of you had the opportunity to learn a lot from Marcelo in January. Rodrigo is his coach. I have no doubt that he will share his passion for BJJ with us!
Please sign up in class to reserve your spot!

Finally, Kickboxers you are not left out. I'm excited to say we've been working hard and be looking for our new curriculum coming soon! We have some really exciting and great things coming for you in class and in the future!
Also custom gloves are coming tomorrow! Our new 100% leather gloves with wrist support are looking good! Pre sales start now so get yours for a discount!

All in all it will be great to have a few weekends home! I look forward to working with you all on the things we've been learning. I'm sure our friends will be glad we're home too!

2010-04-25T12:05:00.011-05:00

Wow, we had a great showing at the AR Invitational III from Revolution Benton and Hot Springs. I am really proud of our continued progress. I know we got at least 35 Medals, but for the first time a few of our results in the novice no gi got lost and until they turn up, it stands at 35.

Some highlights included our kids, who all continue to do great. We had a few girls added to the kids this time and It was great to see how BJJ has helped their confidence!

Teens did great and Patrick won his gi division on his birthday.

For the adults, Bobby and Grant closed out the Adult Blue Feather, Dustin and Kenny closed out the white belt heavy, while Austin and Stephen closed out the White Belt Middle. Charlie won 4 fights to win the adult white belt ultra heavy. It looks like Charlies training and traveling with us has really improved his game!

We had a great time at the Afterparty watching the WEC too. Go Nova Uniao!

Keep training hard everyone. Win or lose you picked up valuable experience today. Everyone trained hard and got better because of this competition. A big thanks to everyone who came out and helped and supported the team as well!

Here's some great pics to highlight the event:AR Invitational III Photos

If you have your own photos or videos that you'd like to share, please send us an email or bring them up to the gym.

Here are the entire tourny results minus a few of the Novice No Gi divisions:

Gi Kids- Juvenile Results

Gi Kids yellow Kindergarten Rooster Female
1st Izzy McGuire Revolution Nova Uniao
2nd Malia Clyburn GB

Gi Kids White and Grey Pre Teen Rooster Male
1st Bradley Schroeder Revolution Nova Uniao
2nd Cole Taylor Barata MMA

Gi Kids Yellow- Green <55 lbs Mix
1st Elijah Kinman Inferno
2nd Devin Mcelyea GB
3 Dylan Patel GB

Gi Kids White and Grey JR Teen Rooster
1st William Wilson Barata MMA
2nd Conner Cox Gator Pit BJJ
3rd Jonathan Pomeroy GB

Gi Kids White and Grey <71 lbs Female No Subs
1st Tessa Healey Revolution Nova Uniao
2nd Haley Duke Southeast Jiu Jitsu

Gi Kids Yellow Jr Teen Rooster Male
1st Devin Strom GB
2nd Kenley Griffin Southeast Jiu Jitsu

Gi Kids White-Yellow <89 lbs Male
1st Haydn McElyea GB
2nd Ian Cooper GB
3rd Hayden Smith LDMA

Gi Kids White and Grey <100 lbs Female No Subs
1st Claire Caldwell GB
2nd Chandra Caraway Southeast Jiu Jitsu

Gi Kids White-Green Jr Teen Middle Heavy Male
1st Seth Davis Pinnacle MMA
2nd Trevor Paratore Germantown MA

Gi Kids Yellow Teen Feather Female
1st Breeana Jennings GB
2nd Jasmine Watkins Inferno MMA

Gi Kids Yellow-Orange <89 lbs Mix
1st Taylor Rains Inferno
2nd Ethan Robinson LDMA
3rd Robert Pomeroy GB

Gi Kids White and Grey <115 lbs Male
1st Jake Davis Revolution Nova Uniao
2nd Neo Blazevich GB

Gi Kids Green Teen Light Female
1st Taylor Jones LDMA
2nd Elise Ingram Germantown

Gi Kids White and Grey Teen Male
1st Jacob Kim GB
2nd Trevor Curls Revolution Nova Uniao

Gi Kids White and Yellow Teen Super Heavy Male
1st Justin Herman Pinnacle
2nd Brandon Wages GB

Gi Juvenile White Male Light Feather
1st Chad Wilson Revolution Nova Uniao
2nd Mark Andrews GB

Gi Kids White-Yellow >133 lbs Male
1st Benny Resto Barata MMA
2nd Griffin Hawkins Germantown
3rd Parker Strom GB

Gi Juvenile White-Blue Light Male
1st Patrick Murray Revolution Nova Uniao
2nd Daniel Dring LDMA
3rd Riley Van Lanningham Inferno

Gi Juvenile White Heavy Male
1st Kelly Gideon Conway MMA
2nd Nate Sutton Barata MMA
3rd Chris Thompson Germantown

No Gi Kids- Juvenile Results

No Gi Kids Yellow Kindergarten Rooster Female
1st Izzy McGuire Revolution Nova Uniao
2nd Forefeit

NO Gi Kids White and Grey Jr Teen Rooster Male
1st Will Wilson Barata
2nd Jonathan Pomeroy GB
3rd Forefeit

No Gi Kids Yellow-Green <55 Lbs Mix
1st Elijah Kinman Inferno
2nd Dylan Patel GB

No Gi Kids White and Grey <71 lbs Female No Subs
1st Haley Duke Southeast Jiu Jitsu
2nd Forefeit

No Gi Kids Yellow JR Teen Rooster Male No Subs
1st Devin Strom GB
2nd Kenley Griffin Southeast Jiu Jitsu

No Gi Kids White and Yellow <89 lbs Male
1st Haydn Mcelyea GB
2nd Luke Peavey Revolution Nova Uniao

No Gi Kids Yellow-Orange <89 lbs Mix
1st Taylor Rains Inferno MMA
2nd Ethan Robinson LDMA
3rd Justin Jackson GB

No Gi Kids White and Grey Pre Teen Rooster Male
1st Cole Taylor Barata
2nd Bradley Schroeder Revolution Nova Uniao

No Gi Kids JR Teen White-Green Middle Heavy Male
1st Seth Davis Pinnacle MMA
2nd Trevor Paratore Germantown MA

No Gi Kids Yellow Teen Feather Female
1st Breeana Jennings GB
2nd Jasmine Watkins Inferno

No Gi Kids Green Teen Light Female
1st Taylor Jones LDMA
2nd Elise Ingram Germantown

No Gi Kids White and Grey <115 Male
1st Neo Blazevich GB
2nd Jake Davis Revolution Nova Uniao

No Gi Kids White and Grey Teen Light Male
1st Jacob Kim
2nd Trevor Curls Revolution Nova Uniao

No Gi Kids Juvenile White Light Feather Male
1st Mark Andrews GB
2nd Chad Wilson Revolution Nova Uniao

No Gi Kids White and Grey over 124 lbs Male
1st Nathan Hinson Revolution Nova Uniao
2nd Griffin Hawkins Germantown MA

No Gi Kids White and Yellow >133 lbs Male
1st Benny Resto Barata
2nd Parker Strom GB

No Gi Kids Juvenile White and Blue Light Male
1st Justin Wherley Revolution Nova Uniao
2nd Patrick Murray Revolution Nova Uniao
3rd Riley Van Laningham Inferno MMA

No Gi Kids White and Yellow Super Heavy Male
1st Justin Herman GB
2nd Justin Herman Pinnacle MMA

No Gi Juvenile White Heavy Male
1st Kelly Gideon Conway MMA
2nd Nate Sutton Barata MMA
3rd Chris Thompson Germantown

No Gi Juvenile White Heavy Male
1st Chris Thompson Germantown
2nd Thomas Watkins Germantown
3rd Kelly Gideon Conway MMA

Mens Novice Gi Divisions

Novice Adult Feather
1st Cory Tabor Southeast Jiu Jitsu
2nd James Melton Inferno

Novice Adult Light
1st Alan Perry Germantown
2nd Alan Perry Marshall TKD

Novice Adult Middle
1st Evan Morter GB
2nd Dylan Quandt LDMA
3rd Billy Todd Young Revolution Nova Uniao

Novice Adult Heavy
1st Kyle Jones GB
2nd Stewart Taylor Germantown
3rd Jace Collins Inferno Bentonville

Novice Adult Ultra Heavy
1st Jamie Cook GB
2nd Adam McFarlane Inferno
3rd Alex Edrenkin Conway MMA

Men and Women’s White Belt Gi Divisions

Women’s White Belt Med Heavy
1st Ashley Smith Pinnacle MMA
2nd Teresa Hetterick GB

Men’s White Belt Feather
1st Clay Lester GB
2nd Wei Sean Chan GB
3rd Blake Townsend GB

Men’s White Belt Light
1st Josh Bembenek Inferno
2nd Brandon Motley Inferno
3rd Todd Huskey Revolution Nova Uniao

Men’s White Belt Middle
1st Stephen Schoening Revolution Nova Uniao
2nd Austin Filiatreau Revolution Nova Uniao
3rd Steven Grant Barata MMA

Men’s White Belt Middle Heavy
1st Dustin Ring Revolution Nova Uniao
2nd Kenneth Hookfin Revolution Nova Uniao
3rd Robert Patrick GB Batesville

Men’s White Belt Heavy
1st Nathan Hogan Inferno
2nd Kelly Gideon Conway MMA
3rd Brandon Linebarger Revoluiton Nova Uniao

Men’s White Belt Super Heavy
1st Eugene Prowse GB
2nd Tyler Jones Revolution Nova Uniao
3rd Justice Clinton Inferno

Men’s White Belt Ultra Heavy
1st Charles Smith Revolution Nova Uniao
2nd Drew Jones GB
3rd Michael Watson GB Batesville

Men’s and Women’s Blue, Purple, Brown Belt Gi Divisions

Women’s Blue Belt Light
1st Nicky Bryant LDMA
2nd Samantha Derrington GB Batesville
3rd Hannah Wilson Germantown

Men’s Blue Belt Feather
1st Grant Landreth Revolution Nova Uniao
2nd Bobby Riley Revolution Nova Uniao
3rd Micah Stockton TCB

Men’s Blue Belt Middle
1st Brandon Russell GB
2nd Corey Springer LDMA
3nd Eli McGlothlin Barata

Men’s Blue Belt Super Heavy
1st David Bernal GB
2nd Stephen Gourley TCB
3rd Mitch King Germantown

Men’s Purple and Brown All Weights
1st Ethan Clapp Germantown
2nd Matthew Smith GB
3rd Dirk Hamilton Revolution Nova Uniao

Mens Novice Gi Divisions

No Gi Novice Adult Med Heavy
1st Bobby Oller Revolution Nova Uniao
2nd Cory Porter TCB
3rd Billy Todd Young Revolution Nova Uniao

Men’s No Gi Novice Adult Super Heavy
1st Jamie Cook GB
2nd Sean Tyler Inferno
3rd Stewart Taylor Germantown

Women’s No Gi Light
1st Samantha Derrington GB Batesville
2nd Rachel Hinson Revolution Nova Uniao

Men’s No Gi Feather All Levels
1st Micah Stockton TCB
2nd Robert Hamilton Revolution Nova Uniao
3rd Clay Lester GB Batesville

Men’s No Gi Light All Levels
1st Ethan Clapp Germantown
2nd Nathan Clem Germantown
3rd Brandon Motley Inferno

Men’s No Gi Middle All Levels
1st Brandon Russell GB
2nd Stephen Schoening Revolution Nova Uniao
3rd Eric Ingram Germantown

Men’s No Gi Middle Heavy All Levels
1st Matthew Smith GB
2nd Dustin Ring Revolution Nova Uniao
3rd Mitch King Germantown

Men’s No Gi Heavy All Levels
1st Dirk Hamilton Revolution Nova Uniao
2nd Nathan Hogan Inferno MMA
3rd Kelly Gideon Conway MMA

Men’s No Gi Ultra Heavy All Levels
1st David Bernal GB
2nd Stweart Allen Germantown
3rd Justice Clinton Inferno MMA

2010-04-12T00:59:00.009-05:00

This weekend was a monumental and historic weekend for our academy, the Nova Uniao Team and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Arkansas. First I’m proud and honored by all who supported this weekend’s events and those who graduated to the next rank. This weekend’s Robson Moura Seminar was for sure the largest training session ever held in Arkansas and the largest I’ve ever attended anywhere in all my years of training Jiu Jitsu. Without the support of the World’s greatest Jiu Jitsu team Nova Uniao (that’s you guys too) this all would have not been possible. I’m proud to be a part of the team and see Jiu Jitsu come so far in Arkansas since I first started training. Most of all I’m proud of my wife Abby as she joined the ranks of Nova Uniao Black Belts and became Arkansas’ first female Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt and one of just a few female Black Belts in America. Abby has had a great deal of adversity to overcome with her health that would have stopped most years ago. Despite her obstacles along her journey, she’s logged more than 1,000 hours on the mats since being last promoted to brown with 2 and 3 a day training sessions, countless sessions with World Class Black Belts like Robson Moura and Marcelo Pato, took 3rd in the absolute at the Europeans despite having a severely dislocated shoulder and traveled almost weekly all over the country to train with the best Black Belts. I think very few people could have successfully completed this journey pushed against this type of adversity. The journey of Jiu Jitsu truly is about conquering one’s adversity as it turns the belt from white to black. I want to give a special thanks to Robert Villegas, who’s become a road warrior like us, making the trip up from Xtreme MMA Nova Uniao Texas to train. Robert has a passion for the game and is a great Black Belt. I’m proud to have him as a teammate. We will continue together to raise up the team. Last but not least I want to thank Robson Moura, one of the greatest Jiu Jitsu fighters and teachers alive. Witnessing Robson’s passion for Jiu Jitsu first hand, it’s easy to see how he’s accomplished so much. I’m always amazed at how much I learn each day from Robson even at Black Belt. The detail in even the most basic of techniques completely changes the game. It truly is an artistic expression of Jiu Jitsu that has to be witnessed and cannot be expressed in words. He is an inspiration to all of us who play the game. We were also thankful to have Danny Dring take time from his busy schedule to make it down along with Joel Newton and his students from Conway MMA. Thanks also to the guys from Russellville, Tennessee, Texas and Louisiana who all came up! Again thank everyone who supported and made this historic weekend possible, all of us know it is only the beginning!

2010-04-09T23:43:00.007-05:00

We had a great time today with Robson at Elite Combat and Gator Pit BJJ in Shreveport. Robson taught a great seminar on what to do when you are in the turtle position. These techniques were all new to us even after training with Robson so many times over the years and I can't wait to use them in training. Jory also had a chance to work with some guys there in a private lesson and go over the rules of BJJ. It's been a great time so far. Tomorrow we have a private lesson and a huge seminar from 1-5. Sunday is more privates and training. I know we are going to learn a lot while Robson's here.

Here's some pics from our seminar at Elite.

You can see the rest of our photos Here and just click on the "seminars" gallery!

2010-03-28T23:11:00.002-05:00

We finished up our TX Trip with Robson Moura at Relson Gracie Houston today. The focus of the seminar was escapes and submissions from side control. Robson showed a lot of valuable details to make the escapes, position and submissions work best. We covered a lot of details about the Arm Triangle and I can't wait to share them with the students of Revolution.

Photos from today's seminar can be found Here

I also got some good technique videos with Robson and Jory and they will be posted on our YouTube Channel

Here's a few pics and a video from today:

The USS Lexington:

Seminar at Relson Gracie Houston:

Finally here's a great video of Robson showing an escape from the North/ South Arm Triangle with Jory. I hope you enjoy and Jory will be excited to share the details of this with our students in class this week. We look forward to seeing you there!

2010-03-27T19:46:00.004-05:00

We had such an awesome time trianing at Xtreme MMA and BJJ in Corpus Christi, Texas. They head up Robson Moura's Association and Nova Unaio in Texas. It was a pretty packed house and it's so great to see Nova Uniao growing across the USA like this.

Robson taught a great seminar and touched on a lot of great basics and combinations. I really enjoy seminars that focus on the basics like this. Many times I see things and remember that I learned that technique early on in my training, and I had forgotten it. Or sometimes I learn a good detail to a technique I have always done. I enjoy hearing Robsons stories and ideas about training also. Robson said that when you are a black belt you do the same "moves" as a white belt. It is not the techniques that change but the small details you learn that help you get better at them. This is what makes the difference from belt to belt. This is what you must focus on in class: repetition and improving techniques. It takes thousands of hours to master and many repetitions, but each time you practice in class, focus on getting better.

It's also great to know that a lot of the Robson affiliates will be using parts of the curriculum and structure we use and have formulated right here at Revolution to help students get better at BJJ! Nova is working so hard to continue to grow and expand our championship team!

We met a lot of great friends and we can't wait to train with them again. You can find more pics of the seminar HERE. Hopefully we'll have some videos for you tomorrow but now I think we are going to see some fights.

2010-03-22T15:03:00.003-05:00

We are officially back and rested from Tampa. This trip was pretty tiring but well worth it. Sunday we got to stay and do some training with Robson and Gustavo. We touched on some details of passing the De La Riva Guard, X Guard, Indefensible Half Guard as well as a few other details and techniques. I can't wait to share them with the students of Revolution! We are working hard to make sure that you get the best training and that our program continues to offer the best in Modern BJJ!

We also got such an exciting opportunity to make some technique videos with Robson!

Here they are below. Check them out and be sure to email us if you have any detailed questions about them or if you'd like to come train with our team!

Jory and Robson show a 93 Guard Sweep:

Abby and Robson show an Open Guard and Triangle Sweep Option:
(This Video is available in High Def)

Masters Robson and Gustavo show a loop choke off of a failed sweep:

We have started a You Tube Channel to help bring you updates via video. Check it out here:
Revolution MMA You Tube Channel

2010-03-20T20:59:00.012-05:00

Ooooooohhhh I am so tired. But we had a great time at the historic 1st Tampa Fusion Seminar with World Champion's and legends Robson Moura and Gustavo Dantas, as we continue our quest and commitment to be the leaders in Arkansas for nothing but the latest World Class Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training. The drive was about 16 hours but it was worth it for World Class Jiu Jitsu. We covered a lot of great things at this seminar like tips to help us use the rules to our advantage as well as clarification about the rules. We also covered some very basic techniques with emphasis on the fine details that will help our game. I can't wait to share them with our students at Revolution and teammates. I'm glad we had some of our white belts from Benton and Hot Springs as well as Brown Belt Steve Snyder from LDMA in High Point, NC come with us.

Tomorrow we'll be doing some advanced training sessions with Robson and Gustavo and I'm sure there'll be a lot more to bring back for our advanced students as well as get in some good rolling. Here's a vid and some great pics. More are in the gallery.

2010-03-14T13:51:00.005-05:00

Big weekend for Nova Uniao Team! Here at Nova Uniao Arkansas we hosted a Nova Uniao competition camp. The camp had a huge turnout and was a great success preparing our team for upcoming competitions! Speaking of competitions...........In Brazil, Robson Moura Black Belt Ricardo Demente won the Abu Dhabi Pro trials defeating Alexandre De Souza to secure his spot at the Pro Worlds. Moments later in Arizona at the 5th Arizona International Open, 7 x World Champion Robson Moura himself defeated Kitahara Nobuhiko via choke for the win! 2010 is shaping up to become a historic and unbelievable year for the team as we continue to bring you nothing but World Class Training!

We had a great time training at our BJJ camp. We were lucky to have 4 Nova Uniao black belts teach at our camp. We had Jory Malone from Revolution, Danny Dring from LDMA, William McGlothlin from Barata MMA and Jonathan Border from Germantown MMA. Jonathan Border is also a Judo Black Belt.

We had students come from all over AR, as well as other states such as: MS, TX, NC, TN, etc. We did a lot of work on submissions from the guard, basic and advanced sweeps from the open guard, spider guard, and De La Riva, attacks from the back, some wrestling, and Judo! I think the Judo part was the all time favorite of everyone.

It was a great time to get together and have the opportunity to train with others as well as share techniques. We had plenty of Black, Brown, Purple, Blue and White belts of all size, age and skill levels to work with, giving everyone the opportunity to test and try their techniques and game plans. Thanks to everyone who came! Unfortunately we always tend to train way longer than anticipated and we have yet to get a pic from a camp with everyone in attendance.... maybe one day :)

Friday night training session:

Judo Pics:

Here's a few pics of the Sweeps Jory taught us:

2010-03-10T23:50:00.012-06:00

Revolution MMA has been so busy lately! It has been our commitment to bring you the best possible training and have access to world class instruction right at your fingertips! In order to accomplish this, we'll be busy every weekend until May! This weekend we have a BJJ camp coming up. It's going to be quite an exciting adventure and we'll have people coming from all over Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, North Carolina and More. We will have 4 black belts teaching as well as several brown belts and high ranks. We should get in a lot of rolling as well to help you prepare for future competitions. I am excited to see a lot of our high ranks attending this camp.

Given that we are preparing a lot for BJJ events. I thought it would be a great time to talk about the history of our Team, Nova Uniao. Below is a great article taken from the Nova Unaio USA site www.NovaUniao.com

In the early 1990s, when competition jiu-jitsu was starting to become popular in Rio, a new team was founded, joining the two zones of the city. Carlson Gracie’s pupil Andre Pederneiras (a black belt in jiu-jitsu and judo) had a strong team in Botofogo, in the South of Rio de Janeiro. To expand, he looked for new members for his team in the northern area of the city. At this time, the North Zone was considered technically inferior in jiu-jitsu and Andre aimed to help the area as part of his quest.

Meaning “New Union”, the Nova União Jiu-Jitsu Academy was founded in Rio de Janeiro in 1995 when the Mello Tenis Clube Jiu-Jitsu, headed by Wendell Alexander, joined with Andre’s team. Wendell was a black belt from Sebastião Ricardo, who in turn was a student of the Master Oswaldo Fadda, one of the few people to train in Brazil under Sensei Maeda of Japan.
Within a few short years the team had a production line of local (state), national (Brazilian) and world champions which culminated in the team winning the Team Division at the 1997 World Championship.

In 1995, Nova Uniao first landed in the US with a partnership between John Lewis and Andre Pederneiras in Las Vegas. From this location, new branches were built with instructors such as Toni Pontes opening in Arkansas, Renato “Charuto” Verissimo in Hawaii, and Gustavo Dantas in Arizona; All three being Black Belts under Andre who started originally teaching at J-Sect Jiu-Jitsu, John Lewis’ school. Since then, Nova Uniao branches have been opening all over the country in states such as: AR, AZ, CA, CT, FL, IL, NC, NJ, NY, NV, OH and TX.

Now, in 2009, Nova Uniao has been accumulating titles in the US, Brazil, and Europe. In Brazil, Rodrigo “Feijao”, Wendell Alexander, Leonardo Santos, and Andre Marola have been responsible for re-structuring Nova Uniao to once again be in the Jiu-Jitsu spotlight, since over the years, the focus of the team has gravitated towards MMA. In the US, Gustavo Dantas has made it his priority to organize Nova Uniao to compete at IBJJF tournaments, the World’s largest, and most respected, stage for Jiu-Jitsu events.

As you can see we are part of a great team! Revolution is committed to carry on the team name and help you invest in your BJJ training as we host top Nova Uniao Black Belts such as Marcelo Donald Pereira (3x World Champion) and Robson Moura (7x World Champion). Thank you to all of the students at Revolution for your continued investment in your training. It is because of you that we can continue to host such top competitors to help us all get better.

But if that were not enough, Nova Uniao is a charitable organization as well. This falls in line with the very principles we go by here at Revolution. We truly believe BJJ and Martial Arts can change your life for the better, and that the true spirit of a Martial Artist is in giving back. Coaches Jory and Abby began a volunteer program to help the high school students in Benton have access to a wrestling program. Many of the students at Revolution have volunteered to help in various ways, and we appreciate your giving of your time and services. The wrestling season has helped a lot of High School students have access to a fun and constructive sport after school. Our Team in Brazil does a charity banquet each year to help those who are less fortunate enjoy a holiday meal. Here's another great article about Nova Uniao's charity project in Brazil:

On Sunday, December 20, 2009, Andre Pederneiras, co-founder of Nova Uniao and owner of the Brazilian fitness gym, Upper Sports Club (www.uppersportsclub.com.br), held the 3rd Annual Holiday Banquet for the Senior Citizens of Morro Santo Amaro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Morro Santo Amaro is known as a “favela” which is a low-income neighborhood built upon the hills of Rio. Many of the people who live in these favelas, such as Morro Santo Amaro, cannot afford to have a nice meal in celebration of the holidays, but Andre has made a way to a provide a special holiday meal for the Seniors of the hill community.

The morning before the Banquet, Andre headed to the open food marketplace in Sao Cristovao at 6AM to purchase all the food and supplies necessary to feed at least 300 people. When all the purchases were made, and the food packed into his SUV, Andre personally delivered the food to the venue where the food would be prepared and the Banquet would take place: a small, cement building sitting in the heart of Morro Santo Amaro. Upon looking at the building, a person might wonder, “Why here? Why not find a better venue?” Andre’s work in the community does not stop with this Banquet. The building is also where Andre provides programs to enhance the quality of life for the people of Morro Santo Amaro. These programs include Aerobics Classes for the Senior citizens, taught by the high-caliber instructors from Upper, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Classes for the youth and young adults, instructed by Nova Uniao Black Belt and Pro-MMA fighter, Marlon Sandro. So, despite the size of the facility, the little building has become a meeting place for the people of Morro Santo Amaro to forget about their troubles, for even just an hour.

On the day of the Banquet, the line of people waiting to eat was almost staggering. The doors did not open until 12PM, but some of the people started lining up as early as 9AM. Inside the building, tables and chairs were set to seat 30-40 people at a time with enough room to squeeze in a sound system to provide diners with cheerful music. Along the walls, volunteers prepared plates of rice, beans, fish, ham, beef, and vegetables to serve to the many hungry men and women present; Fresh cut fruits and drinks were also provided. To a full room, Andre stepped to the microphone to give his thanks to everyone present for supporting and gave his warmest wishes for everyone to enjoy the food, but it was the many in attendance that were thankful; Thankful for Andre and thankful for the many things he has worked hard to provide forthem. The line outside did not recede until the night, and throughout the day, the Holiday Banquet successfully fed over 300 Senior citizens in Morro Santo Amaro.

Is there a way that you can use your training to help better someone's life? How has Martial Arts helped your life? Feel free to let us know, we'd love to hear.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about our great team! Happy training everyone, and we'll see you in class.

At Revolution with our teammate and 7x World Champion Robson Moura

Jory and Abby with teammate and 3x World Champion Marcelo "Pato" Donald

Training in FL with Sensei Robson and Black Belt Josef Manuel

Jory and one of Sensei Robson's top Black Belts: Demente, Gracie Mag's # 1 Person to watch in 2010!

Nova Uniao Teammate BJ Penn, UFC Lightweight World Champion & World BJJ Champion

Nova Uniao Teammate Jose Aldo, WEC Featherweight World Champion

Nova Uniao Teammate Vitor Shaolin, World BJJ Champion and Strikeforce Fighter, and our own Grant (future World BJJ Champion) after a training session

Nova Uniao Teammate Thales Leites

2010-02-24T12:09:00.003-06:00

We have been so busy here at Revolution MMA. After coming home from the European Jiu Jitsu Championships, it was right back to training!

Our first event was the Inaugural Benton vs Bryant Wrestling Meet. This was our first home meet and the first wrestling meet to continue the strong rivalry between these 2 towns. Bryant is in their 2-3 season of Wrestling. We had to forfeit a lot of matches since we don't have all the weight classes filled. However of the matches we wrestled we won 5-3. We also won 2 exhibition matches. All wins by pin!

Next up was state. We had a great time and several of the guys won several matches. They did great.
We went straight in to the off season after state, and we have a lot of new 9th graders coming on next year. We will be having tryouts soon, so if you are in Benton schools and want to be part of the exciting wrestling team, come to tryouts.

We have some exciting events coming up here at Revolution as well.
We have the Fight to be Fit 2010 Contest going on to help all of our new customers get in the shape they want to be in. It's great seeing so many people lose weight and get in shape with us.

This Saturday from 12-3 we also have a BJJ seminar/ testing on the 93 guard. We look forward to seeing you there.

2010-02-05T12:35:00.008-06:00

We finished off January and kicked off February in the most exciting fashion at Revolution by competing in the European Jiu Jitsu Championships held in Lisbon Portugal! It was exhausting and fun!

Day 1 we got here around 2:45. We came to the hotel. After getting ripped off by the tax,i we got things going. The hotel is super upscale and nice (thanks Kenny). I took a quick nap and then we went walking. We walked quite a ways and found a Fogo de Chao Brazilian Steakhouse. The prices werent bad at all, even considering the deflated dollar. We plan to eat there every night. I went to bed early, but woke up after 5 hours. I stayed awake another 3 then took a pill and went to sleep another 9. Normally jeg lag isnt a problem on the way, u stay up longer and just go to bed like normal. Not this time. I never adjusted to the sleep.

Day 2 we got up and went to the competition. Jory was up first:
The fight was in the Absolut division. Jory scored good with takedowns. Once on the ground his opponent scored a good sweep and was able to pass Jory's half guard. Jory reestablished his half, which he advanced to full guard. From full guard, he scored an advantage for a good x choke attempt. Then his opponent was penalized twice for stalling, which brought the match to 2-3 for the opponent. With under a minute left Jory went after takedowns forcing his opponent to pull guard to avoid the final takedown of the match, however the ref didn't score the takedown. We're not sure why he didn't score it, but that's how it goes some times.

Abby's first match in the women's absolute was abby jumping guard against a black belt girl and working her submissions. Abby got a triangle but was unable to finish and a couple of choke attempts. Her opponent wanted to stand and break the guard but was unable to maintain good enough balance standing. She spent most the match broke down in Abby's guard defending submission attempts. Abby was awarded the judges decision at the conclusion of the match. She played a pretty conservative game, but looked good.

Abby's next match in the semi-finals, Abby shot on her opponent but got sprawled on. Her opponent went for an Anaconda choke but Abby was able to spin and unwrap herself twice. Due to a recent injury she was unable to sit through or brace out to prevent a roll to the one side and had to play conservative with the escape. We knew going in to the competition that this could pose a problem in a match. On the third attempt Abby was unable to spin out, as she was giving up too much weight and size to her opponent and was forced to tap. Abby finishes the absoluto with the bronze medal!!!

Day 3 didn't start off great. Jeg lag set in, Abby got no sleep and for various reasons didnt do her division. After participating in the absolute this once, she will focus on her division from here on out.
Jory competed against a legend of the sport: Fabio Gurgel. He is the founder of Alliance Team and an 8x World Champion. In fact he won his first Worlds before Jory started training. It was a great fight, but Jory lost to an armbar at the very end. The arena stopped to watch and several were impressed that he did such a great job in the fight. We ended up having to hangout there all day to wait for Abby's Absolute medal which came at the end. We left for a bit and took a walk, and we watched Demente, a student of Robson's, compete and win the Men's Super Heavy Black Belt. Overall it was a great competition, with over 1500 competitors.

Day 4 begins sightseeing! Here's some great pics of the places we visited and you can see more HERE

~Praça de Touros do Campo Pequeno (a bullfighting arena)
~Convento do Carmo
~Arco da Rua Augusta
~Se Catedral de Lisboa
~Castelo de Sao Jorge
~Mosteiro dos Jeronimos
~Padrao dos Descobrimentos
~Torre de Belem
~...and a few other statues and miscellaneous things along the way

Here's some videos, tour with us:

Padrao dos Descobrimentos

Old church with tombs and the excavation of a Roman City from 1 AD

Castelo do Sao Jorge

2010-01-23T23:32:00.008-06:00

Wow it's been a really busy past few weeks at Revolution but we definitely kicked off the year/ decade right!
We continue our commitment to bring you nothing but the best in World Class training and instruction and Revolution was proud to have Marcelo "Pato" Pereira here training and teaching with us in January.

Marcelo "Pato" Pereira, Nova Unaio Black Belt, is a highly accomplished grappler and MMA Professional. His technical expertise helped us all at Revolution prepare and take our game to the next level. Marcelo is regarded for having one of the best half-guards in all of Jiu-Jitsu know in the game as the "Indefensible half-guard". Here are some of Marcelo's accomplishments:

3 x World Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Champion
4 x Second Place World Jiu Jitsu Championships
4 x Brazilian National Champion
3 x Second Place at Brazilian National Championships
8 x Parana Champion (8 consecutive years)
6-2 Professional MMA record
Trained Wanderlei Silva for his fight with Ricardo Arona.

He was here in the US for a few months training and competing, and he came here to work with us. Marcelo did an awesome job, he ran some exciting competition classes in the day and was kind and helpful to everyone. During his stay here he got to train at Pinnacle Mountain, He cooked us Brigadeiro (a Brazilian Desert) and visited several places here in Arkansas. We are so grateful to him for coming to help us. We also want to say a special thanks to 7 x World Champion Robson "Robinho" Moura for his continued support of our training and growth in the arte suave. We are proud to wear the Nova Uniao Team Badge on our backs and represent the team in competition. Nova Uniao continues to be the top team in 2010 and it's inspiring to be part of such great comaraderie.

Competition training was fun and intense!

Good stuff:

We were thankful to Steve Snyder from LDMA in High Piont NC, William McGlothlin at Barata MMA in Cabot, AR and Joel Newton of Conway MMA in Conway, AR for coming out to help us with our training camp. Thanks guys!

Marcelo also hosted a 4 hour seminar/ testing at Revolution in addition to the classes he taught. He taught a great gi seminar and took everyone's gi game to the next level.

Southern Impact in Mena was kind enough to invite Marcelo in for an MMA and No Gi seminar for their new club. The seminar was great!

Marcelo also taught a great class on Friday at LDMA In Sherwood. Unfortunately I did not get any pictures.
The evening after Marcelo left, we were happy to be invited by the Arkansas School for Math and Sciences to teach an intro BJJ and self defense seminar to their students. It was a hit!

2010 promises to be a great year of training, competing, traveling, growth and fun for REVOLUTION. If you are not part of our exciting team and want to be, just give us a call or shoot us an email! We'd love to have you and introduce you to our lifestyle. We promise nothing but World Class training, instruction and bringing each of you the best with a lot more excitement on the way!

2010-01-09T19:02:00.009-06:00

Well we embarked upon our second wrestling meet today with the High School Wrestling team. This was a tri-meet against Episcopal Collegiate High and Bismark High. Episcopal was ranked #8 in the state last year and Bismark #4. I'm not sure how many seasons these teams have been wrestling. I think Bismark is in their 2nd or 3rd. This is our first. We still could use to pick up a few more to fill the weight classes as we still have a few wrestling out of the weight class, so if you want to wrestle for the Panthers sign up at the Benton High School!

However, we were up against Episcopal first. The guys looked awesome against them. We won all of our matches by pin and won the meet against them 42-24. Congratulations to the guys for their excellent performance.

We had a little more difficult time with Bismark. They are a great team, and facing top teams will only help our wrestlers get the experience they need for the future.

Overall the team performed a lot better today. The worked on thing to improve and showed a lot of heart and potential. I am excited to watch this team grow and see them in future matches. Coaching wrestling has given us the opportunity to branch out and learn even more. It's been exciting to share with the students of REVOLUTION as well.

Remember if you've made a New Year's Resolution to get fit, healthy or stay in shape, REVOLUTION has the answer. We can help with diet, strength training, conditioning and most importantly you will become part of the REVOLUTION family! No where else in Arkansas can you train with a staff with experience in MMA, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing, Wrestling and Strength and Conditioning.

Call today to set up your consultation. 776-0606!

2009-12-30T18:32:00.002-06:00

Revolution MMA is excited to host Marcelo Donald Pereira at our gym from January 11 to January 22 2010.

Marcelo is a multi time World Champion and Brazilian Champion and fellow Nova Uniao Black Belt. He is a heavy weight with a Pro MMA Record of 6-2.

Also in attendance with this training camp will be Robert Villegas, a Black Belt with Nova Uniao and Robson Moura. Robert, also a heavyweight, has an excellent MMA record with several high profile fights.

You will have several opportunities to train with these black belts while they are here so take advantage of this great opportunity. In addition to evening training sessions:

Marcelo will be available for private lessons in BJJ, Sub Wrestling or MMA.
We will be running competition training classes during the day from 11-1.
On Saturday January 16, Marcelo will be conducting a testing/ seminar at our Benton Location.

The lessons and seminars will be priced separately and will go to help Marcelo while he is here in the United States before returning to Brazil. Please make him feel welcome in Arkansas and support your fellow Nova Uniao Teammates!

Contact Abby at Revolution to confirm your spot.
501.776.0606

Nowhere else in Arkansas can you get the level of world class instruction and commitment that we provide to our teammates on a continual basis. If you are not a member of Revolution and would like to take advantage of the multiple training opportunities we provide, call today for your appointment.

2009-12-22T17:40:00.005-06:00

It's been a great weekend and we just finished our Corpus Christi Training Tour.
It was actually a pretty quick trip, but we were glad to have a few friends in the area that offered us places to train and things to do. Corpus is one of my favorite towns. We picked up a lot of great things and we'll be ready to share them with you all back in class.

We had the opportunity to train with one of the newest members of Robson Moura's association, Robert Villegas. He runs Xtreme MMA in Corpus Christi. He has a great gym for BJJ, MMA and Kickboxing and we got in a ton of grappling followed by Wes' Favorite: Buffalo Wild Wings. Hopefully he will be able to visit our gym in January. He has an impressive MMA record and we look forward to training with him more.

I also visited my friend's BJJ gym. He trains under Leo Cantu who is a black belt under Draculino. They had a really nice group of guys and girls at this gym and we felt very welcome. Training was great followed by steak after.

Finally, you can't visit Corpus without a stop at the beach. The beaches in Corpus are also some of my favorite. Unlike places like Florida where you have to pay to park and the beaches are filled with all kinds of "commercial" things, the beaches here are pretty natural in some areas. You can stop by and get a good walk without a big crowd, and you can even drive your vehicle on them in some places. The dogs had a great time rolling around in the sand, barking at the people and of course they were scared of the water. Go figure.

Thanks to all of the staff at REVOLUTION who helped cover class while we are out learning more things to bring back. The team atmosphere at the gym is one reason we have and continue to do so well. Keep up the hard training everyone.
Remember we are closed Thursday through Saturday of this week for Christmas.
We'll start back Monday.

2009-12-19T22:09:00.013-06:00

We had a great seminar today on Top Game. Revolution has been extremely busy this month from Training in Florida with Robson Moura, Penny Thomas in Daytona, The Snyders in North Carolina and Training in Memphis at Nova Uniao last weekend. This final weekend before Christmas we set aside time to have a Testing, Christmas Pot Luck, our 4 year Anniversary for Benton and our 2 Year Anniversary for Hot Springs and finally a Secret Santa that everyone enjoyed except Bobby!!!

Our seminar on top game was great. Everyone learned a lot, worked hard and there was a lot of great grappling.
Congrats to those students who earned rank:
Chad 1st Degree White
Todd 2nd Degree White
Jonathan 2nd Degree White
Stephen 2nd Degree White
Travis 3rd Degree White
Chris 2nd Degree Blue

Finally Big Lew from Hot Springs earned his Blue Belt. January 4 celebrates his 2 year anniversary with Revolution. He has been training hard and has dedicated a lot of time and energy to his own personal growth in BJJ along with the growth of Revolution. We are proud to have him as part of our team, and he is a leader in our Hot Springs Academy. Next time you see Lewis, Congratulate him on his hard work and this achievement.

Thanks to everyone who brought all the tasty food to the Christmas Party and Anniversary Celebration. Everyone got awesome gifts at the Secret Santa (except Bobby), and the dogs love their snuggies.

I have great plans for our Christmas and Anniversary celebration next year!
Keep up the hard work everyone. 2010 is going to be crazy!!!!!! starting with an insane January. We've begun some of the announcements leaving no doubt we're taking everyone's game, the level of instruction and the team to an unseen level and the new year hasn't even officially kicked off yet ;)

2009-12-07T15:20:00.004-06:00

Well we are on our way back from our East Coast Training Tour. We definitely had a good time and we look forward to taking some of you with us next time. We are definitely exhausted but we got in a lot of good training with new folks.

First up we stopped at "Scuba" Steve and Mariea Snyder's place in High Point NC. They have a great gym and they always welcome us there. It's always a pleasure because their students and class have such a great atmosphere. Please check out their website and stop by if you are in the area: Living Defense High Point

Here Mr. Snyder and his student Dr. Tony Kemerly post for a picture with their new book.

This is a new special technique we have developed. You must come to class to learn this special death touch.

Up next we went to Gracie Daytona. That was such a great experience and their gym has a great atmosphere as well. It was exciting to have the opportunity to train there and Abby was able to do a private lesson with World Champion Penny Thomas.

Finally we hit our last destination: Tampa Florida. There we did a lot of training with Nova Uniao Black belt and 7x World Champion Robson Moura. We also got to train with Joseph Manuel from Cutting Edge BJJ. We picked up a lot of great details to share with our students back home, and we got in some great training with other black belts and students at the academy. Nova Uniao continues to grow here in the US and as a team producing top level MMA and BJJ competitors. We are thankful to Robson for allowing us to come and train and taking the time for us in his busy schedule.

All in all it was a great trip. Stay tuned for more to come!

Keep training hard this evening at class and working towards your goals. Remember we have a christmas & 4 year anniversary party December 19. We also have a bjj seminar and testing that day.

Our Holiday schedule is out and we have a new contest going!
We also have great deals for new members so call 501-776-0606 today!

2009-11-23T18:32:00.004-06:00

MMA WARRIOR!

CHAMPION'S PARTY AT NOVA HQ IN RIO

NOVA UNIAO'S DEMENTE WINS ABSOLUTE AT SUL AMERICANO!

2009-11-20T18:33:00.001-06:00

Aldo gives back to the community.......

Nova Uniao Black Belt Jose Aldo, WEC Featherweight World Champion

2009-11-19T09:22:00.003-06:00

ALDO DETHRONES BROWN FOR THE WEC FEATHERWEIGHT TITLE!

LAS VEGAS -- Jose Aldo looked almost invincible in his two-round dismantling of World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion Mike Thomas Brown in the WEC 44 “Brown vs. Aldo” main event on Wednesday at the Palms Casino Resort.

Brown, gunning for his third successful title defense, ran into a Brazilian buzzsaw and simply never got in gear.

Aldo used perfect distance, coupled with powerful leg kicks and laser-like punches, to keep Brown guessing from the outset. The Nova Uniao standout executed at will. Brown attempted a few takedowns early, but Aldo sprawled effectively. When the two featherweights drew close, Aldo either slammed the American’s legs with vicious kicks or ripped crunching knees into his midsection.

Just before the end of the first round, a knee to the stomach appeared to steal Brown’s breath, but the defending champion dropped to his knees and clinched onto the challenger’s legs until the horn sounded. Although Brown escaped, he was far from out of the woods, and Aldo’s firepower wilted the defending 145-pound titleholder early in the following stanza.

Aldo stuffed a takedown, and during a scramble, Brown lost his balance, allowing the Brazilian to move into a dominant position. Brown tried to return to his feet, but Aldo was relentless and immediately seized his back. In the blink of an eye, Aldo had Brown flattened and trapped, turning him into an easy target. Aldo left nothing in the hands of the judges and unloaded a furious assault to the sides of Brown’s head. Dozens of punches -- some of them clean, some of them blocked -- rained down, and referee Steve Mazzagatti had no choice but to step in and end the mugging. The end came 1:20 into the second round.

JOSE'S LAST TRAINING SESSIONS

2009-11-17T22:43:00.004-06:00

PANTHER WRESTLING
We're proud of the Panther's Wrestling Team tonight. These guys have come a long way from when they first stepped on the mats six weeks ago. We had a good weight assessment at the Arkansas Wrestling Academy tonight and most the guys are within just a few pounds of their minimum weight class for the season. The work threshold we've been training day in and day out and focus on a healthy lifestyle as paid off and the guys know they can overcome any adversity. Abby and I also got assessed. We'd never have anyone go through something we wouldn't do ourselves. We found out we're dead on with the weight classes we've been competing at. My minimum wrestling weight was my exact competition weight dead on. I have faith in our method and we're gearing up and fine tuning for our first meet of the season Dec 17th. Be sure and support the team. They deserve it and I hope everyone can find a little inspiration from them.

CLASS
Chris, Wes and David worked to cover things at the academy while we were at the assessment. We've got some exciting new sequences we begun this week, which really emphasize some important tactics and concepts you don't want to be without. Be sure to take advantage of every possible opportunity to get on the mats this week. This is the only way to success and ultimately you have to take the step to overcome the obstacles in your way.

EXTRA SATURDAY TRAINING
For this Saturday's training session, we'll be taking a trip to one of our affiliate academies to get some extra mat time in with a different group of athletes. This can be a great tool to improve your game and should be taken advantage of at every opportunity! The guys you train with day in and day out know your game and you know theirs. A lot of times some different guys can help you really test your game and sharpen your overall skill. We'll be announcing all the details for the remainder of the week in class and expect as many team members to get involved as possible.

NEW TEAM SITE
I wanted to turn everyone on to the new team site that's up and running. There you'll find the history of the team, the latest news, interviews and upcoming events for the team!

NOVA UNIAO USA

2009-10-26T01:10:00.007-05:00

It's been a great weekend. We had a great time at the Benton Fights October 24. Grant and Wes won their superfights. Brandon won his Muay Thai Fight. We were really glad to see Justin Wolff step up and fight Brandon. Brandon's the 2007 Amateur Muay Thai World Champion and at the 2009 Arnold Classic he picked up 3 titles: San Shou, Muay Thai and International Rules Kickboxing. His last 3 opponents have backed out of the fight the day of, but Justin from Prathet Muay Thai showed up to fight and both of those guys put on a great show. It' was a great main event and thanks to all fighters, sponsors and friends.
Keep up the good work everyone.

Revolution was proud to host Robson Moura 7 x World BJJ Champion in for a seminar. We had grapplers in attendance from over 8 gyms all over Arkansas and Louisiana along with the Benton Panthers Wresters for the Takedown series. He taught a great wrestling series along with some guard passes and he spent time grappling with every student.

Congrats to those who received rank:

Tony and Lewis from Hot Springs moved to 4th Degree White Belt. These guys have been training hard but have also served as fixtures and leaders in our Hot Springs Gym. We are proud of their progress.

In Benton,
Charlie moved on to a 3rd Degree White Belt.
Grant moved to 1st Degree Blue Belt
David Moved to 2nd Degree Blue Belt
Bobby was promoted to Blue Belt

Bobby stood out as the most dedicated student for his fight. He trained every day and lost 25 lbs for his fight. After being promoted to 4th Degree White Belt some time ago, Bobby has stepped up his training and prepared himself for blue belt. We are proud of him for showing dedication in his training and for showing an example for others to follow.

Congratulations to all on your hard work.

Robson is down with our furry friends.

Finally, I am most excited to announce that our new custom cage wall project has finally arrived. We should be installing it this week along with the new heavy bags and then we will further upgrade the kickboxing equipment to finish my "master plan".
Also some other equipment is coming for the Muay Thai and BJJ people, but I'm not telling!

Finally, Our kids classes are growing like crazy. I'd like to recognize all of you on your hard work. I've seen quite a few of you kids improve your grades, confidence and skill here lately as well as make progress in other areas. Keep up the good work as we work hard for this next testing.

See you in class.

2009-10-18T21:52:00.000-05:00

2009-10-09T22:40:00.002-05:00

It's been a great week everyone, and I've really enjoyed our training. I've ordered something special for the KB class and it should be here this upcoming week!!! Can't wait! When it gets in we'll probably need your help with installation!

We also have new T-shirts coming. They will be like the last charcoal grey full color shirts we had which were very popular. Also on the order will be track jackets in limited quantities so pre order yours today.

Fighters, keep up the good work and stay focused this week. It's also important to mention that we appreciate everyone who has come to class this week and helped the fighters. This is a team effort and training partners are very important in the success of the team. Thanks everyone.

Finally I'd like to recognize the following people who have lost considerable amounts of weight using their Revolution diets and training programs and also gotten in great shape:

Scott has lost 40
Bobby has lost 25 lbs
Austin has lost 20 lbs

Great job guys keep it up.

2009-10-06T22:48:00.002-05:00

I ordered something really special for the gym today and I can't wait. It should be here in a week or 2!

Stephen looked good sparring tonight and Scott said we had a great class in HS.

Remember the Benton fights are getting close and I'm very excited about this card.

See you in class!

2009-09-23T22:18:00.002-05:00

It's been hard to blog because my hand is so injured....but I am so stoked about the fights. Everyone's been training hard, we're adding more classes at Revolution and all students look great!

We should also have a very special announcement for the fights coming soon! I can't wait.
Don't forget, train hard the rest of this week.

Kickboxing test Saturday at 12 in Benton and eats after!

2009-09-19T10:51:00.002-05:00

Remember rally tonight at the Judge's place. Email, call or txt us to let us know you're coming so we have enough seats.

2009-09-16T00:33:00.002-05:00

I'm so excited about this upcoming show. We'll have a lot of new and seasoned fighters showing off their skills.
Come support your local fighters, gyms and Wrestling!

In class we've announced some upcoming Kickboxing workshops. We'll have some MMA stuff coming soon.
We've got more gear order and equipment orders coming soon.
Don't forget our Saturday Eats!

Everyone's training hard this week so far, keep it up and eat healthy and stay clean so you don't get the swine flu!
Stephen and Brandon looked awesome sparring today!

Welcome the new folks to the team as you see them.

2009-09-12T21:17:00.003-05:00

Everyone looked good at the BJJ workshop today. Congrats to those who earned Rank:

Joe 1st Degree White
Ward 2nd Degree White
Bobby 4th Degree White

Remember:
Monday extra Early BJJ class in Benton!

Nice to see the fighters training hard, keep up the good work!

2009-09-10T22:45:00.003-05:00

Keep up the hard work everyone. Remember Starting Monday in Benton we have an extra BJJ class! It will be just like our Wednesday Class format, and the same time. We will also keep our evening class after Kickboxing, giving you 2 opportunities to train that evening.

BJJ Testing and Seminar this weekend, Saturday at 12. See you there.
Obviously Noon class is cancelled due to seminar.

2009-09-02T23:22:00.001-05:00

I have ordered something very special for the Kickboxers! I hope it's as awesome as I expect it to be.

Also Congratulations to Jory for Earning his 3rd Degree Black belt in Japanese Jujutsu!
Congratulate him by grabbing his wrist!

Remember
No Class in HS Friday or Monday
There WILL be class in Benton Saturday but NOT on Monday!

2009-08-31T22:02:00.005-05:00

Well, we trained hard last week. Sorry for the lack of updates the fan on the computer went out and I neglected to do some updating while at the school.

Kids had a fun time learning Japanese Jiu Jitsu during their awards ceremony.
Adults are training hard. Our next big event will be our MMA Fights and we have a great group of fighters training hard. Everyone's getting in a lot of work in advanced class and the extra grappling classes are giving more mat time as well.
Remember starting in September we'll have more classes in Benton for Kids and Adult BJJ. Also beginning this week we've added more days in Hot Springs. See you in class!

Grant was kind enough to go to Memphis this weekend and do an exhibition. He did a great job.

We have some upcoming seminars within the next few months. Dates are being announced in class.

** Remember **
We are closed in Hot Springs this FRIDAY AND MONDAY!
We are closed in Benton MONDAY!

Keep training hard everyone!

2009-08-20T22:41:00.003-05:00

Great kids testing today. Everyone's technique looked sharp! We'll have our awards next Thursday in class at 5:00. I will also plan a Japanese Jiu Jitsu day next week. I am glad that all of you kids enjoy cross training. Being a well versed Martial Artist is important as the lessons you learn from one style, along with the concepts carry over in to other aspects of your training.

Sparring was good today in advanced class. We did a lot of situational drills to help everyone work on different aspects of sparring. Grappling was great as well.

Saturday training at 12:00. See you there!

2009-08-19T22:43:00.004-05:00

Great news everyone. We'll soon be adding another night of classes in Hot Springs to accommodate our expanding program. We'll be adding a Tuesday Kickboxing, Sparring and BJJ session. The date of the new class will be announced soon along with details. I'm very pleased to be adding these classes. While our school is relatively new in HS, It continues to grow. Wes has been doing a great job on Mondays.
Please remember proper equipment is required for attendance to your classes.

Please also do not forget after Labor Day we are adding another BJJ class in Benton to accommodate that growth.
We're also training this Saturday in Benton.

Everyone did great in classes tonight. The Kids in Benton worked hard on takedowns and drills along with the adults.
Wes did a great job in the Kickboxing class. It's good to see all of the old and new faces back in!
In Hot Springs we worked on some different takedowns as well as some other essential techniques.

Keep up the good work as we prepare for our next events.

2009-08-18T21:02:00.004-05:00

Got a lot of information to pass on for those of you that don't follow our tweets. Remember Jason's Band is playing Friday night in Hot Springs. We're training at the school and then heading over. We've got some of the Benton guys coming down too.

We've got class this Saturday at noon. We'll be doing training for upcoming events and getting with everyone on their blueprint. We've also got some other training sessions in the works for this weekend.

Starting after Labor Day, we'll be adding an extra BJJ class on Mondays (Please come to class for details) The class is for extra skills and drills. We'll still be having the 7:00 class also. Also be watching for some more additions to the night schedule and also keep in mind we have day training and weekend sessions happening.

Brandon and the guys have been sparring for a hour and a half straight now! Scott and Wes looked great sparring tonight and are improving quickly. Everyone else is equally looking great. We worked on some footwork, head movement and basics tonight. We're working on combinations this week and will continue on Wednesday and Thursday and Friday in HS. Look for some changes/ additions to the KB program soon.

Kids are doing a great job in class..keep up the good work until testing. Jake and Ty had some really great punches today, as did everyone else.

Classes overall continue to grow and we couldnt be more excited with the new talent and training partners coming to the team!

2009-08-08T16:31:00.009-05:00

Well, we brought home I think 26 Medals today. Great job everyone. We are proud of everyone who came out to compete, whether you won or lost. Everyone did their best and performed well. Special thanks to those who did not compete but who came to support the team and help ensure the event ran smoothly. We had a few folks out with injuries or for various things, but we appreciate you coming to help and support your team regardless. Many people might tell you BJJ is an individual sport, but in fact it is very much a team support. Those who help train and coach those who compete are vital members to the team's overall success. Chris competed despite his ankle injury and also did a great job helping with the kids and teens. David, Grant, Bobby, Charlie, and the rest all did a great job helping coach.

Andy from Hot Springs did a great job winning the largest Gi division the Men's White Belt Middle Weight. He's doing a great job in training and performed well today. Wes did a great job competing as well as coaching the team members. Scott won his division and the No Gi absolute. It's good to have him back after a long tour serving our country in Iraq. Stephen, Neil, Austin and the new white belts all did great. Dylan went up to the teens division from the kids this time and did great. Our new teens all did an awesome job as well: Jake, Jessica, Dalton, Harley, and Patrick. Nick and Brandon represented our Kids program very well as well.

Keep up the good work everyone, we are proud of you.

Gi Results:
Brandon 2nd Kids 9-10 y/o Gi *
Nick 2nd Kids 11-12 y/o Gi *
Jessica 1st Teen Girls Gi
Dalton 1st Teen Rooster Gi
Dylan 2nd Teen Rooster Gi *
Harley 1st Teen Feather Gi
Patrick 2nd Teen Feather Gi
Jake 1st Teen Middle Gi
Stephen 1st Men's Novice Middle White Belt Gi
Neil 3rd Men's Feather/ Light White Belt Gi
Andy 1st Men's Middle White Belt Gi
Ward 3rd Mens Med Heavy White Belt Gi *
Chris 2nd Men's Feather Blue Belt Gi *
Wes 1st Men's Heavy Blue Belt Gi

No Gi Results:
Jessica 2nd Teen Girls No Gi
Harley 2nd Teens No Gi Feather
Dalton 1st Teens No Gi Rooster
Dylan 1st Teens No Gi Rooster *
Michael 2nd Men's Novice Lt. Feather No Gi *
Stephen 2nd Men's Novice Middle No Gi
Ward 3rd Mens Med Heavy No Gi*
Wes 1st Men's Heavy No Gi
Scott 1st Men's Super Heavy No Gi
Scott 1st Men's No Gi Absolute
Austin 3rd Men's No Gi Absolute

And of course our No Gi Absolute Winners

Some of our Benton team...

2009-08-05T14:42:00.003-05:00

As a reminder:
Our kids Striking testing has been rescheduled (pushed back 2 weeks) so that you all do not have to do a testing and tournament on the same week.
All of the kids have been working hard and doing a great job. We have something exciting in the works for the kids program that will be announced soon. I'm very excited for this further direction of the program. Please keep up the good work kids and keep training towards your goals.

Adult Kickboxers are doing well. Classes will be a little light this week as most of the fighters prepare for the tournament. Those who are not preparing for the BJJ tournament are working hard on skill work. Next week we will change our focus and pick up the sparring again after a short break as we train for our next MMA and Kickboxing fights.

Last week was our last hard week of training in BJJ for the competition. This week we are working hard on skill work, game plans and making final preparations for the competition. It's great to see the new folks who will be participating with our team this time, including the teens! We also have a lot of the regular team members competing. Bobby has been doing a great job helping coach the team this time. Thank you Bobby!

Finally, no class in Hot Springs on Friday due to the tournament!

2009-07-30T13:18:00.009-05:00

Please read the great article on Nova Uniao below if you haven't already.

A few reminders:

Don't forget the tournament is August 8 and registration ends August 3. We've been training very hard in class for this event.
Bobby worked very hard and made a really nice podium! Thanks.

Our long awaited social event will be August 21! Please come to class to get the details!

BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU
I wanted to thank everyone for their hard work while we were gone. All the assistant coaches did a great job and everyone worked as a team to get things done. Preparing for a competition as a team is one thing that helps unite everyone and help them see the value of serving something greater than one's self. Tonight was our last hard session of GPP and we had a lot of teammates taking full use of their mat time tonight and also helping their teammates prepare. Unit integrity and team work are the keys to success. You can only go so far by your self. It takes a team to ensure you're fully prepared and generally victory is directly proportional to preparedness. No where else will you find a team of people from all walks of life working together to overcome their adversities. Next week we finalize and bring everything together.

SPECIAL THANKS
I wanted to give a special thanks to Master Dring for helping prepare the team for the IKF. He continues to produce champions from scratch every single year. Also a thanks to all the other coaches from the team. They put in a lot of work this past weekend and in the preparations leading up to the competition.

I wanted to thank Robinho and Anthony for all the support they've provided to the team. They've always gone out of their way to line up training sessions, places to stay or whatever else the team needed. They've demonstrated a profound passion and commitment for what they do. On a personal note, Robinho has never ceased to amaze me with the innovations he's brought to the game. Robinho on the mats is like Mozart on the piano. He's not just a phenom with great attributes but a genius that understands his methods. The transitions and techniques we trained from the Robinho No-Gi Cross Guard are another dimension of Jiu Jitsu. Nova Unaio continues to be the greatest team of individuals in the sport.

2009-07-29T12:29:00.005-05:00

Well, we've finally returned from the IKF and training.
Grant lost a decision in his final bout, but looked great in the fight. It was unfortunate to see Abby come down with the flu on the way down there after such a long training camp and the doctors in Orlando are not so great. Eli from Cabot and Mariea from NC brought home titles, so congratulations to them.

After the IKF we went spent a couple of days training hard with Robson Moura where we had some gi and no-gi sessions. We always pick up some important details and cutting edge techniques to make our Jiu Jitsu even more effective. We made a very brief detour to the beach and of course we could not pass on some post training chicago style pizza.

Finally, please take the time to read the following Article regarding Nova Uniao. For those unfamiliar, Nova Uniao is our BJJ/ MMA affiliation. Andre Pederneiras (quoted in the article) is one of the founders of Nova Uniao.

When Pride Fighting Championships met its end, the value of mixed martial arts teams seemed to diminish, too, as athletes were emphasized more for their own value, independent of the team they represented.

This trend has increased even more in Brazil, as Brazilian Top Team and the Chute Boxe Academy suffered several cuts and stars such as Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Paulo Filho, Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua left their respective training camps. The only team not to suffer any major losses during this period was Nova Uniao. Names like Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro, Thales Leites, Wagnney Fabiano and Jose Aldo -- born and raised on a team led by Andre Pederneiras -- continue to shine in international events.

According to Pederneiras, Nova Uniao has about 50 professional athletes on its roster, including Ribeiro and the young Eduardo Dantas, who fought Masakatsu Ueda for the Shooto 132-pound championship last weekend.

Made famous in the 1990s by the brilliant showings of its lighter weight athletes in Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitions, the team made a seamless transition to MMA, winning titles in major events like Shooto (Ribeiro), Cage Rage (Ribeiro), the International Fight League (Fabiano) and Pancrase (Marlon Sandro).

"Our team went from BJJ to MMA," Pederneiras said. "As we already had a very strong team in the lighter weights, basically my BJJ team migrated with the same success to MMA, so we just continued the work. But we've also proven that we can do it with heavier guys. Thales Leites is an example. The more that come here, the more we'll do it."

Although the recognition has come only in recent years, the team began to take its first steps more than a decade ago, with Pederneiras himself fighting in international events and Rafael Carino emerging victorious at UFC 9 in 1996.

"Rafael Carino was my first athlete who fought in MMA, then Joao Roque and some others," Pederneiras said. "Even when I fought, I did not have an MMA team. I called some people for training, but most of them had never fought MMA before. Only when Shaolin began fighting MMA could I bring in more people. Then we really had a team."

While drama surrounds other Brazilian teams, the same cannot be said for Nova Uniao, which has grown strong globally. Pederneiras explained how his team remained cohesive during the turbulent times in Brazil.

"The unity here is great," he said. "I think I have a bit of voice control here. I try not to take anything more than they think is right. I have no interest in exploring. Everyone knows how much I have invested in this team, and I keep investing. I'm here to help my team grow. My happiness comes from training champions and knowing they are making some money and changing their lives, especially the poor ones."

However, training athletes at such a high level has created an unusual situation for the team. Only a few MMA events exist in Brazil. The queue to participate in competitions on home soil has grown so long that it has discouraged fighters, perhaps even potential future champions, from trying to compete.

"We get desperate here in Brazil when the events crack; to me, it's terrible," Pederneiras said. "Many athletes come here with the dream of fighting in big events, but when the small events crack, I often lose those athletes who have that dream and help others to reach a higher level."

Complications are many.

"First, it involves exchange," Pederneiras said. "If a guy calls and gives me $200 for putting someone in the UFC, I don't have to put 'Shaolin' there. If a guy offers me a price in Shaolin's level of payment, he probably will be the first choice in his category. If the guy offers me a price for Jose Aldo to fight in Affliction, I'll tell him, 'No, because he does have a contract with WEC, but I have other athletes in this weight.' What I do is send a list of the athletes that I have. When it doesn't come with a pre-determined name, they look at the record and choose who they want."

Because the aforementioned teams have lost some of their luster, camp affiliation no longer serves as the main factor in a fighter being selected by a promotion. Belonging to the same team as Ribeiro or Aldo does not carry the same weight it did at the beginning of the decade, with the teammates of the Nogueiras or "The Axe Murderer."

"In the past, you used to see an athlete who didn't have all this potential, but he was from a great school, such as Brazilian Top Team or Chute Boxe, and sometimes he didn't have what it takes to be a great fighter," Pederneiras said. "The guy could get in big events, and, in the end, he wasn't good enough to be there. Nowadays, it doesn't happen anymore because just the athlete is important now. Unfortunately, we're at the top with this issue, and we can't put more athletes in other events."

Two stars of the international MMA scene and current UFC champions have their roots at Nova Uniao, including UFC lightweight king B.J. Penn, the first non-Brazilian to win the BJJ world championship as a black belt.

"B.J. is a black belt formed in our academy," Pederneiras said. "He studied with one of my black belts, Renato Verissimo. He trained with us since he was a blue belt, and I gave him the black belt. So his whole ground training came from us. He has his team, with his name, but he remains with us. Renato continues to give him classes."

UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre also has links to Nova Uniao. The French Canadian started jiu-jitsu training with Fabiano, one of the most technical athletes on the team. St. Pierre graduated to blue belt under Fabiano, who later moved away from Canada and lost his prized student. However, every time St. Pierre heads to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he visits and trains with his former teacher.

Despite so many athletes falling under the Nova Uniao umbrella, the school maintains a tremendous winning percentage among its fighters. In 2007, its fighters won 17 of their 21 bouts (81 percent). In 2008, they produced 50 wins in 61 fights (nearly 82 percent). Already in 2009, the numbers are even more impressive. In 85 fights, Nova Uniao fighters have posted 72 wins (85 percent).

The second half of the year could bring more success. Aldo and Fabiano are rising quickly in World Extreme Cagefighting. Leandro Silva and Willamy Chiquerim will fight for Shooto belts in October. Sandro has advanced to the semifinals in the Sengoku featherweight grand prix. Leites will return to the UFC cage against Alessio Sakara at UFC 101. Meanwhile, Jussier da Silva, Renan Barao, Chiquerim and Dantas will all defend their South American Shooto titles.

"The expectations are the best possible. Let's see if we can achieve it all and maintain our good percentage, thus ending another year as the best team in Brazil," Pederneiras said. "Nova Uniao is the team that has more athletes who have become champions. They started on the white-belt level here and became champions; they did not come from other teams."

Pederneiras pulls no punches about his team's current standing in Brazil.

"We are the best team in Brazil nowadays; we are a team that has more great athletes in jiu-jitsu and the most number of champions in MMA," he said. "I advise the promoters and managers of the world that if they want top athletes in Brazil, the first place they should look is here."

by Gleidson Venga

2009-07-25T12:47:00.004-05:00

Please follow us on twitter for instant IKF results!

Grant from REVOLUTION won his first match in a dominating fashion. Grant's first two fights on previous shows were against a former champ and experienced opponents. It proved to give him great experience for an event such as this. He was slipping punches, working his combinations and set a pace in his match that his opponent couldn't match.

Here's some of today's Pics.
Thanks to everyone for the support!

Here's a pic of the team:

And here's Grant and his fight:

2009-07-14T22:53:00.002-05:00

Great training today! Thanks to the Hot Springs guys for coming to train.

Kids did a great job. We worked on a lot of kicks today. Jayden did a great job helping and everyone stayed focused. Hunter got the GPP or "Hard Work" camo belt to wear until tomorrow. Who will earn it next, or will Hunter retain his title? Come train in BJJ Tomorrow. We are working hard towards the next tournament in Kids class as well.

In BJJ we had 2 matches of the day today along with hard work towards the next competition. Josh, Wes, Bobby and Stephen all looked great in their matches. This is giving the new folks a great opportunity to understand the scoring and how "it all works". Everyone's doing a great job.

We worked a lot of defense in Kickboxing today. We also had a few folks stay late to do sparring. Everyone's looking better. Most of you all who take both programs will begin to realize how the principles of relaxation, fluid movement, combinations, etc are all the same whether you are doing BJJ, Kickboxing or MMA.

We have quite a few events planned out almost until the end of the year. Be sure to get on the LDMA site to see what's going on. We try to get them out as soon as possible so you can plan accordingly.

We have a few surprises coming not too long from now.
Tshirts are all but gone, we have just a few left. We have some orders (domestic and international) going out here soon so please let me know if you'd like to get in on them.

Got some good pics from last night's sparring.

Have a great day everyone and we'll see you tomorrow.

2009-07-11T19:48:00.001-05:00

We had a really good time at the Kickboxing Camp today.

We worked a lot on defense, attacks, and sparring. Everyone did a great Job!
I got pics of a lot of folks from Revolution but didn't get everyone. Maybe next time. All the fighters got good sparring in, and the recreational folks were able to learn a lot of good techniques and get some sparring in at a comfortable space.

Wes will have some fun new drills for you Hot Springs folks on Monday! Be ready! Wes is doing a great job and we're glad to have him teaching.

Have a great weekend everyone and we'll see you in class Monday!

2009-07-10T23:56:00.001-05:00

Great class in Hot Springs. Thanks to Johnny for bringing his friends in. I took a nice pic but left the camera in the car. We'll get it up tomorrow. Joe and Jordan had a great fight of the night. Michael is looking great in kickboxing along with everyone else. We worked hard on kicks tonight and I see a lot of improvement.

The new mats are much much nicer. I have something exciting worked out for heavy bags and something else in Hot Springs for later this year, but it's a secret.

It looks like our next Saturday BJJ workshop will be August 1 over takedowns. We'll have a lot of new stuff to throw in the mix, so join the fun. This will be a great way to brush up on stuff for the tournament, as we will also cover rules. We will also plan another striking event later in August to prepare fighters for the upcoming fights later this year. It seems like this year we're going straight from one event to the next. The LDMA affiliation continues to add schools and members, allowing us to have more and more events for you!

Tomorrow is the Kickboxing camp. We should have some good pics from that also.
UFC party after. Please remember to bring something to contribute to the eats.

Thank goodness Sunday is a day off! Next week we'll continue training hard. Mid-day sprints in the heat do well to get everyone in great shape.

2009-07-09T22:51:00.001-05:00

With the exception of the heavy bag rack the Benton gym is back in order! After our disaster with the delivery folks yesterday....we're glad it's over and everything is laid out. But now both gyms look even better. We have even more mat space now and new equipment coming.

The new Benton Kickboxing schedule seems to be working well. Get your gear and get in the advanced classes. Get in better shape and have more fun. Grant looked great sparring this afternoon. He's been working hard training two-a-days a lot of days. Kickboxing Camp and UFC Party this weekend.

In BJJ we had a good fight of the night between Bobby and Ward! The fights and volume of training continue to climb.
I took some pics so that some of you can have them for your Facebook page and MySpaces.

Jake and Ward get their pics on the blog just for being some of the first ones to get their patches on! Thanks guys they look great! Most of you have your patches by now, make sure to get them on so that you can be stylin' too and show we represent a team! As the competitions approach, it's essential to have unit integrity and help each other prepare.

Dalton gets his picture on the blog just for working hard every class. We have a lot of promising teens in the program. Wes, Chris and the other blue belts continue to do a great job helping them and working with them in class.

I had a few other folks who I took pics of but they weren't blog quality. So if you pic isnt on here, well maybe next time.

Keep up the good work everyone!

2009-07-08T23:18:00.001-05:00

Well, it was a lot of work today to get those mats done. Thanks Bobby and Tony again! They both helped load and move mats to the new locations. Please thank them for their hard work when you see them in class.
Also thanks David for helping last minute with the class when the shipment was behind. He and Grant do a great job with the kids!

I really like how the green mats look in Hot Springs. BJJ class will be a lot more fun with them there. We did get some extra GPP in in Hot Springs this evening. Jordan deserves some recognition. He's really doing a great job and has come a long way. We're proud of his progress. Keep training hard for the tournament.

The KICKBOXING CAMP is this weekend. I have a feeling it's going to be a lot of fun. We'll get the UFC and have a cookout after. LDMA offers world class striking instruction, and I am excited that we are able to attend these camps. The striking skill set is evident in our MMA fighters and Kickboxers. If you're looking to fight MMA you want to make sure you have a solid base and knowledge in striking and grappling. Luckily LDMA offers both!

Remember Tshirts are going fast! Get yours quick.
Something very exciting is coming next week!

2009-07-08T00:14:00.002-05:00

Good training and progress everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July weekend.

Thanks to everyone for helping get the old mats out of the way and re-arrange a few things. Tomorrow we'll be taking the Tatamis to Hot Springs! Bobby will be taking the mats to Hot Springs. Thanks Bobby! He always goes out of his way to help the team. Also thanks to Tony who has driven to Benton 2 days to help arrange things. Tony also always helps the team out.

KIDS
Kids did great today! We've been working on foot speed and I see everyone getting a lot faster.

KICKBOXING
This weekend is our Kickboxing camp and festivities. It should be a fun weekend of training, building, and preparing with the entire affiliation.
We did some new ab work tonight in class. If you weren't there you sure missed out!

BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU
In BJJ we're training hard for the upcoming tournament and events. We had a few matches to watch today. Bobby and Jake and Chris and Grant put on a show. This will help everyone familiarize themselves with competition format and scoring, which in turn will aide in your preparation.
Jake was first to show up with his team patches on. Remember the deadline is August 8! The back patches came out really nice, make sure to pick yours up if you haven't already. Pick up an extra one for your jean jacket, or if you're like Scott pick one up for your coveralls.
Congrats to Neil and Austin on receiving their first degrees this weekend at the BJJ seminar and we had a few people hit BOTH the Hot Springs and Benton Seminar to double their time working new technique.

Tony is also looking for a partner to do a private lesson on takedowns with. If you're interested, let us know.

COMING SOON
In the next few months we'll have a variety of events and huge happenings, more changes coming so stay tuned.

Tshirts are going quick. Get them while they last.

Lastly, the old camera has officially been put into retirement. I did have to take a few shots with the new one in class, in particular because Grant and Wes couldn't quit goofing off during the ab exercises. Who would think that dropping a ball on your teammates stomach could be so entertaining?!

2009-07-01T23:20:00.002-05:00

Where has the week gone! We've been training hard this week. Hiking and running outside mid-day is getting tough, but it works. Bonsai encountered a box turtle on our run and it scared the crap out of him. I even tried taking him back to see and smell it but that thing hissed at him and the damage was already done. So now in addition to being scared of shadows and carhops he's scared of box turtles.

Yesterday it was packed and we hardly had any room. The new mat should be in soon which will give us a lot more space. I have a plan to make our heavy bags more efficient as well in both locations and provide even more Kickboxing equipment. We're working on chokes in BJJ and in Kickboxing we are doing some speed drills. Kids are doing a great job also, keep it up. Jake got the GPP belt today. Who will get it tomorrow?

This Sunday we have a workshop in Benton. Come get some training in over the holiday! We'll be spending a few hours reviewing guard passes and defenses. The BJJ tournament is approaching and we're upping the training each week. It looks like we have a few other competitions to attend later this year.

Also remember the LDMA Kickboxing Camp is July 11. It's only $50 and it's all day followed by a PARTY! As always, you don't have to be a fighter to attend, you just have to like training and fun. Please let us know as soon as possible if you want to attend.

In September we'll be having a strength and conditioning workshop. Details on that will come soon.

New Tshirts will be in tomorrow, Limited quantities. We also have gis, patches, gear and stuff coming in in the next few days.

We'd also like to thank Tony in Hot Springs. He came in despite his injury and helped the teens out with class. Be sure to thank him if he helps you out, he 's a great teacher. Also thanks to the high ranks in Benton who continually help out the new folks who come in.

2009-06-30T17:55:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to Teammate William from Barata MMA for winning his Pro Fight this weekend by Choke in Round 1!

2009-06-29T18:29:00.001-05:00

Big Congrats to Teammates Robson Moura and Gustavo Dantas of Nova Uniao for winning the 2009 Japan Cup this weekend! Shaolin will be fighting on Dream 10 in Japan on July 20th and our own Travis The Panther will be attending the event live!

2009-06-25T23:52:00.001-05:00

This week seems to have gone by really fast. Probably due to the trip last weekend and all the training this week.
Things are really busy on the REVOLUTION front, we continue to expand and welcome new members to the programs.

This was our first official week for the new Kickboxing expansion in Benton. We sure did have a lot of people make it in Wednesday for the beginner class. We also now have 2 days of advanced classes. I really think this is helping the advanced guys get more personal attention and learn at a faster rate. Sparring looked great today also. We really have a good group for sparring, each person having their own attributes to bring to the table and allowing for a variety of training partners and styles to help increase skill sets. We've added in more ab work and it seems to be a lot of fun! It looks like we'll be ordering more gear next week since the last shipment is all but gone.

The all day Kickboxing Camp at LDMA is July 11. The cost is $50 and it lasts all day. We'll have a party afterwards also. Don't miss out on this fun. We have several fighters and teammates from REVOLUTION attending.

We're training hard in BJJ for the next tournament. Bobby's really been helping keep everyone motivated. Thanks Bobby.
Don't forget the contest we are having! So far Stephen and Bobby are ahead. We had fundamental BJJ tonight and the Blue Belt and up class tonight. The beginners worked fundamental sweeps while the advanced guys worked some advanced sweeps from the 93 Guard and polished their Butterfly Guard Game. We have students of all sizes and skill levels in training from white all the way to black. Keep pushing your training partners so that the whole team gets better!
David and Grant were kind enough to come down and train with our guest in Hot Springs last night, thanks guys!

We have a BJJ evaluation in Hot Springs this Saturday. Come join the fun.

Remember Friday is the deadline to pre order your patch. A list of places to have them sewn on is available at the gyms.
Patches will be here in about 2 weeks.

We have a limited run of new t-shirts coming in next Thursday. They are on sale now.

Kids are working hard towards the next testing. We had a kicking and punching contest today and we worked on spin kicks. I was really impressed with everyone's spin side kick.

Last but not least, good luck to Robson, Gustavo and Shaolin on their fights in Japan and congrats to Demente on his performance at the Mundials (I'm sure you'll be hearing more of him).

2009-06-22T21:56:00.001-05:00

What a fun and exhausting weekend!

We left Thursday and made the 14 hour drive out to Snyder's LDMA in High Point, NC. There we trained a lot of Kickboxing and we trained with 7x World Champion and Nova Unaio Teammate Robson Moura. We learned a lot of new and exciting things, and there were a lot of high ranks from gyms in the area present. We're excited to share the things we learned with you all in classes. We got some drills, techniques and ideas to further enhance training here at the gym both in Kickboxing and in BJJ classes.

Remember this week starts our extra Beginners Kickboxing class as well as our extra advanced KB class. Please remember your proper equipment for each class. Everyone is progressing great, and it's good to see the constant influx of beginners moving in to our advanced classes. Kickboxing Workshop at LDMA next month: $50 for the whole day and there will be a fiesta after!

The BJJ group is training hard for the next competition. Bobby did a great job keeping everyone motivated tonight.
Remember to stay focused towards your goals. We have some upcoming seminar and rank testings. Rank is a measure of your progress: it symbolizes what you know and what you have yet to learn. Make sure to make it to your testings because this is how you move in to the advanced BJJ class sections. All of the high ranks do an excellent job helping the new folks.
Please remember that the deadline to pre order your required back patch is this Friday. If you pre order you save $ and get your REVOLUTION patch FREE.

Thanks to everyone who helped out while we were training hard. Sounds like classes went great.

We'll have new REVOLUTION Tshirts in soon.

2009-06-17T23:57:00.002-05:00

Great training thus far this week. We've been having some excellent training sessions during the day as well for the fighters.

Kids!
The kids continue to do great during class. It's good to see their progress. We're working hard now towards our next kickboxing evaluation. Our kickboxing evaluation will be held the First Thursday in August! Please make every effort to attend class to prepare. We have already been working hard on our curriculum.
Here is the dates of testings this year:

First Thursday in August: Kickboxing
First Thursday in October: Kickboxing
First Thursday in December: BJJ

Keep up the good work kids! I know you will all be very sweet to David tomorrow. :)

Kickboxers
Kickboxers, remember we have added another basic kickboxing class to the schedule on Wednesdays at 6 at Revolution Benton. This allows us to have 2 days of basic training and 2 days of advanced training. It's great to see everyone getting their gear and joining in the advanced classes. We're having a lot of fun. Brad and Asa had their first sparring session this week and did a great job putting their new skills to the test. We appreciate the more experienced fighters working in a controlled setting and helping the new folks get up to speed and in a positive and safe fashion.
We are working on this model and adopting it for Hot Springs soon so hang tight.

We are really sad to hear that Asa is moving to Texas. He's been a great student and trained hard in his time here at Revolution. Good luck and have fun Asa and Chase!

Gear is going fast, so don't wait. Seriously. As a reminder you MUST have required equipment from REVOLUTION for classes. Nothing else is allowed due to safety. Please remember to bring your equipment with you, all of it including hand wraps, mouthpiece, etc. Do not burry it in your closet under a mountain of clothes! Fighters, make sure you continue to attend all classes, beginner and advanced to get in your required skill work and advance your skill set.

The LDMA Kickboxing camp is July 11 in Sherwood. Please make every effort to attend. This will be a great camp for competitors as well as recreational trainers. We'll cover game plans, strategies and all sorts of things related to striking. As always you will be paired according to experience and goals. Please see your coach if you wish to attend.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
We're training hard for upcoming events later this year. It's great seeing everyone work so hard in class and enjoying themselves while doing it! We have some success stories that I have been meaning to mention:
Josh has lost over 40 lbs, and Alan around 20. We have a few more that I'll post tomorrow! Congratulations on your hard work guys.

We have seminars and Evaluations on the following dates:
Saturday June 27 in Hot Springs
Sunday July 5 in Benton
Remember when you pre register you get the Nova Uniao Team Patch for your gi.

Please remember to pre order your back patch as well, as the deadline is approaching to receive your discount and free REVOLUTION patch with order.

With all this training I have a feeling the summer is going to fly by. Please make sure you make it in to your classes so that you hear the important announcements and do not miss out on anything.

The Clinch Gear order is in. Please see your class instructor to pick up your order.
We are placing another next week.
Atama should be in asap as well.

Again, keep up the good work everyone!

2009-06-16T01:33:00.002-05:00

Great fights this weekend!
We finished up last week hard. We had our kids awards in BJJ, and we had a Japanese Jiu Jitsu day. I never imagined this would be so popular with the kids, but I sure do enjoy it as well!

We had some good fights this weekend in Jacksonville. There were a lot of different matches, from Kickboxing, and Muay Thai to MMA.

Travis had his first fight. If you're been training at REVOLUTION long enough you probably know Travis. He hasnt been in much until right before his fight due to his job that keeps him gone for extended periods. However, while Travis was away at work he lost almost 30 lbs. His first fight was an exhibition where he could test things out, competing at a new weight, cutting weight and testing his overall performance. Travis did a great job, and we're proud of him. He trained each day he was here, driving well over an hour to do so. He lost a significant amount of weight and did everything we asked him to do in his camp, even cutting weight in a sauna to be sure to make weight exactly even though his match was an Exhibition. He is also a huge supporter of the team, he'll be flying all the way to Japan in July to see Nova Uniao Team Mate Shaolin fight in Dream in Japan. We're jealous!
Congratulations Travis.

Wes was up and was the main event. He fought an experienced wrestler. Wes has been working on his striking and ground game, perfecting his techniques with each class. He was able to finish this fight with a Choke in Round 1. Great job Wes!

Most importantly thank you to everyone who came out to watch. I know it wasn't right down the street, but the fighters all appreciate your support. Thank you to everyone in class who has helped out in motivating and training, as their success in the ring is attributed to your help as well. TOO BAD MOST OF YOU ALL DID NOT STAY FOR OUR GROUP PICTURE AND WENT HOME AND GOT IN BED!!

We'll have to decide on what piece of equipment we'll get next. I'm still thinking of a few ideas.

Keep up the good work everyone!

2009-06-10T17:25:00.001-05:00

BJJ
The Team's performance is off to a good start for the first week of preparation! We want to thank Julian from Greg Jackson's Camp for coming and spending the last week and a half with us!

MMA
Jacksonville Fights are this Saturday night! We've got tickets at the gym.
General $20
Ringside $40

KICKBOXING
The custom Fairtex Gear has arrived and we've already sold through a lot of the stock. Hurry and get yours before it's gone and you got to wait on the next order!

2009-06-08T18:58:00.001-05:00

Congrats to Nova Unaio Teammate Jose Aldo, who got knockout of the night honor at this weekends WEC fights!

2009-06-05T23:47:00.001-05:00

BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU
The Spider Guard Workshop was a hit! We were able to cover a vast array of sweeps, subs and sneaky chokes (which David unfortunately found out too late) before the kickboxers took the floor. We had several visitors in the gym as well as a good turn out of Revolution's Blue Belts and high ranks. Most importantly we added a new member to the Blue Belt Elite!

GRANT LANDRETH

Grant turned 16 on the 4th and is advanced beyond his age in Jiu Jitsu. In his last tournament outing, Grant took the juvenile advanced Gi and No-Gi divisions. Not satisfied by his conquest, he also took the Men's division. Grant now claims his place amongst Revolution's Blue Belts. We have certainty he'll continue to take himself and team to the next level. Grant has impeccable dedication, attending almost all training sessions and extra activities. Heck he might as well just bring his pillow up to the gym!

Some teams have the gauntlet when one of its members advance in rank. At Revolution we have the PLETHORAPLATA Now we've limited this practice in scope since the accident last year, realizing in hind sight we had reached a critical mass of colored belts.

Congratulations also to the following members who earned their new rank:

Andy 1st Degree White
Ward 1st Degree White
Josh 4th Degree White
Wes 1st Degree Blue

Monday the training camp begins!

KICKBOXING
The kickboxing seminar was a great success. We went over the new curriculum and structure and worked on footwork and blocking. Our next workshop will cover Kicking and Kicking defense. Be looking for a lot of new tricks being thrown in sparring this week....All of which will look extra slick in all the new Fairtex Gear. I am really glad we decided to go with these new custom gloves. I noticed a big difference today with the added wrist padding. To our surprise the mitts and gloves arrived on Friday. The rest of the gear will be at the gym ready for class Monday!

MMA
Jacksonville Fights this coming Saturday night. We got the tickets! Come out and see the team in action! From what I hear there's going to be a big surprise attraction in the parking lot at the event. We might have a hard time getting the fans to come in to watch the fights.

2009-06-04T01:10:00.001-05:00

All gear will be in Monday! Can't wait to break out the new focus mitts for kickboxing. I'm already trying to decide what we'll get next...but I have a few ideas.
If you ordered shorts for your fight they should be in as well.

Welcome new folks!

Kids BJJ testing is tomorrow. It's going to be a good day. We'll make sure to leave time for a game since we worked hard in class this week. Next week we'll set a day for our post testing Weeping Style class as well.

Don't forget the Adult BJJ and Kickboxing workshops this weekend! We'll see you there. The BJJ workshop will cover the Spider Guard. Our kickboxing workshop will cover advanced sparring strategies. Remember to bring all gear to both workshops, and some food.

Tickets for the next fights are on sale at REVOLUTION! See your coach for options and come support your team!
Travis will officially be a "cage fighter" after the event, and just in time as that lucky guy gets to go to Japan and watch Dream!

We're going to be very busy throughout the month of June, and July is already all booked with seminars, competitions and training camps. We're already 8 weeks out from our next BJJ tournament! There sure is a lot to be involved in at REVOLUTION.

I think we're finally over the food poisoning. Hopefully it's back to training tomorrow.

2009-06-01T23:58:00.001-05:00

Please remember we have our Kickboxing and BJJ workshops this weekend. Hope to see you there.

Kids testing is Thursday! How exciting. We'll have about 3 testing for their yellow belts in BJJ. After your performances in the last competition along with your hard work in class you deserve it! Go Kids!

Lot's of new members in the programs. Welcome. Keep up the good work. It's great to see the senior students helping bring the new folks up to speed!

There's a lot of events coming up in the not so distant future:

~We're only 2 weeks out until our next show. So far we have Wes fighting a tough opponent and Travis doing his first MMA Exhibition!

~We have a Kickboxing Camp also coming up July 11 to prepare for upcoming Competitions, however you need not be a competitor to attend. It's gonna be lots of fun!

~We're also about 8 weeks out from our next Local Competition! Time to start training hard again. It seems like we just finished the last one. I'm sure we'll have a lot more folks in the 3 month and under novice division and it will be good to see the blues go at it again.

Wes continues to do a great job in Hot Springs. Thanks Wes!

2009-05-22T02:10:00.001-05:00

It's been a busy week on the REVOLUTION Front!

We had a fun time at the MMA Camp this past weekend.
Our next MMA show will be June 13. It's right around the corner. As a reminder Tickets are on sale at REVOLUTION!
Get your tickets and come to class and find out what you're getting for it this time!

Our new focus mits will be in shortly along with the custom gear. It was clearing customs earlier this week.
Further on the Kickboxing front we have our next evaluation June 6 and we'll be covering footwork, blocking and sparring concepts.

Our next BJJ evaluation will be June 6 and we'll cover an advanced segment on the Spider Guard. Join us for the fun! Make sure you get in for the Thrusday Advanced class as well. We covered some advanced sweeps tonight, and we even let you white belts in on the fun just this once :)

Both evaluations will take place in Benton this time. See your coach for further details on times, costs, etc.

Our Kids BJJ testing will be the FIRST THURSDAY IN JUNE! I am very excited about this testing. We have some of the more advanced kids testing for belts, and many of our newer members testing for tips. After your outstanding performance in the tournament, I can't wait to see what you bring to testing! Keep up the good work. Hot Springs Kids will do their testing with the Benton testing, so train hard!

Classes are filled with new folks! Please take the time to introduce yourselves to your new training partners and get to know them. Let's help build their game and get them on track and focused on their goals. We'll soon have to add even more classes!

We have a lot of upcoming events as far as training camps and competitions. We will have some in house events coming up shortly as well. Be listening in class next week for information.

Monday is Memorial Day and we'll be closed for the occasion.

2009-05-11T22:10:00.001-05:00

Wow, way to start the week off! We had the most excellent kickboxing class tonight, followed by a great BJJ class. It's back to basics this week, so that makes it a great week for all of you new folks.

The LDMA Women's camp was a huge success and lots of fun! It was filled with BJJ and Kickboxing and women from various states as far as Illinois.

This upcoming weekend we have our annual LDMA MMA camp! It's going to be a lot of fun. We'll probably listen to the Never Back Down soundtrack, and watch lots of Red Belt, and for sure we'll have our Tap Out shirts on! It wouldn't be complete without the TapOut MMA bed set! JUST KIDDING!

Speaking of LDMA, next time you're out at the store, pick up a copy of BLACK BELT Magazine.
You'll find an excellent article by Danny Dring! Now when he's not promoting the sport, coaching his world champion Kickboxing team, or teaching class, he's writing for major magazines.

The Next MMA fights will be JUNE 13!

On the REVOLUTION front:

The first Saturday in June we'll have a BJJ Testing/ Workshop. It will be several hours of advanced spider guard techniques followed by an evaluation for those who are ready. I will give you some notice that this is going to be an exciting evaluation, and ALL BLUE BELTS please attend. Our BJJ workshop will be followed by a kickboxing Workshop/ Testing. We'll be covering some footwork and some blocking and sparring components. Cost and details are announced each class.

It's good to see everyone getting some sparring in after Kickboxing classes. I see a lot of improvement coming along from everyone.

Custom Sparring gear is all but sold out and it's not even here. If you want some, get in on it now!

Our Advanced BJJ class is now on Thursdays. Please see Jory if you are an advanced student and wish to attend. If you are not an advanced student and wish to attend, COME TO CLASS AND TRAIN EVERY DAY! It's the only way.....

Kids BJJ testing is the FIRST THURSDAY IN JUNE! It's going to be a lot of fun! Maybe if you train hard I'll have a surprise for you!
Remember Wednesday is family day, bring your dad or mom, brother or sister.

See you tomorrow everyone! Keep up the good work!

2009-05-01T17:38:00.002-05:00

It's been a good week. Kickboxing was so packed in here Thursday! Great job everyone. I'm excited about the extra sparring sessions we've added to the classes. They will compliment our advanced class well.

We have a Kids BJJ and Adult Kickboxing testing coming up in June. Keep training hard and stay focused on your goals.

Adult BJJ also has many new folks in. We have an advanced class for you blue belts now. We hope to see you there as we continue learning advanced techniques and strategies.

Women's Camp is this weekend, and May 15-17 is the MMA Camp. It sounds like it will be a lot of fun this year.

On a separate note:

Art's Wife has opened a new salon off of I-30. It's called Utopia Salon. Go check it out!

Also, Bonsai gives Happy Hounds in Bryant 2 paws up for making him look terrific. He got a fancy hair cut, his nails fixed and a bandana. If you have a dog that needs grooming, go see Bobby's wife Phesha at Happy Hounds!

Please take time to introduce yourselves to the new folks you may not know.

2009-04-25T17:06:00.001-05:00

Well, another great week is on the books. We've had some guests in from various places, and thanks for stopping by.

We have the MMA Camp, Women's Camp, Kickboxing Camp and tons of other events and festivities coming up. Keep training hard everyone. Our next striking testing will be in June. Benton and Hot Springs.

We had a post tournament workshop today, helping everyone fix any mistakes they may have made and capitalize on the things they did well.

Congrats to Poe for earning his blue belt!
After testing his Jiu Jitsu in a MMA Match, 2 local tournaments and spending countless hours on the mats, Poe proved he's ready for blue. He's exhibited the technical prowess and will to wear and defend his rank. To top the mountain Poe won the biggest men's division at the tournament last weekend. Congrats on the hard work.

Jordan also earned one tip on his white belt today. Great job Jordan.

2009-04-19T18:46:00.001-05:00

Congrats to everyone who competed this weekend! The tournament was a huge success and continues to grow and improve.
Everyone who competed picked up a lot of experience along the way.

Here's a few pics from the Kids Gi and Teen. The rest are uploading now and we'll have them on the blog Monday.
You can check them out as they upload in the gallery HERE

Kids had an excellent showing! Congratulations to you all. I guess all that conditioning we do really pays off.

Kids Divisions

Teen Divisions

Adult Divisions

Results are:
Tyler- 2nd Place kids 5-6 year old Gi *
Hunter- 1st Place Kids 7-8 year old Gi Novice
Hunter- 1st Place Kids 7-8 year old No Gi Novice
Jake- 1st Place Kids 7-8 year old Gi Advanced
Jake- 2nd Place Kids 7-8 year old No Gi Advanced
Brandon- 1st Place Kids 9-10 year old Gi Novice Light Weight
Gage- 2nd Place Kids 9-10 year old Gi Novice Light Weight
Brandon- 1st Place Kids 9-10 year old No Gi Novice Light Weight
John- 1st Place Kids 9-12 year old Advanced Gi
Dylan- 2nd Place Kids 9-12 year old Advanced Gi
Ethan- 3rd Place Kids 9-12 year old Advanced Gi
John- 1st Place Kids 9-12 year old Advanced No Gi
Dylan-2nd Place Kids 9-12 year old Advanced No Gi
Nick- 3rd Place Kids 11-12 year old Novice Gi *
Nick- 3rd Place Kids 11-12 year old Novice No Gi *
Matthew- 2nd Place Youth 13-15 year old Gi Novice <140 lbs
Grant- 1st Place Youth 13-15 year old Gi Advanced Light Weight
Grant- 1st Place Youth 13-15 year old No Gi Advanced Light Weight
Jake- 3rd Youth 16-17 year old Gi
Jake- 2nd Youth 16-17 year old No Gi
Holly- 1st Women's Gi
Holly- 2nd Women's No Gi *
Daniel- 1st Men's Feather Weight Novice White Belt
Grant- 1st Men's Feather Weight White Belt
Bobby- 1st Men's Light Weight White Belt
Brandon- 2nd Men's Light Weight White Belt
Poe- 1st Men's Middle Weight White Belt
Andy- 1st Men's Masters Middle Weight White Belt
Justin- 2nd Men's Super Heavy Novice White Belt *
Wes- 2nd Men's Super/ Ultra Heavy Blue Belt
Buddy- 3rd Men's Super/ Ultra Heavy Blue Belt
Daniel- 2nd Men's Feather Weight No Gi Novice *
Poe- 2nd Men's Middle Weight No Gi Beginner
Andy- 3rd Men's Middle Weight No Gi Beginner
Wes- 1st Men's Super Heavy No Gi Intermediate
Justin- 1st Men's Ultra Heavy No Gi Novice
Buddy- 2nd Men's Ultra Heavy No Gi Advanced *

Congrats again to everyone. Next weekend we'll have a seminar to review your strategies: what went right, what went wrong. It's in Benton, and we'll see you there!
We'll see you in class this week for lots of fun training.

2009-04-16T21:00:00.001-05:00

Great classes everyone!
Keep up the good work.

1111 W Maryland Ave
Sherwood Ar 72120
That's the tourny address for you BJJ folks. See you at 9 am Saturday.

Remember we also have the MMA camp, Women's training camp and Fights coming up.

2009-04-05T18:23:00.001-05:00

Congrats! to Nova Teammate Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro, who defeated Greco-Roman Olympic silver medallist Katsuhiko Nagata of Japan at Dream 8 in Nagoya, Japan Saturday night!

We also want to congratulate teammate Gustavo Dantas' Team at UFC Fight Night 18 in Nashville. Gustavo had 3 fighters on the card including the main event and came away with two victories! Congrats to Simpson, Bader and all of Arizona Combat Sports!

Well, we're back. We had the most excellent time in North Carolina doing a Seminar at Snyder's LDMA.
This blog is your official proof that I can still do some TKD! Hiiiyaaaaaa! Breaking boards hurts my feet! I enjoyed teaching techniques to the black belts. They are a great group of guys and girls and I really enjoyed it. Jory taught a 4 hour BJJ seminar at the same time. We all got a chance to grapple when it was over, which was quite fun. It was a quick trip, but we got a lot accomplished. It's great training with other folks, because while we are out there teaching, we still pick up things to bring back to make things even better for you all.

We'll have some guests in this week. Speaking of, it's great to have so many girls training in BJJ in Benton and HS. Most of you know we've been training for an upcoming local tournament. We have a lot of newer folks and some of you who are at newer ranking levels. We had some in the 3 month and under last time who will be going up in experience as well as some folks who hold new rank. This local even is a great place to get your feet wet, whether you're brand new or just working on the next evolution in your training. Plus its fun. I'm excited about the Tshirts. Anthony was so kind as to design us a flashy graphic!

I have some exciting things coming for the kickboxers as well. Our custom Fairtex Gear should be in here shortly, as well as some new stuff coming to class. I have something for Tuesdays advanced class. It's going to be fun. Well that usually means fun for me anyways.

Kids, keep training hard.

Side Kick!

Jump 360 Side Kick

Shin Kick

Shin Kick

Jory teaching BJJ

Our Group

Stylin'

2009-03-23T16:58:00.002-05:00

Wow,
What a great week it's been. We just completed our largest Kids and adult Kickboxing testing to date. Congrats to all of you on your well deserved rank.

Per Ethan's request, the kids got to work Weeping Style on Thursday for a break after testing. I promised Tyler and Shane a pic on the blog, but only if they grimmaced in pain for my amusement! And Tyler pulled off a good #1 Wristlock! We learned a little about wristlocking, falling, rolling and throws. Good stuff for a change up from the regular.

We've also been working a lot of speed and conditioning training in the last 2 weeks between testing and awards. It's always good to spend time on athletic development so that you'll be able to do the skills you learn in class. It's good to see these kids valuing health and fitness. It starts early!

In Hot Springs we learned that French Fries aren't Vegetables! Although it would be nice if Chocolate, French Fries and Cheesecake were in the fruits and veggies category.....

This weekend it was a great honor to be training and rolling with ROBSON MOURA. Robson is a 7x World Champion, 8x Brazilian National Champion, a member of Team Nova Uniao and one of the greatest grapplers of all time. Many of us were able to take advantage of his time with Private lessons, training sessions and a Gi and No-Gi seminar on Saturday. I tried getting everyone in the pics, but its a bit difficult with so many folks!

Congrats to the following folks who received Rank:
Chris, David, and Buddy all got 1 Tip on their Blue Belt.
Grant got 2 tips on his Green Belt and Jason got 1 more tip on the White. Congrats to you all for your hard work.

Last but not least, congrats to Abby on her Faixa Marrom.

2009-03-10T20:52:00.002-05:00

Great training tonight. We're working some fun stuff in Kids class after testing. We did a lot of agility work today and some strength work, and we're making the young Revolutionaries strong and fast! Keep up the good work kids!

The early Advanced BJJ class on Tuesdays was a hit. It's great to have all the blue belts and high ranks in to train with.
They're doing a great job with all the new folks we have in, and it's great to see everyone's progress. Stay focused for our upcoming tournament!

The later Advanced Kickboxing is a hit as well. We had a lot of good work on partner drills tonight. I must say Shelby Kicks hard! And why does Wes always have such bad luck?

**Please note** We'll have awards next Thursday not this Thursday. We have quite a few folks to work in Make up testings for, so we'll be working them in until then. If you want your handwraps with your award, please tell Abby ASAP!

Here shortly we'll work the changes in Hot Springs to accommodate all of the new folks we have there as well.

This weekend we're taking the team to another gym to train! This is a great experience for some of you to test yourselves. Many times training with the same partners isn't always the best test of progress, as they learn your game. Grappling with new folks allows you to see your strengths and weaknesses and come back to the gym with more to focus on. Kickboxers and BJJers welcome! We'll do both!

Next weekend ROBSON MOURA 7X World Champion and Nova Uniao Teammate will be here! He'll be available Friday for privates and Saturday we'll have an all day gi and no gi seminar. This is the best opportunity to advance your game. And what an honor to be on the same team as one of the all time best ever grapplers!

Custom Fairtex gloves and gear is coming soon. Get in on it if you want to.
Clinch Gear has some fancy Desert Camo shorts in. 15% off orders $50 or more. Wear them to the gym, wear them hunting, wear them in the desert. They're versatile!

Congratulation to Brandon Hawkins for Taking 3 World titles at the Arnold's. We appreciate him coming down to be a sparring partner for some of the newer kickboxers. Congrats to the other members of Team LDMA who brought home title belts and won their grappling divisions!

2009-03-05T21:03:00.001-06:00

Great testing tonight Kickboxers.

We'll have awards next Thursday!
Make-up testings are next week, please get with us if you need to schedule one.

Reminder: 7x World Champion and Nova Uniao Team Member Robson Moura will be in Arkansas March 21. We'll be having a seminar in Sherwood. Class times and prices are announced in class. He is also available for Private lessons. Please let us know if you'd like to schedule one. Not only is Robson one of the greatest grapplers of all time, but he is also an excellent teacher.

We are having a schedule change. On TUESDAYS, the Kickboxing and BJJ class will flip. We will have BJJ at 6, then Advanced Kickboxing and Sparring at 7. This will allow the BJJ folks 1 night of early classes and the kickboxers an extended class for sparring.

Have a great weekend everyone!

2009-03-03T20:42:00.001-06:00

Well, Testing is coming this Thursday. We'll do a makeup next week for those who can't make it.
I am excited about this testing, especially because I see all of the progress our Advanced Kickboxing class is helping you all make in your game. Everyone's sparring is coming along nicely. It's great to see everyone getting to spar, not just the competition folks.

In BJJ it's back to basics this week. I know a lot of you fighters are off after your fights. There is no stopping Grant however, who trains daily. He's gonna be a Machine when he's 18. On the BJJ front we have a tournament April 18, and Robson Moura is coming March 21. I'm quite excited about this. We had a few of the newer folks get tips at the last seminar, congratulations to you all.
Keep up the good work everyone.

Eh, so far our new mascot has proven to be scared of shadows, the dark, the cold, being alone, the carhops at sonic, people with hats and sunglasses on...you name it. He does however show no fear, barking and charging at every large dog he sees. Let's hope he doesn't get his face bitten!

2009-02-23T20:36:00.001-06:00

Great fights this weekend in Jacksonville! We had a lot of new folks test their skills this weekend.

First up was Grant. Grant recently did a small exhibition in Hot Springs. This weekend he took on a former IKF World Champion in his first Kickboxing match. Grant came out strong and did great. Experience got to him though, as Rudy ended up winning a split decision. Nothing to feel bad about on Grant's end. We're proud of his performance and willingness to take on such a tough and experience opponent in his first fight.

Next up was Buddy. First let me just say something about Buddy. Buddy's been with REVOLUTION for quite some time. Buddy used to weigh 350 lbs. He's undergone such a huge transformation. He weighed in at 216 for this fight. Not only is Buddy in shape, but Buddy has grown and matured so much as a person, it's been a pleasure to know him. He finished his second MMA fight in the second round with a Rear Choke. Congratulations Buddy!

Next up was Brandon. Brandon's been training only a few months. He was scheduled for an exhibition but another fighters opponent didn't show. He stepped up and did a real fight. In the third round he took an illegal stomp while on the ground to an illegal area and was unable to continue. The fight went to the score cards, which had it as a draw. He did get in a lot of good work, and exhibited some good guard work while on his back. With a little time in training he'll be finishing those subs in no time.

Last up was Poe. Poe's been training awhile with REVOLUTION as well. He's competed in the local Arkansas tournaments with some success. This was his first MMA fight. He made weight quite easily and was ready to go. He wobbled his opponent with his solid right cross. He then took the fight to the ground and finished with a guillotine choke at 1:06 in the first round. Congratulations Poe!

Much to your delight, we'll have more Kickboxing equipment in soon!

Robson Moura 7x World Champion will be here March 21. Mark your calendars and be there. It's gonna be fun!

Workshop and testing this Saturday at 12:00 in Hot Springs (Fundamental Submissions and Escapes).

Keep up the good work everyone!

2009-02-17T20:58:00.000-06:00

AT&T has finally done the job! It only took 2 months and our new space officially has internet. Let's hope I haven't spoken too soon!

A lot of things have been happening at REVOLUTION. If you get the newsletter you've probably been aware of some.
Let's see, back in January we attended William's GRAND OPENING of his academy in Cabot. Congratulations to him, and for those in the Cabot area, check him out!

Wes and Grant did exhibitions on the last Ring Rulers show in Hot Springs. Grant gave up 30 lbs and did a grappling match. Wes' opponent backed out, so Wes gave Grant some ring time for a Kickboxing Exhibition.

We've had a few seminars, including a large seminar over all of the positional curriculum for white to blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Last month we had quite a few people earn tips on their belts. This month we will cover the Submission portion on February 28. Make every effort to attend. This will be another extended seminar.

Our Advanced Kickboxing class is a hit! I hope you all continue to enjoy this class. Kids and adults can look forward to another kickboxing testing March 5 at your regular class time. Keep training hard until then. Please see us with any questions.
We sure appreciate Brandon coming in and training with the fighters as well!

This upcoming weekend we have Jacksonville's first Cage Fighting Event. Yep, Modern Ringsport is bringing cage fighting to Jacksonville. We should have quite a few fighters on the card. Please come out and support them. Most of these guys will be making their debut. Nothing helps a fighter overcome the nerves like a crowd cheering their name! Good luck to these fighters from Benton and Hot Springs. We will have MMA and Kickboxing Fights on the card.

We've also had a flood of new folks in since the holidays. Please make sure you introduce yourselves. We look forward to training with you.
The February Newsletter should be out by the end of the week!

Please say hi to the new gatekeeper to the office! In keeping with our intentions to be revolutionary, it wouldn't be right to have the traditional pit bull dog complete with a spiked collar and all other types of scariness that goes along with the stereotypical MMA culture.

2009-01-30T00:36:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been a long time blogging! As it turns out once upon a time our new gym was a garage! So no phone jack, etc. AT&T had to run the wires for our interwebs. Of course that was an ordeal. Now we have free wifi though. Bring your diesel shoes and your starbucks! Let's have a magazine reading party!

So what's happening here..... Hmmm tons and tons of new folks! Welcome.

Earlier this month we went to Williams grand opening in cabot. Cabot friends, go check him out!

Grant did an exhibition grappling match last Saturday. Great experience for him. Grant has truly dedicated himself to his training. Can't wait tip he's 18 and we can unleash him in mma! He also did an exhibition kickboxing match with wes. Why? Well wes opponent Nolan bruised his knee and didn't show up to fight. He did show up to watch however. What a by met to take off work, train, cut weight inky to be stood up.....

Bjj workshop Saturday on white to blue curriculum. Should be a good one. See you soon.
Pics coming when the gym computer is hooks back up!

2009-01-04T12:16:00.000-06:00

It's been a long time blogging. Our blogs will be a bit scattered until AT&T gets it together and confirms the new gym is a legit address and sets up our Internet.....

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and Happy New Year! It was great to see so many people training on the break. This week we will hit it hard. Yesterday we got some good training in at William's new Cabot gym. Thanks to those who came.

We have a lot of events coming up in the future weeks, from fights to seminars to training. We'll see you this week!

2008-12-16T13:41:00.000-06:00

OK Boys, you OFFICIALLY LOSE!
How is it possible that our women kickboxers can come to train in the minivan and all of you boys with your powerful super trucks are at home???

We'll have a special guest Wednesday here in Benton for BJJ and in Hot Springs for BJJ.
Please make every effort to make class. Our guest will be traveling for a few hours to get here and train with us. Do not miss this opportunity.

See you tonight in class! Heavy bag rack is up, after much work. Now we have to attach the bags!
We've begun our new combination in Kickboxing as well. It's a good one. We will also have a guest in BJJ tonight.

See you at the gym!

2008-12-15T12:32:00.000-06:00

NO CLASSES TONIGHT IN HOT SPRINGS DUE TO THE WINTERY WEATHER.

We will however be having classes at the Benton location tonight for those brave enough to train. The rest of the week looks uneventful weather wise and we'll resume our normal schedule after tonight.

Remember! We're having a free BJJ seminar this Saturday, 2:00 at the new Benton location!

More new equipment has arrived and I have to go put it together before it becomes encrusted with ice.

2008-12-09T14:38:00.000-06:00

Wow, this definately was the most eventful weekend ever.

Well for starters we had a great kids and adult Kickboxing testing last week!
We'll do the awards and makeups this week.

I heard we had some good classes while everyone was gone at the Florida Grappling Championships. We left out on the 15 hour drive Thursday night. About 1/2 way there we hit a guard rail, damaging the Revolution Mobile. Luckily the spare took us to Tampa where we had to leave it at the dealership.

It was a tight squeeze in the rental, but it didnt stop us. We got set up in the Motel and went to eat at Outback. The idea was to eat some clean foods, however the Cheese Fries are hard to resist. Luckily after downing them, we all still made weight.

Saturday, after the GPS on the Iphone got us lost, we made it to the tournament. Grant had won his 1st place match via armbar and everyone else was on deck. Jory got an impromptu superfight with a giant. Royce is so good at selling himself he gave several people his autograph. Bobby fought the most matches. Poor Travis had to go with the winner of his division in both the Gi and No Gi matches first. He did great, but that's the luck of the draw. Overall we ended up with 12 medals, 5 First places, and I'm not sure on the others. I'd like to congratulate all 11 competitors from Benton and Hot Springs who made this journey with us. It's really great to get to compete all over the country and test ourselves against people from different places. Whether you win or lose, you all took home some experience from this competition, you learned new things and you will come out ahead.

After the competition we went straight to Giordanos Pizza. MMMMMM. We had them Chicago as well. We had so much food we couldn't finish it, but it got finished the next day and that evening.

Sunday it was time to leave. We headed over to the airport to see if we could actually rent a car to get home. Luckily we could, and for quite a reasonable price. Just as we thought we were ready to go home we realized 1/2 the team ran in the airport to chase down Houston Alexander for an autograph..... On the way home, we stopped and ate at some steak place, to the point that we all probably wanted to puke.

Then it was McDonalds. We officially made it back around 4 am, and now its back to the regular diet and training routines.... I forgive you all for taking off Monday, and quite possibly those of you who took off today too!

This trip probably goes down as the most tragic yet epic adventure thus far.

2008-12-03T23:25:00.000-06:00

We had some really productive classes tonight. Chokes it is this week. Stephen's grappling looked great today. He did an exceptional job against a larger opponent. Keep up the good work for all of you kids. Grappling the adults on Wednesdays is helping your game, and allowing the adults to practice their new techniques.

It's good to see the Cookie Monster back in after work had him off in Wyoming. He hasn't taken a break from training that's for sure.

Don't forget, Benton folks, we're in the NEW, LARGER (though not large enough apparently) location
17724 I-30 SUITE 1
Benton 72019

Looks like the bag rack will be here next week, along with the other goodies. We've got more equipment for athletic development coming, which should be good to add to the workouts.

**As a reminder there is NO KIDS CLASS THURSDAY!**
You may come to the adult class should you desire to do so.

**No class in Hot Springs Friday**
Keep training hard. I brought you guys down some Sand Bags to incorporate in to the class. I will bring a few Kettle Bells next week. We'll start doing some more athletic work on a regular basis down there as well. I've been in the mood for pictures again lately, and they make the blog more exciting.

2008-12-02T23:38:00.000-06:00

Great testing tonight everyone!
Kids looked great sparring. We did a lot more sparring this rotation and I saw some real good combinations from Ethan.
Techniques are looking solid.

Adults, what can I say, everything looked great. Next rotation we'll work in some more stuff on the heavy bags since we'll have the new rack in.

We'll schedule a make up for those who couldn't make it, and we have awards scheduled for next Thursday.

In BJJ we're working chokes. Everyone's grappling looks solid.
We'll be having a FREE seminar in December. We're headed to Florida this weekend for an epic journey of being crammed in the car for 30 hours for some BJJ.

I"m hearing good things about what Wes is doing in HS. Sounds like the mirrors are doing you all some good too. We'll see you all tomorrow!