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MOYA Brand has yet another newly-promoted Black Belt in the scene! On August 26, 2020, Joshua Cisneros earned his black belt from Professor Tom Knox at Elite Team Visalia. At only 20 years old, Josh has already been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for 8 years. “I found Jiu-Jitsu through my dad, who used to train under Royce Gracie almost 20 years ago,” Josh proudly exclaimed. After finding Elite Team Visalia, Josh’s dad brought him to his first BJJ class to see if he would find a liki …

Congratulations to our newest black belt, Vanessa Nancy Griffin! After 9 years of training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Vanessa earned her black belt from Julius Park at Crazy 88 Mixed Martial Arts on June 19, 2020.Her journey started because she was desperately seeking an activity to do as a teenager. She originally looked for a place to do kickboxing, but was able to find Crazy 88 instead. Although Vanessa was never interested in grappling, after her first class she was absolutely hooked! Her first co …

On July 12, 2020, Mason Fowler faced Craig Jones for the 2nd time at the event Submission Underground XVI for the Absolute title. Fowler only had the intent of winning and was proud to be part of the amazing training camp at the Caio Terra Academy. The camp focused on specific drilling and live situations to best prepare competitors for any possibilities. “On top of our training, I added in 2 high intensity conditioning sessions a week,” Fowler shared.The first time he faced Jones was ADCC 2019 …

While most were home at the onset of COVID-19, we had the idea to create a technique series featuring long time friends and athletes.  The purposes of this series is to keep the Jiu Jitsu Community engaged with free instructional's especially those who / were training at home, sharing these techniques with friends and supporters with the goal of keeping the Aloha Spirit during trying times.    Check out the first in a series of techniques by Professor Marcelo Capo Martins - P …

Team Yemaso of West Idaho BJJ officially opened for business on June 2019. They’re located in the small rural town of Star, Idaho. Prior to COVID-19, their academy was growing steadily as they were the only martial arts academy in town. They felt as though they introduced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to so many people and a lot of their members have been waiting to train for years, but have just been waiting for an academy to open up nearby.Tom Steele, the owner of West Idaho BJJ, closed the academy’s do …

Crazy 88 Mixed Martial Arts and I, Julius Park, renewed our lease at our existing location in Elkridge, Maryland at the end of 2019. We were in serious negotiations to relocate, but we ended up staying in the same building. In hindsight, this was a huge blessing. If we moved, we would have been in serious financial trouble with the added construction and moving costs.Maryland shut down gyms on March 16, 2020. We were able to pivot quickly to online classes for different martial arts styles. The …

The last day we had a large group class was on March 16, 2020. It was my birthday and after class, the students had a cake for me and sang me Happy Birthday. With a heavy heart, we decided to close down our facility the very next day on March 17. In the beginning of all this, we knew very little about COVID-19. I think everyone panicked at some point. We lost about 20% of our students during the first week, mostly the new students and white belts. As people lost their jobs, they immediately cont …

May 22, 2020, the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) officially announced the suspension of all their events for the remainder of this year “until conditions are safe to resume competitions.” The federation reassures the Jiu-Jitsu community that they are continuing to work alongside the government, world health authorities and local communities for updates on hospitals, health networks, travel restrictions, and public transportation. Before they decide on resuming the tournamen …

My quarantine life has been an adjustment to say the least. I went from maybe spending 5 hours in my home – to pretty much sleep – to now being confined 24/7. As some of you guys know, I train at both Unity Jiu-jitsu in New York with Murillo Santana and at my own academy, Bones BJJ (located in Clifton, NJ). I wanted to give some insight to how different my life was before the shutdown compared to now during this quarantine.Depending on the day, I’m awake by 5:15 for the 6 AM classes at my gym Bo …

Perseverance, determination, overcoming adversity… These are familiar grounds for many jiu-jitsu practitioners. As the unprecedented events surrounding COVID-19 continue to unfold, these qualities have become more important than ever before. In the jiu-jitsu community, academy owners are among the businesses who are hit hard by this pandemic.Professor Kawika Yoneda and his wife, Jamie, are the owners of Roma Jiu Jitsu Academy, Atos Hilo in Hilo, Hawaii. When COVID-19 made its way to the islands, …