BJJ World Record! The Longest Class EVER In A Jiu-Jitsu Gym

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Jiu-Jitsu Gym Breaks World Record For Longest Class

A UK Jiu-Jitsu gym, “Revolution Martial Arts Academy” out of Dewsbury, Yorkshire held a non-stop 24-hour Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class to break the world record of the longest class ever held in Jiu-Jitsu and they did it all for a good cause.

The marathon Jiu-Jitsu class held at the “Revolution Martial Arts Academy” Jiu-Jitsu gym was the idea of head instructor Steven Scaddan. He led the project from idea to reality, breaking the Guinness world record for the longest BJJ class in the process.

20 professional MMA fighters from Britain, worked on the mats for exactly 24 hours and 24 minutes, getting 5-minute breaks every hour. The entire event was live-streamed by Scaddan and “Revolution Martial Arts Academy”, allowing the families and close ones of the participants to watch the action as it happened.

The entire event was set up to help raise funds for BBC Children in Need, a UK-based charity that helps kids meet everyday needs in cases where they do not have the family support or resources to do so. Steven Scaddan’s Jiu-Jitsu gym managed to raise an impressive £1.500 for the charity in the span of 24 hours.

The event took place on October 8th, and consisted of drills, technique practice, and rolling, so that it qualifies as a class and not just a rollathon.

“It was pretty grueling to be honest, and after 17 hours or so of training, things start to feel a bit surreal. But I loved doing it for such a good cause and getting my face a bit more known in Jiu Jitsu community – although I won’t be doing it again anytime soon!” Damon Kinta, who was part of the class told the Leigh Journal

It will certainly take some time for the athletes to recover from such an effort.

At the end of the day, while the Jiu-Jitsu Gym did manage to break The world record of the longest Brazilian JIu-Jitsu class ever held, they fell short of their charity goal which was to raise £2.000.

Steven Scaddan did set up a fundraiser where you can chip in if you want to. You can access the fundraiser HERE.

Rener Gracie: Here is Why I Chose To Teach BJJ Over Fighting

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BJJ World

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Rener Gracie: Shy I Tech BJJ Instead Of Compete

Why didn’t Rener Gracie ever follow in the footsteps of his father Rorion, Uncle Helio, and even slightly older brother Ryron in becoming a professional MMA or grappling fighter? In a recent chat with Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblet Rener revealed the reason.

Rener Gracie is one of the most well-known names in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and he has no competitive record to speak of. Still, he is not just the man (along with his brother) in charge of the legendary Gracie Torrance Academy, but also in charge of ht Gracie University online teaching program. His choice to teach BJJ made him undeniably successful and comes down to the fact that he decided to dedicate his life to teaching, rather than competing. After all, everyone in the family was already competing.

In his own words:

“Growing up in the Gracie family, fighting is in your DNA and you don’t really know anything else.

But what happened was that, as I was coming of age – once I turned 19/20/21/22 – the UFC had already been 10 years on the air. So for me, it was really a question of: “Do I want to do what my uncles and my dad did and be a professional fighter and just go fight for the sake of fighting?”

Because, remember: when the UFC started, it was all about proving that Jiu-Jitsu against karate… And ten years later, nobody denies Jiu-Jitsu. So right now, if I’m fighting in the UFC, I’m fighting against the people who are of my same religion. The people who believe in my religion, so there’s nothing to fight about because we agree that Jiu-Jitsu is, at least, the quintessential art in mixed martial arts.”

So once that agreement was there, the opportunity to fight style vs style was gone. And that was the opportunity that all of my uncles had, my grandfather, my dad… They always had that opportunity to fight against other styles to demonstrate Jiu-Jitsu’s effectiveness.

Once that was gone, I had to weigh my options. And what my brother and I focused on and dedicated our lives to was to teach BJJ.

Because, there was a massive demand for it globally, but there weren’t a lot of quality instructors certification protocols in place. So, we created the instructor certification program, we created the Gracie University online academy, and now people can learn this stuff from anywhere in the world.

And that’s because we’ve focused our efforts on: “Okay, how are gonna spread Jiu-Jitsu so that everyone has access to it?”

Rener has taught many professional grapplers, Hollywood celebrities, UFC fighters, etc. UFC star Brian Ortega is one of his most accomplished students, using Gracie Jiu-Jitsu to perfection inside the octagon with a record of 15-3, with 7 submission wins.

Moreover, Rener was a visionary in showing that you can teach BJJ through an online platform when everybody else laughed about it. His Gracie University platform is huge and has helped spread Jiu-JItsu worldwide.

His end goal? To make sure that MMA fans are not like football fans, just watching the sport without ever thinking about participating. He would like to teach BJJ to every MMA couch potato at least once to help them see the life-changing power of the art.

You can check out the full interview on Paddy’s “Chattin Pony” podcast here:

55 Years Old BJJ Black Belt vs. Young Marine Wrestler (VIDEO)

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BJJ World

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It is always fun to see small people take on large ones in BJJ, as well as BJJ folks trying to deal with wrestlers. Well, here is an example of a small, 55 years old BJJ black belt taking on a young and athletic wrestler who is also a Marine. This is a sparring match with no bad blood and plenty of lessons to learn.

The people involved in this “match” are “Big Joe” a 250 lb experienced wrestler, blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Marine and can deadlift 617 lb. He has also beaten black belts in competitions. On the other side is a 175 lb. 55 years old BJJ black belt, with most of the ligaments in his left knee gone.

The No-GI bout is set for 5 minutes, and all submission holds are legal.

Minute 1

In the first minute, the old BJJ black belt checks the distance and does the smart thing sitting to guard. However, he does not retain seated guard long, with the athletic wrestler able to pass quickly and get side control. He pops up to knee on belly position as well, amounting to 5 points for the pas and knee on belly.

He doesn’t manage to stay there long and drops back to side control to block the black belt’s guard recovery The wrestler switches sides as the black belt turn into him and try to throw a leg over for mount. This is where the old BJJ black belt gets the chance to recover guard by getting a butterfly hook in.

Minute 2

The black belt forces half guard from there, establishing a shoulder grip from butterfly half-guard that quickly leads into a sweep. The black belt attempts to get straight to mount but fails, ending up in the wrestler’s knee shield half guard instead. After a bit of back and forth, the blackbelt attempts a weave pass once his arm is in place.

Minute 3

At this point, the wrestler on the bottom is moving without any real purpose, as the black belt on top is slowly putting him under pressure. A couple of recovery attempts toward full/open guard are easily blocked by the OG. This fidgeting opens up and undertook, position for the black belt on top, and leads to a crossface from top half guard.

Minute 4

A half guard battle follows, with the wrestler now flattened out on the mats. He tries to hug the far shoulder but is forced back to underhook and crossface control. The old BJJ black belt tries and fails several times to pry open the wrestler’s powerful thighs. He opts for a hip rewind instead, getting a knee slice pass in the process, which gets him equal on points (2 for the sweep, 3 for the pass).

Minute 5

In the final minute, there are several framing attempts by the now seemingly exhausted wrestler, and massive bridge escape attempts which are easily blocked by the black belt by sprawling. This is how the match ends, in a tie of 5 points each.

Lessons Learned

Needless movement, even with power and athleticism on its side, is almost always going to lose out to methodical patience and a calm approach. Even when in a bad spot early on, the old black belt does not panic. He does not give any more points away and manages to turn the tide.

The best example is the side control position which both athletes had at one point . The wrestler was moving around trying to force things from the top, while the old BJJ black belt stayed calm and placed more and more pressure when he was on top, tiring the wrestler out.

Gordon Ryan Banned From Instagram… Here are the Reasons

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BJJ World

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Gordon Ryan banned from Instagram once again! “The King” is on the receiving end of suspension which he may appeal in the next 30 days. Given his record, though, it is not likely that anything he says will help get him back on Instagram.

Gordon has had more than his fair share of social media account bans and suspensions. In fact, “Gordon Ryan Banned from social media” is a phrase we are accustomed to.

The offense this time is unknown, or at least Ryan hasn’t shared it, but he did seem to be expecting it. During a recent appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast, Ryan said he was “shadow-banned” and that his Instagram closely monitors his activity, removing his stories and posts.

So far, Gordon’s Facebook and Instagram accounts have received bans on multiple occasions, and Ryan stated last year that he was “permabanned” on Facebook: “Every post or comment I make offends someone and I get one 30 day ban after another.”

There was even a petition a few years ago calling out to get Gordon Ryan banned from Instagram due to “promoting violence and hate speech, and harassing other Instagram users”. It only got 14 signatures.

It is not only Gordon that gets social media bans. His original coach, Tom De Blass has also had his fair share of social media blackouts, due to some very opinionated posts which seem to offend other users. Tom just laughed it off, accepting his own shadow-ban.

Trash-talking is a big part of Gordon’s personality, and he is a smart man with a keen sense of humor. That combination often leads to people misunderstanding him and taking him for granted, which in, turn ends up with Gordon Ryan banned from Instagram.

With Zuckerberg now training MMA and BJJ with great dedication, and aware of exactly who Gordon is, it is going to be fun to see if the ban stands… if Zuckerberg is at all aware of it. Joe Rogan did pose some interesting questions to Zuckerberg about his algorithms on the JRE podcast.

Gordon’s account just reached 637 000 followers before the ban. His comment after the latest ban was “Hahaha RIP me”. Gordon has a backup account with over 200.000 followers which he keeps clean.

Fedor Emelianenko “I’d Fight In Ukraine If They Asked”

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Filip Zanki

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Fedor Emelianenko has spoken outright about the Russian involvement in the Ukrainian conflict, calling out people that are trying to evade the military draft. According to him “If the Motherland calls me to defend the borders, I’ll go.”

Fedor Emelianenko, ‘The Last Emperor” is a legend in MMA. He fought in Pride, and Strikeforce and is still under contract with Bellator. During his prime days, he was considered to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Fedor’s calm demeanor, his extreme devoutness to religion, and his unusual training methods (carrying logs across snow-covered Russian tundras) gave him an aura of mystery that brought him even more fans.

Recently, Fedor shared that his brother Ivan, who is 34, volunteered to serve Russia during the invasion of Ukraine, and Fedor couldn’t be more proud.

The Last Emperor stated for Match TV: “Ivan will be sent as a volunteer under contract. I know that he’s already passed a medical examination. When exactly he’ll go, I can’t say,”

Fedor expressed his “shock” at people trying to flee the country in order to avoid serving in the military: “There are different [reactions] in my environment, people have different thoughts, questions arise. But for me personally, it was a great discovery and a slight shock when you read the news in our country… What is happening in the military registration and enlistment offices and that people are fleeing the draft.”

Fedor Emelianenko added that: “I am not eligible for military service, I wasn’t called up. If the Motherland calls me to defend the borders, I’ll go. I just didn’t serve in the army. My brother served in the special forces, so he volunteered.”

Fedor is on a two-fight win streak in Bellator at the moment, knocking out Timothy Johnson at Bellator 269 a year ago. Emelianenko is also a close personal friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Currently, there are mixed reactions to the draft in Russia. it is estimated (Bloomberg) that 400.000 Russians have emigrated in order to avoid the draft. Mobilization in Russia started in September, and there 200.000 soldiers were already added to the troops.

What Happens When Martial Arts Fail In Real Fights (VIDEO)

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BJJ World

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What happens when trained martial artists get so heated that they forget they know how to fight and start doing things nobody expects from them? here are 9 examples of when martial arts fail in real fights, and it is all because of the “fighters” rather than the arts themselves.

Martial Arts Work… Until They Don’t

The big thing about martial arts is that not all of them will save your a** in a street fight. Some work better than others, but then again, non are going to work unless you apply them.

Managing expectations vs reality is a big thing when looking at the efficiency of martial arts in real fights. Expecting things to go smoothly like in training is what expectations are, but in reality, nothing goes as planned. Fighting is like competition on steroids if adrenaline stood for steroids in this analogy.

When the adrenaline starts pumping people abandon all their “knowledge” and revert back to flailing around, only to claim that marital arts fail in real fighters later on. The following examples will show you that people fail rather than martial arts.

When Martial Arts Fail During A Real Fight

What happens when even highly trained, professional martial artist abandon their craft and start brawling like drunk Irishmen in a pub?

MMA vs. Tai Chi

This first example went viral when n an MMA fighter challenged a Tai Chi master to a fight. As you can see, the Tai Chi master lost all his skills when the fighting started and quickly succumbed to pressure and violence.

There is sadly more than one example of traditional styles like this failing in real fights against trained MMA fighters.

Real-Life Kung Fu Fight

What happened when two martial arts masters decide to fight it out in the streets? Well, after the first punches connect, they forget all their mastery, it seems, and revert back to playground tactics and headlocks.

Both men were masters in their respective styles, but the one that won did not do so because of his knowledge, but because of luck and ending up in top position on the ground.

When Judo Is Not Enough

There are many examples where martial arts fail to be the first choice of people who do them for a living. This Judo match is a great example, with things unraveling quickly after the competitor in the blue Gi seems to strike his opponent.

What follows is a good old fisticuffs trade, that the referee had to stop. Were they just being tactical and trying to beat the other guy in an area that this out of the scope of his proficiency?

MMA Brawls

Brawling at weigh-ins or even in the cage has become quite frequent throughout the years, and no longer surprises people. What is truly fascinating, though is seeing fighters abandoning their skills and opting for haymakers and trying to headlock one another, oftentimes with respective camps joining in other madness.

It seems that if there’s no referee, then there’s no real need to use martial arts. Fighters, they might be, but professional? Certainly not.

When Boxing Goes Out The Window

What happens when boxers lose their cool? You’d expect them to throw technical, crisp, fast punches, Instead, it is as if adrenaline only allows people to punch using haymakers push, shove and pull each other’s shirts, even if those people are highly trained professional boxers.

Boxing, But With Kicks

As we saw in the Judo example, it is always an option to spice up a martial arts match turned into a real fight, because of illegal punches, with elements from other martial arts. Like kicking. However, you should probably know how to kick if you opt for that option, unlike the “fighter” below.

“Combat” Wrestling?

Combat Jiu-Jitsu is one of the most entertaining competitive applications of BJJ. However, these Russian wrestlers demonstrate their own take at slaps, with the occasional front kick thrown in and the inevitable team vs. team brawl that is the real mark of a martial arts fail, at least when conduct is in question.

Boxing Is Better With BJJ

Even the “sweet science” is not the first choice when the atmosphere gets heated. In this example of a martial arts fail, boxing great Floyd Mayweather reverts to takedowns and BJJ in what seems to be an exhibition sparring match with fellow champion Romero.

Capoeira Works In The Street… Right?

Capoeira quickly turns into a brawl when both fighters seem to forget the Jinga and everything associated with their art and use a bit of grappling to descend into unruly chaos.

Stay Real

If you have to fight a real fight and are a martial artist, try and keep your head. Otherwise, adrenaline will make you forget all your training and make you a star of one of these martial arts fail videos.

How To Do The Craig Jones Armbar (2nd Fastest ADCC Sub)

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BJJ World

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Craig Jones had a good, almost great run at the 2022 ADCC, coming up short again in winning his division. He did get the second-fastest ADCC submission, though, by armbaring Joao Costa in his first match with his signature Choi Bar submission.

The Craig Jones Armbar From ADCC 2022

As Craig explains it himself, it turns out this armbar was an opportunistic submission that happened by chance. He was going for a submission win but thought leg locks were his best shot against Costa.

With Costa dropping his hips way back and weaving one arm in between Craigs’s legs he blocked Jones from entries into leg locks very effectively. Craig was never in danger of getting passed from that position, though. So, Jones went for his Choi Bar armlock, looking to illicit a reaction from Joao in pulling his arm back, so that Craig could invert into leg locks.

The Craig Jones armbar attack happened when Craig trapped Joao’s free arm with a palm-to-palm grip behind his elbow.

As Craig explains it, most people try to rotate the arm and pull it out, which is exactly what Jones was after, I border to get leg lock entries.

Costa, on the other hand, decided to try and pull the arm straight back, which only locked the palm-to-palm grip tighter on his elbow. As Craig attempted to throw his leg over the arm, in order to get to the arm saddle position and hunt for his Choi Bar or a straight armbar, he felt Joao’s elbow give way as a result of the pressure.

Lightning Fast ADCC subs

This Craig Jones Armbar was the second fastest submission (16 seconds) at the latest edition of the ADCC, with only Gordon Ryan’s 10-second heel hook victory vs. Roosevelt Sousa beating the Aussie.

Second place yet again for Craig Jones in both the ADCC podium and the quest for the fastest submission.

Which UFC Fighters Are BANNED From The Octagon?

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BJJ World

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After some of Conor McGregor’s well-documented antics, you wonder if the UFC fighters are immune from getting a ban to do their business in the octagon. As it stands, there is such a thing as a ban from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and there are 10 fighters that have been on the receiving end throughout the years.

10 UFC Fighters Banned For Life From The Octagon

While we feel this number should probably be more significant (again, McGregor’s bus attack brawling and all kinds of other antics), the current list of bans that the UFC has handed to fighters stand at ten. The following ten UFC fighters certainly derived getting cut, although, it seems, bans are almost completely a decision of Dana White (or USADA).

Paul Daley

Paul “Emtex” Daily is a British MMA fighter that fought in the UFC in the early 2010s. He started off good, and quickly got a match with Josh Koscheck who was a contender and a title challenger at the time.

The trash-talking of Koscheck, which went on even during the match, rattled Paul Daley so much, that after Koscheck outwrestled him to a decision, “Semtex” found it prudent to sucker punch Koscheck well after the bell rung.

That was all it took for Dana to ban him, which led Daley to a successful career in Bellator, but no chance of ever stepping back in the octagon.

Matt Riddle

Riddle was one of the most promising UFC fighters to come out of the Ultimate Fighter 7 series. His offense was that he got popped for marijuana several times, which led to an angry Dana White calling him a moron that couldn’t stay off it even when he knew testing was coming.

He was cut from the UFC and went on to have a successful WWE career instead.

Rousimar Palhares “Paul Harris”

A culprit well-known to our readers, Palhares was the original leg reaper that everyone feared. His technical knowledge of leg locks was above everyone at the time, but he had the unfortunate habit of holding on to submissions for too long.

One such offense came at UFC 111, where he earned a second-round submission victory over Tomasz Drwal, but ended up with a90 day suspension for holding on to the submission past the taps.

He did the same at UFC Fight Night: 29 after Mike Pierce tapped 8 times before Rousimar let go. He was immediately cut from the UFC and banned.

It turned out the UFC made a good decision there because he did the same thing in the World Series Of Fighting against Jake Shields later on.

Ruslan Magomedov

The Russian heavyweight could’ve been an early Dagestani celebrity before Khabib, but had several run-ins with USADA for the use of anabolic steroids. They got him suspended multiple times.

The final drop was Ruslan declining to provide a sample out of the competition. which earned him the first-ever USADA ban issued to UFC fighters.

War Machine

Johnathan Copenhaber si unfortunately more known for his actions outside the octagon, rather than in it. He fought just twice for the UFC before getting cut for turning down a fight and issuing insensitive comments about the tragic death of Evan Tanner.

The Ultimate Fighter 6 member then got charged with 29 felony counts over an assault on his girlfriend Christy Mack which ended with a 36-year prison sentence.

BJ Penn

A name who you might have thought should not be on this list, BJ Penn made headlines and broke records during his prime. Unfortunately, he did not know when to stop and went on a 7 fight-losing streak, before ending on the wrong side of a bar brawl that got recorded.

At that point, Dana White said “He is done, it’s a wrap”.

Randy Couture

Couture was a favorite of Dana White for a while and is the most decorated UFC champion to this day. he beat the who-is-who of UFC fighters in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

Unfortunately, after retiring, he signed a contract with Spike, which brought about the anger of Dana White, because Spike was at the time in relation with Bellator, the UFC’s main competitor.

Dana banned Couture from cornering his son Ryan Couture in a UFC bout in 2013 and went on to say that Randy couldn’t even buy a ticket for the UFC if he wanted to.

Kalib Starnes

The Canadian Ultimate Fighter 3 cast member, looked to have a promising UFC career. However, his very first UFC bout earned him the nickname “running man” after he spent three rounds literally running away from his opponent Nate Quarry at UFC 38.

He was quickly removed from the UFC fighters roster after that, but went on to fight and had a solid career.

Thiago Silva

Thiago Silva was a scary fighter with a bright future but got derailed by domestic violence charges involving his estranged wife and coach Pablo Popovitch. Thiago was released and cleared f charges, and UFC re-hired him, only to let him go again when a video emerged from the original incident, clearly showing Thiago was at fault.

Jason “Mayhem” Miller

Already a hot head before coming to the UFC, known for appearing on Bully Beatdown, and an epic Strikeforce brawl with the Diaz brothers, Mayhem did not seem like he really had a place at the UFC.

He got a chance to coach at the Ultimate Fighter, losing to opposing coach Michael Bisping in the finale. He later lost to CB Dollwoay too, and WhIte let him go stating that the “clown was done for good at the UFC”. When asked to collaborate, Dana said “something happens backstage that I don’t want to talk about.”

Royler Gracie vs Black Belt Instructor Who Claimed He Developed Street Lethal Style

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BJJ World

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Royler Gracie vs Black Belt Instructor Who Claimed He Developed Street Lethal Style

In this video, we can see a Kenpo and Karate Black Belt instructor try his skills on Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt and BJJ Legend Royler Gracie.

With 25 pounds disadvantage, Royler Gracie had no problems against Kenpo, Karate martial artist who claimed he developed street lethal style. As you can see Kenpo representative had no chance. Once he was taken to the ground he simply did not know what to do. Few hits and he’s reminded that limiting his training to only punching and kicking left him completely defenseless against the painful reality of ground fighting.

If you would like to see a Legendary Ricardo De la Riva competing against Royler Gracie in 1985 Check THIS LINK

Ricardo De La Riva vs Royler Gracie – 1985

How To Be Calm In BJJ Matches Like Gordon Ryan

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Ognen Dzabirski

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The one question people can’t get an answer to in regard to Gordon Ryan is not one about his technical abilities, but rather his calm and stoic demeanor during BJJ matches. The always-entertaining “Chewy” from Chewjitsu has some interesting thoughts and tactics on how you can replicate Gordon’s behavior.

Staying Calm In BJJ Matches Like Gordon Ryan

What usually happens in BJJ matches is that both people tend to go in strong, and move around and flail a lot more than they would in a roll. The only time this happens in a role lis when the training partner is spazzy. Following this train of thought leads us to conclude that in a match, both competitors start off spazzy.

The reason behind this behavior is mainly confidence and expectations. If one person moves more than the other, it doesn’t mean they’re achieving anything of note. It does prompt, the other person to try and match the intensity though, and people tense up as they try to do so.

This tension in the body leads to tunnel vision and oftentimes blocks the mind from being able to solve problems. Instead, you create more problems by forcing the one idea that you have in your tunnel vision at all costs. That just results in chaos, and as you scramble, the loop continues the moment you find yourself another target in your tunnel vision.

Now, look back to rolling when you and your training partner are both relaxed. The body still moves around and has a job to do, but your mind is not fixated on one idea, and stressing over it, but instead works analytically, trying to solve problems.

A relaxed mind solves problems better than a tense one, and that is exactly what Gordon does in his BJJ matches. No matter what the opponent does, Ryan does not try to match his pace but rather imposes his own slow and methodical pace on the match. Why? because he is calm and confident that the spazzy motions of the other person do not mean the other person is achieving anything worthwhile.

You Fight Like You Train

Being able to calm your mind in BJJ matches is a skill you will need to practice. Rolling offers the best way to do it, but you will need to address it specifically.

One thing is to start recognizing when you anger up and start forcing things, and try to figure out why you respond like this. It may the other person picks the pace up accidentally elbowed you in the face, or even you being too stubborn on making one single move work.

Once you can recognize your triggers, you can prepare to deal with them, by employing a self-awareness that will help you calm your mind.

There are different things you can do, from analyzing tape of how you roll and trying to recall how you felt and what you thought at the moment, to breathing exercises that will relax you.

“Chewy” shares an exercise called the physiological sigh which consists of two rapid inhales through the nose followed by a sigh through the mouth. It calms anxiety down and is perfect to use in high-stress situations like BJJ matches

Of course, if you want to emulate Gordon you’ll also have to work on your poker face too, as well as smile more during fights and rolls.