2007 News Letter

Check out this youtube video of Joe "Foot Fetish" Baize tapping out Cyclone MMA Assistant Instructor and Purple Belt, Chris Nichols. Chris has won many championships so it was a good solid win for Joe. The match lasted less than a minute. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7uVGts794A

Pimpin ain't easy but we do what we do!!!! No, seriously, we had a great weekend. We competed in a grappling tournament Saturday in E-town.

Joe Baize 1st in sport jiu-jitsu and 1st in jiu-jitsu
Joe Howard 2nd in jiu-jitsu
Mike Clark 1st in jiu-jitsu
Trinity Holbert 1st in sport jiu-jitsu 2nd in jiu-jitsu
Steve Harris 1st in sport jiu-jitsu and 1st in jiu-jitsu
John Ballard 1st sport jiu-jitsu 1st in jiu-jitsu
Matt Gracie 2nd in jiu-jitsu
Wendall Cherry 3rd jiu-jitsu

Saturday night in Florence, KY at Turfway Park Adam Arebalo successfully defended his title with a slick armlock in 1:07. Donny "High Intensity" Wallace won by armlock in :32 seconds of round one. He is now the middleweight WarriorFC Champion.

WarriorFC gave out their year ending awards during the show. Chad Corvin got the "New Comer" of the year award and "Most Dominating Fighter" award. Big Daddy's E-town BeatDown got the "Warrior" Award. Donny Wallace also received the "Warrior" Award. Also Vanessa Bohleder won the women's title representing Nice Guy SubmissionFighting!!!! Beautiful and tough as hell!!!

Matt Morgan competed in the Army Combatives Tournament at Ft. Knox this weekend. Matt finished fourth in his division after sustaining a cutt that stopped the fight. The Combatives tournaments are structured with the preliminary rounds being BJJ style grappling, round two is pancrase rules and round 3 is an MMA style fight. Click here to view more photos.

Nice Guy Submission Fighting Seminar 11-18-07
I did a seminar at Nice Guys Submission Fighting today. It was nice to visit and I really enjoy the energy the place has. Bryan Bennett and TJ "Man vs. Wild" Worthem earned the blue belts today. They have 4 more knocking on the door of belt promotions. Congrats to these warriors. -Josh

Rimzic is Champ!!!!
Congratulations to Chad Rimzic who was awarded the 170lb. belt for the new promotion in Bardstown.

Dan Christinson wins again!!!
Well Big Dan "The Sandman" Christinson won his fight last friday, Nov 16th in Vegas. He is planning to be training with us on a Sunday coming up really soon.

Warrior FC Cambellsville results 11-17-07
We had 5 guys fight in Cambellsville on Saturday. "Dirty" Dave Gray won with a rear naked choke. Paul Tipton won with Rear Naked Choke. And Steve Osmun won with a gullotine. John Ballard fought a tough kid from Louisville CORE. The fight went into the 3rd round with John winning on all 3 score cards. However, the kid caught John in a gullotine for the victory. Chris Biddle fought Shane Matchette in defense of his light heavyweight belt. Matchette lived up to his name and was too much for Chris on this particular night. Overall, I saw many errors we will work to correct. Wins and losses are not as important as correcting your mistakes and playing the perfect game.

We had a modest turnout for the Indiana BJJ Championships. We had 12 competitors and we brought home 10 medals. Little Ferdinand had his first compeition and he fought very hard. Jared Clemons also had a very technical blue belt match. Here's the rundown.

Joe Baize 1st in his category, 1st in open weight
Cody Gibbons 3rd in category, 1st in open weight
Brian Bennett 2nd in category
Sean Book 2nd in category
Steve Harris 2nd in category
John Ballard 3rd in category
Jare Clemons 3rd in category
Aaron Grace 3rd in category
Matt Morgan 3rd in the open weight category for purple belts.

John Ballard had a tough match with some young fireball (we need to go do some senior tournaments together). Kerry practiced his guillotine escapes several times today!!! And Mike Clark had some very entertaining matches with back and forth action. I believe he won 2 matches before being defeated.

And finally, a word of advice, riding anywhere with Steve Harris is risky business. The man has never been out of Munfordville.

Brian Armstrong is our newest purple belt. He has earned the belt through 9 years of ups and downs including many distractions. Congrats to him for showing the Jiu-Jitsu way, going with the flo and continuing to train Jiu-Jitsu. Awesome Job!!!!!!

E-town BeatDown
Adam and Josh rolling
Demonstration of technique
E-town BJJ and Judo

Josh Smith won the 155lb UCC title Nov. 3rd in dominating fashion. He used effective takedowns, ground control, and G n P to dominate the hometown favorite. Congrats to Josh!!! E-town BeatDown now owns 4 titles.

Joe Dibble and Dirty Dave Gray both finished 2nd in their blue belt divisions in the EGO tournament October 20th.

We now have 7 new blue belts lurking around on our mats. In E-town Sean Westcott and Jared Clemons both recieved the faixa azul. In Bowling Green Matt Woodring, Matt Ragan, Brandon Lyons, Jeff Vincent and Donny "High Intensity" Wallace got the belt and one awesome beating!!!!!

Click here for pics.

Chris "Brandenburg" Biddle also brought home a 2nd place trophy in the Bluegrass BJJ Open. Also Dirty Dave Gray placed 2nd in the Haystan Open. Congrats to these two Warriors.

Body: This weekend 42 of our students competed in the Bluegrass Brazilian Jiu- Jitsu Open. Our team did very well and we came back with awards for the "Most Dominant Team" and "Most Competitors"

Here is how our students faired in their weight classes:

Josh's Brazil report1:

Trained last night in Urca (part of Rio) at the Brasa Academy there. Comprido has moved to the United States and Felipe spends half the year doing privates around the globe, so the professora was my favorite of all of them, Michelle Matta. That's right, I come 5,500 miles to train with a woman. She has done nothing but fight stronger people her entire life and she is super technical because of it. The training was awesome. Probably the best practice I have had in 5 trips here. There was another purple belt from Belgum and a brown belt from Belgum that were super slick. That was some good rolling as well. We covered some nice omo platta (kimura with legs) set-ups and finishes in addition to our typical 4 rounds of 7 minutes training live. Very good class!!!

Matt Morgan: "I just got back from representing the E-town Beatdown at Super Slam this weekend. Once again they threw a slew of Gracie Barra Brown Belts at me, but I tore through both the no gi and gi absolute advanced divisions. Very Exciting fights."

See the photo gallery for pics of Matt in action.

Josh Johnson: "I just got back from a grappling tournament in Georgia. I had a super fight against a Gracie Barra brown belt that outweighed me by 40 lbs. It was a ten minute war, with multiple submission attempts by both of us. My takedowns were excellent and my ground control was excellent, but I was not able to finish the fight, and this was the first tournament I have fought in under FILA rules, which was very confusing, everytime we went out of bounds we had to restart in the open gaurd position, with me on my back, very weird and did not favor my game. In the end I dropped the decision by two points, which he got passing my open gaurd, but our fight was the most exciting of the night and we got a standing ovation from everyone as the match ended. Even Juliana Prado congradulated us afterwards, he is the brazilian jiu jitsu coach for the No limits Lotus Club. Final score was 27-25, I think."

6-0 for the night!!!! This was by far our most impressive team performance.

1. Josh Smith won his fight after coming back from taking a hard shot to the chin. Josh regained his composure and worked his jiu-jitsu and boxing until he secured a takedown and the win when the referee stopped the fight after Josh flattened his opponent out from the backmount and secured an armlock.

2. Jon Rigdon won his debut in very technical fashion with some solid boxing great takedowns and awesome positioning. He captured the back and finished off his opponent with a rear naked choke.

3. Paul Tipton fought well against an unorthodox opponent. The action was fast and went from standing to groundwork several times. Paul transitioned to a beautiful triangle for the finish and his second MMA victory.

4. Bobby Swackhammer turned in his greatest performance. He looked very very good in the stand-up with some great boxing. Bobby's opponent shot in for some double and single legs that Bobby effectively countered. Eventually Bobby secured the backmount and transitioned to a slick armlock for the finish. Bobby is now 3-0

5. John "Nails" Ballard avenged his worst performance in Turftway Park with his best performance in this fight. He took his opponent down, mounted, punched the face and transitioned into the armlock.

6. Chad Corvin won the Heavyweight title in 19 seconds. I'm not sure any ammateur in KY can compete with this guy. He dropped his opponent with a left hand and then finished him off with a barrage of punches from the back. Chad is now 4-0.

Great Performance Overall. We are now 68-19 as a fight team. We hold 3 WarriorFC titles and make no mistake about it, we are the best fight team in the area. We have more than proven that.

Our newest blue belt is Brandon Kessinger. Brandon has been training hard and has been successful in grappling compeititon and MMA. Congratulations for joining the ranks of the toughest blue belts in our area.

Saturday, August 18th proved to be a busy day. We competed in the Vett City Open in Bowling Green. Our E-town and BG schools along with our buddies from Nice Guy Submission Fighting did very well. We came home with 14 medals. Here is the rundown.

Chris Vittitow 3rd Dirty Joe Howard 1st Tyler Young 1st BJJ
Tyler Young won 1st Judo Brandon Kessinger 2nd heavy Brandon Kessinger 3rd super heavy
Jeff Vincient 3rd Bobby Swackhammer 2nd Matt Woodring 3rd
Matt Ragan 1st Chloe Arebalo 2nd Chris "Brandenburg" Biddle 2nd
Mike Clark 1st Bryan Bennett 1st TJ Worthen 3rd BJJ
TJ worthen 1st Judo Joe Baize 1st heavy wt. Joe Baize 1st super heavy

We also won 2 more MMA fights Saturday night inRichmond. Trinity "Ankle Bone" Holbert finished his guy with an ankle lock and Brandon "Hardrock" Higdon won when he punched his guy out from the mount.

August 11th, We went 2-2 on the night. We brought home our second title with Chris Biddle's first round destruction of his opponent with a mounted guillotine. Paul Tippton looked like dynamite with crisp punches and slick finishes. He won early in the 2nd round with a rear naked choke over an opponent fighting his 19th fight!!! John Ballard and Trinity Holbert both had their chances in their fights but were unable to capitalilize this time.

Donnie "High Intensity" Wallace won his 15th fightAugust 4th in London, KY. He now looks to turn proafter a 15-2 record.

Congratulations to Adam Arebalo!!! He is the new 135lb. Warrior FC champion. He played a tight Jiu-Jitsu game to put his opponent in the cage. Then he devastated him with punches to the head and knees to the head. The icing on the cake was the Mata Leao choke for the win!!!

The next Luiz Palhares seminar is going to be September the 16th, a Sunday. The time will be 11am-2pm. The price will be $60 dollars.

Congrats to instructor Josh Johnson for completing his Masters Degree in Exercise Sports Science from Western Kentucky University. Josh now has a BS in Physical Education Pedagogy (P-12), A MS in Exercise Sports Science, and black belts in both Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo!!!

The Bowling Green school is up and running. It is already a success with about 25 students in the first month. The facility is awesome as well. If you get a chance you should travel down some Tuesday or Thursday night to train there.

The Steve Berger seminar was awesome. We really learned some great things. The stuff will be applicable immediately. We also wish him luck as he prepares for his next Bodog fight in August.

Joseph Baize won his 9th professional MMA fight with a heel hook in the first round of Hook n Shoot on June 23rd. The belly flop after his win was among the craziest things ever witnessed.

Trinity Holbert won the fight of the night in his May 5th UCC fight in Madisonville. Congrats to him!!!!

There's a new.......new schedule up. Check it out. We are in the process of moving the boxing instruction to Sunday at 3:00 and we have included a kickboxing class on Monday nights from 8:15-9:15. Former full contact professional kickboxer Cliff Levan will be running the kickboxing workouts.

Big Daddy's E-town BeatDown ups it's team record to 17-4 overall. Anthony Stanton won his third fight in easy fashion. He dropped his opponent with a stiff 1-2 combo, went to the gullotine, swept the guy over and mounted, and punched the guy till he turned over. Anthony hammered home the win from there. Brandon Kessinger made his debut. He landed some bombs on his opponent and even worked some effective groundwork. The fight went into the second round where Brandon mounted and finished ground and pound style. Zack Smith made his debut as well. He took the fight on short notice and his opponent looked to be way over the weight limit????? But Zack threw the guy 3 times in the first round and was easily winning. However, in the second round the guy came out and put Zack in some bad positions until securing a rear naked choke ane the win midway through the second round.

Jim "Grandpa" Coomer has earned the blue belt. After 18 months of dedicated training Jim Coomer is now wearing the faixa azul!!! Congratulations!!!

Matt Morgan emailed Josh to show off his new physique. He has been training very very hard and has lost another 20 pounds below what he fought at in the first Warrior FC show. We all look forward to him getting back close and rejoining the team!!!

Pic of Matt Kitterman on May 18 after his 2nd round knockout and 17th win. Congratulations!!!

In an attempt to add more training time we have updated the schedule. Please check it out. Starting in June it will be

Boxing Coach Matt Kitterman wins number 17!!!Friday night May 18th, Matt Kitterman upped his record to 17-0-1 with a 2nd round TKO. Matt dominating the entire match. He immediately began working the body. Matt secured one knockdown in the 1st round and ended it in the second with body barrage after body barrage.

Joseph Baize fought in Hook N Shoot May 19th. The fight ended in controversy when the judges cards were pulled after the second round. The fight was supposedto go 3 rounds and that was what the contract stipulated and both camps agreed upon. So after 2rounds of action the fight is a no contest. If you can make it to watch a Joe Baize fight, I highly recommend it. It was very exciting and he comes to fight. He almost finished 4 leg locks in the first round alone.

We may have up to 14 fighters in the June 16th E-town show!!!! We need to sell 300 tickets for this show. If we do we may be able to purchase some much needed striking equipment. The Stever Berger seminar is ago!!! We are planning to have Steve down for the fights and then he will conduct a seminar the next dayfrom 12-3. Don't miss it!!!

We have some exciting new sponsors to announce verysoon!!!!

Finally, 7 years later Jason Clan is a blue belt. Jason earned the blue belt Monday night at practice. Jason began training years ago when he was Josh's college roommate. Back then they trained together at Eric Silver's school in Nashville. They also attended Judo class in Bowling Green. Probably the most intense training took place in the living room floor. Nonetheless, after a long break Jason made his way back to the mats and has now accomplished the blue belt. Congrats!!!!

William Jenkins: Mr. Jenkins is the newest addition to our Instructors and coaches and he is sure to make a major impact. William has a vast amount of boxing experience (20 yrs.) and has been to the very top of the boxing game. Not only is William knowledgeable and skilled,but he is a very good teacher as well. Check out some of his accolades below:

Check out this site. It has some cool techniques and some other BJJ information http://www.bjjzone.com/index.asp

The in-house tournament went well. We had some very tough matches. I was really impressed with everyone. The winners were Anthony Stanton for the lightweights and Dave McMaster for the heavies. John Ballard and Brandon Kessinger came in 2nd place.

Zach Smith is our newest blue belt. He has trained mostly with Sensei Eberhard Kieslich in Brandenburg. His stand-up his takedowns are practically world class. His groundwork features strong positional dominance and dangerous armlocks. Look for Zack to make his MMA debut in the upcoming months.

"Correction: Scott Porter's jock strap is in a wad because I made the mistake of reporting him as the number 4 ranked fighter in his weight class. The correct ranking is number 2. Sorry "Super Sensative" Scott!!!!"

It looks as if UFC veteran Steve Berger will be coming to E-town to conduct an MMA seminar for us. We don't have a date yet but it may be in conjunction with the June 16th fights. Steve has been in the fight game for many years. His 18 wins include names such as Shonnie Carter (2 wins), Pete Spratt, Rich Clementi, and Aaron Riley. Other notable fighters on his resume include Jeremy Horn, Tony DeSouza, Chris Brennan, Robbie Lawler, and Din Thomas. Steve has been at the top of the fight game for many years. He is currently fighting in the Bodog organization.

Good Luck to Lexington's Mike O'Donnell as he faces Adriano Nasal in the Gracie Fighting Champipnship!!! O Bicho Vai Pegar

The Gracie Fighting Championships stakes claim to the land of elite Mixed Martial Arts fighting with it’s premier show "Evolution" This full throttle event comes to light on May 19th, 2007 in the capital of MMA, Columbus, Ohio. Jiu-Jitsu phenomenon "Jacare" and "The Snowman" Jeff Monson lead the pack of Elite MMA fighters in a night of adrenaline fight action.

Bowling Green Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy coming soon!!!!!!!

Bowling Green will now have access to professional Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Instruction. E-town BJJ and Judo is now officially expanding into Bowling Green with a new location. Details are being finalized now but we will be offering Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Submission Grappling, and MMA classes in Sam Smith's Martial Arts Institute. We will have our own room with 24-7 access to the mats. The school is in the best location in Bowling Green. Purple Belts Scott Porter and Joe Howard will be assisting Josh with the instruction and Purple Belt Matt Morgan will be joining the staff in about 2 months. All 3 guys have a ton of experience and each one also sports a 1-0 MMA record. All with round 1 victories. The E-town Academy will continue to operate as normal without any changes.

Scott Porter will finally be wearing the purple belt after 12 years of mostly "on" training. The guy should be a black belt with 1 stripe already!!!! Scott Began his training and received his blue belt from Brazilian Rodrigo Vaghi in St. Louis. Josh met Scott in Bowling Green nearly 6 years ago and they began training together at that point. Now Scott joins our team and will be involved with helping direct the instruction in the Bowling Green school when we get it up and operating. There's nothing fancy about Scott's BJJ. He stays basic and tight and doesn't make many mistakes. He has above average striking and his grappling game complements MMA perfectly. Look for Scott to knock some heads in future MMA competition.

Our Owensboro man, Joseph Baize will be fighting a professional fight in Hook N Shoot on May 19th. We should take a trip over to root him on. He is moving in on the 205 title. Good luck Joe!!!!

We will be having Professor Luiz Palhares for a seminar on Saturday, May 12th from 12-3. Everyone is encouraged to attend the seminar. The cost will be $60 dollars ahead of time and $65 that day. Regular class will obviously be canceled May 12th.

We are quickly rising to the top in every weight class. We have 6 guys that are due for a title shot next or after their next fight the will get the shot. Here's the breakdown

We have the best MMA team in Central Kentucky. Everyone can take pride in that FACT. When some of our newer fighers get ready we may be sending them to fight in the Hook N Shoot show over in Owensboro and Evansville.

We sent a team of 13 guys up there to do battle. Several guys had never competed before. We brought home several medals. Here's the breakdown:

We have 2 new blue belts!!!!!!!!! Anthony "Furacao" Stanton finally got beat......with our belts as part of his blue belt ceremony. Joe Baize from our Owensboro affiliate also received his blue belt. Joe has the best leg locks I have ever seen. You have to be very careful with this guy no matter who you are. Congratulations guys!!!!!

My fourth trip to Brazil was very nice but tooooo short. Although this trip was not designed purely for training, while in Brazil how could I not sneak away and train??? I was able to train Monday- Friday (twice on friday) in 3 different academies. I trained in Ipanema at Academy Shotokan with Cardosa. I had trained there before. The class belongs to Claudio Fontes who is a Luiz Palhares Black Belt as well. What I like about this class is that it begins at 8:30 in the morning!!!! That gave me the rest of the day to shop, go to the beach, eat everything in site and babe watch everywhere I go!!!! Brazil is nice!!! Since I was staying in Botafogo I wanted to find a close school that I could easily walk to. I was able to find a Gracie Barra school of world champion "Cafe" Dantas in Botafogo. It was a cool class with some tough guys. The head instructor is a cool cat named Jean Buiu. He is about 5 foot 125 pounds and very quick, and technical. This school was unique in the fact that every sparring session was started on the feet and they had regular no gi days scheduled into the week. Most Brazilians do not like no gi submission grappling. This class is difficult because it begins at 12:00 noon. It is very hot in Rio right now and I was about to die from dehydration on a daily basis. In fact, on Wednesday after training I puked. On Friday "Cafe" himself showed up to train with me specifically. I was very fun to train with one of the best BJJ guys ever!!! We had a 10 minute match and I don't recall ever being dominated so badly by anyone ever. He is truely a master of Jiu-Jitsu. The highlight of the trip was training at the new Brasa Academy in Urca. Brasa is without a doubt the best team in Brazil right now. They have the best competitors in the world. Felipe Costa, Comprido, and Michelle Matta run this Academy. Since Felipe is in Sweden for seminars and Comprido in the USA doing seminars then Michelle was running the show. She is the first Female BJJ Black Belt I have had the honor to train with. We had a fun and technical sparring session. She has trained BJJ for 20 years. She taught the class in English since so many Europeans were there. It was by far the friendliest Academy I have experienced in Brazil. Overall this trip was a good one. I got to see some close friends, visit some new academies for some great training and I did some shopping in the BJJ shops in Copa. I can't wait to return in July.

Key points and lessons from this trip:

* Too hot to train for me, I like our summer, their winter better
* Watch what you eat and don't forget the Pepto or you will pay for it!!!!
* Don't fly into Newark ever again. They have too many storms up there
* Take an extra suitcase for the BJJ gear you always end up buying

Our MMA Team will now be known as Big Daddy's E-town Beat Down Fight Team. Big Daddy's Tattoos has sponsored our fight team and we will be representing their business. Advantacare chiropractic Wellness Center will also be supporting our fighters with injury rehabilitation. We are also in negotiations with Hodges Auction/ Reality One for a sponsorship deal. Hawks will also be providing our after party for the June 16th Warrior FC fights in E-town.

April 1st Josh taught a seminar at Nice Guys Submission Fighting in Owensboro, KY. Joseph Baize is the head instructor there and he is our first full affiliate school. Josh reported the guys were very friendly and he rolled with everyone in attendance. Joe is a very good grappler and a Sombo Black Belt and professional MMA fighter. His ankle locks are off the hook. He will be training with us in E-town and competing in BJJ tournaments with our team. Josh will be traveling there every couple months to do seminars.

Once again we sent our E-town Beat Down Fight Team in the cage to represent our school and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. And once again we proved the effectiveness of our training.

Bart Bibee started the night off for us with a tough match against a 4 Seasons fighter. Bart prepared for a different opponent and sported an injured knee and only 2 weeks of training. Once his original opponent backed out, he took a fight with the 4 Seasons guy. Against my better judgement we took this fight and I learned a valuable lesson. I will never again send someone in there that I have not properly prepared to fight. I'm chalking this one up as a loss for myself. Nonetheless, it was a great fight that featured reversals, takedowns and striking. Bart had a chance at the end of round 1 when he mounted his opponent and had his back but he succumbed to a rear choke in the middle of round 2. Awesome fight!!!

Anthony Stanton fought a tough and aggressive guy from Frankfort. This fight sported some nice wrestling. Anthony caught the guy in a guillotine and almost passed him unconscious. He mounted and when the guy turned over he got the rear choke for the win.

Joe Howard fought T.J. Barber from Lawrenceburg who had a 1-0 record. Joe worked his guard effectively and chased the guy with submissions until securing the kimura. It's safe to say Barber's shoulder will not heal for awhile.

Scott Porter fought a game Chris "Tank" Adams. Adams had an impressive win in the last E-town show. Scott displayed superior striking and ground work in this one. He used a stiff jab to set-up some effective leg kicks. Scott clinched and landed some effective knees. When he took the fight to the ground he secured the back mount and hammered Tank for the verbal submission.

Next up was John "Nails" Ballard. John fought Joe Jumper from 4 Seasons. The internet trash talkers were not giving John any chance at all in this one. Jumper looked more like a body builder than anything else. Jumper started strong with some good punches and takedowns. John hung tough and weathered the early storm. Jumper tired quickly and as the 1st round ended it was obvious it was anybody's fight. Jumper was gassed and the 4 Seasons guys even tried the "bad" glove trick between rounds to give Jumper more time to rest. John ended up mounting Jumper in the second and hammering him into submission. Promoter Jimbo Collins said this was the fight of the night. 4 Seasons touted Jumper as their next champion but John Ballard put a halt to that nonsense.

Adam The Igg fought next in a fight against a 2 x national wrestling champion. The fight was taken quickly to the ground where Adam found himself in the guard. Adam worked patiently and took advantage of poor posture to secure a tight triangle. Adam used punches and elbows to punish his opponent until he worked the arm in the right position to finish the choke. Although Adam did not fight for our team this night, he is in transition to our team and we are happy to have him.

We went 5-1 for the night. We won with a rear choke, kimura, triangle, punches from mount, and punches from back mount. We are now 14-2 as a team this year in Warrior FC. Adam the Igg will be fighting for the title in his next fight. John Ballard will most likely get a title fight next. Anthony Stanton is probably one win away from a title fight. Sean Westcott is probably up for a title fight next or in 2 fights. Scott Porter showcased skills that undoubtedly will place him in the top 5. Joe Howard is an obvious contender at 170lbs. We still have Jared Wright, Brandon Kessinger and some other surprises that have not even starting fighting yet. I think we could one day own every weight class. We are fast becoming the best MMA team in Kentucky and we are doing it the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu way!!!

Josh will be traveling to Brazil for training (and some fun). He will be gone from April 5th- April 15th. Adam and Joe Dibble will be taking on the responsibility of organizing the tournaments. We will compete on the 7th and 14th. Josh will be back for the 21st. Remember, the 14th in Louisville is the one that we are hoping to send a ton of people to.

Owen County Judo Invitational:

Anthony Stanton- 3rd place
Junior Dennis- 3rd place
Philip Tabb- 3rd place Novice Division, 2nd place Black Belt Division

It's important to remember that the main purpose of competing is to have fun. With that being said it is always a good opportunity to test yourself and your skills against others. At this Judo tournament I learned several important things. First, we need to refocus on our Judo techniques. Second, it's important that we compete more and get to the level where we are comfortable being there. On the flip side I saw some glimpses of good ground work. Junior Dennis looked very good on the mat. He won 2 matches with a pin and armlock. His name was even mentioned for the outstanding competitor award. As a team we have to remember that I have very high standards for everyone. I know everyone can reach a high level in our academy. It is my job to make sure we are progressing and developing in the right direction. Class will change in the upcoming weeks. Just remember that I do have high expectations for everyone.

"You cannot be a success in any business without believing that it is the greatest business in the world…You have to put your heart in the business and the business in your heart."
Thomas Watson Sr.

I am committed to making every single student a world champion grappler and a world champion person. Josh Johnson

On April 1st Josh will be conducting a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu seminar in Owensborough at Nice Guys Submission Fighting from 4-7pm. Pro MMA fighter Joseph Baize contacted Josh back in early February about becoming affiliated with E-town Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo, the top Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program around. We were recommended by Guardian Jiu-Jitsu in Murfreesborough. We look forward to working with the guys in Owensboro and a big thanks to Guardian MMA. Check out our new affiliate school at http://www.niceguysubmissionfighting.com/

Wow!!! this video is awesome. It shows the armlocks and chokes of Judo as well as any video I've seen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u41omoNO4U

Greg Lucas will be hosting the Indiana Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championships Novemeber 10th, 2007 in scenic southern Indiana.

BJJ Camp in Angra dos Reis, Brazil with Luiz Palhares on July 21-28. Click here for more information.

"I highly recommend this camp to people at all levels of Jiu-Jitsu. There is no doubt that it will benefit your Jiu-Jitsu game and will also provide a lasting cultural experience."

Josh Johnson
Black Belt
Luiz Palhares Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Association

Boxing instructor Al Winfield has officially started helping coach our E-town Beat Down Fight Team. Al was excited about our first workout and is impressed with the level of our striking skills already!!!! Our focus for the next few months will be to refine our basics and work some more combinations. Our competitors want to think that we only have effective groundwork. What they don't understand is that many of our fighters have equally good stand-up!!!! Submit or Suffer, E-town Beat Down style!!!

The Luiz seminar on Feb. 25th was awesome!!!! We had a pretty advanced group for the seminar with 2 black belts, 1 brown, 2 purples and about 8 blue belts. I heard many comments about how good the seminar was.

Congratulations to Chris "Black Fury" Nichols on his new purple belt!!! Chris was one of Josh's original E-town students. Chris competed many times for E-town Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo and represented us well. Although, he now trains elsewhere he "cut" his Jiu-Jitsu teeth on our mats so we are proud and happy for him!!! Double Leg, arm under guard pass, side control, and kimura finish, if you face him watch out for that series.

Sean "Fists of Fury" Westcott has moved up to the number 3 ranking in the 145lb. weight class.

Anthony "Furacao" Stanton is ranked number 4 amongst 155lbers.

John "Nails" Ballard has moved into the number 4 spot in the 170lb. weight class.

Dave McMaster is our first Brown Belt!!!! He tested with Professor Luiz Palhares and Josh before the seminar Feb. 25th. Dave completed a nearly flawless test. Now we have to get him training in a kimono more to get the black belt. Josh has trained on and off with Dave for 7 years now!!! Dave has always shown great technical knowledge. With more sparring, he is starting to put that knowledge to use. Congrats to an all around good guy!!!! Pics will be coming soon!!! Man, he took a beating in the gauntlet!!!!

Warrior FC will be March 17 in E-town. We will once again be sending a team of at least 5 guys to do battle. Check with Josh for more information on how you can get tickets.

We are looking for sponsors. If you know a business that might be interested let Josh know. We are in negotiations with a couple right now.

At last count we have over 45 full time students!!! The growth of the club the last year has been incredible. Lately, we have been signing up a new student almost every class. If you are interested in training or know someone who is interested get them in with here. If you bring a new student in starting in March you will receive a free private class with Adam or Josh!!!!

Former Golden Gloves Boxing Champion Al Winfield will be joining the MMA Instructor staff. Look for Al to be working with us starting very soon!!!

Check out our fight team on myspace. Our recent fights along with some information is on there. Very cool page!!!! http://www.myspace.com/etownbeatdownbjj

Our Lineage or place in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu History.

In 1914 Maeda immigrated from Japan to Brazil. He befriended the Gracie family and started to teach Carlos Gracie Judo or JuJitsu.

In 1925 the Gracie's opened the first Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy. Helio Gracie was an instructor in the original academy. Here, Helio honed the skills of his sons, including Rickson, to become great fighters.

In 1976 Luiz Palhares began his journey in Jiu-Jitsu with Rolls Gracie. After Rolls' death Luiz continued to study Jiu-Jitsu under Rickson Gracie. In 1984 Rickson Gracie awarded Luiz with the "faixa preta" or black belt.

In 2006 Luiz awared Josh Johnson his black belt after over 10 years of continuous study of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

We are now accepting new students for all of our programs. If you are interested in:

Adult Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Adult Judo
Adult MMA
Adult Submission Grappling
Women's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Kid's Grappling

We have a program for everyone. Come see what all the buzz is about!!!!

There are several new additions to the website including a calendar listing important upcoming events. The calendar is located at the bottom of the class info page.

Feb. 17th at the Elizabethtown National Guard Armory 1600 spectators witnessed an E-town Beat Down!!!! We sent 7 people into the cage and we walked away with 7 round 1 victories. We have done it the Jiu-Jitsu way. Others all over the world, including great black belts, are giving up on Jiu-Jitsu and looking elsewhere. We have stayed on the mat and worked hard and it has payed off. When you do things the right way good things will happen for you. The answers are always within Jiu-Jitsu. You just have to be willing to go back and rework your positions and fix problems. We dominated the competition with 4 mata leon chokes and 3 wins with punches from the mount, side control and standing.

Sean Westcott won with a flurry of punches standing
Anthony Stanton won with punches from the mount
Matt Morgan won with a rear naked choke
Bart Bibee won with a rear naked choke
Adam Arebalo won with a rear naked choke
Chris Biddle won with a rear naked choke
John Ballard won with punches from the mount

Warrior FC will return to E-town in March. Look for more action from E-town BJJ and Judo then!!!!!! Congratulations to everyone!!! It takes a team of tough guys to get it done!!!

Check out the March issue of Grappling Magazine. Professor Luiz Palhares demonstrates 3 techniques in the magazine and there is a short write up about his training history.

Yet another blue belt!!!! Jared Wright received his blue belt after class on Saturday Feb. 17th. Jared has trained with Josh through Joe Howard down in Bowling Green for about 2 years. Jared always has a good attitude, works hard, and is very dangerous to grapple with. After class and before the ceremonial promotional gauntlet, Jared puked 4 times. hahahaha. Look for Jared to make his fighting debut soon!!! Congrats buddy!!!

Kentucky now has 5 black belts. Mike Yanez and Jason Keaton received their black belts recently!!!! Also, Josh's long time close friend Shawn Hammonds received his black belt recently from Lloyd Irvin!!! Josh trained with Shawn when he was a white and blue belt and is very happy for Shawn's great accomplishment. Shawn has competed and won all over the world. Not only is Shawn an accomplished grappler but more importantly he is an honest guy and honorable person. Noone has an ill word to say about him and he simply does things the right way. People could learn a great deal from his example. Congrats Shawn, you deserve it. If you're ever around Nashville, check out Shawn's school in the 100 Oaks Mall.

John Ballard received the "faixa azul" at practice on Wednesday night. He has trained very hard and has become a very dedicated student of Jiu-Jitsu. John has fought in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments with the gi, a Judo tournament, no gi, and he has fought in the cage as well. During this time he has transformed his body into a more efficient machine. His best Jiu-Jitsu is ahead of him as he begins to compete at his new weight class and with his new blue belt. Congratulations!!!!
Josh Johnson

Someone's head is even bigger now.....Junior "Cabecao" Dennis joined the ranks of the new blue belts Monday (Feb. 5th) before our first class in the new building. Cabecao has been working very hard and has shown true dedication to Jiu-Jitsu. He has improved at an impressive rate and I could no longer keep him in the white belt. He simply outgrew it!!!!! Congrats amigo. Now everyone wants your neck!!!!
Josh Johnson

Monday, Feb. 5th marked an historical night for E-town BJJ and Judo. We had our first class in the new location. We started with the kids and finished up with the adults. The kids class is about to explode with new students. The adult class is not far behind. We had 19 participants for the first class. At this rate we will be adding new classes shortly. Keep checking the website because the schedule may be tweeked a little as we switch the kid's class and the women's class around for the right fit.

As if the Fredson BJJ seminar wasn't enough, we followed it up with Matt Kitterman. Matt showed us some basic footwork drills, basic punching combinations, defensive and offensive drills, and some Thai boxing to top it off. Some really really technical drill work. We plan to have Matt over as often as possible. It's easy to see why he's 16-0-1 as a pro boxer and 14-1 as a kickboxer. Thanks to Matt for coming over and sharing his knowledge with us.

Josh Johnson

The Fredson Paixao seminar was simply amazing. After over 10 years of Jiu-Jitsu, it is still amazing to me the amount I have left to learn. Fredson opened up and showed us some real effective guard passes. He didn't hold anything back and the stuff is simple, practical and easy to apply. I believe it was among the best seminars I have ever attended. It was also an honor to have such a great champion on our mats sharing his skills. Thank you Fredson!!! Fredson will for sure be back for another seminar when he returns to the United States.

Josh Johnson

Starting Monday, Feb. 5th. E-town Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo will be in it's new location. The building is a "work in progress" but before long we will have it up to speed. Our schedule has changed slightly. We are adding a morning class on Wednesdays from 10:00-11:30 am and our Thursday has moved to Wednesday nights. We are now accepting new students for all classes.

Location:
Victory Martial Arts
605 E. Dixie (across from Caldwell Banker and next to E-town Donut)

Sean "Fists of Fury" Westcott has moved up in the WFC rankings and is now the number 5 ranked fighter in both the 145lb class and 155lb class!!!

Feb. 17th at the National Guard Armory, Warrior FC invades E-town. It will be a historic night for us as we are sending 7 members of the E-town BJJ and Judo club to do battle. Our 7 fighters are listed below with their match-ups. I am honestly expecting at least 5 wins by submission and probably 2 ref stoppages from punches. Come support the locals. For more details contact Josh at 270 234-3961. I will have tickets available for presale. Don't miss it!!!!!!!!
Josh Johnson




John "Brama" Ballard vs Josh Collins 170lbs
Bart "Bone Crusher" Bibee vs Dessie Jewell 185lbs
Matt Morgan vs Jessie Jewell 185lbs
Sean "Fists of Fury" Westcott vs Justin Fox 145lbs
Chris Biddle vs Scott Philips 205lbs
Adam Arebalo vs Dustin Young 145lbs
Anthony "Furacao" Stanton vs victim number 7 155lbs

March 17, 2007 Owen County Schools Judo Invitational

April 14,2007 Bluegrass Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open

June 9, 2007 4th Annual Hoosier Open BJJ Tournament

Interview by Josh Johnson

Q: How many years have you trained?
A: I have been training for 32 years. I started when I was six years old.

Q: What are some of the championships you have won?
A: With the Gi I was 3rd place in Mundials and Internationals Champion 2 times, Pan Am Champion for my division and absolute in 2001, and many Rio Championships. Without the Gi and MMA I have won Grapplers Quest and NAGA, I have won in the AFC fighting organization, and I just fought in Japan most recently.

Q: When did you first start to train without the Gi?
A: Well, I started training in Teresopolis and I always trained 5 days a week. When I moved to Rio with Carlson Gracie I trained 2-3 times a day. My training in Brazil was always with the Gi. I didn't start to train no gi until about 1996.

Q: Has the Gi helped you to develop a base for the No Gi game?
A: Yes, for sure. For a lot of guys it's important to keep learning and develop your game.

Q: Do you still train or compete with both?
A: For the last 3 years I have focused on No Gi and MMA but now more Gi. I want to do the Mundials (World Championships) and Internationals again. I always train with Gi. The Gi makes you better.

Q: Has your training and "game" changed for No Gi?
A: The training is similar. The basic training is the same. I just have to adapt how I control the guy. I use the joints a lot to hold on.

Q: Do you think it's important to continue to train with the Gi on?
A: If you have a No Gi tournament or MMA match coming up, of course you should focus on training without the Gi. But always train with the Gi 1 or 2 times a week.

Q: Has No Gi changed the way Jiu-Jitsu as a whole has evolved or is practiced?
A: Sure, the guys from No Gi have brought in new things from other places that can be used even with the Gi. The takedowns and chokes that use only gripping your body or arms are new to Jiu-Jitsu. But more money is in No Gi so the guys are starting to only practice and compete in No Gi or MMA competitions. I think some people could start to lose something because the Gi makes you better.

Q: What do you think of learning Jiu-Jitsu without the Gi?
A: We don't have Jiu-Jitsu without the Gi. This is grappling, a different thing. At ATT (American Top Team) right now we train at least 2 times a week without the Gi. We see the guys get better much faster this way.

Q: What advice do you give people who are interested in Gi and No Gi competitions?
A: Train most of the time with the Gi on. Take it off and train 1 or 2 times a week. Of course, when a No Gi tournament comes up train a little more without the Gi.

Top Ten Reasons That You May Be Obsessed With Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Josh's long time Brazilian friend Tulio Perrone received the much deserved faixa preta (black belt) on December 22nd from his instructor Alexander Paiva in Copacabana, Rio De Janeiro. Congratulations Tulio!!!!! Tulio now resides in Chicago, making him one of the few people in North America with a black belt in Judo and BJJ.

Clinics, Clinics and more Clinics
We are excited to bring to you some very good training opportunities in the next 2 months.

January 28th: Fredson Paixao BJJ seminar. Straight from Rio De Janeiro, Fredson will be in E-town to show us the techniques that helped him to win 4 World BJJ Championships and 7 National Championships. Fredson is considered to be one of the greatest competitors of all time. Price $60 dollars. For more details email or call Josh. Here's an article with Fredson Paixao http://www.graciemag.com/?c=146&a=3920

Febraury 4th: Pro Boxer Matt Kitterman of Corydon, IN will be here to do a striking clinic. Matt is 16-0-1 as a pro boxer and is 14-1 as a kickboxer. He is also a brown belt in Judo and a Blue Belt in BJJ also. Matt runs an MMA team in Corydon. We look forward to Matt sharing his expertise. We plan on having him oversee the progress of our MMA team about every other month. Price $15 dollars. For more details email or call Josh

Febraury 25th: Professor Luiz Palhares will be back for a seminar in BJJ. We look forward to having him here once again. Price $60 dollars. For more details email or call Josh

UFC in Columbus, Ohio!!!!!!! Tickets are on sale now for UFC 68 in Columbus, Ohio. Visit www.ufc.com for more details.

John Ballard's opponent was a no show for the fight. John agreed to fight a much more experienced fighter and gave him a good fight. John lost by mata leon choke.

Sean Wescott uped his record to 2-0 with a first round ref stoppage. Sean dominted the stand-up before finishing his opponent with strikes from the mount.

WFC invades E-town on Febraury 17th at the National Guard Armory.
We will have several fighters fighting in this event.

We will be having two fighters in the upcoming Warrior Fighting Challenge in Bowling Green on Jan. 6th. John Ballard will be taking on James Carver and Sean Wescott will be taking on Keith Gates. Good luck guys. Take the fight to em!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!