December Promotions!!!!
Blue Belts:
Brandon Debandi
Jon Rigdon
Adam "The Igg" Schroer
Mike Ashley
Shane Purkerson
Travis Decker

One Kid to White/Yellow:
Devlin Kerr
AND ONE BLACK BELT!!!!
Dave McMaster received the "Faixa Preta" from Professor Luiz Palhares today!!! He demonstrated flawless self-defense. It was actually the greatest 2 hour display of Jiu-Jitsu I have ever witnessed. Congrats!!!!

Weekend Fight Results.
We went 4-1 for the weekend. Chad Deaner looked strong in his debut win. He is an excellent athlete. With more mat time he will be a force in the cage. Matt Martin put on a show with his ground work display. He secured an upside down armlock that looked to be bone snapping tight. Chris Biddle go the job done on the ground as well. He punished his opponent with strikes to win the fight at 2:59 of round 1. Bobby Swackhammer was in a really tough fight for two rounds with McKenna from Louisville MMA. McKenna looked to be even more tired than Swackhammer but Swack quit on the stool between rounds 2 and 3. There is no substitute for guts. Congrats to a tough as nails McKenna who came to fight.

Mike Baskis won his 2nd pro fight by knockout. He fought in Anderson, IN and won by left hook knockout in only 19 seconds. He two pro fights have lasted only 55 seconds!!!!

Chad Corvin

From: http://www.octagonbuzz.com/america-annihilates-africa-at-xfc-6-clash-of-the-continents/

Tampa, FL: "South African heavyweight champion Rico "The White Lion" Hattingh entered the main event of XFC’s "Salute to Our Armed Forces 6: Clash of the Continents" at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida with an 11-1 record, ten gold medals from international wrestling competitions, a submission victory over UFC veteran Trevor Prangley, and universal recognition as the top heavyweight in all of Africa.

He left the main event on a stretcher after being knocked out cold in 19 seconds by undefeated American heavyweight Chad Corvin.

"I tried to end it quickly," said the 22-year-old, 250 pound Corvin. "I knew this fight would be a big stepping stone for me. The MMA world already knew I had heavy hands. Now they know just how heavy these hands truly are." Corvin elevated his record to 4-0, with all four victories by first round stoppage."

XFC Tampa Florida Donny Wallace won round 1 of his match-up against Frank Santore. Donny shot submission attempt after submission attempt but Frank stayed in the game avoided the subs. round 2 featured 2 takedowns by each fighter in a fast paced exchange of positions. Donny went for an armlock from Knee on Belly at one time and barely missed it. Donny got caught in a triangle while down punching through the guard and ended up succumbing to the pressure in the second round.

Chad Corvin walked right through the best South African heavy weight MMA fighter. Rico Haghting. Rico had won 10 international wrestling competitions, competed in Abu Dhabi, and was on an impressive submission streak in MMA. However, Chad walked right through him taking only 19 seconds to knock him out. What's next for Corvin??? No telling.

Scott Porter's opponent was switched and fought up a weight class. They found a last minute replacement that no one knew anything about and the guy weighed in at 194 pounds. 9 pounds overweight. After cutting weight and preparing to fight a different opponent Scott decided the weight difference was too much. The Florida Boxing Commission and the match maker both agreed. So Scott did not fight.
Russell Springs, Kentucky

Steve Osmun won via choke in the second round. He domintated the first round. In the second he got kicked in the jaw and dropped. He recovered to take the fight to the ground and secure the submission. His record is now 4-0. Danny Kelly made his much anticipated debut. He easily defeated his opponent and punished him throughout. Finally, early in the second round he knocked his opponent unconscience with strikes on the ground. 3-1 for the weekend. Keep it up guys!!!

As Reported by www.2theadvocate.com

"145 lbs. - Mike Baskes (Team KY) vs. Robert Blackhouse (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
Baskes had a dominating performance making quick work of Blackhouse with some devastating kicks. Blackhouse finally got caught with a kick to the face that echoed across the Coliseum. This was more than enough to end the fight and add another victory to Baskes’s record.
Baskins defeats Blackhouse by Knockout in the First Round
Wins "Knockout of the Night" honors

140 lbs. Vanessa Bohleber (Elizabeth Town, Ky.) vs. Mitzi Marry (Cowboy Combat Club)
These two ladies brought the crowd to their feet as they gave it their all for almost three rounds of action. Bohleber showed some great Muay Thai and appeared to get the better of Marry for two and half rounds. However, Marry caught a tired Bohleber in a submission and forced her to tap out for the victory.
Marry defeats Bohleber by Submission (Armbar) in the Third Round"

I'd like to take a moment to recognize a couple of students. Landen is first on my list. The kid never misses class and is a terror on the mats. At only 13 years of age he is tearing up the tournament circuit and is an incredible talent to watch develop. I can't wait to see him progress over the next couple years.

Gay Scott Flemming also deserves some props. Gay Scott always comes to class and is always training hard and never goofing off. He stays busy in tournaments and he is really progressing due to his consistency. Congrats to these two warriors.

Thanks to Dan Moody for the great wrestling clinic he conducted at the academy last week. He focused on the low single leg and finishes. The clinic was very informative and beneficial to everyone in attendance.

Dan is currently the assistant wrestling coach at the University of the Cumberlands

Chris Biddle picks up the 185lb. XMMA title belt. I wasn't there but by all accounts he took his opponent out to the wood shed for some ole fashion whoop ass!!! His opponent quit on the stool between rounds 1 and 2.

Also in action were Mike Baskis and Vanessa Bohleber making their pro debuts in Lafayette, Louisiana. Baskis came out strong and landed 3 kicks. The last of which was on his opponents head. His opponent went down and Mike finished him off with strikes from the knee on belly position. His fight only lasted 36 seconds. Mike continues to improve each time out. Vanessa had a 3 round battle. She landed effective strikes throughout the bout. She dominated the clinch and pushed her opponent around. In both rounds 1 and 2 she almost finished submissions. In the 3rd round she landed a nice hook that put her opponent down. Vanessa pounced on her and landed some great shots. The girl recovered the guard and transitioned straight to lock Vanessa's arm. Vanessa fought the armlock but eventually made the right decision and tapped. These three warriors represented themselves and their teams well. We should be very proud of them.

Steve Harris and Jon Rigdon win!!

Both guys competed in Iron Warrior Fight League in Muncie Indiana Nov. 1st. Steve easily took his opponent down and won via mounted armlock in the first round. Jon Rigdon successfully defended his opponent with a nearly flawless display of Jiu-Jitsu. Jon won via triangle in the 3rd round after nearly 13 minutes of battle. Congrats to these guys for executing good Jiu-Jitsu!!!

Fights Friday Night. Not a great night. Matt Gracie came out and took the fight to the ground but was unable to control his opponent and ended up on the bottom absorbing punshiment. Mike Cayo fought a very exciting and game AJ Jenkins. AJ is one of my favorite fighters in our area. He is always game and fights hard. The 1st round was very exciting with Cayo securing takedowns early but unable to hold the top position. In the second round he missed a toe hold submission and was pounded out from there. Donny Wallace dominated Erik Florez. Donny took him down and dominated him with ground n pound. Eventually Donny secured a standing gullotine and jumped to guard and passed Flores unconscience. On a side not Flores failed to make weight AGAIN. Nonetheless, Donny took care of business. Matt Martin was slated to fight. After cutting 16 pounds his opponent no showed.

Tournament results from the Bluegrass Open.
Blue Belts:
Mike Baskis 1st place
Donny Wallace 1st place
Chris Biddle 2nd place
Steve Osmun 2nd place
Steve Harris 2nd place
Paul Tipton 2nd place
Brandon Kessinger 3rd place Open Category

White Belt Results:
Marie Luttrell 3rd place open weight and 3rd in here category
Landon 1st place
Caleb 3rd place
Dave Chism 2nd place
Rob Mooney 3rd place category 2nd place open weight
Adam the Igg 1st place
Big Chad 1st place
Johnson City Josh 3rd place
Jon Rigdon 1st place
shared with
Lil Brandon 1st place
Danny Boy 3rd place
Gay Scott 2nd place

Congrats to all that competed. The experience you gain from competition can not be equaled on the academy mats. The team looked good but we have a lot of work ahead. Never be to high or low. Keep focused on improvement and move forward. We have some more tournaments ahead.

I saw some great performances at the tournament. I was impressed by Gay Scott. He fought hard and attacked continuously. If he keeps up this type of game he will be very successfull. Also, Marie has sure figured out the armbar. She seems to always find the arm. Big Chad is a beast. Now we just need to smooth out that diamond a little. Jon R, Lil Brandon and Johnson City Josh closed out their category going 1-2-3. Rob Mooney looked very comfortable in the open weight division. He was able to impose his game and win several matches convincingly. Adam the Igg turned it on and looked impressive. Steve Osmun had 2 incredibly tough matches with Darren Morris. Darren has been training for more than twice as long as Steve and is also a very accomplished MMA fighter. Darren sqeaked out the victories each time but Steve looked very tough in his loses. Little Landon finished quickly. I don't think anyone expected anything less. Wendell looked much improved and very competitive. Also, Robby from BG looked good in his first outing. Mike Baskis looked dominant in his weight cagegory. Also Donny Wallace managed to score nearly 30 points and a submission on his way to winning his blue belt division. Big Brandon was not on top of his game but he still managed to win a couple of matches and get in the medals. Congrats to all, I can't wait for the next one.

From Josh:
Back from my 7th trip to Brasil. What a great trip. It was really relaxing and I was able to come back recharged and ready to go back to work....yeah right!!! Anyway, I had a wonderful experience training with a famous 7th degree black belt named "Pinduka." "Pinduka" was a pupil of the late Carlson Gracie and is actually featured on Gracie's in Action versus Marco Ruas. He is now 55 years old and has ran a successfull academy for many years. I had the opportunity to train in his academy and actually roll with him as well. What a great experience!!!! The class was very friendly and very relaxed. Most of the pupils have been there for over 15 years. To give you an idea of how the class is on last Friday, there were 13 people at class. That included 9 black belts, 1 brown belt, 2 purple belts, and 1 lowly blue belt!!!! Needless to say I learned "salto do gato" (jump of the cat). That's what the Brazilians call the small little details that make the techniques work. http://www.fernandopinduka.com/

'

Chris Biddle competed in a Judo tournament last weekend and placed 3rd in the black belt division. Congrats to him. Also James "JoJo" was our lone competitor in the EGO in Indianapolis. He placed 3rd in his division and 3rd in the absolute!!!! Congrats to these guys.

Marie went to the TN State BJJ Competition Saturday Oct, 11th in Maryville and managed to bring home 2nd place. She had the girl in a triangle for 4 minutes in the finals but was unable to finish. Nonetheless, she is staying busy on the competition scene. On side note she won by armlock again.

Also, a special recognition for Donny Wallace. He won his 3rd professional fight on Friday Oct 3rd and then competed and won his blue belt division in the Bluegrass Open the next day.
That's just awesome!!!!

My great friend and multiple World Jiu-Jitsu Champion Igor "Baixinho" Rodriques has a new website running. Check it out. http://igorrodrigues.com/ Plans are in the works for Baixinho to make an extended stay here in Elizabethtown in 2009!!!

Donny Wallace
Donny Wallace won in 1:20 of round 1 last night in Tampa Florida. He came out and landed a superman punch off the get go and never let up. He secured the takedown, transitioned to the back and won with a Rear Naked Choke. Donny is now 2-0 as a pro.

E-town Fights
Possibly the worst venue to be found. There were many problems with this show and I owe an apology to our people for dragging us into this. Nonetheless, the fights proceeded with mixed results from our team. Steve Harris won a grudge match in the first round by Choke. Chris Biddle won due to strikes. Travis Hayes had a tough fight with a 4Seasons fighter. Travis got mounted in the 2nd round and the ref was forced to stop the fight. In a huge upset Paul Tipton was defeated Philpot. Paul was seemingly fine when he turned his back to expose his neck to the choke. Paul's performance is unexplainable and we all know the type of person, teammate, and competitor he is. He will be back in the gym this week to start training again and helping others to progress as well. And for Philpot and his fan club, if you want respect from any respectable team then show up on time to the fighters meeting and make weight or at least come close. Bobby Swackhammer hung in there against a barrage of strikes and takedowns, finally securing the back and transitioning to the armlock for the win. In the rest of the action we had several friends of the fight team fighting. First off, Bobby Carter avenged his loss to Casey Shewmaker with a first round win due to strikes. Carter looked sharp. I'm sure both of these monsters will win plenty of fights. Dan Barrera won with some effective ground and pound and a rear naked choke to finish. Chad Corvin won in 30 seconds. Dan Christison dominated CJ McVey with some great striking and ground and pound. One final note. We stick together as a team no matter what. For those who place the team in high regards and are willing to cover each others back then you are honorable above all else. I'm not perfect but I think you all realize that I will go to bat for each and everyone of you no matter what.

The E-town seminar with Mauricio was by all accounts one of the greatest anyone has attended. The techniques were awesome, he explained each technique with detail and precision, and he was very attentive to everyone. Simply fantastic! It personally was an honor to have such a wonderful person, competitor and representative of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Team Brasa in our Academies.
-Josh Johnson

The Mauricio Carra class in Bowling Green was absolutely awesome!! Mauricio focused on Raspagems (sweeps from the guard) and we worked several different variations from several different positions. During the rolling he displayed his signature passing the guard and taking the back positions. As the Brazilians say Mauricio is Sangue Bom (Good Blood).

Yep, Adam The Igg finally tapped out!!!! It took nearly 3 years but he finally succumbed to the slow but steady transitions and pressure that Andrea placed on his guard. As most of us know, his guard is not so good anyway!!! In any case, congrats to the happy couple and we wish them good luck as they look to build a wonderful life together.

Wednesday night, August 27th. we hosted 25 Judoka from the Tauberbischofsheim Judo Club in Germany. They were here on a training/tourist trip and we were part of their training schedule. It was a great honor and we had a lot of fun. Also in attendance were several local Judoka from the University of Kentucky Judo club and also Brandenburg Judo Club. Thanks to Sensei Eb Kieslich for organizing and hosting the trip and bringing them to us for a great night of training.

Congrats to Mike Baskis. He submitted Robert Browning last night in a great fight. Baskis was winning the striking with some crisp kicks and punches. Browning managed to take Mike down several times. Mike successfully worked for armlocks and triangles the entire time. Finally in the 3rd he caught Browning with a straight armlock. The fight was exciting with both willing to exchange strikes and also both very skilled on the ground. At one time Browning threatened Mike's back but Mike managed to safely slide out and back to guard. These guys are known to be the best 145ers in the region and it was a much anticipated fight. And it ended up being a classic. Also, Chad Rimsek fought on short notice. He came out hard seduring a couple takedowns in the 1st round. He had good positions but was unable to capatilize. In the second round he took some hard strikes and the ref was forced to stop it. Rimsek will leave for Ft. Leonardwood Sept. 4th as he joines the military active duty. Tipton was unable to fight again due to his opponent disappearing into thin air!!! I heard Tipton was walking around flexing Swackhammer style and scared his opponent. Congrats to 4Seasons for taking home another title. It always seems we end up fighting them in big fights!!! We love to fight the best and they certainly have some of the best fighters around. Win or lose, that's how it's supposed to be.

Saturday, August 2nd the Bowling Green School conducted a 2 hour training session inside the Greenwood Mall. The event was put on by Dillards to push their Tapout and Affliction Gear. The training was a blast. Thanks to all those that attended.

Congrats to big Brandon Kessinger for placing 2nd in the Sinster Tournament Saturday in his Gi division. Also big props to our friend Nate Jolly for knocking Merritt Warren out in only 38 seconds. Merritt suffered a broken jaw in 2 places and is still hospitalized as of Sunday Night. We wish him luck in his recovery. However, many people in Western Kentucky, specifically Owensboro and Evansville, have been bad mouthing Nate Jolly for some time now. It was refreshing to see him win easily over one of the top fighters from Hook n Shoot.

Warrior Fighting Challenge Shepardsville We went 5-1 for the night. Mike Cayo opened the night with his 6th win with a heel hook in 29 seconds over a 4 Seasons purple belt. Cayo landed some effective punches and kicks before the ending leg lock. Matt Martin won his second fight with a rear naked choke in round 1. Matt landed some hard shots, great takedowns and executed great control in every position. Mike Baskis dismantled Jeremy Pender with kicks and punches. Then Pender tried to clinch Baskis but Baskis was able to sink in the guillotine for his 7th straight submission win in route to upping his record to 8-0. Corvin made short work of Brandon Shepard with some ground and pound. Casey Shewmaker dominated Bobby Carter and contrary to protests by the Team Animal contingent Shewmaker did not throw nor land illegal shots to the back of the head. Shewmaker takes home the belt. Little Brandon D. from Bowling Green fought hard. Unfortunately, his opponent was able to land effective strikes throughout the match. In round 3, despite Brandon's willingness to go forward, the corner threw in the towel.

Saturday night in Iron Warrior Cage Fighting, located in Muncie, Indiana, Jon Rigdon fought for the featherweight title. Jon spent much of round 1 effectively defending the guillotine choke. After releasing his Head Jon transitioned to the back and slide into the armlock to win the title near the end of round 1. Congrats to Jon.

6-1 on the weekend and 2 more titles. Congrats to everyone for the great fights.

We are back in the store front at 605 East Dixie. The renovations are fantastic. The building interior looks great. All classes are up and running as normal. We have the regular Monday, Wednesday Saturday, and Sunday classes as well as the morning classes from 9-11am on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Get in the gym and train.

Josh

Scott Porter is famous

Taken from the WNKY Bowling Green News

http://www.wnky.net/younews/19890644.html

Matt Morgan Afghanistan Report (Matt Morgan is one of our old School purple belts)

Just a non-combat update. My Jiu Jitsu team here is doing great. We are getting some great practices in. As a huge bonus Dana White sent four UFC fighters our way, Michael Bisping, Carlos Conduit, Urijah Faber, and B.J. Penn. They came and rolled with us for awhile, Michael Bisping (undefeated in the UFC) called me out, so I put an old school US Army beat down on the British Fighter (yes hes wearing a royal marines shirt). Great Times!

Professor Luiz Palhares has a web page that lists all the association students names.

Just click on the belt color and the list comes up.
http://www.luizpalharesjiujitsu.com/students/studentlist.asp

Also, check out the crossfit.com site for more details on crossfit and also check out the WOD or work out of the day.
http://www.crossfit.com

Congrats to Instructor Josh Johnson for becoming a Level I Instructor/Trainer of Crossfit concepts. Crossfit is a revolutionary fitness and conditioning movement that has gained great popularity among all forms of combat athletes from Jiu-Jitsu to Judo to MMA!!! Additionally, first responders such as firefighters, enforcement officers and military personal are big proponents of this movement. Josh attending the certification in Jacksonville, Florida on June 7th and 8th.

Congrats to Dirty Dave Gray and Tyler Lasley for stepping up the week of the AFL Caged Inferno in Lawrenceburg Saturday night!!! Both took fights on short notice to help out the show. Dirty Dave quickly took his opponent down, passed, mounted and secured the mounted triangle for the win. Tyler slammed his opponent immediately and both scrambled it what appeared to be a tornado of movement. After making their way back to the feet Tyler was unable to continue due to rib injury. On a side note, both of these warriors are only 18 years of age!!!

Here is part of the gauntlet from the belt promotions last Saturday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMqrhsQfBDk

We just conducted our biannual belt promotions. These are the first major belt promotions since we moved into our store front location Feb. of 2007. We graduated 7 kids to white/yellow belt and we graduated 5 kids to yellow belt. In addition, we graduated 17 new blue belts!!!!! And 2 new purple belts!!!

Here's the breakdown:

Kids white/yellow:
Tanner, Logan, Jonathan, Heath, Josh, Bryant, Ferdinand

Kids yellow:
Caitlin, Kesleigh, Mason, Caleb, Landon

These adults as a group have won 39 MMA fights and contributed to winning the 2007 Bluegrass BJJ Open.

Blue Belts:
Trinity Holbert, Anthony Miller, Chris Biddle, Chris Kent, Paul Tipton, Cody Gibbons, Steve Osmun
Bobby Swackhammer, Mark Ignacio, Steve Harris, Mike Cayo, Aaron Grace NGSF, Mike Clarke NGSF,
Joe Hall NGSF, Adam Ghetto NGSF, Mike Baskis, Ricky Porter

Purple Belts:
"Dirty" Dave Gray
Joe "Tenderfoot" Dibble

Congrats to all. Keep training and getting better.

E-town Location Undergoes Renovation

The E-town store front location at 605 East Dixie is in the middle of renovation that will include a complete new roof, new siding, new sign in the front, a storage room, 2 dressing rooms, complete remodeling inside, heat and air units, and possibly a shower. Therefore, all classes have been moved to G.C. Burkhead Elementary School and will run there until further notification. The schedule will remain the same. Sorry for the inconvenience but it is a positive step in our goal of running a top notch and professional training facility that rivals any in the United States.

G C Burkhead 521 Charlemagne Blvd. E-town, KY 42701 If you have any questions call Josh at 270 234-3961

Mike Baskis and Bobby "Jackhammer" Swackhammer win championships.
Mike Baskis improved his record to 6-0 with his 5th straight submission victory. He armlocked former champion Aaron Walker in the 3rd round of their contest to take home the 145lb. belt. Baskis has another title fight scheduled for the Southern Fight League in May and later in June he will fight for the AFL title.
The "Jackhammer" only needed 1 round to catch his opponent with a mounted americana for the vacant (left vacant by our own Adam Arebalo) 135lb. title. With that win Swack ups his record to 5-0.

We have a new Affiliate in Hazard Kentucky. Jon Helton runs the Hazard Martial Arts Club and will now be working with us in developing Brazilian style Jiu-Jitsu in Eastern Kentucky. Check out their website. http://www.hazardmartialarts.com/about.html

We went 11-1 for the night.

We won 3 more titles
We have moved our record to 122-27 overall and 32-3 for 2008

Ricky Porter won with an armlock in the 1st
John Ballard won with armlock in the 1st
Mike Baskis became the 145lb champ with an armlock in the 3rd
Steve Harris won with armlock in the 2nd
Chris "Brandenburg" Biddle won with armlock in 2nd
Bobby Swackhammer won the 135lb.
title with an americana in the 1st
Donny Wallace won with a kimura in the 1st
Matt "Gracie" Ragan won by TKO from the mount in the 1st
Mike Cayo won by TKO from the mount in the 1st
Casey Shoemaker won by KO from side control
Chad "Globbersauras" Corvin won Heavy Weight Championship by KO in the 1st
Cody Gibbons lost by headlock choke. No shame. He is one of our best fighters and will come back very strong.

Great Showing. We tried to find some of the toughest competition we could. We fought some of Oxendine's guys. But we had a great showing. Thanks to all the fans and I hope to see you all again May 16th.

"We took a team to the Bluegrass BJJ Open in Louisville, Ky yesterday. We had mixed results (you know I'm never happy). It's not about winning or losing it's about executing your game as close to perfect as possible. We have a lot of basic work to do in the upcoming months. So put the rubber guard, body triangle, and spinning chokes away and let's get back to the stuff that works. Posture, posture, and then some more posture, hip movement, base. Executing the basic passes and sweeps correctly.

Here are some of the results:

Brandon Kessinger won his blue belt division and the open weight as well. Best I remeber he went 7-0 for the day.

Matt "Gracie" Ragan won his blue belt division with 3 quick submission wins. he won with a cross choke, a triangle, and a knee bar

David Chism finished second in his division. He had a couple tough matches that were really close.

Mike Cayo finished 3rd in his division. He looked awesome at times but unfortunately gave away some early points in 2 of the matches and was unable to overcome the difference.

Big Steve Harris came in 2nd in his division and 3rd in the open. Steve looked really good. I think he had 10 matches for the day!!!

Trinity took on a monster in the open weight (the eventual winner) and almost finished twice and almost picked him up for the double leg once.

Sean Westcott will be on highlight footage everwhere. Some kid from Southern Indiana pulled off a flying armlock on him!!! It was a beautifull move. Sean did manage to knee bar a guy in the open weight before being defeated by the eventual runner-up.

Ashcon looked tough in his matches. He pulled out some tough wins and looked good in his first competition.

AJ fought tough and and did some good things. AJ will continue to work hard in practice and improve.

Landon had a really close match with a kid from the CORE.

They both traded submission attempts but the CORE kid was able to sweep Landon"

Not our best performance by far. We WILL improve.

We divided forces Saturday night and fought in 2 different shows in 2 different towns. In Madisonville Ultimate Cage Championships, Adam the Igg knocked his opponent out in the 2nd round to up his record to 7-0. In the main event Matt "Gracie" Ragan made short work of home town boy Kwinn Davis with an armlock about 30 seconds in. Ragan is now the UCC champion at 145lbs. In Walton, KY Hardrock Higdon won with sweet double leg to back mount to rear choke. "Irish" Rob Mooney won his 10th fight via head and arm choke in less than a minute. Congrats to these warriors!!! We are now 26-0 for the year and 107-24 overall.

We are loaded with 45ers!!!! Baskis won in AFL and is now the number 1 ranked 145er in the AFL. He also has a big WFC title fight April 19th in E-town.
Matt "Gracie" Ragan is living up to his name and is now the UCC 145 champ.
Adam the Igg is now 7-0!!!!!
Paul Tipton fights for the Ring of Rage title on April 5th.
All these guys are undefeated and hungry for some heads to rock!!!
We are 17-0 at 145 lbs.

E-town BeatDown results from AFL (americanfightleague.com)

The show was top notch. Many UFC vets. 4 Brazilians on the card. 7 pro fights. We had 2 fighters in this event. Mike Baskis and Dan Christison. Mike Baskis defeated Ryan Jones of 4 Seasons in 2:10 of the 1st round by gullotine choke. Mike roughed him up pretty good in the stand-up and floored him about 30 seconds into the first round. Mike forced Ryan to stand back up and Mike continued to punish him with more striking. Finally, Ryan secured the clinch and took Mike down. Mike secured the grip around the neck established the guard and finished the fight!!!! Ryan Jones was the number 1 ranked AFL 145er and a purple belt in BJJ. This is a big win for Baskis!!!!

Dan "Sandman" Christison won via TKO in the 2nd round over a very game John Leblanc of Tennessee. Dan took the opportunity to work on his striking during the 1st round. Dan used a some nice straight punching to the head and body coupled with some great front and round kicks to the legs and midsection to wear out his opponent. In the second round Dan wasted no time taking the fight to the ground where he ended it quickly with dominate positioning and some brutal ground and pound. Congrats to all 4 of these warriors!!!! Ryan and John were very game competitors. Undoutedly they will be back better than ever.

Haystan Submission Grappling Tournament went down Saturday the 16th. We took 7 guys over there and kicked butt!!! The level of the tournament was very high with nearly 200 competitors. They have a unique hybrid set of rules that don't favor any particular style. And all submissions are legal including head cranks and leg locks. 6 of our 7 finished in 2nd place.

Dirty Dave beat BJJ black belt Josh Cates 2-1. Dave was working the gogo platta and settled for the omo platta sweep and took Cates back!!!!

Joe Baize was beaten in his first match with a sudden death takedown in the overtime round by a Jacare brown belt who has won several Haystan tournament absolutes. The match was incredible to watch as the brown belt escaped at least 8 leg lock attempts. Several of which were very very tight. Joe then went on to beat Darren Durham, Carlson Gracie brown belt in less than a minute by knee bar, Jason Jones a 4 seasons purple belt in 4 seconds by knee bar and then a Josh Cates purple belt by heel hook in less than 30 seconds.

Brandon Kessinger displayed the most heart and smarts in his 2nd place win. He used superior takedowns and guard passing throughout the day. He became so exhausted that he reverted to playing a strategic game based on scoring last second points for the win. It worked perfectly. In the finals he just was too exhausted after being forced to fight in 3 straight matches.

Sean Westcott looked very good in his matches. He landed a sweet knee bar, secured a mata leao choke from the back and had a tremendous finale match with a purple belt from Josh Cates only losing 2-1 on points.

Steve Harris came out a little slow and lost his opening match before securing a couple submissions to earn the 2nd place finish.

Little Landon who just moved into the adult classes looked great. He was very aggressive and landed several submissions including an armlock, triangle choke, and rear naked choke. He was simply bested by a better kid in the finals.

David Chism also competed in his first tournament. He had a really competitive first match in which he dominated most of the ground action. In his second match he was caught with an armlock.

Overall the tournament featured some great mat skills. Honestly, I thought some of our matches were the most entertaining of the day and our guys looked extremely technical. Congrats guys!!!

I have recently overheard some ridiculous conversations on physical fitness/conditioning. We currently are not holding separate classes for conditioning but I just want to remind everyone that I do have a Masters of Science in Exercise Sport Science. If anyone has any questions I will be glad to answer them. I am also a big believer in Crossfit training. Check out crossfit.com for more details and ideas on that. Our Bowling Green School is located inside a Crossfit gym now. Here are some things to remember when conditioning for combat sports or fitness in general.

Training Principles:
Overload- Manipulate frequency, intensity and focus on mode of exercise to induce great responses to training
Specificity- Type and mode of exercise should mimic or copy that of performance needs. For example, a typical MMA round last 3-5 minutes. Therefore, you should not exercise for a duration longer than your typical round because you may be using a different energy system and not receiving benefits from it. Combat sport athletes should be lifting odd shape objects while under metabolic/cardiovascular stress. In other words, you should be lifting while your heart rate is very high and your ventilation (breathing) has increased.
Individual Difference Principle- Beginning fitness level/ strengths and weaknesses/needs factor into and should shape your training.
Reversability Principle- Studies show in only 1-2 weeks detraining reduces both metabolic and exercise capacity, with many training adaptations lost within several months. In other words, use it or lose it.

Things I do not advocate:
bench press
biceps curles
Triceps extensions
or any other bodybuilding isolation exercises
Running over 3 minutes or trying to be explosive for more than 2-3 minutes

Things I do advocate: Kettlebells
Bag Swinging
Sandbag lifting
Olympic lifts
Squats and Deadlifts
Jump Rope
Dot Drill
Balance Ball Drills
Bosu Training
Plyometric Box Jumps
Rope Climbing
Gymnastics
Dips/Pull-ups on Rings
Medicine Ball Drilling
Rowing Machine
Agility Ladder

Fortunately, we have many of these items in the gym in E-town and Bowling Green has the entire Crossfit program. I will be glad to show you ways to use this equipment and give you some training ideas.

Some Workout ideas borrowed from Crossfit include.
Combining 2-3 exercises together and completing as many as possible 3 times in a row without stopping. Or "Fight Gone Bad" includes a new exercise every minute for a round (MMA round) with a minute break repeated 3-5 times. There are an unlimited number of possibilities on www.crossfit.com check it out.

We reached 100 wins!!!!

Campbellsville
7-0 for the night
21-0 for the year
102-24 Overall Team Record

Congrats to the Campbellsville winners
Mike Cayo, Mike Baskis, Chris Kent, Chris Biddle, Joe Dibble, Trinity Holbert, and Steve Osmun

I recently overheard a big and semi successfull MMA instructor from Louisville stating that Jiu-Jitsu doesn't win MMA fights. Many people want to place blame elsewhere for their lack of skill, lack of knowledge, and lack of discipline to train properly. As Luiz says, Jiu-Jitsu is MMA. Train hard, prepare youself, examine your game, and continue to improve your positions. Jiu-Jitsu doesn't lose fights, when executed properly it is flawless. Don't be satisfied with your level or your game. Continue to improve and tighten your positions. We will continue to train properly and win fights. Hold on tight, 2008 is going to be one heck of a ride.
-Josh Johnson

Sensei Eb Kieslich (6th degree) has graduated his first two Shodans (black belts). Zach Smith and Matt Kitterman have both trained for nearly a decade and were well deserving of the promotions. Congratulations to those guys and Sensei!!!!

Cody Gibbons won his second MMA fight with a 3 round decision over 4 Seasons' Mike Jacobs. Cody showed great cage control and dominated with takedowns and punch flurries to win a unanimous decision. As a team we are now 13-0 for 2008. Check out the fight on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5vp83ggaRY

Luiz seminar was good! 1-13-07
Luiz showed us some great positions as usual. Thanks to those who supported the seminar. It was cool to have Soneca and Caser, Luiz's son there as well.

Joe Baize is purple after his fight!!!

But it's not bruising. Baize is wearing the purple belt now. All the upper belts can take a deep breathe now and relax. hahahahaha After discussing it with Luiz we decided that Joe has earned the faixa roxa!!! He ran like a little girl through the gauntlet!!!

It was another E-town BeatDown:

12-0 on the night.

Heck of a show guys.
1 Mike Baskis by 1st round armlock in :41 seconds
2 Dirty Dave Gray won in the second round at 1:53 with a rear naked choke
3 Matt Ragan won at :59 seconds of round 2 with a triangle
4 Ricky Porter won in the second round :54 seconds with an armlock.
5 Cody Gibbons won in the 1st round by ground and pound
6 Joe Baize 1st round :33 seconds hell hook BABY!!!!!
7 Caser Palhares 1st round victory in :31 seconds with a rear naked choke.
8 Aaron Pile won 2nd round armlock at the :46 second mark.
9 Scott Porter won 1st round kimura in :57 seconds
10 Bobby Swackhammer won in 1:15 of round 1 by strikes to the stomach
11 Jared Wright won in round 1 americana in 1:05
12 Chad Corvin won in 2:10 of round 1 with mounted strikes

Nice Guys:
Bryan Bennett won in 1:33 of round 2 with a rear naked choke
Venessa Bohleber :37 seconds of round 1 mounted strikes
Joe Baize (read above)
Jared Wright (read above)

Saturday Jan. 6th Sensei Sensei Eberhard Kieslich (6th degree Judoka) from Brandenburg via Germany conducted belt testing in our academy!!! Zach Smith, Matt Kitterman and tested for their black belts while Shawn also from Brandenburg tested for his 3rd grade brown belt (3 browns before black). Also, our very own John Ballard (who has trained with Sensei regularly) earned his yellow belt. The test was exciting and very long, nearly 2 1/2 hours long. Here are some pics of the Nage No Kata.

Don't forget we have an army of guys doing battle on Jan. 12th at the E-town Armory. Get your tickets from the school to help out financially.

In addition, we have several friends from Nice Guy Submission Fighting gloving it up.

Joe Baize
Aaron Grace
Bryan Bennett
Venessa B. "Warrior Wear"