Royce Gracie Seminar at USBA!

November 15, 2007

Royce Gracie seminar at USBA Last night, USBA was pleased to host a seminar taught by Royce Gracie. Of course, the event was a sellout!

Master Gracie taught the students a variety of techniques including takedowns from the standing position, defenses from the guard position, and attacks from the guard as well, including triangle choke and kimura. We’re all looking forward to future visits by Master Gracie!

Written by Rachel Kravitz, USBA Black Belt · Filed Under School News | Leave a Comment

Black Belt Testing & More

November 15, 2007

The recent Black Belt Testing was the toughest so far…10 hours of physical and mental focus…Friday night got kicked off with an explanation as to why everyone wanted to become a BB…and the content was quite emotional…everyone seemed to have their own reason for achieving BB. It was interesting to watch the juniors listen to the adults…they were very mesmerized…Saturday started with a 1.5 mile run, followed by an hour of sparring, an hour of GJJ sparring, followed by a performance of self-defense skills…All Muay Thai and Basic combinations were reviewed…add a few hundred pushups sprinkled here and there…wow…what a show of perseverance and indomitable spirit…it was inspirational!

Royce’s seminar last night took a “Street Self-Defense” Theme…that is the original function of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, as Grandmaster Helio Gracie developed this system as a self defense art…it was interesting to see how close the variations are from self-defense to sport jiu-jitsu…Royce’s ability to show his art with such fluidity and calmness speaks of his confidence level in his art. Congrats to all the new Blue Belts…Great Job! Students all looked very focused and on their “A” game last night…great job guys…

Master Kravitz

Written by Ivan Kravitz · Filed Under Kravitz' Corner | Leave a Comment

An Interesting Documentary on the Gracie Family

November 9, 2007

As you know, Master Kravitz has enjoyed a long friendship with Royce Gracie, and has been a student of Royce for eleven (11) years. The BJJ program at USBA is relatively new and growing. I found an interesting documentary on YouTube, and thought I might share it with my fellow students.