This student is a truly remarkable person who has impressed us all.  His commitment, passion and drive to reach his goals is second to none.  Jessen is a true Martial Artist in spirit as well as in experience.  He came to our team as a Krav Maga Instructor 1st Degree Black Belt, a 4th Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, a Brown Belt in Japanese DanZan Ryu Jujitsu and an Instructor level in Kali Illustrismo System,  motivated to begin his journey on the path to earning another Black Belt in yet another martial art, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.   We are so truly blessed to have him on our team and in our family.  Jessen is a perfect example of a person living by the philosophy of the Crispim BJJ Barra Brothers Academy, which is always trying to achieve the next level, not just in Martial Arts knowledge, but also in becoming a Black Belt in every day life.  This includes living every day with a great attitude, lots of devotion in everything you do, focus and a lot drive to become a better person for yourself and for everyone around you! Congratulations to you Jessen on your achievement.  You are an awesome example for all of us.  The whole Crispim BJJ Barra Brothers Team is here to support you however you may need in reaching your goal.

December 30, 2011

How Jiu-Jitsu Saved My Life

Yes, unfortunately that is a picture of me on the right weighing 320 pounds with a 56” waist at a wedding last September 2011 trying to hide my pain with a fake smile. I have been training a little over a year and half at Crispim BJJ Academy and I am extremely appreciative of the knowledge, enthusiasm and support their instructors have given me towards reclaiming my life. Initially, I started Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training to improve my health and renew my passion for the martial arts. After a 9 month layoff from the academy due to a rib injury, I resumed my training with Crispim BJJ Academy in the beginning of October 2011. This time weighing 315 pounds with a number of old injuries and the bad habit of making excuses for my extreme weight gain. Finally, I decided it was time to swallow my pride and become proactive about my health.

Since then I have been training 4-5 times a week along with my CrossFit workouts and fasting with fresh fruit and vegetable juices without the consumption of solid foods. Although, my training regiment may have been extreme, I believe it was necessary to avoid major health issues such as sleep apnea, high blood pressure, and diabetes that were inevitable with my previous lifestyle. So far it has been unbelievable to witness the weight loss, the increase of energy and the self-confidence that Crispim BJJ Academy has give me. Currently, I weigh 222 pounds with a 38” waist and a new outlook on life. In January 2012 I plan to break the 200 pound mark and ultimately reach my goal of 170 pounds with the help of Crispim BJJ Academy.

I would like to thank Alexander and Michele Crispim for creating a wonderful facility with a family atmosphere to help me achieve my goals. Two people who were instrumental in the effectiveness of my BJJ workouts are Professors Alexander Crispim and Danny Elias. Being overweight and plagued with injuries, both Professor Crispim and Professor Danny developed creative modifications to BJJ exercises which allowed me to heal, lose weight and build my confidence with each workout. In addition to their knowledge of BJJ along with their overwhelming energy and charisma, they somehow make the toughest workouts awkwardly enjoyable. The Crispim BJJ Academy is the perfect place to improve your life and health through challenging workouts and great people. Are you skeptical about the healing powers of Jiu Jitsu combined with daily exercise and proper nutrition? If so, I have included a current picture of myself on the left wearing the same slacks from the wedding picture above as proof that it does.

Thank You Crispim BJJ Academy,

Jessen San Luis

Team: Please email us at info@CrispimBJJ.com with your success stories and/or impact that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has had in your life.  Thank you.

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We would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a wonderful holiday season and a bright start to 2012.

As we look back on 2011, the beginning of our third year operating as Crispim BJJ Barra Brothers, we have so much to be thankful for.  The academy and team have grown so much and improved in many different ways.  Not only has the mere size of the team tripled, but we have seen and experienced so many success stories with our team members.

* Some have lost weight and become more healthy (in some cases, upwards of 100 pounds training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu)

* Some have overcome physical limitations

* Some have taken their power back and stopped being bullied

* Some have increased their self confidence and learned to appreciate themselves more

* Some have been in situations where they have successfully defended themselves

* Some have pushed their bodies and minds to the limit in their training for MMA fights and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitions

* Some have started their journey to becoming a Black Belt

* Some have accomplished their dream of becoming a Black Belt

* Some have challenged themselves to commit to something that helps improve their lifestyle, their bodies and their minds

But one thing that all of us have in common is that we have made new friends, and this year was a year where those bonds were strengthened between friends, family and team mates.  Every single one of you brings something different to our team and for this, we are truly blessed and appreciate the opportunity to get to know each and every one of you.  This goes out to, not only our team members, but to their parents, grandparents, spouses, children, friends and everyone who supports you daily to help you reach whatever goals you have set for yourself.  2012 is going to be a phenomenal year for our team and academy.  And none of this would be possible without every one of you!! Happy Holidays and here is to a great New Year filled with good health, happiness, love, success and great training!!  Thank You.

A FEW REMINDERS !!!!

*  The new schedule was included in the newsletter.  It will be posted on the website on January 2nd.

* Women’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Self Defense class begins on Saturday, January 14th at 9am.   For additional info on this class, please contact us.

* Belt Promotion is on Saturday, January 7th at Crispim BJJ in Pleasanton.  The Kids Promotion will begin at 10am.  The team picture (for the whole team, not just Jiu-Jitsu) will be at noon.  Please arrive at 11:45.  The Adult Promotion will begin immediately following the Team Picture.

* The academy in Pleasanton will be closed on Saturday, December 31st and Sunday, January 1st in observance of New Years.

* GET FIT Challenge begins on January 9th.  Please email or talk to us if you are interested in participating.  It is an 8 week challenge that will focus on losing weight, body fat and getting in better shape.   Jeremiah and Daniel will be working with all participants.  Please contact us for additional info.

* Looking to increase your training in 2012?  Remember, our instructors are available for small group privates and private instruction in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, Muay Thai, MMA, physical conditioning and Filipino Martial Arts.

* Please email the following to us:

*  By 1/5/12- please email us any Important Achievement that you or one of your team members had in 2011 (i.e.  examples include (but not limited to) weight loss, health improvement, overcoming physical limitation, how jiu-jitsu helped with ADHD or ADD, self defense or anti-bullying, etc..)

* By 1/5/12- please email us your Training Tips for a New White Belt!!  We welcome ANY suggestion.

* January Special- Refer a friend to Crispim BJJ Barra Brothers during the month of January and if they sign up, you will receive $30 in Crispim BJJ Bucks to be used towards any Crispim BJJ merchandise or equipment.

* We still have a few Gis left in Black and in Blue for adults.  If you would like to purchase one, please see us as soon as possible.

Here is a photo gallery of some of the highlights of 2011 at Crispim BJJ in Pleasanton.  If you have some additional pictures, we’d love to add them.  Please email them to us at Info@CrispimBJJ.com.

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This should be it for now.  Again, thank you for being part of the Crispim BJJ Barra Brothers Team and Happy Holidays.

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Last night, our team headed out to Oakland to support 4 of our team members who would be fighting in the Bay Brawlers  MMA event.   We left the event with all 4 victories and 2 belts.

First up from our team was Ernad Rosic.  This was his second amateur fight and he earned an unanimous decision against Marc Talledo of Unlimited MMA in Miltpitas. Ernad displayed excellent jiu jitsu and almost finished the fight several times with a rear naked choke and an armbar!

Next,  Jeremiah Labiano (also our MMA fighting fitness instructor) fought Diego Cuenca out of FTCC in San Francisco.  Jeremiah earned an unanimous decision against Cuenca. Jeremiah showed a lot skills in a hard fight where he was able to combine all of the aspects of MMA, like good takedown defense and explosive stand up .  Jeremiah is now moving into the professional arena and will be making his Pro Debut at the Pleasanton Fairgrounds on December 10th at Impact Fights Recognition.  (Tickets are already available at the academy in Pleasanton.)

The final two fights for our team were Jared and Jordan Porter (“The Porter Twins”).  Both of these battles were for their respective belts.  First was Jared Porter.  Jared was originally supposed to be fighting for the 135 pound belt, but after multiple fighters backed out of this fight against Jared for a variety of reasons, he found out that his newest opponent was in a heavier weight class and they agreed to fight at 145 pounds.  Jared was up to the challenge and fought Cameron Daniels out of Gracie Fighter/Team Black.  Jared takes the unanimous decision and earns the belt giving an awesome show for the fans with his extreme speed in his stand up and  real crisp wrestling and jiu jitsu.

Jordan Porter was the last fight of the evening and he fought Joshua Berkovic out of El Nino Training Center/Fairtex San Francisco.   Jordan earns the 155 pound belt by unanimous decision in an exciting back and forth battle where Jordan showed not just his fighting skills but his heart!

All four of the Team Crispim BJJ Barra Brothers fighters had exciting fights and we are so impressed and proud of their performances.

Thank you to all of the team out of Pleasanton who were great training partners for our fighters and also to all of you who came and supported these guys at their fights.  And thank you to the incredible coaches we have at Crispim BJJ in Pleasanton for training these fighters daily and helping them to achieve their dreams,  Allan Maravilla, Joshua McDonald, and Daniel Elias.

Our next events will be the World’s No Gi, Charles Gracie Tournament and Jeremiah’s Pro Debut in Pleasanton.  Good luck to all of our teammates who are competing in these events.

For those of you who couldn’t be present last night, here is a link that has some great pictures and a play by play of the action- click HERE!

Also, here are a few links of interviews done by the Porter Twins.

Click Here, then Here and finally Here.

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The Crispim BJJ Barra Brothers Team and UFC-Gym Team had a very successful weekend at the US Open Jiu-Jitsu Tournament in San Jose (Bay Area).

First, we would like to congratulate every one of our team’s competitors who signed up, trained hard and stepped on the mat at the tournament.  We are proud of all of you for doing what you do and representing our team with skill, dignity, respect, true sportsmanship and dedication to your martial art, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Second, Alexander Crispim and the team would like to thank the Crispim BJJ Barra Brothers’ coaches who are largely responsible for the many victories we had this weekend.  Our coaches teach at our gym in Pleasanton and at the UFC-Gym in Concord.  Thank you to Daniel Elias, Erico Monteiro, AJ Ting and Bryant “The Rock” Pangelinan.  Without your skill, patience, experience and passion, our teams would not continue to grow and create champions.

Before we list the final results, we would also like to thank all of our team members at both gyms in Pleasanton and Concord (east bay area) for coming to the tournament and supporting the Crispim BJJ Barra Brothers and UFC-Gym teams.  And thank you for being such incredible training partners for these competitors.

Clearly, our victories and our strength as a team is growing because of all members of our team and we thank all of you.

So… here are the Crispim BJJ and UFC-Gym results for the US Open XVI in their respective divisions:

1st Place:

Brooke Goldsworthy

Chelsea Burgo

Alberto Ruiz

Hayden O’Shea

Antone Nardi

Mike Turbes

Phillip Lobsinger

2nd Place:

Dakota Johnson

Rafael Garcia

Mike Turbes- Open Division

AJ Ting

Phil Rogacki

3rd Place:

Jeremiah Labiano

Brooke Goldsworthy- Open Division

The Barra Brothers Team was also awarded 2nd Place for Female Overall Team!!

Again, congratulations to all and keep training hard!!! And enjoy the pictures!

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The crime-statistics indicate that in the next hour, somewhere in the United States, the following will happen:

* 900 Thefts

* 189 Violent Crimes

* 124 Assaults

* 66 Robberies

* 24 Sexual Assaults

* 12 Rapes

* 2 Murders

Do you have the necessary knowledge and skill set to protect yourself against one of these crimes and not be counted in the next crime-statistics? Do you know what to do if confronted by an attacker? Do you have a game plan to deal with violent crime?

In this ever changing violent world, it is becoming more and more important to learn skills that will reduce your chance of becoming a victim.  Crispim BJJ will be offering Three Different Series to help teach you to protect yourself by showing you and working with you on ways to defend yourself in real life dangerous situations.  The first of the three series is Level 1.  Level 1 will focus on hand to hand combat situations and how to protect yourself and get away from an attacker.

The Level 1 Self Defense for Women Series will begin on Sunday, October 30 from 1:00-3:00pm.  It will run for 6 Sundays, ending on Sunday, December 4th.  Classes are open to all girls and women Ages 14 and up.  No experience is necessary and wear comfortable clothing.  Space is limited and the cost is $199 for the series.  Please pass this information on to your daughters, mothers, wives, girlfriends and female friends.

If you have additional questions or would like to sign up, please call 925-468-0330 or email us at Info@CrispimBJJ.com.

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The other big factor for people choosing to join our gym is because of all of you, our team!  The family environment and sense of community was absolutely noticeable yesterday (as it is everyday) as so many of our team members showed up, helped with the party and welcomed all of the new students and members into the gym.   We so often hear about people walking into a gym/academy and feeling intimidated or uncomfortable, but the Crispim BJJ Team is full of such amazing people that this has never been an issue for us.  In fact, you are all a big part of the reason why we constantly have so many people choosing to train with us at our gym in Pleasanton (east bay area).

A note for all of the people who contacted us about the preview party and who were unable to attend yesterday, here is a short list of why you may choose to train with us.

* Incredible Instruction and Family/Team Environment

* Largest mat area in the area

* 7 Days per week Training (We were the first gym locally to offer Sunday BJJ training classes and the first to offer early morning BJJ classes)- We did this to provide to all of you an extremely flexible schedule so that even the busiest person can still find time to train.

* Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes 2-3 times per day during the week. (Early morning 6:15am, lunch time and evening)

* MMA Cage and Fight Team (for those interested in training to fight)

* Clean and safe environment

* Showers and a Dressing Room

* Over 70 Classes Per Week to Choose From!!! Full Schedule including Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (adults and kids), Wrestling (adults and kids), Muay Thai, MMA (mixed martial arts)(adults and kids), Iron Core Fitness, Fight Shape, MMA G&P and sparring.

Please contact us at info@CrispimBJJ.com if you would like to set up a Free one-on-one Intro Class to sample all of our programs.

In closing, again we would like to thank our instructors and team for all of the support you give the academy every single day.  We would not be here if it wasn’t for all of you and we truly appreciate all of you choosing to train at Crispim BJJ Barra Brothers!!

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First, Congratulations to Alexander Crispim in his Submission Win this past weekend.  Crispim fought MMA for Shark Fights 18 in Sparks, Nevada against Randy Spence of the Cesar Gracie Team and submitted him with a Darce Choke in the first minute of the third round.  The fight was exciting with Alexander Crispim connecting on many shots to Spence’s head and body, multiple takedowns and submission attempts and lots of kicks including one great kick to Spence’s face.   All of Spence’s previous 11 wins had come by way of submission so this is a very solid victory for Crispim.  Alexander Crispim’s MMA record is now 7-2 and is on a 4 fight win streak.

Second, Congratulations to Jeremiah Labiano who fought MMA for the Dragon House event at the Kezar in San Francisco.  Jeremiah’s fight was exciting and he won by Unanimous Decision.

MMAKO-News states:  “Fight of the night awards goes to Crispim BJJ Barra Brother’s (Pleasanton) Jeremiah Labiano and Dragon House’s own Ladale Noa. Labiano threw everything at Noa including acrobatic spinning roundhouse kicks and every submission imaginable. Noa showing true warrior spirit withstood the onslaught and retaliated with his own barrage of strikes and delivered a bit of ground and pound. Ultimately the unanimous decision went to Labiano.

Finally, thank you those team members who traveled from Pleasanton all the way up to Reno on Friday night and then drove straight from Reno to San Francisco on Saturday to support our fighters.  Having everyone there gave both Alexander Crispim and Jeremiah Labiano an incredible support and energy.  And thank you to the team for all of your support during their training camps and all of the thoughts and encouragement that you gave to the fighters.  And last, but certainly not least, thank you to the coaches, Allan Maravilla (Muay Thai and stand up), Josh McDonald (wrestling), Kurt Osiander (BJJ- Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu), Rob Gibson (strength and conditioning), Daniel Elias (EVERYTHING!) and Michael Bruno of Fairtex.   Next fight for our team will be Joe “9 Lives” Neal as he enters the cage in Richmond (East Bay Area) on September 10th to defend his belt.  We have many more fights scheduled this year for our team and we’ll keep everyone posted on the next dates.  Thanks again for all of your support.

Results and more pictures of Shark Fights 18, please click here.

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We have some really exciting new classes that will be starting including Fight Shape and MMA G&P (Ground & Pound).  These classes will provide instruction in Boxing, Muay Thai, MMA, and will be great cardio workouts.  In addition, we will be offering, as part of our Kids MMA program, Wrestling in the Cage for Kids.  The wrestling classes will begin the week of August 15th and will be taught by Josh McDonald.  Crispim BJJ in Pleasanton will also be offering EARLY MORNING Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Iron Core Fitness classes three times per week.  Not only were we the first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy in the area to offer Sunday BJJ classes, but we are now also the first  to offer 6:15 am jiu-jitsu classes.  Our new schedule is very comprehensive and should provide ample training times for people with the most busiest of  schedules.  We will be posting class descriptions for all of our new classes within the next few days.  We invite the team to come try out these classes.

For everyone who is looking for an academy to train at in the East Bay Area (Pleasanton), we invite you to contact us at info@CrispimBJJ.com or 925-468-0330 to set up a Free Intro Class and to check out what Crispim BJJ Barra Brothers has to offer.

Download the class calendar: Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

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Click here to read the article Raiders Fullback has ‘Better Dayz’ in Martial Arts.

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