Balance Grappling Tournament

Team Balance Pittsburgh is hosting a tournament on Sunday, May 24, 2009 at the South Hills Judo Club:

2620 Brownsville Road

Pittsburgh, PA 15227

It will be a no-gi tournament using the US Grappling rules, skill levels, and weight classes. We may expand or consolidate divisions depending on the number of competitors. Competitor check-in and weigh-ins are at 10:00 AM. Competition starts at 11:00 AM.

Although it is in-house, anyone is welcome to compete! All Competitors must use this form to register for the tournament by Saturday, May 23, 2009:

Registration Form

This way, we can get the brackets created faster and keep the competition moving quickly. Competitors can weigh in at a different weight than the day of... We'll put them into the correct division. The cost is only $25. Pay at the door.

GZFS Grappling Open II

Several Team Balance students went to Morgantown to compete in the second Ground Zero Fighting Systems Grappling Open. This was a submission-only tournament with no-time limit. The tournament was run very smoothly with good refs and competitors. Everyone performed great!

Congrats to Aaron Dorondo, who took first in white belt and second in no-gi intermediate with only 6 months of experience! Jimmy Cerra and Jesse Hanley also stepped up to compete. Congrats also to the folks from Ground Zero who got promoted, notably Phil Davis who was promoted to black belt from Randy Bloom. Awesome man!

Goodbye Grandmaster Helio

Grandmaster Helio Gracie passed away yesterday at the age of 95. Along with his brother Carlos, he helped found Brazilian jiu jitsu and fought many important early MMA matches. Helio and his sons spread BJJ around the world. He continued to train even in his 90s. Helio will always be an inspiration for everyone who trains Brazilian jiu jitsu. His son Relson said:

He wants to thank everyone for the condolences and says Helio was buried today. He died peacefully and knows that Helio appreciates all the well wishes.

He says not to be sad or depressed and that the best way to honor Helio is to continue training, help the people who are having a hard time, continue to get better, help one another, compete if you're a competitor, take class if you just take class but don't stop training. He said we honor Helio by continuing to train, live by the right rules, only use jiu jitsu for self defense and competition. Have respect, loyalty and honor for your teacher, your school and your fellow students.

Relson says Helio instructed the family to not feel sad when he passed but to celebrate life and continue training and living honorably.

Thanks to Robert "Big Bob" Sanchez for relating that message from Relson. Godspeed Helio!

Bud Cup 2009

From 2009-01-17, Bud Cup

The latest Budweiser Jiu-Jitsu World Cup was on January 17 in Concord, NC. Representing Team Balance were grapplers from Komar Jiu-Jitsu, Baltimore BJJ, and us. Everyone did very well and should be proud of their performance!

Among those who competed for Team Balance, Nicholas Bohli, Kenny Savercool, Shimon Kafka, Jimmy Cerra, and Mike Bodnar won first place in their gi divisions! Nicholas Bohli, Kenny Savercool, Lee Synkowski, and Mike Bodnar also got second in their no-gi divisions! It was a tough tournament and everyone at Team Komar, Baltimore BJJ, and Team Balance Pittsburgh did great!