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Rick Macauley taught another excellent seminar at our school on March 13th! All proceeds were donated to MMA for Charity. Everyone was very impressed by his passion for jiu-jitsu and the great details that he taught. Rick has really awesome skills and showed even the more experienced guys many good tips & techniques. After the seminar, Rick promoted Aaron Dorondo to blue belt - our first in over a year. Congrats man, you deserve it!!!
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Less than 2 weeks after his previous match, Jimmy participated in another fight at There's Gonna Be A Fight Tonight 2 on March 12th. This time against Rick Bauer in an amateur 155 pound contest. Rick earned the unanimous decision in a close fight. However it was a very fun bout! All the fights that night made for an exciting event!
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Jimmy Cerra won his third fight at the inaugural show for Matrix Fights on Feb 27th! This was an amateur bout at 145 pounds. He battled a tough opponent in Aaron Hicks to a split decision. Aaron Meiser from Philly also represented Balance and won a pro MMA fight that night! Congrats guys!
Drew Vogel stopped by to teach a very cool class at Balance/Pitt on Feb 17, 2010. It was very detailed and well taught. Many people commented on how they were able to immediately apply the techniques that he demonstrated. Awesome job bro! Thanks!!!
Rick Macauley is making a trip out here from New Jersey for a seminar next month on Saturday, March 13, 2010. It will last from 1:30-3:30 PM. The cost of the seminar will be $50. You should bring a gi if you have one.
Rick is an AWESOME grappler with very accomplished competition record. Rick is a Team Balance black belt under Phil Migliarese. He is an ADCC veteran and voted an ADCC Trials "Most Technical Fighter" award. Rick has fought MMA. He also rules his own school, East Coast MMA. His impressive biography includes:
Please give me a call if you plan to attend. 412-477-5881. Can't wait!
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Four grapplers from Balance/Pitt trekked to Philly for US Grappling's Mid-Atlantic Grappling Championships II on Jan 23, 2010. Jimmy Cerra got 3rd place in 149 lbs. advanced no-gi, and Galen Spielman got 2nd place in 175.5 lbs. beginner no-gi! Our old friend Mike Bodnar also won second place in 202 lbs. white belt! This was Bruce's first tournament & Jarrett's second tournament. Although neither placed, we are still proud of them for going out there to compete! Congrats guys!
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Pablo Popovitch taught a great seminar at Team Balance Pittsburgh on Saturday. He focused on passing the guard and back attacks. Everyone learned a ton and were very impressed with Pablo's slick jiu-jitsu. It was so awesome to learn from an ADCC World Champion!
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Jarrett Valeri went to Hassett's Jiu-Jitsu to compete in his first tournament. John Hassett ran a very good in-house competition! It was a well run with a friendly atmosphere by both refs, coaches, and competitors. Jarrett went 1-1 and came home with a 3rd place medal! Congrats Jarrett, and thanks for the great tournament John!
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Jimmy Cerra traveled to Richmond, Virginia to participate in the sixth US Grappling Submission-Only tournament on Dec 5th. It was a fun tournament - purely submission-only with no time limits at all. Here are the results from the Team Balance grapplers at this tournament:
It was a really well-run event, but long due to the number of competitors. Everyone still seemed to have a good time. Notably, Dennis Hayes from Pedro Sauer won the black belt division. Here are the rest of the results.
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Jimmy Brasco visited by to teach a little seminar for us on Nov 22nd. Jimmy covered a lot of technical and immediately practical moves! Thanks for stopping by our gym!!!
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Several fighters who train at Balance Pittsburgh fought at WCC: The Steel City Beatdown on Nov 21st. We went 3-1 with Jordan Popinski, Codey Kremer, John Opfar, and Joe DeMore fighting.
Cody won his fight just 3 weeks after winning his debut in St. Clairsville, OH. A true warrior!
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Team Balance Pittsburgh made an appearance at Mountaineer Mall for the third Ground Zero Fighting Systems Submission-Only open.
Galen & Big Gabriel also participated and had some good matches! Everyone who competed did great, and should be proud.
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Stephen Koepfer taught an awesome seminar at Team Balance Pittsburgh on November 1, 2009. He gave a great introduction to Sambo and how it differs from BJJ or judo. The seminar covered many good takedowns, setups, controlling situations, and submissions from both the ground and from standing. Steve taught it well and everyone seemed to come away with something new. It was neither too complicated nor too simple. Thanks for the great seminar!!!
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We had four fighters at Cage of Chaos 10 on October 31, 2009: Cody Kremer, Gannon Krebs, Jimmy Cerra, and Mike Wilkins. We went 3-1 overall:
Mike also trained with and represented Donny Kaecher of Personal Training Tactics, Gannon also trained and supported Morgantown MMA, and everyone trained with Team DeMore too. We'd like to thank them all for the awesome training in preparation for the fights!
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Team Balance Pittsburgh made an appearance at Keystone Oaks High School for the Western PA BJJ Championships. Zack got 1st place in white belt gi and 3rd in nogi intermediate 170-184.9! Alison got 1st in both white belt gi and nogi absolute! Galen also participated and had some good matches! Everyone who competed did great, and should be proud.
Team Balance Pittsburgh is proud to host Stephen Koepfer, President of the American Sambo Association, for a seminar covering the Russian martial art: Sambo! It will be held on November 1, 2009 from 12:00 – 3:00 PM. The seminar will be located at:
The cost will be only $30. All proceeds will be donated to charity on behalf of the Medford Classic benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!
Stephen will start with gi for 1.5 hours and go to no-gi for second half. He will cover a bit of both, differences between the two, how jacket may change strategy, adjustments to make going from gi to no gi and vice versa.
Space is limited, so please call 412-477-5881 to reserve a spot or for more information.
Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century by Oshchepkov, Spiridinov, and Kharlampiev. Many different martial arts such as judo, wrestling, and other indigenous fighting styles were blended together. It has evolved into an extremely formidable martial art with principles applicable to any style. Sambo's arsenal now includes strikes, joint locks, chokes, throws, ground fighting, and weapons. Like all fighting systems, Sambo continues to grow and evolve in both its sport and combat variants.
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We had four fighters at Cage of Chaos: Anarchy on August 29th: John Sieber, Mike Kauer, Jordan Popinski, and Jimmy Cerra. We went 2-2 as a team, with two fighters making their amateur debuts!
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Conny Molander, Keelan Enski, and Dana Coon competed in the Kumite Classic on August 22nd and 23rd. This was Conny's first tournament after only a few months of training! He did great winning one match in gi and nogi. Dana also did great for his 3rd time ever in the gi, achieving 2nd place in White belt. Keelan did excellent - winning 1st Blue Belt and 2nd no-gi advanced executive! Congrats guys!
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Jon Sieber and Gannon Krebs both fought in Deathroll MMA on August 15, 2009. Both lost by decision, however they both still fought very well. This was Gannon's MMA debut, and he worked very hard. Jon, you have the heart of a warrior. Good job, you'll both come back strong!
Two students from Team Balance Pittsburgh participated in the Lion's Den Grappling Championships in Beaver, PA. Gabriel O'Donnell did great for his first time competing! Galen Speilman won first place in white belt gi and beginner no-gi too! We are proud of both Gabriel and Galen!
