Great Performances at US Grappling!

This weekend we brought the competition team to US Grappling's Diamond State Games in Bear, Delaware. It was a great showing for Paramount and once again almost every student came home with a medal. Of greater importance is the fact that everyone gave 100%, and took home some valuable lessons from the experience.

Great job to all the guys who competed- many of which came back after disappointing performances in one division to medal in another.



Here are the individual results:
Eric Young- 2nd place, No Gi Intermediate
Mike Tenaglia- 2nd place, Blue belt featherweight
Brian Sieb- 3rd place, Blue belt lightweight
Matt Bauer- 2nd place, White belt lightweight
Kevin Macmullen- 3rd place, White belt middleweight
Mike Todd- 3rd place, White belt Executive Absolute
Adam Carpenter- After sweeping his opponent in the No Gi division Adam injured his knee while trying to pass. He competed again later in the Gi but it was obvious the injury was hindering his movement.
Paul Dinunzio- In Paul's very first tournament he was forced to enter the Advanced Teens division, since there were no other competitors in the Beginner category. With just 3 months training under his belt, Paul was up for the challenge and gave it his all.

Stay tuned for video from the matches, and for next week's Copa Atlantica!

Wilson and Matt Win at EliteXC!!!

Congratulations to teammates Wilson Reis and Matt Makowski for extending their undefeated records at the HUGE EliteXC MMA event tonight!

Wilson defeated Justin Robbins from Matt Hughes' camp by choke, after completely dominating his 12-3 opponent. Wilson's Pro MMA record is now 4-0 and he'll be traveling to California next week to try and secure his second World BJJ title.


Wilson at the weigh-ins yesterday


Matt Makowski beat black belt Nick Serra (brother of Matt Serra) by TKO in just his 3rd Pro fight. Matt fought out of some tough positions to overwhelm Serra with his excellent Muay Thai.


Matt (left) faces off with Nick Serra at the weigh-ins

Brasileiro Photos

Before I get to the pics from this year's Brasileiro (Brazilian Championships), I'd like to thank Felipe Costa for all of his help. Aside from being an absolute beast on the mats- a Brazilian, European, and World Champion- Felipe is incredibly generous and an amazing instructor. Check out his website and the fantastic write-up he did at www.brazilianblackbelt.com

Now on to the pics! Unfortunately I was unable to get much of the black belts since I was competing too. But we did manage to get some good shots of Ryan's journey to the podium as well as my matches.


Training with Felipe Costa at one of the Brasa Academies


Ryan Hall finishes his first opponent with a triangle.


Ryan defeats the current Pan Am champion.


Ryan works his upside-down guard and wins his 3rd match.


Ryan takes bronze at the Brasileiro!


My first match, using a sweep to get the top position.


Finishing my first opponent with the cross choke.


My second match, against the eventual Champion.

Brasileiro Results

Congratulations to BJJ United Instructor Jared Weiner on taking home a bronze medal from the Masters Lightweight division. In the quarterfinals Jared beat Luciano Nunes 6-0 in a dominating performance. In the semi's he went up against Rodrigo "Feijao" (a multiple time black belt World Cup champion) and fought a tremendous fight before losing 4-0.

Today I competed in the Adult Lightweight division. It was my first time competing in Brazil as a black belt and I was super excited and in good shape. I won my first match by cross choke from the mount, after being up 12-2 on the scoreboard. In the quarterfinals I faced the eventual Gold medalist and lost. As always, it was a great experience and I took away some important lessons.

Stay tuned for pics, I'll upload a bunch of them as soon as I get home on Tuesday. Unfortunately video is not permitted at the tournament. I can't wait to get back and show some of the slick techniques I've picked up training with Felipe Costa and the Brasa team!

Update from Brazil

First, for those of you not on the email list, congrats to teammate Ryan Hall for bringing back a Bronze medal from the Brasileiro- A huge accomplishment! Make sure you sign up for the mailing list on the homepage for constant updates, not to mention a Free BJJ Instructional.

Now, on the the update. The schedule and brackets have been released for the Black Belt divisions. I will be competing on Sunday around noon (11am EST), while BJJ United head Instructor Jared Weiner competes Saturday afternoon. I am not familiar with either of our first round opponents, but there are very tough guys in both divisions. It's going to be a blast and I can't wait!

I'll do my best to check back with at least one more update after the tournament.

Temporary Schedule Change

* ATTN: ALL STUDENTS! *

As many of you already know, I will be headed to Brazil this Friday. As a result, I've modified the schedule for Friday May 2nd to Tuesday May 13th. The following classes have been removed from the schedule until we return to the normal schedule on Wednesday May 14:

-Tues and Friday 12pm Classes
-Wednesday's 7:30am Class

All other classes (Kids, Evening, Weekend etc.) remain as usual, so Train Hard!! Mr. Brian will be running the Children's classes, and Chuck will be teaching the Adult Fundamentals. If you haven't had the chance to work with Chuck, this is a great opportunity. He trains primarily in the morning and noons, is an advanced purple belt and has a wealth of experience and knowledge. I’ll be back before you know it with some new techniques and tricks to add to our curriculum!

BJJU Tournament Pics

Here they are, the best pics from this weekend's BJJ United tournament. Check below for full results and details on the great performances from the Paramount BJJ Competition Team!


Ryan working the cross choke



Steve Mckenna works for the submission



Chad gets ready for his first match



The Paramount BJJ crew hangs out between matches



Steve Miller works guard



Steve Mckenna looking for a choke in the finals



Brian ready to battle in the Finals



Eric takes the back in an awesome match



Steve Mckenna finishes the triangle choke



Eric wins his first match in the Open division