RGC expansion in Italy

September 6, 2011

The Rio Grappling Club welcomes the new affiliated schools in the Tuscan region, Italy. Now you can also train with us in Viareggio and Pistoia. RGC Viareggio is captained by Alberto Remedi under supervision of Bernardo Serrini (RGC Livorno and Italian Head Coach), while RGC Pistoia is leaded by Alberto Tesi, under the eyes of Matteo Calamandrei (RGC Firenze).

We also congratulate the coaches Bernardo Serrini, Matteo Calamandrei, Gianluca Boni and Matteo Menna that were granted black belts in Grappling by the Italian federation FIGMA, responsible for all Grappling tournaments in Italy.

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Posted by atalla

Back from the Summer Camp!

September 4, 2011

In the hottest month in Europe, most people are just chilling out and enjoying the weather, but for us grapplers the idea is to chill out, enjoy the weather and also train! That is why on each year we get more people joining our BJJ/Grappling Camp. From 12 people in 2009 to 32 on our third edition, the group is growing steadily and the fact that most participants returned shows that we are going in the right path.

Camp started on Saturday, 13th of August and we ran technical, drills and sparring sessions for 8 days, consuming lots of Italian food to keep our engines running. The atmosphere in the Due Laghi Hotel is perfect as the place is near beaches and cities but isolated enough to keep us focused on training and getting to know better our group. Having the meals together is great too as we feel as an extended family. The weeklong is great as we develop our games, measure against each other in a relaxed environment and become more integrated into the Rio Grappling Club. So it is about the training but not only that, is also about forging friendships. Hard to explain in words but feel invited to come and join us next year to experience a week not to be forgotten.

The training schedule has improved and now we have 3 classes on most days. The morning session is about specific and general sparring, the afternoon class focus on drills and at night we rehearse techniques. This year the focus was on guard, and we expect to see the progress in our students and their students (the fact that many RGC instructors take part helps to spread the knowledge beyond them).

We had participants from Italy (RGC Livorno, RGC Firenze, RGC Sestri Levante, RGC Bologna, RGC Ferrara, RGC Cesena, RGC Molfetta and the Brothers Leteri from Verona), Poland (RGC Wroclaw and Copacabana), Serbia (our newest member, Nenad Latincic, now responsible for the RGC in Belgrade), Czech Republic, Spain, Sweden and Brasil.

On the last day we had the belt ceremony, promoting Matteo Menna to the brown belt, Matteo Tugnoli, Valerio Mori Ubaldini and Fabio Battelli to the purple, Sara Giachetti to blue belt and giving Mariusz Koziej his first stripe on the black belt as well as a few stripes to many participants who had to go through the belt whipping.

Special thanks to all RGC instructors and students, our guests, and to Mariusz Koziej who did a brilliant job taking the drills to another level. I feel that our mission was well accomplished and we are planning the next one, possibly in the same place and probably extending it to 10 days. Many participants already posted their photos on Facebook, but I will select a few to publish on our blog this week. Stay tuned!

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Posted by atalla

Rio Grappling Cup II

May 27, 2010

We held in Livorno last sunday, the 23rd of may the second edition of the Rio Grappling cup, an international  nogi competition under FILA grappling rules.

It was an amazing tournament, the organization from Bernardo Serrini and Alessio Di Liberti was perfect, also helped by FIGR vice president Vito Paolillo and our 2 new referees Fabrizio “kung fu panda” Culotta and Marco Longo

We, as a team, took many medals, both in the advanced and the beginners division, here’s a brief summary:

Simone Baldi took gold in the -60Kg unified division in a 4 men round robin, since he had no opponents in the advanced division, fought and won 3 matches hands down, winning on points only on his teammate Federico Tosi

Valerio Mori Ubaldini and Alessio Rimella took first and second place in the -65Kg division,

Mattia “Mutley” Macchelli took gold in the 70Kg unified division fighting some very good fights

I, Pierandrea Petazzi in the -75Kg first division took second place in a 5 men round robin winning 3 fights, one of which by submission, unfortunately injuring my friend Manuel, and losing for the third time in less then a year against Paolo Strazzullo

Stefano Raspadori our wrestling coach from bologna won the -80Kg unified division, getting for the first time on the highest step of the podium in a grappling competition, winning 3 fights on 4 in a five men round robin, 2 of which by guillotine choke, Emanuele Valenza from Sestri levante took the second place

Federico Dentone From Sestri Levante and Alessandro Zappalà the other great wrestler in our team took respectively gold and silver in the -90Kg second division.

Federico Nibbi from RGC Firenze took bronze in the -110Kg second division.

Too bad Erik Tornaboni from La Spezia, the only grappler from our team competing in the -90Kg first division, didn’t make it past the first turn, the category gave us an amazing final between the brazilian Nova Uniao Blackbelt Fabricio Nascimento, who couldn’t make weight for the -80Kg, and the Italian judo former olympian and grappling national Lamberto Raffi
needless to say, there was an unnatural silence during this fight, the only noise coming from the other mat. As far as italian grappling goes, this was history being made.


here, on FIGR youtube channel are the videos of all the first division matches.

Pier

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Posted by platipo

RGC in Lisbon [2010 BJJ European Open]

February 25, 2010

Some of the best matches by our athletes in Lisbon last January.

Matteo Mena

1st Match:

2nd Match:

Valerio Ubaldini

1st Match:

2nd Match:

Final:

Mattia Macchelli

1st Match:

2nd Match:

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Posted by atalla

Last Sunday in Florence

December 23, 2009

My student and friend Max did a great HL video of my last seminar in one of the most beautiful places in Europe, the Tuscany capital Florence. He has a nice collection of videos in his Youtube channel. Enjoy!

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Posted by atalla

Alessio de Liberti wins in NY and Hamburg

October 11, 2009

Our grappler Alessio de Liberti left Livorno, Italy to venture alone in the No Gi Pan-Ams last week in New York. His effort was not in vain, as he brought home the gold medal in the blue belt master division under 67kg.

No Gi Pan-Am Results (blue belt master feather)

1st: Alessio de Liberti – Rio Grappling Club
2nd: Alberto Robles – Renzo Gracie
3rd: Kevin Saboe – Kioto
3rd: Scott Vieira – Renzo Gracie

Not a person to sit down in the sofa after a win, Alessio went this weekend to Hamburg, Germany, fighting in a submission tournament with rules without points or time limit. He submitted 6 opponents to become the winner there, a great achievement only a week after the comp in NY.

We hope his feat inspires all our grapplers. Alessio always competes, in big and small tournaments, and his dedication is being paid with fantastic results.

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Posted by atalla

Videos from Livorno I

June 3, 2009

Recent and historical. Images from the I Rio Grappling Cup in Livorno three weeks ago, and a sequence of freestyle matches from 1979!

Watch below the final match under 66kgs between Matteo Menna and Thier Tavares; under 84kgs between myself and Tommaso Pispico, and highlights from our wrestling coach Riccardo Nicolini, fighting freestyle 30 years ago, on his way to the Olympic Games in Moscow, where he took 5th place.

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Posted by atalla

The First Rio Grappling Cup!

May 18, 2009

Livorno, where the Rio Grappling Club started in Italy 5 years ago, hosted the first Grappling Cup organised by our association yesterday, Sunday 17th of May.

Teaming up with the Italian Federation of Grappling, we offered 500 Euro in cash, divided by the 5 winners of the Class A. Official matted areas, electronic scoreboards and referees were sent by the FIGR/FIJLKAM, and we took care of setting up everything and let the fighters do the show. About 80 grapplers from all over Italy came to the comp.

We adopted the official FILA rules. Although not without flaws, those rules are a lot better than the ones used in ADCC Sub Wrestling tournaments. This, far from being only my voice, was what I heard from many competitors, including Luca Anacoreta from Rome, one of the best italian grapplers and winner yesterday (under 74kg class A).

Our team, stronger than ever in Italy, did well winning or qualifying in most divisions, with amazing performances by Matteo Menna, Simone Baldi and Erik Tornaboni among others. I decided to compete at the last minute as there were no one from our team under 84kgs.

Even weighing around 79kgs, I took the chance of fighting without training specifically for it or preparing psichologically, and thankfully managed to overcome my 2 opponents, winning both matches by submission. After two years and a half without competing, I was pleased to return to the mats, although I felt the rust and did not perform as well as I wanted, but in the end what matters is to win without doubts. My first match was ended with a rear naked choke and the finals with an armbar. Soon I will upload videos and a slideshow of the tournament.

Class A results:

Under 66kgs
1. Matteo Menna – RGC Ferrara
2. Thier Tavares – Ass. Aranha
3. Mattia Macchelli – RGC Firenze

Under 74 kgs:
1. Luca Anacoreta – Rogerio Olegario
2. Ciro Ruotolo – Nova Invicta
3. Andrea Lavaggi – RGC Sestri Levante

Under 84kgs:
1. Roberto Atalla – RGC
2. Tommaso Pispico – GB Italy
3. Daniel Gianpaolo – GB Italy

Under 96kgs:
1. Erik Tornaboni - RGC La Spezzia
2. Gianluca Palombi – A.S Pegaso Ladispoli
3. Sela Sokol – IC Perugia

Under 120kgs:
1. Matteo Calamandrei – RGC Firenze
2. Vito Rea – Galaktik Sora

Class B results:

Under 60kgs:
1. Simone Baldi – RGC Ferrara
2. Filippo Fioretto – IC Team Centurion
3. Andrea Matzuzzi – Le Rughe Grappling Clan

Under 66kgs:
1. Michele Baldassarri – Sakura Judo
2. Omar Sterni – Yoseikan Morini

Under 74kgs:
1. Giacomo Landi – Aranha JJ
2. Johnny Cecchini – Rendoki Dojo
3. Franco Benassi IC JJ center PR

Under 84kgs:
1. Stefano Di Donna – Sakura Judo
2. Marco Longo – RGC Firenze
3. Riccardo Pelosi – Aranha JJ

Under 96kgs:
1. Alberto Prandi – Le Rughe Grappling Clan
2. Michele Bovo – Padovar JJ

Under 120kgs:
1. Luca Renga – Sakura Judo
2. Fabricio Carvalho De Souza – Nova Uniao

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Posted by atalla

KL World Cup in Rimini

May 5, 2009

The Kombat League is one of the leading organisations of Kickboxing, Low Kick and Thai Boxing in Italy, with amateur, semi-pro and professional competitions.

A few years ago I was in a meeting in Modena where they decided to start doing BJJ and Grappling tournaments. They so far realised the International Montana BJJ Cup in Modena two years in a row, with good money prizes for black belts, as well as other smaller comps.

As part of a major martial arts event realised last weekend in the famous Rimini, they held also a BJJ tournament on Sunday, 3rd of May. The BJJ comp was small compared to the other martial arts traditionally promoted by the KL, but our team was represented there by 3 fighters from Bologna.

CIMG1252 Gianluca, Ion and Pier after the comp.

Gianluca Boni and Pierandrea Petazzi both made to the finals, losing their last challenge and taking home silver. Ion Condei, on his first year in the blue belt, is doing so well that I think it is just a matter of time to see our Romenian grappler as European BJJ Champion. He once again dominated his division and took gold, submitting his German opponent in the last seconds of the final match, escaping from an omoplata to execute a triangle choke in the same movement.

Our results:

Gianluca Boni – second place u82kg purple belt
Ion Condei – first place u88kg blue belt
Pierandrea Petazzi – second place u82kg blue belt

Watch Ion final match on the video below!

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Posted by atalla

Pictures from Ostia

April 26, 2009

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Italian Grappling Nationals

April 25, 2009

A week ago the city of Ostia hosted the Italian Grappling Nationals, and our team once again did very well, with impressive results. The comp was done on 19th of April, Sunday, organised by the Italian Grappling Federation (FIGR) and supported by FIJLKAM (the Italian Federation of Judo, Wrestling, Karate and Martial Arts).

Our guys came from Ferrara, Bologna, Livorno, Firenze and Sestri Levante to represent the Rio Grappling Club in Ostia.

Our results!

Bernardo Serrini won 4 fights and got first place on the A Class under 84kgs, qualifying to represent Italy on the World Grappling Tournament in Fort Lauderdale, USA, next December.

Alessio de Liberti took second place in the A Class under 74 kgs, winning 3 matches and losing the final on a very disputed match.

Simone Baldi won the B Class under 60 kgs and Mattia Macchelli took the gold under 66 kgs, while Luca Perugino placed third, after losing to Mattia and winning 2 more fights in the repechage.
Check the videos to see our guys competing!

Simone Baldi, Final

Bernardo Serrini, quarter finals

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Torino BJJ Challenge

March 23, 2009

The Torino BJJ challenge was held last Sunday, 22nd of March and the RGC Italy was there.

Our results:

Mattia Macchelli – 1st place – white belt -70kg
Ion Condei – 1st place blue belt -88,3kg
Valerio Mori Ubaldini – 3rd place blue belt -70

Some students competed for the first time and managed to win a few matches, although they did not take medals:

Antonio Scuotto won his first match and lost his second;
Vincenzo Vittozzi won 2 fights and lost the third;
Francesco Cocchi won 2 fights and lost the third.

One day earlier, Bernardo Serrini competed and won in Arezzo the regional free style wrestling championships, winning his 3 matches.

Another mission acomplished for the RGC Italy. Next in the list is the Modena BJJ Cup, 4th of April.

Grazie, ragazzi!!!

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Posted by atalla

I Rio Grappling Cup Livorno and more news from Italy

March 3, 2009

In 17th of May we will have in Livorno, Italy, the first official Rio Grappling Cup ever. This grappling comp will be organised by our association in Italy, using rules similar to BJJ, with adaptations to make them simpler and more suitable to No Gi conditions. They were previously used in the Londinum Grappling Cup, and with time we will fine tune them to apply in all No Gi comps promoted by us. Soon a blog with all info on this comp will be published, and we will post more about it here.

And we have even more exciting news coming from Italy. First it was Alessio de Liberti that competed and won the first leg of the Kombat League Submission in Vigevano, on the 22nd of February. Alessio got gold in the A division under 68 kg. One weekend later, and our team came to Rome where another tournament was held. The Rome BJJ Open Cup happened last sunday, 1st of March.
We had 3 competitors: Alessio de Liberti, Ion Condei e Mattia Machelli, coached by Bernardo Serrini. Ion Condei has won among the blue belts under 88kg, Alessio also took gold under 70kgs, blue belt, and Mattia, white belt, won his first fight but lost in his second match under 70kgs.

Congratulations to our italian students that are doing so well defending our colours, and good luck to them in their next challenge, the Torino BJJ Cup, to happen on the 21st of March.

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Posted by atalla

No Gi Grappling in Modena

December 17, 2008

Last Sunday in Modena, Italy, our team took part in the Grappling Championships, in a small number (3 persons). However, 2 of them took gold. Pier won two matches while Erik fought 4 times (always submitting by armbar) to get the first place. Congratulation to them and to their coaches Gianluca Boni and Matteo Menna.

Our results:
Pierandrea Petazzi – first place -78kg B class
Erik Aalto – first place -68kg C class

Watch Pier on the video below:

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II Catalunya Cup BJJ

December 11, 2008

The II Catalunya BJJ Cup was a great success to the ACBJJ (Catalan Association of BJJ, captained by Rafael Haubert and Jordi Fite). 270 competitors, mainly from Spain, Italy, France, Brasil and England fought for money prizes, gis and nice medals. The comp run smooth and finished on schedule. LCD Monitors showing points, advantages and time helped competitors and spectators to follow the high paced action.

I worked as referee and 7 students from RGC Italy came to fight for our team. The overall level was great, with amazing fights in the black belt, specially in the heavy weight division. The lightweight division had a polemic concerning the weight. Yan Cabral was 700 grams over the limit, and asked all the competitors if they would let him fight like that, or if he should have to lose them. They all said yes, then he went on to eat something, while Reinaldo Ribeiro came to the organization and asked them not to let him. Rules are rules, but under my eyes he did not have an honest behavior, and as a matter of fact he was afraid of losing to Yan in front of his students.

Reinaldo ended up winning the final against Pedro Bessa in a fight equal in points and advantages, and also declined to fight the overtime, which was not yet included in the rules so we had to make a decision and give him the fight because his advantages were submission attacks.

Our italian team did well, with great performance from Mattia and Valerio. They took second and third place in the white belt under 70kg. Bernardo Serrini brought two bronzes in the brown belt middle and open division. All the others won at least one match, and will for sure train even harder to fight the Europeans in Portugal at the end of next month. Next Saturday they will receive Yan Cabral in Florence for a seminar, while we have Marcos Flexa here in Poland.

Our results:
Mattia Machelli – 2nd place white belt -70kg
Valerio Mori Ubaldini – 3rd place white belt -70kg
Bernardo Serrini – 3rd place brown belt -84kg and Open Division

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